Meet Santa himself on a budget with one of Ireland's top travel blogger's tips.

A trip to Lapland is a bucket list holiday for many but the cost of a package trip to see Santa in his hometown is enough to crush anyone's dreams. 

However, one blogger has made it a reality for hundreds of families across Ireland with her pocket-friendly travel tips and we are so tempted to book our own fluffy snow adventure next year. 

One woman for some woman, mum to six little ones and expecting her seventh in a few short weeks, Corrina Stone makes families' dreams come through, including her own, as she travels far and wide with her brood sharing her reviews and recommendations on all the destinations she hits on her social media channels. 

In recent years, the travel-loving family have visited everywhere from New York to Niagara Falls but the one everyone wants to know about is the home to the real Santa, Lapland.

The super-savvy mum managed to bag a bargain week-long trip for two adults and five kids in 2017 for just €1826 and as each year passes she bags a better bargain, leaving us in complete awe. 

The Stones are now off to Lapland for 8 days costing just €61 per person flying from Belfast to Gatwick to Rivaniemi, including a checked bag with Easyjet. And with accommodation costing just €700, the total cost comes in at €1188 for all eight of them. 

I know, right? Sounds too good to be true.

In a post on her Facebook page, Corrina shares her wisdom in one tidy little post with all the details we need to know to book our own DIY trip including flights, accommodation and recommended excursions the whole family will enjoy. 

Firstly, Corrina advises on what part of Lapland you'd like to visit whether it be Levi, Ylläs, Ivalo, Luosto, Saariselkä or Rovaniemi.

"We chose Rovaniemi, it's the capital of Lapland. As the official hometown of Santa Claus, it had everything we wanted and more. It's also the cheapest to get to from Ireland," she said.

Now you have to decide how you want to get there. Do you want to fly or fly and take the overnight train?

Corrina says: "If you're going to any of the town's further north of Rovaniemi you'll need to either fly there from the UK, get a connecting flight from Helsinki or take the train then hire a car in Rovaniemi."

According to Corrina, the only direct flights from Ireland to Lapland are charter flights that you have to book through a tour operator but worry not, she says. 

Booked in September for December 2018, the Stones flew with Norwegian Airlines from Dublin to Helsinki on their first Lapland excursion paying a mere €118 per person with two checked bags costing €24 each. Corrina explains how each member of the family had 10kg hand luggage included.

However, just last year as a family of eight, they flew with Lufthansa from Dublin to Frankfurt to Helsinki paying just €100 per person, proving it really pays to shop around. 

Now that you have your flights, you will need to think about the overnight train into the heart of the capital. 

From Helsinki, the family get the overnight train into the heart of the capital using a saver rate that they release every year, costing just €49 per person each way for selected dates in December, usually the first 3 weeks. 

And it doesn't end there.

When travelling, the Stones tend to stay in Airbnb accommodation and with these prices we can totally see why. 

"We chose to stay in an Airbnb, please be aware the majority of hosts don't have their year planned yet so there won't be much availability showing yet and the accommodation that is will be expensive."

"They usually do that in the hopes people panic and pay over the odds just to have it booked early. We paid €275 for an apartment with a sauna for 4 nights a 10-minute walk from Rovaniemi city centre. I booked it in August for December."

Getting around Rovaniemi is really easy apparently too, Corrina says you just need to catch the number 8 bus, Santa Claus Express or you can rent a car. 

The busy mum of eight did all of her excursions at Santa Claus Village from Huskie and Reindeer Safari's, snowmobiles, Santa Park and Snowman World.

And it doesn't end there - the penny-pinching mum goes on to advise the best places to buy ski wear ahead of your magical trip. She recommends Lidl and Aldi ski wear special buys during the winter months and again in the January sales as well as, Decathlon, Trespass and Sportsdirect. 

"If you're super savvy you'll also check out the UK websites as well as the Irish websites. I checked both Sportsdirect sites this morning and there really wasn't much difference in price but a couple of months ago Trespass had ski socks for 99p on the UK site or €4.99 on the Irish site," she concluded.

To date, almost 1,000 Irish families have followed Corrina's tips on booking a DIY Lapland trip saving themselves an absolute fortune.

And she's at it again. Corrina and her clan are heading off yet again and you can follow their snowy slope adventures by following her on Instagram or join her dedicated Lapland on a budget Facebook group.