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5 days - Aurora Glass Cabin | Snow Hotel | Northern Lights - Kirkenes to Ivalo

Visit one of the northernmost inhabited areas in the world and experience a unique Sami culture, amazing scenery and exhilarating winter activities with this short highlights tour. Spend a night in the magical Kirkenes Snow Hotel and try your hand at dog-sledding, arctic king crab fishing and reindeer sledding. If conditions are right —be dazzled by the northern lights, preferably on the night you are sleeping in an Aurora Glass Cabin in Northern Finland.

This tour can also be done in reverse, starting in Ivalo. Read a testimonial of this from March 2023.

Highlights include

  • Catch some Arctic King Crab and sit with others to enjoy the feast afterwards by the fire
  • Dress warmly and go Aurora Borealis hunting by Reindeer Sled
  • Stay in two unique Northern hotels, Aurora Village and the Gamme Cabins or a snow room in Kirkenes
Day 1
Arrive into Kirkenes port, transfer to the Snowhotel with a Arctic King Crab Safari
Day 2
Transfer to Aurora Village Resort and settle into your Aurora Glass Cabin
Day 3
Husky Safari and then Aurora Hunting by car in the evening
Day 4
Snowmobile adventure, then a Reindeer Safari with local farm visit
Day 5
Depart to Ivalo airport for your flight onwards
Start Place
Kirkenes, Norway
End Place
Ivalo, Finland
Destinations Visited
Norway
Finland
Duration
5 Days
Start Date
Flexible
Travel Style
Independent
Suitability
Independent holiday with moderately active activities and no luggage handling included
Code
50DN0080

Please note that all our itineraries, inclusions, dates and prices displayed on this website may change at any time. If you book an itinerary today and have this confirmed it will be the itinerary that is delivered to you. However, the online itinerary on our website may change in the meantime.

As a Certified B Corporation, 50 Degrees North has designed this tour using handpicked local hoteliers and suppliers who share our ethos of delivering services and activities of high social and environmental standards.

The CO2-e per person per day of all tours is carefully measured following each season. We fully offset all emissions of our tours on your behalf, and we constantly look at ways to reduce emissions where possible.

Details

Transportation

Bus transfers between Kirkenes and Ivalo

Included
  • All hotel accommodation in shared double/twin room with private facilities, single supplement available
  • 3 nights in an Aurora Glass Cabin, breakfast and dinner included
  • Kirkenes Stay: Gamme cabins or a snow room option incl. dinner
  • Daily breakfast
  • Bus transfers between Kirkenes and Ivalo
  • Included Activities: Arctic King Crab Safari, Husky safari (2 hrs), Snow mobile safari, Reindeer Farm Visit and Aurora Hunting by car
  • Outdoor clothing for winter activities/safaris (winter boots, balaclavas, woollen socks, mittens, overalls, tube scarf) at the Aurora Cabins
  • Sparkling piccolo bottle, water bottle, tea, coffee and sweets as complimentary arrival treats in your room at Aurora Cabins
  • Toboggans, sleds, sliders, ice-skates, cross-country skis, kick-sledges and outdoor games are available complimentary at the Aurora Glass Cabin.
  • 24-hour emergency service
  • Taxes and service fees
Not Included

Flights, meals other than specified, winter clothing (thermal overall & boots) for the entire stay, items of personal nature, beverages, additional activities such as icefishing, horse riding or overnight safaris.

Please note that additional nights can be added either in Kirkenes or Ivalo.

If you would prefer a private transfer between Kirkenes and Ivalo, we can do this for an additional cost.

A Norwegian coastal cruise between Kirkenes and Tromsø can be added where possible.

Itinerary

Day 1 - Arrive into Kirkenes port, transfer to the Snowhotel with a Arctic King Crab Safari

Arrive in Kirkenes and transfer to the snow hotel. Today you will join an Arctic King Crab Safari - a very popular highlight for our travellers north.

The Arctic King Crab is a sought after delicacy and you will learn how to catch, prepare and eat them. Your guide takes you out and you can lend a hand in sawing through the ice before your guide attempts to land you a few of these massive crustaceans. Enjoy the day's catch for lunch seated by a cosy fire in a small local farmhouse by the lake. You will travel to the lake by snowmobile sleigh.

This evening, you can either stay in one of the warm Gamme cabins or sleep in one of the cold snow rooms at the Snowhotel.

Every room in Kirkenes Snowhotel is like a small treasure. The rooms are equipped with everything needed for a comfortable night in the somewhat extreme conditions. The pictures look like you are sleeping on ice, but that would be too cold and too hard for your back. The beds are framed with ice blocks and the beds have comfortable mattresses with thermal insulation on top. You sleep inside a sleeping bag graded for -35 degrees celcius. However, snow is a very good insulator, so even when it's -35 degrees outside, the Snowhotel remains a stable -4 degrees.

