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Northern lights in Kemijärvi: which evening to book

An orange canvas lavvu lit from inside on a snowy frozen lake at night, green and red aurora filling the sky behind it

Illustration photo: a lavvu under the aurora in Sweden, not in Kemijärvi.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

If a short, warm evening is what you want, book the kota evening: a bus takes you to a hut with a fire, a hot drink and a snack, and you are back after two and a half hours. If the aurora is the reason for the trip, book the six-hour hunt by car, which moves to wherever the sky is clearest and comes with photographs of you. It costs more and keeps you out much longer.

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 ResortRovaniemi Insider
Price €115 – the lowest price per person €149
Length 2.5 h 6 h
Goes looking for clear sky No, to one kota Yes, by car
Photos of you Not in the listing Yes, sent within 3 days
Pick-up points in Kemijärvi 4 2

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. Both price per person and lend winter clothing. Only price is marked: a longer hunt is not a better evening for someone who wants to be back early.

Where these figures come from
  • Jauri Resort: Two and a half hours: a bus to Kaakuri Kota, a fire, hot berry juice and a snack, and stories from the guide while you watch the sky. Pick-up from four places in town.
  • Rovaniemi Insider: Six hours in a people carrier with no distance limit, heading for the clearest sky on the night's data, with hot drinks, snacks and photographs sent within three days.

The two aurora evenings that pick up in Kemijärvi come from different companies, and each is built around a different idea of the night. One takes you to a single warm place and waits there; the other keeps moving towards clear sky.

If you want a short, warm evening

Jauri Resort’s night-sky evening leaves by bus for Kaakuri Kota, a hut in the forest with a fire, where you get hot berry juice and a snack and hear the guide’s stories while you watch the sky. It lasts two and a half hours and costs 115 euros.

If the aurora is the point

Rovaniemi Insider’s hunt starts at the Academy hotel in town and drives for up to six hours in a people carrier with no distance limit, choosing its stops from the night’s weather and aurora data. The guide photographs you under the sky and the pictures arrive within three days. It costs 149 euros.

Aurora tours with more operators and ways of travelling are compared in the best northern lights tours in Rovaniemi, and the rest of what is sold in town is on the Kemijärvi destination page.

The daylight outings from the same town are set out separately: husky safari in Kemijärvi, reindeer in Kemijärvi and ice fishing in Kemijärvi.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

Can we bring children?

The hunt by car lists babies under one year as not suitable and sets no other age, and the kota evening sets no age at all. For a small child the length matters more than the rule: six hours out after dark is a long night, while the kota evening is over in two and a half. Ask the company about a child seat for the car when you book, since neither listing mentions one.

What do we wear?

Both listings lend winter clothing: the kota evening lists thermal clothing, the hunt by car warm winter clothing. Bring warm layers of your own to wear underneath all the same, and gloves you can operate a phone in if you mean to take pictures yourself. The kota evening has a fire, which the listing for the car hunt does not mention, so layers matter most on the longer evening.

What if we have to cancel?

Both listings allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start, and the hunt by car adds a full refund at any time if the cancellation is due to force majeure. Neither listing mentions a refund for an evening under cloud, so the decision to go is best made on the day before, with the forecast in hand.

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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