Our Northern Lights Blog

It may still only be October but the first snow has already started to fall in Lapland and winter is well on its way! Here at The Aurora Zone, this news fills us with excitement as in our opinion there is something quite special about chasing after the Northern Lights in spectacular snow-covered landscapes.

However, something that has to be even more special than hunting the Aurora in the snowy Arctic wilderness is the opportunity to celebrate Christmas in your very own winter wonderland on your very own festive Northern Lights adventure!

Tucked away from the city lights but only a short drive from Rovaniemi airport sits our newest Aurora Zone destination, the Apukka Aurora Borealis Resort.

One of the many perks of working in the product and operations team is that we get to travel to lots of wonderful locations across the globe. We scout out destinations, accommodation and activity providers, in order to piece together new and exciting holidays for you to enjoy.

Aurora hunting has become a fine art and there are now many, many different ways of chasing down Mother Nature’s mesmerising light show. From snowmobile safaris to dog sledding and snowshoeing, the secret is to find a vantage point as far removed from any light pollution as possible.

All of these activities are fabulously fun and entertaining but, in the heart of an Arctic winter, they can get pretty chilly even when you are wearing the thermal clothing we provide on our trips.

We are blue in the face from telling anybody who will listen that autumn is an excellent time to search for the Aurora Borealis. Scientific research and findings from various esteemed Solar Physicists repeatedly point to increased geomagnetic activity (and hence, Auroral displays) in the weeks around the autumn and spring equinoxes.

The big question therefore, is; has this new aurora hunting season started well?

You might not be surprised that here at The Aurora Zone, we’re passionate about all things Northern Lights. We want to give our clients the best chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis which is why we’ve dedicated our time to researching the science behind the phenomenon.

"Haven", art suite created by Jonas Johansson, Jordi Claramunt and, Lukas Petko 

Summer may be drawing to a close but there is plenty to get excited about as winter approaches, not least because Sweden’s world-famous ICEHOTEL® has provided a teaser of what this year’s hotel has to offer for ICEHOTEL® number 29!

Here at The Aurora Zone, there is nothing we want more than for our clients to have the best possible chance of witnessing the Northern Lights. One of the ways we try to optimise your chances is by learning all we can about the underlying science which causes Auroral displays (you can find out more about this on our website under ‘The Science of the Northern Lights’). 

Timo Halonen and his wife Anne run Hotel Korpikartano an idyllic hotel in the breath-taking location of Menesjärvi in Finnish Lapland. Timo has a passion for photography and loves being out with his camera. We caught up with him after another fantastic Northern Lights season to talk about his love for photography and the magical Northern Lights.

During a recent trip to northern Finland, we spent time in the Inari and Utsjoki regions, two areas that are both steeped in Sámi culture and history.

For those of you that don’t know, the Sámi are the indigenous people of the Lapland region. They were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers who made their home in this unique part of northern Scandinavia approximately 4000 years ago, making them one of the oldest cultures in Europe.