The good, bad and ugly sides to visiting winter wonderlands, from Harbin to Lapland

THE GOOD

From the frozen wilderness of Lapland to the ice sculptures of Harbin and the Christmas markets of Europe; Santa Claus is dishing out gifts, coloured lights are blinking into life and festive spirits are high.

Or maybe that’s just the mulled wine.

Surprise the family with a seasonal visit to Lapland and you’ll be as popular as Father Christmas himself. Day trips and longer tours to northern Finland combine a search for Santa by snowmobile, Ski-Doo and husky dog sleigh. Besides a one-to-one with St Nick, there’s the opportunity to try ice-fishing and learn about the life of a reindeer herder before getting the blood circulating again in the sauna. And if you’ve been really good this year, you might even catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

For northern lights of another kind, the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival draws up to 15 million spellbound sightseers, who gaze in awe at the glistening palaces and pagodas, glassy castles and cartoon characters, all carved from giant ice blocks cut from the Songhua River. It takes 4,000 workers about 15 days to dig out, haul and then shape the ice.