Tour Northern Lights & Wildlife In Swedish Lapland, 7 Nights

Others

All activities

Guide

Local and professional tour leader (day 2 - 7) and local guides for the activities.

Accommodation

Stay two nights at Best Western Plus Hotell Savoy in Luleå. Located in the town center near the train station, with single, double, twin, or family rooms available. Free spa access. The hotel has a nice restaurant and a cafe. Stay 3 nights at Jokkmokk guesthouse, cozy but basic rooms. Single, double, twin, or family rooms available. The bathrooms located in the corridor can be used by all guests, but you can lock the door from the inside when you use it. Sauna in the basement. Stay two nights at Sápmi Nature Camp, remotely located far out in the wild. Five tents, each with two beds. Shared toilets in a heated booth outside. No electricity. Please note that we offer two types of tents: standard and deluxe. Our standard tents (image above) provide a comfortable and homely atmosphere, while our deluxe tents offer an elevated level of luxury, complete with their own private bathrooms. The deluxe tents are in high demand, and to reward our early-bird guests, we offer a complimentary upgrade to a deluxe tent for the first 2-4 individuals to make a reservation (depending on the number of solo travelers and couples).

Meals

Full board with all meals except for dinner on the first and last nights. ADD-ONS: Beverages are paid at each restaurant (cash or card).

Transport

Round-trip transportation from Luleå is included. LOCATION & HOW TO GET HERE The tour starts at Hotel Savoy in Luleå town in Swedish Lapland. Check-in time is 3 pm, but you can arrive earlier and relax in the reception lounge or visit the spa. Address: Storgatan 59, Luleå Meeting time: On Day 2 meet up with your guide at Hotel Savoy in Luleå at 10:30 am. By train: We highly recommend the Arctic Circle train from Stockholm or Arlanda airport to Luleå, which runs on renewable energy. The journey takes around 13 hours and offers a memorable start to your adventure. You can also choose to travel by train in one direction and fly in the other direction. The train has a restaurant serving basic meals, snacks, and drinks. Purchase your train tickets online at www.sj.se. A bunk bed in a shared 6-bed compartment costs approximately 3000 SEK for a return ticket, with 3-bed and private compartments also available. Upon arrival in Luleå, it’s just a short 500-meter walk to Hotel Savoy, where the tour begins. Climate reward: If you travel by train from Stockholm to Luleå with return, you’ll receive our climate reward that includes a free meal at Hotel Savoy and free access to the spa. The meal could be breakfast, lunch, or a two-course dinner, not including drinks. To claim the reward, simply email us with your preferred meal. Note that the spa has limited visitors and may be fully booked at times. By air: To get to Luleå, fly from Stockholm Arlanda (ARN) with SAS or Norwegian. During Winter 2023 there will also be direct connections from London, Paris and Düsseldorf to Luleå. Luleå Airport is small, and you can easily reach Luleå by shuttle bus or taxi (20 minutes). As there are no scheduled activities on the first and last day of the tour, you can choose to take a flight or train at any time that suits you.

Not included:

Flights

Flights are not included.

Optional

Single room supplement SEK1,800.00. Note that you may still have to share tent with another person. Winter clothing can be rented at SEK2,200.00 for day 2-7. Please note that the sizes available for clothing are XS-XL and EU36-49 for shoes. Merino wool top + long johns SEK 1,925.00. Made by Devold in Norway from 100% merino wool. Sizes available: XS-XL (top and bottom can be different sizes). Please note that we need your sizes at least one month in advance to be able to guarantee the right sizes.

Insurance

Insurance is not included.

Others

Beverages are paid at each restaurant (cash or card).

Start planning your experience

Day 1 Day 1: Arrive In Luleå - Swedish Lapland
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 1: Arrive In Luleå - Swedish Lapland

Arrive to Luleå by night train or a short flight from Stockholm. Since there will be no set activities on this first day you can arrive with any flight or train. We have booked a room for you at Hotell Savoy in central Luleå, a pretty little town on the coast of Northern Sweden. The hotel is a 5 minutes walk from the train station or if you arrive by flight it will be a 20 minutes shuttle bus or a taxi from the airport.

