Capturing the true essence of Christmas, Lapland is the perfect place to take your family for the holiday period. Situated in the arctic regions of northern Sweden, Finland and Norway, there are a villages in each country around where you can enjoy the full festive experience.

Soldiers of People's Liberation Army (PLA) Lanzhou Military Region jump through a burning obstacle during a training session at a military base in Tianshui, Gansu province, China, January 6, 2016. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Elementary school children play outside their classrooms as mount Sinabung volcano spews thick volcanic ash in the background on February 10, 2017 in Karo, Indonesia. Mount Sinabung is one of the most active volcanoes in Indonesia and last erupted in May 2016, killing seven people. (Photo by Albert Damanik/Barcroft Images)

“Life in War” (FotoEvidence Press) by Iranian photographer Majid Saeedi is probably the only book about Afghanistan that doesn’t show images of war. For ten years his camera photographed daily life in the context of war. His photographs reveal the humanity of a people living through decades of war. Here: Afghan men escape increasing summer temperatures by wading in the Qarga reservoir on July 9, 2010 in a suburb of Kabul, Afghanistan. (Photo by Majid Saeedi/Getty Images)

A park ranger stands next to a nothern white female rhinoceros named Najin at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, some 290 kms north of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on January 27, 2015. Najin is one of only five members of the sub-species left on the planet, three of which reside at Ol Pejeta Conservancy. Conservationists and scientists met in Kenya this week to come up with a last ditch plan to save the northern white rhinoceros from extinction. (Photo by Tony Karumba/AFP Photo)

A student shouts slogans against Venezuelan President Nicola Maduro during a protest on the main highway in Caracas on March 30, 2017. Venezuela' s Supreme Court took over legislative powers Wednesday from the opposition- majority National Assembly, whose speaker accused leftist President Nicolas Maduro of staging a “coup”. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP Photo)

People ride a motorcycle near Koudoukou Mosque where Pope Francis meets Imam Tidiani Moussa Naibi in Bangui, Central African Republic, November 30, 2015. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

Tourists enjoy the rare opportunity to walk in water as they visit Badwater Basin, the normally driest place in the US, in Death Valley National Park, Inyo County, California on February 18, 2024. Badwater Basin, an endorheic basin in Death Valley National Park, was flooded by Hurricane Hilary in August 2023 and recent rains in California. It is the lowest point in North America, at 282 feet (86 meters) below sea level. (Photo by David Swanson/AFP Photo)