Viewed: 20 Jul 2021

Two Country Tour - , Fjords and the Arctic Circle Train

HOLIDAY TYPE: Flexible Dates BROCHURE CODE: 26032 VISITING: , DURATION: 5 nights

In Brief Our Opinion Travel on the famed Arctic Circle Train to take your Northern Lights search across two The Arctic Circle Train is truly a phenomenal countries. Your adventure begins in Sweden journey. Moving from the towering Abisko with an unforgettable night at the ICEHOTEL®, National Park set in the Swedish mountains to dog sledding and an Aurora hunt in the the breathtaking Norwegian fjords gives you a wilderness. The train will then take you to deeper appreciation of this rugged landscape. Norway, where two dedicated Northern Lights Combine this with the many different experiences await as well as a visit to the opportunities to search for the Northern Lights world’s most northerly animal park. and this is certainly a trip you won’t forget in a hurry!

Amy Hope

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What's included?

• Transfers: scheduled shuttle pick up from Airport to the ICEHOTEL, transfer to Björkliden, transfer to train station, transfer from Narvik train station to Scandic Narvik, private transfer to Evenes Airport. All activity transfers are also included. • Arctic Circle Train: 2nd class train tickets from Bjorkliden to Narvik • Accommodation: 1-night ICEROOM at the ICEHOTEL, 2 nights room at the Hotel Fjallet, Björkliden and 2 nights standard room at the Scandic Narvik • Meals: 5 breakfasts, 1 lunch, 3 dinners • The following activities and equipment are included: guided tour of the ICEHOTEL, snowshoe walk to Northern Lights dinner experience, husky safari, Arctic Circle train, lights at the lodge, Polar Park visit, Northern Lights experience with a local Sámi family • Experienced guides and instructors for all activities • Cold weather clothing during activities only • A note on flights: while flights are not included in the holiday price, our team will happily provide a quote and arrange them for you. Simply ask one of our Travel Experts for details of the available options Trip Overview

Take your Northern Lights search on an adventure across two countries to discover the best of both northern regions. Travelling on the famed Arctic Circle Train, you’ll journey to both Sweden and Norway for exciting Aurora hunts and memorable winter experiences.

First on the agenda is Sweden, where your holiday gets off to an unforgettable start with a night at the ICEHOTEL®. You’ll have a drink in the bar, see the intricate sculptures and enjoy a five-course dinner which includes a selection of locally sourced ingredients served in a unique way. Following this, you will retire to your spectacular ice room. Don’t worry, you’ll keep warm with the special thermal bedding provided so you can lie back and enjoy one of the coolest in the north. In the morning, you’ll unwind with a sauna before trying your hand at carving an , so you can really see the work that goes into the magnificent hotel.

Your Swedish adventure continues with a transfer to the stunning mountain region of Björkliden. Here,

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you will take a snowshoe walk into the wilderness for a Northern Lights dining experience amongst nature and in prime Aurora territory. You will also try the most-loved Arctic activity of dog sledding as you ride as a passenger in the sled and admire the stunning winter scenes as they unfold around you.

Then it’s time to take one of the best rail routes in the world. Onboard the Arctic Circle Train, you will journey from the Swedish mountains to the awe-inspiring fjords in Norway. Here, you will embark on two dedicated Northern Lights searches. One will take you 659m high to a brilliant vantage point of the city below and hopefully, the Auroras above. Another night will see you gain an authentic insight into the Sámi culture during a Northern Lights night around the campfire with a local family. During the day, you will visit the Polar Park to see an array of Arctic animals including bears, lynx and wolves.

For a Northern Lights journey that allows you to search for the magical display in unforgettable ways, a chance to travel between two stunning countries on the famed Arctic Circle Train and the opportunity to try the most sought-after winter experiences, this holiday covers it all.

