Northern Lights, Ice Hotels & Huskies

Your tour commences this evening in the cosmopolitan city of Helsinki. Before dinner, enjoy a welcome drink in the hotel with your Tour Manager and fellow Arctic Adventurers.

Today we fly north to Rovaniemi – the gateway city to Lapland. After ‘My Time’ to explore Rovaniemi, we visit the award winning Arktikum Museum of Science and Lapland Culture to learn about the mysterious Aurora Borealis and the indigenous Sami people.  We spend the next two nights in Santa Claus’ village, located literally on the Arctic Circle. Far from corny, this is such a great place to stay and here you will be amazed to discover a whole township of shops, wooden cabins, bars, restaurants. Dinner tonight is included.

Dressed in Arctic weather clothing – rather like big quilted boiler suits, boots, hats and mittens – we visit the Arctic Reindeer Centre. Sitting beside a log fire in a large wooden igloo you will enjoy a warm drink and a ‘reindeer’ talk before learning to drive your own sleigh (two people per sleigh) on a circuit through the snow-covered woods. Later you will put on snow shoes and step out and trek over deep snow through the nearby woods. It is so easy, and the quietness when walking over such light snow is wonderful. The rest of the day is free in the Arctic Circle complex. Time for a warming mulled wine or Akvavit? Dinner tonight is included.

First stop will be in the centre of Kemi, located on the frozen Baltic Coast. Later we settle into our amazing Glass Villas which are set beside the frozen Baltic Sea! Make sure you take a walk out over the ice sheets, across to one of the frozen islands. Next it is time to visit and explore the Ice Castle with its snow hotel.  Later we enjoy a unique dining experience starting with appetizers by the ice tables inside the all-year-round SnowExperience365 built completely out of snow & ice. Dinner continues in the warmth of the Seaview Restaurant Lumihiutale.

Your morning is free to relax and explore. Subject to daily availability, you may be able to arrange ice fishing or for the thrill seekers, Ice Karting. Later we board an Ice Breaker cruise to carve a path out through the thick sea ice. A buffet lunch is included onboard. Way out at sea, the ship will smash an open water pool. Time for a swim! Putting on ‘dry suits’ you can jump in the water to float and swim amongst the broken ice flows. Your dry suits are incredibly warm, and you actually put them on over your clothes. Snug as a bug, they are incredibly buoyant, and you do not even need to swim as you can just lay back and float amongst the ice chunks like ‘Teletubbies’.  A stunning experience.

Entering Sweden’s vast forested wilderness we arrive into Jukkasjärvi, which means ‘meeting by the water’. For centuries the local Sámi tribes have come together here and at the Nutti Sámi Siida culture and reindeer park we take a guided walk through the reconstructed village and cultural centre. Next stop, our incredible ICEHOTEL! Why do we choose to stay in this particular ‘ICEHOTEL’? It’s easy - Time Magazine listed this ICEHOTEL among the top 100 places to see on our entire planet! That’s why! Each year when the wild River Torne freezes deeply, they cut out the clear Arctic ice to build an absolutely astonishing ice complex. Each summer the ice melt flows naturally back into its source.
Set in a picturesque winter wonderland setting, with dry powdery snow drooping off laden branches of birch and fir trees, the landscape promises winter walks along forested pathways and amazing adventures on frozen lakes and rivers. In this complex you will also discover wooden cabins, reception areas and restaurants. In the Riverside Lobby with its open fire, changing rooms and saunas, we collect our full Arctic weather clothing, complete with ice boots, balaclavas and mittens, which you will wear on your adventures over the next two days.
On our guided IceHotel tour, we will explore the giant white hallways with frozen pillars and ice chandeliers, the wedding chapel with its ice pews, and the bedrooms and suites lovingly carved by Ice Artists. One might have a giant gorilla bursting out of the wall, another frozen jelly fish dangling above you, some… the list goes on! Time for a welcome drink in the fantastic ICEBAR, with glasses made of ice, of course! Tonight, dinner is in a delightful warm, wooden cabin which is ranked in the top 3 restaurants in Swedish Lapland. To fully appreciate this unbelievable hotel, go to www.IceHotel.com

Please note for our 2 night stay at ICEHOTEL:.
First night, you sleep in the frozen ICEHOTEL. A fabulously surreal experience where you will be ‘snug as a bug’ in very warm Arctic thermal sleeping bags (tested to -40°C). Your bed is an ice platform insulated with reindeer pelts to keep you warm in your -5°C to -7°C room. It is actually warmer inside your room than outside! In the morning you are awakened with a steaming cup of lingonberry juice.
Second night, enjoy your stay in the excellent Kaamos (warm) hotel rooms, housed in wooden single floor houses.
*Please note:  There is no power supply in the Ice Rooms at the ICEHOTEL.

This morning we ride with huskies into the wilderness. Climbing aboard – 4 four people to a sleigh – we chase along the frozen River Torne and into the unspoiled wilderness. Their breath billowing like smoke in the sub-freezing morning air, we follow forested pathways twisting this way and that and then stop at a small wooden igloo where a fire is built for our coffee and biscuits.

After lunch, your afternoon is free back at the hotel. Relax and enjoy ‘My Time’. Tonight we will enjoy an escorted night time snowmobile safari chasing the Aurora Borealis. With two people per snowmobile, we drive deep into the wilderness, far away from any civilisation or light pollution. Stopping regularly, your expert ‘Northern Lights’ guide will talk about this remarkable phenomenon and the surrounding pristine countryside. Dinner will be in a wooden cabin in the forest. What a terrific farewell to Lapland.

Flying to Stockholm we enjoy a panoramic city tour before our farewell dinner.

This morning it is time to say farewell as your winter wonderland adventure ends.