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Best northern lights tour in Kemijärvi: one pick for each kind of evening

A canvas teepee glowing from inside on snowy ground at night, with green aurora across the sky and a few lit buildings beside it

Illustration photo: a teepee under the aurora in Norway, not in Kemijärvi.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

With young children, take the resort's kota evening or its heated sleigh: short, warm, and children under fifteen pay half. If you want to drive, take the resort's snowmobile evening. If the aurora is the whole point, take the six-hour hunt by car, which follows the clear sky and photographs you. For two to four people who would rather sit quietly by a fire, book the small local company's campfire evening.

How the operators compare

Prices are the operators' own published starting prices as of the date this guide was updated, and they change through the season.

Jauri Resort: heated sleighJauri Resort: snowmobileLappi Creative: campfire
Adult price €115 €153 shared, €205 alone €100 – the lowest adult price
How you travel Seated in a heated sledge Driving a snowmobile Driven to a fire
Child price €57.50 under 15, free to 3 €76 aged 4 to 15 Not stated
Group rule At least 4 adults At least 4 adults At most 4 per booking

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest adult price. These are the three evenings the base Kemijärvi page does not cover. The kota evening and the hunt by car are compared there.

Where these figures come from
  • Jauri Resort: heated sleigh: Two and a half hours in a heated sledge towed by a snowmobile, with a hot drink and a snack; thermal clothing lent.
  • Jauri Resort: snowmobile: Two and a half hours driving a snowmobile into the night, two to a machine or alone, children in a sledge.
  • Lappi Creative: campfire: About two and a half hours by a fire with a hot drink and snacks, at most four people per booking, with hotel pickup.

Kemijärvi has more aurora evenings than the booking platform shows, and they suit different people rather than ranking neatly by price.

With small children

The resort’s heated sleigh keeps a family seated and warm for two and a half hours, and it is one of the few evenings here with a child fare.1 Its kota evening works the same way on foot from a minibus. Both need four adults, so a single family may have to join others.

If you want to drive

The resort’s snowmobile evening puts you at the handlebars, two to a machine or alone at a higher price, with children towed behind in a sledge.

If the aurora is the point

The six-hour hunt by car follows the clear sky wherever the night’s data points and ends with photographs of you. It is the longest evening by far, so it suits a party that does not mind a late night.

For two to four people who want quiet

The local company’s campfire evening takes at most four people per booking and sits by a fire with a hot drink while you watch the sky.2

The kota evening and the hunt by car are compared side by side on northern lights in Kemijärvi.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Are the resort's evenings cheaper on its own site than on the platform?

Not for adults. The kota evening costs 115 euros per adult both on the booking platform and in the resort's own shop. What differs is what the listing tells you: the resort's own page prints a child fare and the rule that four adults are needed, while the platform listing shows the adult price and a free cancellation window of 24 hours.

Can the small group evening be booked for just us?

The campfire evening takes at most four people per booking, and its page does not say whether a booking of fewer than four shares the fire with anyone else. If you want the guide to yourselves, the same company sells a private day for up to four people at a fixed price, which includes ice fishing and a chance of the aurora; ask it which suits your party better.

Which evening is best if the forecast is poor?

The hunt by car is the only one built to move: it drives for up to six hours towards clearer sky on the night's data. The kota, sleigh, snowmobile and campfire evenings go to one area and wait. On a night with broken cloud that difference matters more than the price, so check the forecast the day before and choose then if your plans allow it.

Written by

Lapland Handbook Staff

Lapland Handbook is written by its editorial staff in Rovaniemi. Every price, age limit and group size in a comparison is read from the operator's own page and marked "Not stated" when the operator does not publish it. Each guide names who should not book, and names the operator that suits each kind of group, whichever it is.

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