The Arctic Winter attracts holiday makers from all over the world for a northern lights holiday. As Swedish Lapland and Iceland provide such a thrilling array of experiences it is amazing what can be packed into a 3 or 4 night break.
Classic Short Breaks in Sweden
Leave home on a Friday and return on a Monday or Tuesday after a refreshing few days in a totally unique and different environment.
Our select range of classic Northern Lights Short Breaks below have been designed by our experts and bring together the best places to stay with fabulous Arctic Experiences.
Take a look at our Abisko Aurora Breaks, Exclusive Swedish Collection and our Autumn Aurora Breaks for further inspiration.
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Top of our list for a high impact northern lights short break is the delightful 7 bedroom Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge. This lodge based 5 kilometres outside Kiruna, the main tourist destination in Swedish Lapland, sits on a promontory looking north east towards the Abisko alps. Converted around 7 years ago from a Sami culture centre into a small ‘ home away from home’ lodge it is run by our long standing partner Andreas Mikko.
This is the perfect place to base yourself for a high impact northern lights short holiday or weekend break.
We have two action packed breaks here that amalgamate all the typical Arctic experiences you would expect.
Firstly the ever popular northern lights special break is an exhilarating 3 night break. This is designed to offer amazing value but is limited to a Wednesday departure. During your 3 nights experience snowmobiling with Andreas Mikko, Huskies with Ylva Forsen and a range of northern lights focused experiences at the lodge.
Snowmobiling starts at the entrance to the lodge and soon winds its way through pristine tracks leading to one of the main vantage points where you can survey miles and miles of unspoilt wilderness towards Mount Kebnakaise, Sweden’s tallest Mountain. On a longer tour you can head out to one of Mikko’s secret lakes to try your hand at Ice Fishing for Arctic Char, the local river fish and fine delicacy.
We have a long partnership with Ylva Forsen who looks after all our clients in Kiruna on husky tours. From her small kennel deep in the Kalix river valley she runs wonderful drive your own husky experiences in an area famed for moose sightings in winter and with an absence of people!
The Original ICEHOTEL is situated around a 20 minute drive from Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge and your trip will include a visit to marvel at the construction of this unique structure, its famed art suites, Ice Bar and Chapel. For the intrepid your stay can be extended to include a night’s stay.
Once night time comes attention moves away from the snow and gravitates towards the northern horizon. This is aurora time and the team at the lodge are keen for you to see the northern lights if possible. Two nights are dedicated to this – one at the lodge and one out on snowmobiles.
If you are able to extend your break by an extra day consider our 4 night Complete Arctic experience break. This offers more flex on days of the week you can travel and also fits in the 3rd must do activity on a Northern Lights short break and that’s a meeting with a Sami family and reindeer. Our partner Hakan Enoksson is a local reindeer herder who in the winter months when the reindeer are in corral offers guests a glimpse into his life. The day includes a reindeer sled ride and lunch in a tepee.
Another popular destination for people wanting to get away for a short break in Swedish Lapland but focus totally on trying to see the northern lights is our Aurora Pick n Mix break based in the northern lights capital of Abisko. The Adventure Tour Company opened up Abisko to the international Northern Lights holiday market. Whilst many of our holidays to see the Aurora Borealis touch base in Abisko this 3 night break allows you to totally design your own perfect break to this stunning location. From snowmobile and sled dog safaris to spending time at the famed Aurora sky station in Abisko or out with a professional photographer on a northern lights photo hunt you have all the options for a truly high impact and memorable northern lights break.
There are certain times of the year when getting away for a refreshing short break is a must. New Year and the February half term holidays are popular times to travel to Swedish Lapland in search of the northern lights.
At New Year we have a fabulous Traditional New Year celebration at Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge. Besides including the standard husky, snowmobile and Ice Hotel tours it offers a New Year dinner themed around traditional ingredients and a visit to a Sami homestead.
