Planning a family trip to Lapland? One Irish blogger has some brilliant money-saving tips

Lapland is one of those destinations most kids have on their wish list.

It's right up their with Disneyland when it comes to capturing the imagination of small children and to be honest adults too. I was lucky enough to travel to the Lapland area for work a couple of years ago and I really didn't want to leave. Between the Northern Lights and travelling through the snow, it was absolutely magical. The whole time I was there though I felt guilty that my kids weren't with me and the moment I got home, I started researching a family holiday for the four of us. Oh my word, it is expensive! However, you can make savings with the right research, a lesson I learned from reading Irish blog by mum Its Cherry Stone. Cherry Stone has written several posts for lifestyle blog CherrySue Doin' the Do and she knows a thing or two (or twenty) when it comes to travelling to Lapland. Every year her inbox is jam-packed with messages from other parents wanting all her tips and tricks on how she manages to book the trip of a lifetime for as little as possible. Cherry Stone recently wrote about how this all got started in a Lapland advice forum;

"I've wanted to visit Lapland forever and in 2016 I paid a visit to a travel agent to get a quote simply because I saw a sale sign in their window. It was NOT a sale, they quoted me €10k for two nights in Rovaniemi for our family of 2 adults and 5 kids from Dublin. As soon as I got home I sat down and started researching, there had to be a more affordable way to visit. Right?! Yes there absolutely is! So much so that before the week was out I'd booked 7 nights for our family of 7 for €2k for EVERYTHING."

One of her most recent trip to Lapland cost €1,826 for two adults and five kids for seven nights so to say she knows what she is doing is an understatement. Cherry Stone's blog posts not only cover how to save money while travelling to Lapland but also general advice on what to pack, transport, what to do while you're there and accommodation options. If you're a travel addict like me, Cherry Stone and Cherry Sue's blog posts are a must-read in general and has made me add I don't know how many destinations to my bucket list including Salem (which I visited earlier this year). This blog is seriously a life-saver, or at the very least a money saver, if you're a family looking to travel to Lapland and I would recommend giving it a read before you book your dream trip to the homeland of Santa.