Discover the best boutique hotels in Scandinavia in Rovaniemi, Finland

Rovaniemi, the provincial capital of Lapland, was badly blitzed in World War II; its fortunes reversed, though, when Finn starchitect Alvar Aalto stepped in to rebuild it, designing a new town in the shape of reindeer antlers to honour the area’s famed fauna. The library, theatre, town hall and several housing blocks bear Aalto’s unique stamp, but Aalto didn’t have a hand in Rovaniemi’s biggest draw – Santa Claus Village, St Nick’s official address, where there’s plentiful festive fun in the run up to Christmas (and if you just can’t get enough of the guy, there’s also SantaPark just down the road). Beyond Rovaniemi’s limits, though, there’s a more authentic feel to the wintery landscape: reindeer and elk prancing through pristine fields of snow and vast swathes of crystalline pines…