Image credits: Asaf Kliger and Icehotel, imagebank.Sweden.Se, @ Bjorkliden, Arctic Range Adventure Ltd, @ Narvik & John-Inge Lund

Agenda

Please note the order of activities is subject to change

DAY ARRIVAL AND OVERNIGHT IN THE ICEHOTEL 1

Upon arrival at Kiruna Airport, you will be met and transferred to the impressive and world-first ICEHOTEL®. You will have time to admire the magnificent ice sculptures, have a drink in the and explore the ice chapel.

This evening you will enjoy a classic five-course dinner which includes a selection of locally-sourced ingredients, served with a unique twist.

Tonight you will have the brilliant opportunity of sleeping inside one of the ice rooms. Tucked up in your Arctic-grade sleeping bag, you will be very cosy as you sleep in one of the coolest accommodations available.

Included Meals: Dinner

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DAY ICE SCULPTING, TRANSFER TO BJÖRKLIDEN AND NORTHERN LIGHTS 2 DINNER EXPERIENCE

Today, after waking up in your ice room, you will enjoy hot lingonberry juice and a warm sauna before your hearty breakfast.

After admiring all the sculptures around the hotel, it’s time for you to let your creative side out and learn how to carve your very own ice sculpture. Your guide will show you how to use the carving tools as you gain a brilliant insight into the intricate work that goes into creating the hotel.

This afternoon you will transfer to the stunning mountainous region of Björkliden and check into your hotel. You will have time to settle into your surroundings ahead of tonight’s Northern Lights dinner experience. Strapping on a pair of snowshoes, which will help you walk over the deep with ease, you will follow your guide on a 1.5km walk through the wilderness. Arriving at a cosy hut with a roaring fire, you will keep warm while the guide cooks a delicious meal. This location is also a prime lookout spot for the Northern Lights, so you will be keeping an eye on the sky for a potential display.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner

DAY DOG SLEDDING 3

Fill up on breakfast ahead of your Arctic adventure of a lifetime. Today, you will experience dog sledding, with your loyal pack out in front guiding you over the snowy tracks.

You will meet with the local expert mushers who will get you seated comfortably in the sled as they take the driving position. As soon as the brakes are lifted, the dogs will surge forward and then quickly settle into their pace - leaving you to enjoy the wonderful winter surroundings of majestic mountains and wide-open snowy views.

Following your adventurous morning, you will have a free afternoon and evening to spend as you please. You could upgrade dinner tonight to a memorable experience at the Aurora Sky Station - see our ‘Personalise’ tab for more information.

Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

DAY ARCTIC CIRCLE TRAIN TO NARVIK IN NORWAY, LIGHTS AT THE LODGE 4 EXPERIENCE

Following breakfast, you will be transferred a short distance to the train station in Björkliden to board the Arctic Circle Train. This impressive 1.5-hour train journey takes you from frozen Swedish mountains to the magnificent fjords of Norway.

Upon arrival, you will transfer to your hotel and have time to settle in and choose one of the local restaurants for dinner ahead of your Lights at the Lodge experience this evening. Tonight you will take the cable car seven minutes up to reach a height of 659m. Here you will be served drinks and snacks

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as you enjoy the breathtaking views - if conditions are favourable, this is a brilliant spot to witness the Northern Lights!

Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY POLAR PARK AND SÁMI NORTHERN LIGHTS EXPERIENCE 5

Following breakfast, you will transfer to the Polar Park - the world’s most northerly animal park. Here, you will find a selection of Arctic animals such as bear, lynx, moose, and wolves. You will have three hours to explore the park and see all the animals.

Tonight, you will transfer 15-minutes to Beisfjord where you will meet with a local Sámi family who will tell you all about their history, culture and life in the north. You will sit in a cosy teepee and enjoy snacks around the campfire as you wait in anticipation for the Northern Lights. Later you will be taken back to your hotel room in central Narvik.

Included Meals: Breakfast

DAY DEPARTURE 6

Today is, unfortunately, the end of your time in the Arctic. Following breakfast, we will transfer you to the airport for your return flights home. If you have an early flight time, breakfast will be boxed up for you to take with you.

