Northern Lights Tour With Snacks
Snowtrail's three-hour northern lights tour from Rovaniemi: hotel pickup, a guide who picks the viewing spots from the forecasts, and a snack break outdoors.
From €109
Check availability
- Duration
- 3 h
- Minimum age
- 3 years
Snowtrail collects you from your accommodation and drives out of Rovaniemi, away from the city lights. The guide chooses where to stop on the night, from that evening’s weather and aurora forecasts, and talks about the lights along the way.
Part-way through there is a break for snacks and warm drinks, taken outdoors under the sky. If the aurora comes out there is time to watch it and take photographs, and at the end of the three hours you are dropped back in Rovaniemi.
Two things the listing does not publish are worth asking before you book: how large the group gets, since the page promises a small group without giving a number, and what time the tour leaves.
Snowtrail sells the other arrangement too. Its Aurora Cabin evenings take you to one dark place and keep you there, with a fire and a roof, from €109. That is the better booking on a clear night; this one is the better booking when the cloud is patchy, because it can move and the cabin cannot.
What is included
- Pickup and drop-off within 10 km of Rovaniemi city centre
- A local guide
- Transport to viewing spots chosen from the weather and aurora forecasts
- Snacks and warm drinks
What is not
- Pickup from further than 10 km out, which Snowtrail quotes separately or replaces with a central meeting point
Questions people ask
What happens if the northern lights do not appear?
You pay for the attempt, not the sighting. Snowtrail's answer on the tour page is that nature decides, and its general terms state that a night without the lights is not grounds for a refund if the tour runs as planned. The guide watches the forecasts and drives you away from light pollution to improve the odds, and that is the whole promise. If the forecast looks hopeless, cancelling is your only lever, and the tour page and the terms disagree on what that costs, so check before relying on it.
Is it suitable for a three-year-old?
The minimum age is three, so a three-year-old can come. Whether it works is a separate question the page cannot answer, because it gives no departure time and does not say how long you spend outdoors at each stop. The snack break is taken outside under the sky, not indoors. For a small child that means an evening in the cold past their usual bedtime, and it is worth asking Snowtrail when the tour leaves and whether there is anywhere warm to wait between stops.
What should we wear?
Dress as if you will be standing still outdoors at night, because that is most of the time you are out of the vehicle. Unlike Snowtrail's husky safari, this tour's list of inclusions does not mention winter clothing, so do not count on overalls or boots being handed out. Warm boots, a hat, mittens and layers under a windproof jacket matter more than anything else, and a spare pair of gloves helps if you want to take photographs.