On this first day you will have time to land at your own pace. The hotel has a small but nice spa with saunas and swirl pools where you can easily relax for a couple of hours. And during the evening you can go for a dinner at the hotel restaurant or any other of the town’s many restaurants.

Your guide will arrive tomorrow.

Night at Best Western Plus Hotell Savoy in Luleå.

Common question: Why do we need to arrive one day before we meet up with our guide? Well, our experience from previous guests is that you will need a day to settle in and wind down to be rested and ready to begin the tour on the next day. In this way we get to travel to Jokkmokk in daylight, see some nice sights along the way, and to have the energy to venture out at night to watch for northern lights.
Day 2 Day 2: To Jokkmokk & Northern Lights Excursion
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 2: To Jokkmokk & Northern Lights Excursion

Meet and greet with your guide and the other participants after breakfast.

After a brief welcome we pack our bags into the van to take off and leave Luleå behind. Our first stop is Storforsen, part of the Pite river and Europe’s largest unbound rapids. The rapids thunder with a mighty power - partly frozen with white water shaping natural sculptures of ice and snow. Well worth a visit!

We then continue our Northbound journey across the Arctic circle and into remote Swedish Lapland. Here we reach Jokkmokk, a small northern outpost town which will act as a base for our excursions. It’s right in the heart of the Sami’s ancestral lands surrounded by mountains, tundra, forests and lakes. Jokkmokk is home to a large Sámi community and we absolutely love this place! As we arrive to our guesthouse we sit down together for a proper introduction over coffee with the hosts at the guesthouse.

We will be served dinner with local specialities, and then, if the skies are clear we will definitely fill our thermoses with hot drinks and head out to watch for the Northern Lights.

Night at Jokkmokk guesthouse.
Day 3 Day 3: Dog Sledding & Jokkmokk Time
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 3: Dog Sledding & Jokkmokk Time

Today we are going dog sledding! We greet and cuddle the dogs and help prepare the sledges, before we are ready to take off.

Seated on wooden sledges we travel across the frozen landscape, hearing only the breathing of the huskies and feeling the crisp winter air on our faces. After the dogsledding we light a warming camp fire, while the dogs get some well-deserved rest and cool down in the snow, we will be served hot drinks and a nice hot lunch in the cosy log hut.

In the afternoon you will have some time to explore Jokkmokk town or just relax. You may wish to visit the interesting Ájtte museum, which tells the story of the Samis and life in the landscape they’ve inhabited for thousands of years. There is a church which looks like straight from a fairytale and the are also a few local handicraft shops worth visiting. Sami handicraft, made from traditional, natural materials is exquisite and unique and makes a wonderful present. Knives, wooden cups, woven tin wire bracelets and baskets woven from birch roots.

In the evening we have another chance to marvel at the Northern lights. Fill up your thermos and bring some snacks to stay warm and content.

Night at Jokkmokk guesthouse.
Day 4 Day 4: Moose Watching & Reindeer Meeting
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 4: Moose Watching & Reindeer Meeting

We plan to rise early to drive through a nearby valley known to host some of Europe’s largest moose, but also herds of reindeer. During the cold Winter season these two deer species gather in the valleys in search for food. This gives us an excellent opportunity to observe and photograph these magnificent animals at close range.

We stop for an outdoor lunch somewhere along the shore of a lake, by a campfire, we love campfires! If the weather is fair we spend most of this day in the snowy valley, before returning to Jokkmokk.

In the afternoon we meet up with our good friend Anna, just outside of Jokkmokk. Anna and her family are Sámi reindeer herders. She has invited us for an evening meal in her lávvu (traditional tent). With a native perspective Anna has a lot to share. We sit on skins on the floor and try traditional Sámi dishes that she prepares for us over the open fire. It’s a great introduction to your cultural experiences over the next few days.

Later we have another chance to watch for northern lights, and hopefully the skies are clear.

Night at Jokkmokk guesthouse.
Day 5 Day 5: Bird Watching & Night In Tents At Sámi Camp
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 5: Bird Watching & Night In Tents At Sámi Camp

After breakfast we go for a walk to a nearby forest and a bird feeding station, where some nature loving locals help birds survive the long Winters. Here we have the chance to watch a variety of species such as Willow tit, Crested tit, Siberian tit and Siberian Jay as well as Red Squirrel at close. Some of the birds may even eat out of your hand, a beautiful experience. You don’t have to be a bird enthusiast to enjoy this.

