This Ultimate Christmas Northern Lights Escape holiday gives you a great chance to see the Northern Lights in their full glory, and you can experience the best outdoor activities the Arctic has to offer!
Ultimate Christmas Northern Lights Escape
Immerse yourself in a magical winter wonderland in Swedish Lapland this Christmas, where you can enjoy unforgettable adventures on snowmobile and dog sleds, in the untouched Arctic wilderness.
Embrace the opportunity to meet Santa Claus and his reindeer while basking in the captivating spectacle of the northern lights casting their enchanting glow over the snowy landscape from the mountain’s summit.
Overview
Highlights
- 4 Nights at Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge
- Lodge Room based on a Full Board Basis and including Arctic outer clothing
- Aurora 360 Hot Tub
- Northern Lights Hunting
- Husky Dogsledding Adventure
- Decorating the Christmas Tree and Santa Visit
- Visit the Ice Hotel
What’s included
- 4 Nights at Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge
- Lodge Room based on a Full Board Basis and including Arctic outer clothing
- Aurora 360 Hot Tub
- Northern Lights Hunting
- Husky Dogsledding Adventure
- Decorating the Christmas Tree and Santa Visit with Reindeer
- Visit the Ice Hotel
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
Arrive at the Northern Lights Lodge
Enjoy your first evening in Lapland by indulging in a trio of delights: a hot tub, a sauna session, and a delectable dinner at the Lodge.
Enjoy one of nature’s most awe-inspiring wonders—the Northern Lights—from the cosy rooftop hot tub, with a panoramic 360° view of the night sky!
Tonight is dedicated to unwinding and savouring the local culinary delights. You’ll be treated to a sumptuous three-course dinner, ensuring that as the night draws to a close, you’ll depart feeling utterly relaxed and poised for a restful night’s sleep, following a day filled with travel adventures.
Don’t forget to keep an eye outside for Northern Lights activity.
Snowmobile Safari
Experience an entire day of thrilling and expertly-guided snowmobile safaris through the stunning Lapland landscape.
On snowmobiles, we ascend beyond the treeline to reach the pinnacle of Lapland’s viewpoint. Here, we immerse ourselves in a bit of tradition by trying our hand at ice fishing. We’ll even brew some coffee over a crackling fire and indulge in Swedish fika, making the most of this magical moment.
Your journey continues down to the serene taiga forest, where we pick the perfect Christmas tree. Once the tree is selected and loaded onto the sled, we savor a cup of glögg (Swedish mulled wine) and pepparkaka (ginger cookies) before your return to the lodge. There, you’ll be treated to a two-course lunch prepared with love from the local kitchen. Your evening begins around a cosy fire in a tipi near the lodge.
After savoring a delicious BBQ meal, embark on a quest to witness the mesmerising Northern Lights. Depending on the weather and conditions, you’ll either search for the Auroras with snowmobiles or take a minivan to Abisko, renowned for its prime viewing spots, ensuring a magical and unforgettable encounter with the dancing lights.
Dog Sledding Adventures
After breakfast transfer to the kennel located in a picturesque river valley between Kiruna and Nikkaluokta.
Ylva Sievertsson whose kennel backs onto this winter wilderness, runs very personal dog sled trips. As you will discover she has a very special relationship with her dogs and it is a thrill to visit her kennel and spend time with her dogs.
Once you arrive at the kennels, you’ll get acquainted with the dogs and receive detailed instructions about how to drive them. Help harness them before heading out into a location outside the major tourist areas where we can almost promise that you will enjoy pristine Arctic nature alone.
You will be out for around two hours, taking turns with your partner driving the team before heading back to base for a warming lunch in the traditional ‘Kota’ adjacent to the family home.
Note: Over the years we have had many guests advise that they would have liked to spend more time with Ylva. If the husky experience is one of the expected highlights of your trip then we offer options to extend this day.