Included Meals: Breakfast

Personalise this tour

Our pick

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Aurora Sky Station Dinner

This exclusive dinner experience takes you to one of the world’s best Northern Lights locations.

Your evening begins with a comfortable chairlift ride of around 20 minutes. You’ll journey deep into the national park where dark skies and serene surroundings await.

Arriving at STF Aurora Sky Station, you will sit down for a three-course dinner of Northern Swedish cuisine, inspired by Sápmi’s traditions and the wonderful surrounding environment. After dinner, you will learn all about the Northern Lights during a guided tour. You will head onto the large, outdoor terrace as well as the lookout tower where, if conditions are favourable, the Auroras and starry sky will shine above.

Duration: approximately 3 hours

Credits: Lightsoverlapland

Included Accommodation

The ICEHOTEL® (Nights: 1)

THE ORIGINAL

The ICEHOTEL® at Jukkasjärvi has the impressive claim of being the world’s first ice hotel and was developed from a concept beginning in 1989. A local entrepreneur by the name of Yngve Bergqvist who ran a thriving business in the summer decided to attract tourists in the winter by offering ice carving workshops and creating a small ice as a gallery to showcase these designs.

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This igloo grew in scale each year until one night a group of guests, equipped with reindeer skins and sleeping bags asked to spend the night, creating the concept of the ice hotel in the process!

Although Ice and snow hotels can be found across Lapland, the ICEHOTEL® remains the original.

What’s more, 2018 saw the ICEHOTEL® become the first-ever Nordic Swan Ecolabel hotel made completely of ice and snow.

The certification process looks at all areas, from energy and consumption to waste management; understandably, this presented many challenges when measuring a hotel whose rooms melt away at the end of each winter season!

The eco-label adds to a growing list of certifications for the ICEHOTEL® who is also certified a Sustainable Arctic Destination. Certification ensures guests are choosing environmentally conscious products and the ICEHOTEL® are – rightly so - very proud to receive such recognition.

ICEHOTEL 365

The hotel now boasts ICEHOTEL 365, a permanent structure, allowing it to be a year-round destination to visitors who travel the world to sleep in a room of ice and snow. Containing deluxe rooms, art suites, an ice bar and a sculpture hall, this environmentally sustainable building is a construct of glass, metal and concrete, but with the same incredible standard and visual design of snow and ice on the inside, with cooling tubes to keep it at a temperature of around -5 at all times.

Alongside this is the classic ICEHOTEL® building, constructed purely of ice and snow and carefully crafted each December, utilising blocks from the nearby Torne River.

Home to ice rooms, winter suites and a chapel the structure is a marvel to see and, come summer, simply melts back into the river from which it came. Each year, architects, designers and artists submit designs for the hotel's features and a handful are chosen to go forward with their theme.

The hotel consists of several buildings including the main ice building and ICEHOTEL 365. We cannot guarantee which area our guests will stay in.

The rooms which are contained within the ice and snow building will not be available until after the 14th of December. Check-in time for the cold rooms is usually around 6 pm and for the warm rooms, it is approximately 3 pm. The ICEHOTEL® is open to members of the public for viewing between 10 am and 6 pm. You will check out after breakfast.

Hotel facilities

• The reception is in the main warm building which also houses the lounge area, warm bar, dressing room, luggage room, restaurant and gift shop which sells a selection of ICEHOTEL® themed gifts and locally sourced handicrafts • Guests who are on a guided tour of the ICEHOTEL® will also visit the large warehouse where you can learn about how the hotel is constructed each season • The restaurant serves breakfast lunch and dinner which include some wonderful Swedish favourites. The restaurant operates fixed dinner seating times and we highly recommend that

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you make a reservation in advance with us • As an alternative, guests can eat at the Homestead Restaurant which is a smaller, rustic restaurant a short walk from the hotel • The classic ICEHOTEL® building is connected to a warm building which houses the toilets, showers and sauna. There are also lockers in here in which to store your valuables and clothes overnight • The warm building also has a small number of bunk beds in case you decide your ice room is not for you Guest room types

The Cold Rooms: the inside of the cold rooms is kept at around -5°C but you will be equipped with arctic grade thermal sleeping bags so you will stay surprisingly warm!

