Last week we headed off to Silverstone to check out their most fabulous Christmas event, LAPland. It was brilliant. The lights, the atmosphere, the set up. Just getting to have be on such an iconic track in our car was amazing. It’s definitely worth a visit.

Last week I left work a few minutes early so I could get home and fill the car with snacks, blankets and a small picnic dinner. I picked L up from school and as soon as we got back home, Christmas jumpers were donned and we got straight into the car and started our journey to Silverstone, we were on the road by 3.30pm which I thought was quite an impressive turnaround!

When we arrived at Silverstone we managed to miss Santa’s pit stop, a nice little area with food, merch stands and most importantly toilets! But we were directed back to where we needed to be by the super friendly staff. We made use of the facilities, had a quick stretch of the legs and looked at the car they had out on display and found two very friendly elves selling all manner of light up, glowing fun. I treated L to a huge flashing sword affair on the promise he wouldn’t use on the drive home! It was then time to start our experience.

Off we headed to the track, as soon as you enter the experience there are people, sorry elves, to guide you in the right direction and plenty of signs making sure you know exactly where to go. You can also tune into Silverstone FM, where they were playing all the Christmas tunes, giving shout outs to the people who were visiting and a few hints and tips and safety notices.

There are several different sections to the LAPland experience, it was more than just the lights, though they were certainly the main event. But there were pitlane displays, beautiful giant snow globes and a car display to see too. It wasn’t long before I could only squeak in delight, every different section being so amazing. I loved the pitlane display and watching an elf polish up one of the motorbikes on display made me chuckle, but my favourite part was getting to be on the start/finish straight, on the actual grid. AMAZING.

The lights are mind blowing, the effort that has gone into this display is unreal, with lasers, projectors, lights, smoke machines and even some pyrotechnics working together to create different experiences and displays. Words honestly don’t do it justice and I worry my pictures don’t either.

Then at the end of the track you can head to the drive in cinema to watch the Snowman if you want. Again there are food stands and toilets available, though they were a bit of a walk from our screen, and the elves returned wandering between cars with a trolley of lights up goodies should you have missed the earlier. The Snowman is the perfect film to watch afterwards, being nice and short so you don’t have to worry about getting too cold in the car or having your engine running constantly. At the start of our showing the sound was a bit rubbish, but they got that sorted out and as we were the first night there were bound to be some teething problems.

After the film it was time for us to head off. Again there was a final pitstop, but this wasn’t shown on the map we had and we missed the sign for it in the dark, with such a long journey in front of us we definitely needed to use it. But thankfully the staff were on hand to sort us out again and we just popped back to the first pit stop before starting our journey home. L fell asleep not long into the drive and we were home by 10.30pm which wasn’t too bad at all. We were all buzzing from the amazing experience and couldn’t stop talking about it.

Silverstone is not close to us, it’s 120 miles, nearly 2.5 hours, each way. It was a school night. Was I a little crazy arranging to go all that way to see some Christmas lights. Well, yes, certainly a little crazy. But it was worth it. So incredibly worth it. We all love our racing, mainly bikes but cars too, L especially enjoying the F1, so just getting to be at Silverstone was amazing, let alone on track, even at 5mph that was special. But all the lights effects were amazing, so mind blowing and staying on to watch The Snowman at the drive in cinema just made it such a special night and one we’ll remember for years to come.

LAPland is open until 3rd January, prices start at £35 per car for the LAPland experience and from £50 if you want to watch the Snowman at the drive in cinema afterwards. I would say it took us just over 30 minutes to drive round the LAPland experience and then we had a little wait until the film started, maybe 20 minutes or so and that lasts about 40 minutes. I definitely felt it was good value for money and I like that you pay per car. It was also one of the most Covid secure things we’ve been too, so there was no additional worry with the night.

There aren’t many tickets left, so if you’re interested you definitely need to get booking fast. For us this was such an amazing experience and I’m so incredibly glad we went and I didn’t get all sensible about the distance and the late night, if this year has shown me anything it’s that you need to make the most of any opportunity that comes your way, especially if you know it will bring a bit of joy!

Disclosure – we were gifted our tickets to the preview evening, all thoughts, opinions and images are my own.