February half term is one of the only times that families can get away to experience a northern lights holiday together and we have constructed a break based at one of the cabins at the excellent Camp Ripan in Kiruna. Fabulous sled dog, reindeer and Snowmobile day time activities are combined with visits to the ICEHOTEL and use of the fantastic Spa at Camp Ripan.
For those interested in a city break type northern lights holiday we offer a great value break based in Lulea situated on the edge of the Bay of Bothnia in the Eastern part of Swedish Lapland and very much the emerging Northern lights holiday destination.
Take a look at our weekend aurora break to the Lulea Archipelago which offers the opportunity of staying in an excellent 4 star hotel with access to the bars and restaurants with day trips out into the surrounding wilderness to do drive your own husky tours or snowmobile adventure.
On this break you also have the option of extending your stay to stay in the Iconic Tree Hotel run by our good friends Kent and Britta Lindvall.
Swedish Lapland has infinite possibilities for a high impact northern lights short break.
See what our clients say
Fantastic trip with great hosts & made even more special by seeing the Northern Lights twice!!
Hotel Ranga was perfect, with amazing food. It is in the middle of nowhere, very quiet and with the weather being bad there wasn’t the possibility of leaving the hotel in the evening so mightn’t suit all for that reason. Super Jeep tour we thoroughly enjoyed with 2 lovely guides.
Hotel Borg was in the perfect location. For us, one night in Reykjavik would be ample.
Blue Lagoon was a wonderful experience only heightened by the appearance of the northern lights on our walk home from dinner. All in all we had the best holiday and we plan to return to Iceland hopefully sooner rather than later.
A fantastic short break which fulfilled all expectations. Well organised with a polished delivery, we could not have asked for more. The accommodation was perfect for us and the guides knowledgeable and helpful. Every day was packed with adventure, each lasting longer than scheduled but we were never rushed; the guides took pride in showing and explaining their beautiful country. We would certainly use Weekend a la carte again and recommend them to others.
We had a wonderful time! The food at the lodge was amazing and there were some great vegetarian dishes. I had the best beetroot I’ve ever had (beetroot tartare).
Everyone was really friendly and all the guides were good fun and very knowledgeable.
A special thanks to William and Petri who were really friendly and really added a personal touch to our trip. The activities were really well planned and we especially enjoyed the trip with the huskies. The area we were in is stunning and the lodge was very nice. We would definitely recommend this to friends and family.
We had the most fabulous time and everything worked like clockwork. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and extremely competent. The food was excellent and the experiences, especially Husky Homes, were brilliant. We saw the aurora lights at the mountain top in Abisko where the photography tour will be an enduring memory of a wonderful time. I would very much recommend Weekend a la Carte as a proficient tour operator.
Cannot thank this company enough. Our break to Iceland was the second time we’ve let them organise everything for us and once again they didn’t disappoint. Everything ran seamlessly and the organised tours were wonderful. This company knows what they are doing. If you want to experience the geysers, the volcano, the northern lights and all the other exciting things that Iceland has to offer then this is the company to use.
An excellent holiday which was enjoyed by all. The super jeep ride on the second day to the Eyjafjallajokull volcano was memorable and thanks to our driver Margaret who proved to be a really good guide. We thoroughly enjoyed the facilities in the hotel Ranga. The staff were very helpful and we managed to see the Northern Lights. The Hotel Reykjavik Centrum was very nice with amazingly helpful staff. All in all, the whole holiday was brilliant.
This was a bucket list trip. The company are specialists and I’ve valued their advice. Everything from the when to go for the best opportunity to see the lights and equipment needed and provided.Our activities included, the Ice Hotel, night photo shoot, snowmobiling, guided walk and the sky station meal. All excellent and well run by knowledgeable experts and guides. The Abisko Lodge is warm comfortable and relaxing the food is excellent and the staff welcoming, friendly and very helpful. I would highly recommend if you’re looking for a different and exciting experience.
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