Upon entering the gates of the Snowhotel, you will receive a welcome drink at the snowbar, made from berries collected from surrounding hills. It will then be time to make the ‘coolest’ hotel check-in around!

Meals
1 Breakfast
1 Lunch
1 Dinner
Accommodation
Gamme Cabins Kirkenes
Kirkenes Snow Hotel

Day 2 - Transfer to Aurora Village Resort and settle into your Aurora Glass Cabin

Transfer by shuttle bus door to door from Kirkenes to Ivalo (3.4 - 4 hrs). Check in to your Aurora Glass Cabin where you will be spending the next two nights!

Dinner at the hotel then get ready for your night under the stars - and hopefully the Northern Lights.

Finnish Aurora Glass Cabins provides 'one-of-a kind' opportunities to admire the Northern Lights and millions of stars in the crystal clear sky while enjoying a comfortable room temperature. Built with a massive special thermal glass window facing sky wards, the temperature inside the cabin always stays at a normal level. It also prevents the glass from not getting white frosted, hence keeping the view clear even when the temperature outside drops to under -30°C.

Meals
1 Breakfast
1 Dinner
Accommodation
Aurora Village - Aurora Double Cabin

Day 3 - Husky Safari and then Aurora Hunting by car in the evening

After breakfast, get ready for today's husky safari - an unforgettable journey through breathtaking winter scenery.

On arrival to the husky farm we will provide you with a warm outer thermal suit, gloves and hat and then we will present your very own husky team. You will be given a lesson on how to drive the sledge and how to observe important hand signals given by your leader.

Each team consists of about six dogs, you, the driver, and your passenger, who is comfortably seated in the wooden sledge. The driver and the passenger can change places during the safari.

In the evening, join a Northern Lights search. After some research on the weather forecast, your guides will take a car and drive it to places where the sky is most clear and the probability of seeing the Northern Lights is highest. Your experienced guide, a professional Aurora Hunter has some interesting stories to tell as you drink hot drinks and snacks along the way.

Meals
1 Breakfast
1 Dinner
Accommodation
Aurora Village - Aurora Double Cabin

Day 4 - Snowmobile adventure, then a Reindeer Safari with local farm visit

Rise and shine - get ready for adventures after breakfast. Driving through the arctic winter forests across the frozen river while admiring the beauty of the Lappish nature your guide leads your way on an exciting snowmobile safari. Keep your camera with you! There are a couple of stops for taking amazing photos and chatting with your guide about life in Lapland.

This afternoon, you will drive to a reindeer farm in the fell region of Saariselkä to enjoy a calm 45-minute ride in a sleigh pulled by a reindeer, followed by hot drinks and stories about reindeer herding.

Meals
1 Breakfast
1 Lunch
1 Dinner
Accommodation
Aurora Village - Aurora Double Cabin

Day 5 - Depart to Ivalo airport for your flight onwards

Breakfast at hotel. Transfer to Ivalo airport.

Meals
1 Breakfast
Dates & Prices

Price per person, twin share. Please note: the two different accommodation options available in Kirkenes (either the Snowroom or Gamme Cabins) vary slightly in price.

Dates
Valid From
Valid To
From Price
Status
Accommodation
1 Dec 2024
18 Dec 2024
1 Dec 2024
18 Dec 2024
USD 3,864
On request
Standard
1 Dec 2024
18 Dec 2024
1 Dec 2024
18 Dec 2024
USD 834
On request
Extra for Single
19 Dec 2024
6 Jan 2025
19 Dec 2024
6 Jan 2025
USD 4,290
On request
Standard
19 Dec 2024
6 Jan 2025
19 Dec 2024
6 Jan 2025
USD 752
On request
Extra for Single
7 Jan 2025
31 Mar 2025
7 Jan 2025
31 Mar 2025
USD 3,498
On request
Standard
7 Jan 2025
31 Mar 2025
7 Jan 2025
31 Mar 2025
USD 834
Limited availability
Extra for Single
1 Apr 2025
30 Apr 2025
1 Apr 2025
30 Apr 2025
USD 3,173
On request
Standard
1 Apr 2025
30 Apr 2025
1 Apr 2025
30 Apr 2025
USD 1,281
On request
Extra for Single

Important Information

Please note that this tour can also be run in reserve, starting in Ivalo.

SUSTAINABLE TRAVEL:

Your glass igloo hosts in Ivalo were the first accommodation in Northern Lapland to receive the Green Key award, the leading standard for excellence in the field of environmental responsibility and sustainable operation within the tourism industry. This prestigious eco-label represents a commitment by businesses that their premises adhere to the strict criteria set by the Foundation for Environmental Education. Some examples of how they carry this out include offering recycling facilities in all cabins and no longer offering plastic bottles in accommodations, along with protecting the diversity of the surrounding nature, i.e., bird house and insect hotels. Hiking, biking, and skiing tracks are direct from the hotel and as such they encourage low carbon activities such as snowshoeing and toboggans.

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