Hello everyone, i am Brintha. Me and my better half Martin experienced Finland northern lights tour this year. Our tour was a lifetime experience about which i am going to share my thoughts in this article. This was our first international trip after marriage together and we really wanted to make it special.

Martin and me one day had a discussion about northern lights scenario in which he was explaining me scientific theories behind Aurora and in the discussion we developed a thought to witness northern lights.We started researching about northern lights online and landed on finlandtour.fi’s page where they have showcased Finland northern lights tours. There we connected with them and our Journey of planning and visiting Finland to seek for northern lights started.

When planning a trip to see the Northern Lights, the decision often boils down to selecting the right destination where you have the highest chance of witnessing this spectacular phenomenon. After conducting extensive research online, you’ll notice that destinations in Finland and Norway frequently appear in videos and photos showcasing the Aurora Borealis. While the Northern Lights can be observed in various countries and regions around the world, Scandinavia, particularly Finland and Norway, has developed a robust infrastructure tailored specifically for tourists seeking this northern lights display.We actually understood the fact that we are going to spend at-least a million Euro on the trip, so we should do some more research on it. We understood the northern lights scenario in depth to make sure if we are visiting Finland, that is the right decision.

Aurora Borealis, are a natural light display that occurs near the poles. They’re caused by particles from the sun colliding with Earth’s atmosphere. When these particles, mostly electrons and protons, hit the gases in our atmosphere (like oxygen and nitrogen), they create beautiful, colorful lights that dance across the sky.

When it comes to seeing the Northern Lights, location is key. We decided on Finland itself for northern lights hunting and the main reason was the infrastructure built accordingly for tourists and few other below factors represented in table:

Well, Northern lights scenario does not happen every day. It is very important to choose the best month and even week to increase your chances of Seeing northern lights. So me and Martin started our research on this. We concluded that, the best months to view the Northern Lights in Finland are from late September to early April. During this period, the nights are long and dark, which is crucial for seeing the Aurora Borealis. The peak months are December through February because the nights are longest and typically offer clear skies. This time also coincides with heightened solar activity, which increases the chances of observing the Northern Lights. Additionally, the auroral oval, where the Northern Lights are most visible, is positioned lower in the sky during winter, making it easier to see the Aurora at these latitudes.

Now which month suits us best, initially we thought of visiting Jan 2024, but it would have been too cold and we are not used to cold weather at all. In March comparatively it is less chilled than January and Martin was  able to take leave in mid march comfortably. So we decided our dates from 12 – 19th March.

After decided the destination, now was the time for Itinerary. To figure out the best itinerary for Northern lights tour of Finland we took help from Denny from finlandtour.fi. From Singapore we only had the option to arrive and return from Helsinki. Though Lapland was our destination but we spent 2 nights in Helsinki. Here is our Finland northern lights tour itinerary:

12 march: Day 1: Arrival at Helsinki from Singapore + We were transferred to Hotel in Helsinki central, it was Radisson blue Plaza which was exactly in the centre of the city. We enjoyed the nearby area by walk on own and it was a different vibe.

13 march: Day 2: Breakfast was included for us in Hotel, this day we had a flight to Ivalo around 11:30 am. We checkout out from the place and were picked up for airport by finlandtour.fi’s driver. Our domestic flight was also booked by them. When we arrived at Ivalo airport, it was totally covered with snow. A little cute and quick airport. We were picked up again from here and taken to Kakkslauttanen west side, where we checked in to our Igloo room. It was first of this type experience for us and we were excited to see northern lights. Though we were not lucky enough this night. Dinner was included for us and it was buffet, we enjoyed it.

14 march: Day 3: We woke up around 7:30, the premises was breathtaking in the morning.We had an amazing buffet breakfast. After Breakfast we had Snow mobile Safari planned by finlandtour.fi which was thrilling. We both shared the scooter and again it was the first time Martin was driving it. I must say he was quite bad at it. It was around 2:30 hours Safari and then we spent time the premises only.

In the night we experienced for what we were putting our efforts since almost 6 months. We witnessed northern lights at around 23:30. Alarms started ringing all over the resort. I cannot express my feeling, these were goose bumps for us. It felt like we achieved something. Thanks to almighty, we saw northern lights first time in our life.

15 march: Day 4: We had to checkout this day early in the morning from Kakkslauttanen resort and travel to Rovaniemi via cab. In the night we asked the resort to pack breakfast for us early in the morning so we could checkout on time. Sharp 6 Am, companies driver was at the reception and we had to hurry. We even missed the breakfast. It was dark when we started our Journey to Rovaniemi which took us 3 hours to reach hotel. We reached around 9 :15 to Arctic city hotel. The checkin time is 15:00, so we had to keep our bags in the cloak room. We had our breakfast in Rovaniemi restaurant. Around 11:am, we were picked up from hotel for Santa claus village.

We were given an itinerary in sequential way which guides us with timings of included things for us. We met Santa Claus, visited Husky park and enjoyed Husky sledge, enjoyed at Snow man world, crossed arctic circle and lunch. The lunch for us was arranged at Santamus restaurant.Around 15:00 we were picked again from Santa Claus village and dropped to Sauna Bath location. Finlandtour.fi arranged 1:30 hours Sauna bath for us and trust me it was unforgettable experience. Around 17:00, we were dropped back to hotel and end of the day.

16th march: Day 5: We had a breakfast in the morning and today it was Ice breaker cruise planned for us. They picked us up from a picked up point which was just 10 minutes walk from hotel. It was around 10:00am. We boarded a bus which was full of tourists for Ice breaker. This bus took us to Kemi and it was beautiful journey. Luckily i got the window seat. Finally we reached the frozen sea where we boarded a ship where we saw it breaking ice. We floated on the ice and it was lovely experiencing. After the activity, we had lunch their and travelled back to Rovaniemi to the same point.

On the way we were able to spot northern lights, though the excitement level was not the same, but it gave a sense of happiness .

17 march: Day 6: This was our day to checkout and get transferred to Airport for a flight to Helsinki. With Heavy heart we left Lapland and arrived Helsinki early morning. This day we had planned Porvoo tour. We reached hotel around 10:30 am, kept our bags in cloak room. We were picked up around 11:00 for Porvoo from Hotel reception. Took us an hour to reach Porvoo. Guide was waiting for us at meeting point, Rhuno hotel. There started 1:30 hours Porvoo guided tour, Amelia was friendly, knowledgeable and had warmth. The village was cute, quite and lovely. We had lunch there and were pickup again to get back to hotel. Rested the whole day.

18th march: Day 7: It was our day to travel to Tallinn from Helsinki. It was going to be a day tour. Early morning we were picked up from hotel and dropped to Helsinki harbour. There we boarded the Tallink Selja ferry which was not less than a cruise. It took us 2 hours to reach Tallinn, Estonia from Helsinki. At Tallinn Harbor we met John who took us for a 2 hour walking guided tour of Tallinn city. This Historic city is one of the oldest city of Europe. There were ancient structures with Vibrant history. After the completion of guided tour, we explored the city on own and had lunch. After exploration we went back to Tallin harbour to board our ferry back to Helsinki. After arriving Helsinki harbour we were picked by companies driver who dropped us back to Hotel. In short it was perfect day which was perfectly organised by finlandtour.fi.

19th march: Day 8: It was the day to end our tour. We checkout in the morning and dropped to Airport. It was the end of our Finland northern lights tour and we enjoyed every bit of it. A special thanks to the perfect planning and execution by Denny.