Return and relax prior to Dinner. Suggest tonight is the night to upgrade to the sauna and enjoy a hot tub, then relax by the fire.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Christmas Tree, Santa an the Icehotel
After breakfast, we gather to decorate the Christmas tree at the lodge. Once the tree is adorned, Santa and his reindeer await us in the traditional Sami tent (kåta), where he distributes gifts to everyone who has been good. We also indulge in some delicious traditional Sami cuisine next to the crackling fire. After lunch, we visit the original Icehotel.
Immerse yourself in the enchanting world of the original Icehotel, sculpted entirely from snow and ice. Explore the mesmerising Icehotel 365, a groundbreaking concept that offers art suites designed by acclaimed artists from around the globe. Don’t miss the opportunity to sip cocktails from unique ice glasses at the ice bar.
As the evening unfolds, we celebrate Christmas Eve together with family and friends. The team will prepare a traditional Swedish julbord (Christmas smorgasbord) for this special occasion.
Meals included: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner
Return Home
Breakfast and at leisure until your airport transfer at the end of your action-packed Christmas break.
You have options to stay a night at the Icehotel, or perhaps take in Scandinavia’s capital city Stockholm on your way home.
Meals Included: Breakfast
We have an extensive Northern Lights Information Hub if you need further information
Covering popular topics such as:
Where You'll Stay
Máttaráhkká Northern Lights Lodge
We are proud to offer this small intimate lodge, run by one of our long standing partners, Andreas Mikko.
This 7 room intimate lodge is situated in a super location on a slight elevation with magnificent views across the arctic tundra to the Abisko alps. The emphasis at the lodge is on two elements, Sami culture and ensuring you have the best chance of seeing the northern lights.
This small intimate lodge used to be a Sami handicraft centre until the owners had the idea to turn it into an exclusive retreat. With only 7 bedrooms and an open plan lounge and dining room, the emphasis is on relaxing in a cosy environment. The rooms have a downstairs en-suite room with a staircase leading to a loft sitting room.
If you are a group of 8 or more friends or family traveling together and wish to have the lodge privately please let us know. This is a great way of celebrating a big birthday or wedding anniversary
The lodge has a fabulous sauna and a very unusual northern lights hot tub on the roof where you can star gaze or hunt for the Aurora. (This carries an extra charge).
Other benefits of a stay here mean that you can snowmobile straight from your doorstep into the Arctic wilderness.
Evenings are focused on good food, relaxation and the Northern Lights so if you are looking for a ‘home away from home’ experience then look no further.
Enquire Now
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See what our clients say
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.
I found Aurora nights just through a google search. Alex, my Aurora expert was so helpful in helping us have the perfect trip to the Arctic. He had personal experience of the activities and places to visit there that would make our trip really special. This followed through to a particularly unforgettable and wonderful holiday. Everything was sent to us with care and attention before hand and we were supported by the team throughout our holiday. All of the recomendations were wonderful especially the Ice Hotel, dog sledding and of course the beautiful Northern Lights. The transportation arrived on time every time. I would highly recomend this company for their experience in the field and their due care and attention to you as a customer. It was faultless and we had the most awesome time.
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!
My daughter and I had an amazing time on our trip, we didn’t want it to end! Everything went according to plan, each excursion was well organized and everyone involved with each activity, as well as everyone at the lodge was kind, friendly, positive and happy, which makes such a difference to your whole experience. The food at The Abisko Mountain Lodge was also incredibly good. Our room was large, comfortable and well-furnished. The bathroom too was also spacious and well-equipped. The outdoor clothing provided was of very good quality which kept us warm, and the staff members are happy to change items if they are not quite the right size for you. This is my second trip with Weekend a la carte and I’m sure there will be more as I have complete trust in them. I highly recommend Aurora Nights, it was fabulous.
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.
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 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.
I appreciate the fast response to my inquiries regarding my trip. It would take decision making faster on my part, and plan my itinerary and activities being offered by the company accordingly.