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

    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 Kirkenes.

    Highlights include

    • Catch some Arctic King Crab and sit with others to enjoy the feast afterwards by the fire
    • Stay in two unique Northern hotels, Aurora Village and the Gamme Cabins or a snow room in Kirkenes
    • Opportunity for spotting the Northern Lights
    Day 1
    Arrive in Ivalo and settle into your Aurora Glass Cabin
    Day 2
    Husky Safari and then Aurora Hunting by car in the evening
    Day 3
    Snowmobile adventure, then enjoy reindeer sleigh ride, feeding and photographing
    Day 4
    Transfer to Kirkenes and explore the Snowhotel
    Day 5
    Arctic King Crab Safari and depart
    Start Place
    Ivalo, Finland
    End Place
    Kirkenes, Norway
    Destinations Visited
    Finland
    Norway
    Duration
    5 Days
    Start Date
    Flexible
    Travel Style
    Independent
    Suitability
    Independent holiday with moderately active activities and no luggage handling included
    Code
    50DN0075

    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

    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 and dinners
    • Bus transfers between Kirkenes and Ivalo
    • Airport shuttle in Ivalo and Kirkenes
    • Included Activities: Arctic King Crab Safari, Husky safari (2 hrs), Snow mobile safari, Reindeer sleigh ride, feeding and photographing and Aurora Hunting by car
    • Outdoor clothing for winter activities/safaris (winter boots, balaclavas, woolen 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 in Ivalo and settle into your Aurora Glass Cabin

    Transfer to your hotel and check in to your Aurora Glass Cabin where you will be spending the next three nights!

    Dinner at the hotel then get ready for your night in 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 Dinner
    Accommodation
    Aurora Village

    Day 2 - 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 Double Cabin

    Day 3 - Snowmobile adventure, then enjoy reindeer sleigh ride, feeding and photographing

    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 get up close to the reindeer. You get a bag of lichen to feed the reindeer living at Aurora Village. Reindeer love lichen! They come close and with a little patience, they will eat from your hand. This is a good time to take close-up photos with reindeer too.

    Meet your guide at the Aurora Village reception who will take you on a short walk to the Reindeer park. Your reindeer sleigh is awaiting and will take you on a peaceful winter adventure in a traditional ‘raito’ form where the reindeer walk one after another each pulling a sleigh.Sit back and enjoy the sleigh ride through the snowy forest.

    Meals
    1 Breakfast
    1 Dinner
    Accommodation
    Aurora Double Cabin

    Day 4 - Transfer to Kirkenes and explore the Snowhotel

    Transfer by shuttle bus from Ivalo to Kirkenes (3.4 - 4 hrs) and check-in to Kirkenes 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!

    Your evening will then progress to a delicious 3 course dinner. The food served is charmingly traditional and locally sourced. Your guide will be available to help you prepare for the evening ahead, making sure you are as comfortable as possible. After dinner you will have the opportunity to walk around the snowhotel and say hello to our resident reindeers, and with any luck, catch a glimpse of the northern lights.

    There are two options for your accommodation - either a snowroom or a gamme cabin.

    Meals
    1 Breakfast
    1 Dinner
    Transportation
    Transfer by mini-coach
    Accommodation
    Gamme Cabins Kirkenes
    Kirkenes Snow Hotel

    Day 5 - Arctic King Crab Safari and depart

    Today you will join an Arctic King Crab Safari - a very popular highlight for our travellers north. *Note - this tour can be either Day 4 or Day 5 depending on availability.

    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.

    Meals
    1 Breakfast
    Dates & Prices

    Price per person, twin share.

    Dates
    Valid From
    Valid To
    From Price
    Status
    Accommodation
    1 Apr 2024
    16 Apr 2024
    1 Apr 2024
    16 Apr 2024
    AUD 4,244
    Available
    Standard
    1 Apr 2024
    16 Apr 2024
    1 Apr 2024
    16 Apr 2024
    AUD 1,609
    Available
    Extra for Single
    1 Dec 2024
    18 Dec 2024
    1 Dec 2024
    18 Dec 2024
    AUD 5,461
    On request
    Standard
    1 Dec 2024
    18 Dec 2024
    1 Dec 2024
    18 Dec 2024
    AUD 1,167
    On request
    Extra for Single

    Important Information

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

    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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