This Aurora Break in the Lulea Archipelago is an exciting, emerging Northern Lights destination in northern Sweden. This break includes snowmobiling, husky sledding and Northern Lights hunting in the evening.
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Aurora Break in Lulea Archipelago
Credit Per Lundstroem
Credit Per Lundstroem
Situated on the eastern side of Swedish Lapland, the bracken waters of the archipelago freeze during winter and form a giant frozen expanse to explore.
Lulea, the main town, has a thriving and dynamic feel, with good restaurants and arctic experiences.
This 3-night weekend break based at the fabulous centrally located Clarion Sense Hotel, with a stunning spa and roof top bar, includes a snowmobile safari, drive your own husky sled experience, and a Northern Lights hunting evening! It’s perfect if you are looking for a short break with great value. With great views over the harbour from the well stocked cocktail bar and restaurant you can watch the world go by, and also keep an eye out for the Northern Lights across the bay.
Location
Sweden
Duration
3 Nights
Available dates
Dec - Mar
Price per person (excl. flights)
from £2,000
Overview
Highlights
- 3 nights in the beautiful Clarion Sense Hotel
- 2-hour drive your own sled dog experience
- 2-hour snowmobile safari in the forests around Lulea
- Northern Lights hunting
- Excellent restaurants for dining
What’s included
- 3 nights accommodation with breakfast in standard room at the Clarion Sense Hotel
- 2-hour snowmobile safari on shared snowmobile
- 2-hour drive your own Husky safari – 2 persons per sled
- A Northern Lights chase on one of your nights
- Welcome dinner on your first night
- Transfers
- Arctic clothing during activities”
A note on flights
While flights are not included in the holiday price, our team will happily provide a quote and arrange them for you. Simply ask one of our Travel Experts for details of the available options.
Day by Day Itinerary
Day 1
Fly into Lulea in Swedish Lapland, where you will be met and driven in style to the beautiful Clarion Sense Hotel, the region’s latest and finest 4-star hotel, with a stunning spa, and well stocked cocktail bar with a view over the harbour.
Located on the edge of town with far reaching views over the frozen Lule river and the northern night sky, this sleek and stylish hotel offers excellent rooms with their colourfully modern murals, bold dark furniture, super comfortable beds and lovely large windows that create an airy atmosphere.
Lulea is situated on the coastal edge of the Luleå Archipelago in the bay of Bothnia, which has a total of 1,300 islands and only 100 residents and is a unique wilderness environment where the sea around the island freezes up to a metre thick in winter. From the hotel you look out over the frozen expanse of the Lule river with great views for miles.
Once you have settled into your hotel, we suggest that you enjoy a pre-dinner drink in the sky bar with its great views. We have included dinner on your first night as after traveling you may wish to have an easy start to your break.
Enjoy a three-course dinner under the stewardship of Chef Marcus Samuelsson who has received widespread critical acclaim. His kitchen transforms the freshest, local ingredients into cosmopolitan inspired dishes that are stunning.
Note: if you would like to increase your chances of seeing the Northern Lights, we recommend upgrading to a deluxe room with views over the frozen river to the northern horizon. This comes with free spa entry too!
Day 2
Snowmobile Adventure
Buffet breakfasts in Sweden are feasts in their own right! Indulge before heading out on a 2-hour snowmobile adventure in the forests around Lulea and bordering on the frozen archipelago.
You will be provided with arctic clothing and training before heading out with your partner on a guided exploration of the countryside. There is something special about being on a snowmobile adventure off the beaten track, soaking up the beauty and majesty of the forests and frozen lake views. With vast winter landscapes, this truly snowmobiling adventure takes your breath away, drop a location pin and see how far you are from your friends back at home! When you return to the hotel and you can enjoy some downtime, and try out the spa (charges may apply if you have not upgraded your room).
You have the facilities at the hotel or you can wander into the centre of Lulea. Our recommendation would be to walk the Ice Road. There is a road marked out on the frozen ice which allows people to walk, ski or skate around the city. See the locals in deep conversation, mothers pushing their children around in adapted push chairs or students racing each other around on skates.
It’s a totally unique experience and well worth a try! There are kick sleds available at certain points of entry to the ice road.
This evening you are free to enjoy dinner at one of the restaurants in town before an evening Northern Lights hunt. You will be picked up from the hotel by your guide and his minivan and taken out to some remote vantage points for seeing the Northern Lights.
The Northern Lights are not guaranteed, but this trip out will give you the best options for seeing them if the forecast is good.
