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Northern Lights at Easter

19th December 2012 Print

2013 offers a rare overlap of Easter and the Northern Lights-viewing season. Taking advantage, The Aurora Zone is offering a brand-new trip over the Easter weekend.

Encompassing all of the best bits Lapland has to offer, the five-night Aurora & Snow Village Easter Adventure promises an action-packed array of activities. Taking advantage of the milder climes and longer daylight hours in April, you’ll zip off on a snowmobile trip to Lainio Snow Village, home to an Ice Restaurant and incredible ice sculptures, and then undertake a full-day husky safari, taking the reins at the head of a team of dogs. The remaining days promise a 10km reindeer safari through serene and snowy Lappish forests, and the chance to try classic Scandinavian pastimes such as cross-country skiing and ice fishing. A free day is also included, with the option of a complimentary shuttle to the ski resort of Levi, around 20 minutes away.

Try not to overdo it, though: as darkness comes fairly late at this time of year, you’ll need to be an energetic night owl for the four concerted Northern Lights hunts (on foot, by minibus, by snowmobile and in husky sleds). Unlike other ‘stand and stare’ Northern Lights specialists, The Aurora Zone uses a mixture of local knowledge and geophysical forecasts to locate the best places to see the Lights on a nightly basis, and then chases them down – a proactive method to ensure guests see as much celestial cinema as possible.

Accommodation is in Hotel Kittila, a small (37-room) establishment with comfy bedrooms, WiFi and two saunas, as well as an excellent restaurant serving Lappish and international dishes. Local reindeer and salmon dishes are especially excellent for keeping you well insulated against the Arctic conditions outside. Kittila itself is a welcoming, simple town located deep surrounded by vast arctic wildernesses, and happily free of light polution – the Aurora-hunter’s arch enemy.

But book early. As 2013 is bringing the Solar Maximum – a period of time when the Northern Lights will be at their most vivid – The Aurora Zone has already seen many of its tours near or completely sell out.

Departing 29 March, the trip costs £1,745 pp including flights (London), all transfers, five nights’ full board, winter clothing, all guiding and most activities.

For more information, visit theaurorazone.com.