After lunch we leave Jokkmokk behind as we venture further north to experience something truly exceptional.

Our good friend Lennart in Unna Tjerusj Sami community warmly welcomes us as guests to his tented camp, nestled in the remote Laponia UNESCO World Heritage region. Here, we have the opportunity to ski or snowshoe through the surrounding forests and across the frozen lake, or simply unwind and relish the tranquil beauty of winter in the Arctic.

We will camp for two nights.

Here we recommend you to put your phone away and let snowflakes and frosty trees be your connection to the world. We’re in the wild, so no electricity is available to charge your phone. Although Lennart wouldn’t call it wilderness, for him this is his ’backyard’. The Sámis have lived in harmony with these lands for thousands of years.

You will sleep comfortably in one of the tents. Yes, the tents have proper beds and a heater, so it’s almost like staying at a hotel. You will be surprised how comfortable a tent can be. Toilet? Don’t worry, Lennart has set up some heated toilet booths near the tents. We have five tents to share so there is be plenty of room for all of us.

During the evening Lennart will cook an evening meal by the fire place in a small wooden cabin. We take turns to go outside and watch for the Aurora, hopefully dancing in the sky above the camp. In either case, the illuminated tents provide an ideal foreground for night sky photography.

Night at the tented camp.
Day 6 Day 6: Ski Or Snowshoe
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 6: Ski Or Snowshoe

Wake up in your tent and join the others for breakfast in the warm cabin. Take this day to relax. Read a book, talk to your fellow travelers, go for a walk across the lake.

You can also explore the surrounding forests and the frozen lake on wooden Nordic skis or snowshoes. Experience different types of snow and search for animal tracks of grouse, moose, reindeer, fox and weasels. These activities are optional. You can also go by foot, or just lay in your bed all day. You probably deserve it.

Lennart is feeding birds at the camp and there usually some Crested tits and Siberian tits around. And there is plenty of Willow ptarmigan in the surrounding forests. Sometimes a Tengmalm’s owl is calling nearby. Lunch and dinner at the camp. No schedule, no stress.

In the evening we heat up the wood heated sauna. Heat up, then if you dare, roll yourself in the snow! Buckets of warm water will be your only shower.

Night at the tented camp.
Day 7 Day 7: Wake Up In The Wild, Return To Luleå
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 7: Wake Up In The Wild, Return To Luleå

We enjoy another slow breakfast in the cabin. We say our goodbyes to our friend Lennart and begin our journey back to the modern world. Time has come to leave Sápmi, although we’re quite sure you will return some day. We stop for lunch at a local restaurant in Jokkmokk and then continue our return journey to Luleå on the coast.

We have booked a room for you at the same hotel where we met on the first day. Our guide will drop you off during the late afternoon. After two nights in tents you may want to soak up at their spa.

Dinner on your own at the hotels restaurant or at any other of the excellent restaurants in Luleå.

Note: You can’t catch a flight on this day since we arrive in Luleå in the late afternoon.

Night at Best Western Plus Hotell Savoy in Luleå.
Day 8 Day 8: Departure Day
12:00 am - 11:59 pm

Day 8: Departure Day

Breakfast buffet at the hotel.

If you have time we can highly recommend you to explore Luleå town before you depart on your train or flight. Strolling around with the locals at the frozen lake would be a perfect ending of your adventure.

8 days tour

Northern Lights & Wildlife In Swedish Lapland, 7 Nights

This tour includes:

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Start planning your experience

Itinerary of your trip Northern Lights & Wildlife In Swedish Lapland, 7 Nights

Day 1: Arrive In Luleå - Swedish Lapland

Day 2: To Jokkmokk & Northern Lights Excursion

Day 3: Dog Sledding & Jokkmokk Time

Day 4: Moose Watching & Reindeer Meeting

Day 5: Bird Watching & Night In Tents At Sámi Camp

Day 6: Ski Or Snowshoe

Day 7: Wake Up In The Wild, Return To Luleå

Day 8: Departure Day

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