The guides might change the night of this tour if they believe the chances of seeing the Northern Lights are better on an alternative evening during your stay in Lulea.
Return around 23.30 and overnight.
Day 3
Dog Sledding Adventures
After breakfast, experience what for many is the highlight of any trip to the Arctic (after seeing the Northern Lights!) and that is the joy of riding your own dog sledding team through pristine snowy landscapes.
Your guide will transfer you to the kennels about 15kms away from the lodge. With 2 people per team, learn to take control of a husky team and have the satisfaction of mushing them as you drive on the forest and lake trail. The experience lasts 2 hours and is sure to leave you with some fantastic memories.
You will stop for a Swedish Fika as part of the trip.
On your return to the hotel, enjoy exploring Lulea or if you have upgraded your room, enjoy your free access to the Spa and enjoy a typical Swedish Sauna.
This evening venture into town for dinner maybe followed by a drink in the Sky Bar at your hotel keeping a careful watch on the sky for the auroras.
Day 4
Return Home
After breakfast, at leisure prior to your transfer to the airport for the flight home.
If you would like to make the most of your time there is the opportunity of detouring via the UNESCO world heritage site of Gammelstad en route to the airport. This is the best preserved example of a ‘Church Village’ in Scandinavia.
At its centre is the impressive 15th-century Nederlulea Church surrounded by 424 wood-built houses. The houses were only used on Sundays and during religious festivals to accommodate worshippers from the surrounding countryside who could not return home the same day because of the distance and difficult travelling conditions.
If celebrating a special occasion, why not extend your trip and experience a night in one of Sweden’s iconic hotels – the Tree Hotel.
Alternatively you could include a mini break to Stockholm, Sweden’s capital city and one of the most picturesque capital cities in Europe.
Where You'll Stay
Clarion Sense Lulea
The Clarion sense is Lulea’s latest hotel and a super base for a northern lights weekend hunt with some arctic experiences included. It is centrally located and commands wonderful views over the frozen Lulea river, which empties into the Archipelago at this point. A feature is the restaurant and the sky bar at the top which overlooks the ice road in winter and also faces out towards the northern lights if they are visible.
Each floor is inspired by the year’s four seasons in a timeless, sleek design with harmonious color schemes. Here you can experience the changing seasons, interpreted by prominent photographers and lighting designers.
Clarion Hotel Sense’s guest rooms all have flat-screen TV, a desk, minibar and free WiFi. Each room also features unique photo art and designer furniture. Superior Rooms feature views out across the frozen expanse and we offer these as standard for our clients.
The on-site á la carte restaurant Kitchen & Table is open for dinner Monday to Saturday. There are also 2 hotel bars, of which one features spectacular views over the city. A short walk away are the main restaurants of town so there is no shortage of dining options available.
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Reviews
See what our clients say
Superb holiday to Iceland, well organised, advice regarding trips informative and far exceeded our expectations (Glaciers and ice Cave) run by South Coast. Hotel Ranga is a lovely hotel, perfect to see Northern Lights (which we did see on our 3rd night), very comfortable, food excellent, staff helpful and informative. SouthCoast Adventure tour company were excellent, guides knowledgeable, and clearly very experienced.
Helen Middleton
Fantastic service, with every detail taken care of and communicated to your agencies and hotels. Would definitely recommend and will be using again.
Robin Higginson
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.
Lisa McAleer
Thank you for arranging a fabulous holiday, we had a really enjoyable time and would love to return in the future. Hotel Ranga is a lovely place to stay and the owner greeted guests in the restaurant, which was an unexpected welcoming touch. We didn’t see the Northern Lights due to the weather and the trip to the Eyjafjallajokull glacier and volcano was substituted by an excursion to Thorsmork, also due to the weather, which we thoroughly enjoyed; the brochure description doesn’t do it justice. We found Iceland and the people there really charismatic. Although the wind and snow cut short the amount of travelling we could do, we still covered a reasonable amount of what we wanted to see and our appetites are whetted for a return, perhaps in Spring or Summer. We found a couple of great places to eat near the Hotel in Reykjavik. Messin does tasty fish dishes and the Icelandic Street Food restaurant was excellent, offering simple but hearty soups with refills included in the price – great value.
Nigel Goadsby
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.
Mark Nicholson
We enjoyed both the hotels that were arranged by weekend a la Carte Aurora nights. The Porsmork trip was very enjoyable, both guides were fantastic and informative.
