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
We have never before experienced such friendly and simultaneously professional service! Alex’s communication was super prompt, questions encouraged and welcomed and attended to with great care and detail. Everything was well organised and available on beautifully designed and very useful platforms. Our destination (Mattarahkka Northern Lights Lodge) was fabulous on so many different levels – exquisite views, friendly interactions from everyone on the team, great food, exciting activities, perfectly situated to see the northern lights (seen twice in 4 nights’ stay), a great fire place, and not to mention our fantastic guide Fabio. Their provision of winter kit (hats, down jacket, snow trousers, leather gloves and boots) offered everything we needed to be comfortable outside. All we needed to have packed really were base layers, a few layers of clothing and woollen socks. Defintely somewhere we would highly recommend and return to when possible!
Inge Elliott
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 had five fantastic days in beautiful Iceland, as we had never been before Aurora Nights helped with everything and made the holiday so easy and stress free. We stayed at Hotel Ranga which was amazing, we very much enjoyed the tours and the guides were brilliant, very knowledgable and friendly. We will certainly be returning to Iceland and wouldn’t hesitate to book through Aurora Nights again, special thanks to Abigail as her experience and reccommendations made the trip even better.
Lauren Mitten
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.
Carol Wrack
We had a fantastic 4 nights that included glaciers, waterfalls, geysers, the aurora borealis and more! Lovely hotels, especially Hotel Ranga. We filled every moment and felt thoroughly invigorated on our return.
Frances Harrington
Thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The Abisko Mountain Lodge was fantastic, every member of staff was friendly welcoming and charming. Accommodation, upgraded room was excellent. The food in the lodge definitely deserves the high reviews. Good breakfast, great hime made lunch soups and extremely tasty evening dinners.
The included trips were great. The only let down was the camera night, couldn’t see the lights no one fault, but we were walked through thigh high snow to be left on a frozen lake for the duration of the trip. There was no warning of the difficult walk and we had a 91 year old with us and I have hip problems! That said the guide was great, as were the ones on the skimobile and husky rides. We went up to the sky station in a snow storm with high winds, added to the experience!
Would go back in a heart beat.
We had little communication with Weekend a la carte, no need as all communications were clear and contained all the information we needed. Very informative emails
Would use again if going back
June Day
Overall very good. Staff excellent and helpful. Accomodation basic but was what we expected. Tour guides very good (nature walks, snow mobiles, dog sleighs). Sky station disappointing as we never got to go up due to the weather and this seem to be a recurring feature.The alternative walk at night and meal was a let down as a result.Overall would recommend to others.
John Kirby
My wife and I had an awesome and memorable trip to Iceland thanks to Alex at Aurora Nights. Alex tailored the itinerary to exactly what we wanted to see and chose excellent hotels to stay at. We totally enjoyed the city of Reykjavik and the many beautiful waterfalls. He went above and beyond to not only recommend sights to see around the Golden Circle and Ring Road, but also mapped it out so we were prepared to drive through the country during unpredictable weather and road conditions. And we were especially pleased to see the Northern Lights on our visit. Alex was very flexible to make changes to our plans and choosing the wonderful Sky Lagoon to replace our tickets for the Blue Lagoon due to the closure from the volcanic activity. We highly recommend Alex and Aurora Nights.
Lisa Kovens-Harris