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Northern lights in Levi: which aurora tour to book

Green northern lights glowing behind tall pines above a snowbank at night

Illustration photo: the aurora behind pines, not taken on one of the tours compared here.

Lapland Handbook Staff How we research this

The short answer

Choose the format of the evening, because that is what you are paying for; the aurora is the same sky whichever you book. For the best odds on a cloudy week, book a tour that drives to wherever the sky is clear, which costs more and takes most of the night. For a short, warm evening with children, a fire or a heated sleigh near the resort is the better buy. Book early in your stay so a cloudy first night leaves you another chance.

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.

Safartica: campfireLovimainas: heated sleighLapland Safaris: snowshoesArctic GM: all-night chase
Price €92 – the lowest price per person €99 €101 €199
How you wait By a campfire In a heated sleigh Walking on snowshoes Driving to clear sky
Length 3 h 3 h 2 h 30 min 8 h (usually 6–10)
Group limit Not stated 8 Not stated 8
Winter clothing Included Not stated Not stated Not stated
Departure Not stated Not stated Daily, 7:30 pm Not stated

Highlighted figures are the best in that row: the lowest price per person. All four price per person. Only price is marked: a longer evening improves the odds on a cloudy night and is too much for a small child, so length has no better or worse.

Where these figures come from
  • Safartica: campfire: A fire, grilled sausage and hot drinks in one spot. Its listing is candid that the evening means about two hours outdoors, which is the thing to weigh with small children.
  • Lovimainas: heated sleigh: The warm option: you watch from a heated sleigh with a clear roof instead of standing in the snow. The one to pick for anyone who feels the cold.
  • Lapland Safaris: snowshoes: The active option: a guided walk on snowshoes at night, which the operator rates as moderate rather than easy.
  • Arctic GM: all-night chase: The best odds on a cloudy week: a van with no distance limit that goes where the forecast says the sky is clear, usually for six to ten hours. Twice the price of the others and most of the night gone.

Every aurora tour in Levi is selling the same sky. What differs is the evening you spend waiting under it, and that is the real choice: a fire in one place, a heated sleigh, a walk on snowshoes, or a van that keeps driving until it finds a gap in the cloud. The four tours in the table are one of each, and the format decides the price, the length of the night and who in your group can come.

On a clear night, the short formats are enough

When the sky over Levi is clear, driving far buys you little. A campfire or a sleigh a short way from the resort puts you under the same aurora for half the price and less than half the night. Safartica’s campfire keeps it simple, and its winter clothing is part of the ticket. Lovimainas’ heated sleigh costs a little more and keeps you warm while you watch, which on a night of minus 25 is not a small thing.

Lapland Safaris’ snowshoe walk is for people who would rather move than stand, and it suits the fit rather than the tired.

On a cloudy night, distance is what you pay for

A tour that stays in one place can do nothing about cloud. Arctic GM’s tour has no distance limit and typically runs six to ten hours, going wherever the forecast shows a clear sky, across the border if it has to. That is what the higher price buys, and it makes this the tour to book in a week when the forecast looks poor.

Its listing calls the tour “guaranteed”. Read the small print: the refund applies if the weather is so bad that the tour does not start. Once you are in the van, the listing offers nothing for an empty sky, as on every other tour here.

When to book

Early in your stay. Every one of these tours depends on the weather, and a first night lost to cloud is only a disappointment if it was your only night. For how the aurora forecast works and how to read it on the day, the guide to the northern lights in Rovaniemi explains it in full, and all of it applies in Levi too.

If your group wants the evening to itself, the private northern lights tours in Levi are priced per party and compared there. The rest of the resort is on the Levi destination page.

If you would rather have one tour named for your situation, cloudy forecast, tight budget, children or camera, see the best northern lights tour in Levi.

Tours you can book

Questions people ask

What happens if the sky stays cloudy?

Read the terms of the tour you book, because they differ. Arctic GM Experiences refunds in full if the weather is so poor that its tour does not start at all; once it has started, the listing promises effort rather than a sighting. Lovimainas refunds its sleigh evening in full at minus 30 °C or colder, which is about temperature, not cloud. The campfire and snowshoe listings set no rule of their own. None of the four gives you money back simply because the aurora did not appear.

Can children come on an aurora tour?

On some of them. Lapland Safaris sells a child fare on its snowshoe walk only from the age of 12. Lovimainas lists children under three as unsuitable for its sleigh evening. Safartica sets no lower age for its campfire but asks parents to consider that the evening is late and means about two hours outdoors. Arctic GM does not say. For a young child the short, warm formats are the realistic choice, and the all-night drive is not.

Is autumn better than midwinter for the aurora in Levi?

Visit Levi says the lights appear once the nights darken at the end of August, are more frequent in autumn than in winter, and can be seen until April. Autumn has a practical drawback, though: several of the formats on this page depend on snow, and a campfire by an unfrozen lake is a different evening from one in deep winter. If the aurora is the whole reason for the trip, autumn is worth considering; if snow matters too, midwinter is the compromise.

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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