The Northern Light hunt trip out of Reykjavik with Superjeep was an adventure and we got to see the lights, worth braving the cold at -6.
David Rogers
What a fantastic trip! I booked this for myself and my husband to celebrate my 40th birthday and it didn’t disappoint! Booking was simple and we were kept up to date with all the details from the office team in the UK.
From the moment we arrived at Kiruna airport all the staff we encountered were so friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. We opted for the upgraded room at the Abisko Mountain Lodge which I would highly recommend. The cold weather clothing which was supplied was fantastic and kept us really warm in the sub-zero temperatures. The dog sledging, snowmobiling and the Northern Lights photography were all superb and the staff leading the trips were really friendly and so knowledgeable. Even though we weren’t able to do the sky station trip because of the weather, there was a lovely alternative evening organised for us which included a traditional dinner and a walk to the lake where we were able to see the lights. The food at the lodge was also exceptional and showcased some lovely traditional dishes using Moose and Reindeer which were wonderful to try.
I would like to send a massive thank you to all the staff at The Abisko Mountain Lodge as well as the guides we used for our guided walks, dog sledging and snowmobiling. I’d highly recommend the trip, it was our first visit to Sweden and we would definitely return. Thanks again to everyone (including the huskies) who made it so memorable!
Carly Webster
We did the aurora nights break and had a great time overall. Everything related to flights, hire car, and hotels ran smoothly. There were a few issues largely relating to the weather and driving conditions (we travelled in mid March), but what we did manage to do was amazing.
The blue lagoon was easy to access from the airport and was a brilliant experience. We booked the standard package and it came with a free drink and face mask. Facilities were clean and organised with free toiletries in the shower rooms, which helps if you’ve gone there straight from the airport.
The drive to Hotel Ranga afterwards was long but fine (check out the road on google streetview to know what to expect). The hotel and staff were great. We were limited to one option as vegetarians on the bar and a la carte menus, but the food was lovely and if you are a meat eater you will see options of unusual dishes like puffin and reindeer.
Our northern lights super jeep trip was cancelled on both nights due to a poor forecast, but we were lucky enough to get an aurora wake up call from Hotel Ranga the first night. We couldn’t use the hottubs as there are only a few and they were always taken in the limited time we spent at the hotel, so don’t go expecting to get lots of time in one and you won’t be disappointed. View them as an add on if you can time it right. We were travelling with an 11 year old, so we didn’t stay up really late. If you are a couple you probably have a better chance of getting one later on.
The glacier/volcano super jeep trip was outstanding. Our driver, Íbí was excellent. She went above and beyond and gave us such an awesome experience. We were also super lucky with the weather the first two days and had great views across Iceland.
The ice cave tour was also incredible and the guides running it were excellent. The group size was much bigger than expected (especially after the more exclusive volcano super jeep tour), but it was broken down into smaller groups that were managed well, with plenty of time factored in for photographs. There were several unexplained delays getting to the cave during the tour that meant we weren’t able to ‘mini tour’ the rest of the South Coast afterwards, so if you plan to do the ice cave don’t overplan for the afternoon as you may not have much time. Not a huge disappointment for us as we got to experience the cave, but I imagine someone who planned a full itinerary afterwards might be frustrated by the estamiated timings not always being right and subject to change with the weather (which was wicked that day).
Driving around Reykjavik was a horrible experience as we arrived around rush hour and weren’t prepared for all the traffic, having only experienced quiet roads along the south coast. It was difficult finding a parking space, so be prepared to drive around a little when you arrive. If you haven’t driven on the right before and are not a confident driver this could leave you feeling stressed. Again, check out the roads into Reykjavik on Google maps to get a sense of what awaits if you aren’t used to self-driving.
We didn’t get to tour the golden circle because of road conditions/ice/road closures, so we spent the day in Reykjavik instead. This turned out okay for us as we did some of the attractions (Lava Centre and Fly Over Iceland – both hughly recommended), but it ended up being an extra expense and we missed out on the golden attractions. Again, not a big issue if you are aware this could happen. The weather is so changeable that having a plan B is a good approach.
Weekend a la Carte sent us a text warning us about the bad weather conditions, which we’d already seen on the Safe Iceland app, but we were grateful for anyway. It was good to know they were looking out for us!
All in all, a remarkable trip, with some unique experiences. If you book this in the knowledge that nature will have her own way, and you may not see everything you want (especially in winter), you will have a great time. Ranga is definitely the best place to maximise your chances of seeing the lights.
Sarah Brooks