Auroras – Northern Lights Trip (photographing tour)

We are pioneers in northern lights hunting. Our final destination is the best possible place – a small mountain where the sky is often clear and view to the north perfect.

Even on our 45 minutes way out from Rovaniemi it is possible to see the Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis if the weather is good. We have several check points where we check the sky on the way. We will end up to a large lodge just in the middle of the wilderness where we can find warm bathrooms, facilities and nature exhibition. Nearby a comfortable warm teepee is waiting for us. We make a fire in the tepee and enjoy warm beverages and grill while following the sky. The guide shares information about Northern Lights and the old mythology around them. The arctic starry sky is very beautiful. Spot the Big Bear and Polar Star, Northern Lights often appear just under the Polar Star. Listen to the stories about local life and nature by living fire. If there are no lights you can experience some Lappish shamanism and see your future with our great Aurora guides!

Our Northern Lights trip has got excellent feedback already for years. This is because our Northern Lights tour goes to the best possible places where no other lights are found, northern sky is fully open, and the weather is often clear even if it is cloudy or foggy in the town. By our long experience the right hours to be out there is 11-12 PM. Anyway, you need some luck to see the lights because it is unpredictable even during the trip! Great surprises happen! The likelihood is about 80% to see some kind of lights. Is it the highest in the world? We do not know but we think so 🙂 

Why to book our organized trip?

It is all about knowing the best places for following the lights.  The best chances and places are on mountains and hills having great view to north and what is really important for photographing – far away from all artificial lights.

On this trip the weather is often better than elsewhere thanks to local micro climate, and you can see even the first thin lights once they appear. All kind of Northern Lights you see clearly because there is no artificial light in the air. The mountain area has got a special micro climate that means open sky for most of the nights while it stays cloudy in town. The northern horizon is all visible and absolutely dark that is very important in Aurora hunting. This trip offers a great chance for taking pictures of Northern lights in the middle of beautiful arctic nature, with trees and tepees. 

BOOK ACTIVITIES ONLINE AND SAVE! WE OFFER 2% DISCOUNT FOR ONLINE BOOKINGS

Hints:

Rovaniemi is one of the best places in the world for spotting the Northern Lights. It is located at the Arctic Circle where in general the chances to see the Northern Lights are very high. Also, the climate in Rovaniemi area is continental that means clear sky for most of the evenings in the wintertime at least on the mountains around the town.

But it is impossible to predict the Northern Lights and the weather reliably. Outside of the town on little mountains where we go the weather is very often clear and better than predicted. Please remark that you don’t need more than 5 minutes clear sky to see the lights. On the mountains it happens very often even on cloudy nights.

It happened already several times that some people didn’t book the tour because they thought it is cloudy or not good for the lights. And finally, that evening was one of the best Northern Lights evenings with the most spectacular lights. What a pity if you were already in town and didn’t join our trip! We have decided that we always go if somebody books the trip, because it is always possible that we miss the lights if we do not go. And if you are not lucky you have a chance to book second tour by lower price!

We will take pictures on the tour and send them to you afterwards if we have your contact details. We will also advice you in photographing and rent tripods on our tour! Unfortunately we can't guarantee the quality or number of the pictures. Welcome!

Private tours available on request!

———————————————————————————————————————————————-

Photographer Donald Burghardt says: 

I have been going with this company 13 times in 10 years now, accumulating to 109 days and my 14th time is booked for march 2024.

Lapland Welcome has many safaris but specifically the Northern Lights Tour is the best you can possibly have. Lapland Welcome has a huge private hill which oversees a vast sky of some 8000 km2 with a horizon at some 70 km (specific photo attached). As you are on a high hill you will see a sky stretching very far over that already far horizon. This hill has its own micro climate which is able to open a not to thick cloud cover (specific photo attached). The weather system is volatile so chasing holes in the clouds is no realistic option and therefor very bad for the environment. Chasing the lights is nonsense anyway as they are at a minimum level of 80km up to 350km above the surface of the planet so the circle of visibility is some 600 km on average. If you want to get closer to them you'd have to drive at least 300 km which will take you at least 4 hours and by that time the lights will have moved anyway. So no… chasing is madness unless you can get from under the clouds but as I already said that is hardly an option too. From the Lapland Welcome hill we have seen the lights at distances of 1200+ km away because they are that high above the Earth and the view is unobstructed. Take an easy evening with alternative programs in case either the light won’t show or the clouds are to thick though in that case the clouds will show green themselves on your camera, imagine that! (Two specific photos attached) And… warm snacks and beverages as much as you want and… toilets at the base of the hill!

Check Donald's authentic pictures. All pictures were shot on our tours: 

https://www.donaldburghardt.photography/2019/galleries/geo/atmosphere/aurora-borealis-albumset/