Please take note that the cold rooms are accommodated in two separate buildings. ICEHOTEL 365 is a permanent building constructed of metal, glass and concrete with an ice and snow interior kept cool via cooling tubes. Some rooms are also in the classic ice building which is made wholly of ice and snow and constructed afresh each winter season. We cannot guarantee which area you will stay in.

Ice Rooms (in classic ice building) (only available after 14 December): the ice rooms are the simplest designed rooms which are usually booked as standard. These are made of ice and snow and each contains a mattress topped with reindeer skins and also some ice furniture and carvings. They are closed off from the corridors via thick curtains as opposed to doors, but the thick walls of ice and snow allow for great sound insulation. There are usually around 15 rooms available for guests.

Art Suites (in classic ice building) (only available after 14 December): these are uniquely and beautifully designed by chosen artists around the world each year and offer a wide variety of themes and include intricate sculptures and carvings to reflect this. As with the ice rooms, these have curtains instead of doors and there are around 15 in total for guests to book.

Deluxe Suites (in permanent ICEHOTEL 365 building): the unique and enchanting Deluxe Suites 365 are individually themed and hand-carved by artists commissioned throughout the world, with the designs changing each year. To spend a night amidst the lifelike and exquisite carvings is a surreal and magical experience. You are awoken by sparkling colours which reflect from the ice and cup of hot lingonberry juice at your bedside table. A sauna session then awaits you before you enjoy a delicious breakfast. The Deluxe Suites are part of the new concept ICEHOTEL 365, available all year round thanks to a new specially designed building which is run on solar power. There are three different types of Deluxe available.

Deluxe Suite Hilla: the Hilla Suites are beautifully decorated suites available throughout the year. They contain a bathroom, two comfortable armchairs, a shower and a sauna, which is directly connected to the bedroom. A comfortable bed decorated with reindeer hides and inclusive of a thermal sleeping bag lies at the centre. The design is a mixture of local culture and history created by Marjolein Vonk and Pia Sandgren. A heated relaxation area is available which provides storage for your belongings and the suite has doors which lock for your privacy.

Deluxe Suite Jáuvre: these majestic suites are furnished with comfortable Carpe Diem beds covered

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in reindeer hides and inclusive of a thermal sleeping bag. Inside the room, there is a bathroom, two comfortable armchairs, a shower, sauna and a bathtub. Similarly, to the other suites, the Jáuvre suites are designed with a combination of local culture and history by Marjolein Vonk and Pia Sandgren and they have a heated relaxation area from where you can store all your belongings and the suite has doors which lock for your privacy.

Deluxe Suite Johka: this spacious suite contains a comfortable double bed, a connecting bathroom, two comfortable armchairs and double waterfall showers, which are directly connected to the room. The design features a combination of local culture and history and was created by Marjolein Vonk and Pia Sandgren. A heated relaxation area provides storage for your belongings and the suite has doors which lock for your privacy.

Art Suites 365 (in permanent ICEHOTEL 365 building): these offer the same amenities as the art suites in the classic ice building but being part of the permanent building allows them to have a proper door. Each is independently and artistically designed by chosen artists and architects to reflect new carefully chosen themes each year. There are 12 art 365 suites in total.

The Warm Rooms: for those less keen on sleeping in low temperatures, the ICEHOTEL® also has a number of warm accommodation options:

Kaamos Hotel Room (standard): light and airy, these en-suite rooms have modern décor and furnishings. Each has a double bed or twin beds and TV.

Kaamos Hotel Room (superior): these rooms have the same amenities as the standard Kaamos rooms, however, they have recently been updated and decorated in a contemporary style.

