Night Safari By Snowmobile or Northern Lights Search By Rein

My family and I are going to Rovaniemi, Lapland in December for a 3 day stay. As part of our package we have the option to do a %26quot;Night Safari by Snowmobile%26quot; or %26quot;Northern Lights Search by Reindeer%26quot;. I%26#39;m not sure which one would be the best to do and also if anyone has done these before did you book them through your travel agency or book them when you arrive in Lapland. We are really looking forward to the trip as it%26#39;s a once in a lifetime opportunity for us and want to make it a magical experience for the family. Appreciate any suggestions given.

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The difference between those two would be the noise and speed.

With snowmobile you%26#39;d be able to ride more, ride faster, but as it has an engine it won%26#39;t be very peaceful.

With reindeers it %26#39;s gonna be silent and slower. I guess the difference would be the same as with horse %26amp; open jeep? :)

I would without a hesitance pick the northern lights - if you get to see them it will e magical. However they don%26#39;t always appear - it%26#39;s purely out of luck (has to do with clouds %26amp; the weather etc). But they are amazingly beautiful if you have the luck to see them.

The best thing would be to go there and ask for the locals / hotels what%26#39;s the chance of seeing them while your visiting and make then go from there.

=)

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i m also going to Lapland in December, and i dont have actitives booked for the evenings/night, will i be able to do so from there? i would love to see the northen lights Search, with it be possible?

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Hi!

I hope you see the northern lights. You can also try to see them by yourself. Just find a dark place (=no street lights) with a view to north. Here in Rovaniemi they are most often visible low in the northern horizon (best time is around 10 pm). Sometimes those safaries are earlier than that. Unfortunately now the northern lights are not very active due solar minimum. December is also quite cloudy month.

Here in Rovaniemi I usually go to watch northern lights by the river near Arktikum museum. There are no street lights there . Just walk to north along river starting from Pohjanhovi hotel. When you have walked under two bridges you see Arktikum and get darker sky.

Usually you first see a faint arc coming from east to west. Sometimes that arc gets brighter and gives a nice show. The best show usually last only 10-20 minutes. After that they are faint again, but new show might come later. You never know. Sometimes northern lights can be very active all night. So you have to patient and off course lucky too.

http://www.spaceweather.com/ is a good site to see how active the auroras are. Like now they predict a coronal hole could reach earth on Oct. 11 th. So tomorrow there might be a good chance to see northern lights here in Lapland.

Good luck all.

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thank you,

i will be mostly in Kittila and my last night will be at the Snow hotel, is that far from Rovaniemi? will it be possible to see them from Kittila aswell?

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Hi!

Kittilä is about 170 km north from Rovaniemi. Actually that means northern lights should be easier to see there as they are higher in the sky.

Northern lights are most beautiful when they are bright and over head. In Kittilä that happens more often than here in Rovaniemi. Good luck.

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I would recommend the northern lights search by reindeer. There are usually 2 people per sledge and as you drive the sledge you will have an opprtunity to admire the surrounding nature. If you are lucky you may see the Northern Lights. Even the starry winter sky is amazing. I%26#39;m local and lived my whole life here and never get tired of admiring the winter sky :)

As for reserving the safaris, you can make the reservations also after your arrival, for instance through the hotel reception. Notice however, that December is the busiest month in Rovaniemi and safaris may get fully booked quickly. I recommend at least preliminary resevations in order to guarantee the availability. You can in most cases cancel the reservation without cost if something comes up.

Check for instance: www.erasettiwildnorth.fi