Nordic Hotel Chalet: these are designed to accommodate up to four people. Each has one double/ twin bedroom and one room with bunk beds, making them ideal for families or small groups of friends. Each has an ensuite bathroom with shower, small living room with a fridge and kettle and TV.

Arctic Chalet: these have a double and a single room so are best suited to three people. Each chalet is en-suite and has a shower room, a small living area, fridge, kettle, TV and telephone.

Image credits: ICEHOTEL, Jose Carlos, Cabello Millan, Javier Alvaro, Colomino Matassa & Asaf Kliger, Tjasa Gusfors, David Andren, AnnaSofia Maag, Anna Katrin Kraus, Hans Aesch, Rob Harding, Timsam Harding, Luc Voisin, Mathieu Brison, Petros Dermatas, Ellie Souti, Nicolas Triboulot, Cedric Alizard, Sebastian Scheller,Kristina Mockel, Jose Carlos, Cabello Millan, Javier Alvaro, Colomino Matassa, Peter Grant & Magnus Skoglöf & Martin Jakobsson & Imagebank.sweden.se

Hotel Fjallet (Nights: 2-3)

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Located 250km above the Arctic Circle, Hotel Fjallet is a brilliant northern base with exceptional views of the surrounding mountains and snowy scenes. Hotel Facilities

• Relax in the restaurant and bar after a day of winter adventures • Keep in touch with loved ones with free Wi-Fi in all rooms • Soak up the mountainous views from the lounge with panoramic windows Room Facilities

DOUBLE OR TWIN ROOM: All rooms are decorated in a modern yet cosy style and come with a bathroom with shower and hairdryer, a work desk, armchair and free Wi-Fi.

Scandic Narvik (Nights: 4-5)

This award-winning hotel is situated in one of Northern Norway’s tallest buildings. This gives you brilliant views of Narvik and the surrounding mountains and fjords. Hotel Facilities

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• Experience the best of the views from the Totta Bar, located on the 15th floor • Try some of the delicious seasonal ingredients served in The Tind restaurant Room Facilities

STANDARD ROOM (sleeps 2): All rooms are spacious and come with a queen-sized bed, bathroom with shower or bathtub, desk and chairs, free Wi-Fi, hairdryer, tea and coffee making facilities and TV. The Specifics Holiday group size (approximate)

Minimum 2 and maximum 12 people (approximately) Group Size

We always try to provide an approximation of the group size you can expect to be with for the duration of each of our holidays. It may be that you are joined by others for parts of your holiday (such as transfers and particular activities) but the above number reflects those you can normally expect to be with from beginning to end. If group size is something which is particularly important to you, please speak to our Travel Experts and they can suggest the best holidays for you.

Tailor-made holiday group sizes will vary for all activities as will the group size for any additional activities you book. Minimum numbers required for a holiday to operate

Some of our holidays require a minimum number of participants to operate (as listed in the ‘Group Size’ section). If your holiday departure has not yet reached the minimum number, you will be told at the time of booking. In the unlikely event that your chosen date is not guaranteed by nine weeks before your scheduled departure date, we will contact you to discuss the available options as per our booking conditions. Minimum and maximum age

If a specific minimum age applies to this holiday, it can be found in the Key Facts box on the holiday Overview page.

Unless otherwise stated in the Key Facts box on the holiday Overview page, the minimum age for participation in an Aurora Zone holiday is typically 12 years old (there may be younger children in some destinations who have booked with other companies). If an adult-only environment is important to you, then please contact our Travel Experts and they will advise on the best dates and destinations

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for you. If you are looking for a holiday designed specifically for families then please see our sister company www.activitiesabroad.com. Itinerary amendments

The order of activities listed in this agenda is provided for guidance only, your final and detailed itinerary will be provided either with your final travel documents (which are uploaded into your online account around a week prior to departure) or upon arrival. Terms and Conditions

Our full booking terms and conditions can be found on our website: https://www.theaurorazone.com/ booking-conditions

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