Aurora tour with photography guide for large groups

The evening starts with a meeting at any hotel in Abisko or Bjorkliden so that our guide can hand out our warm overalls and to show each guest how our headlamps work. Once everyone is dressed and ready to go, your group can use their chosen means of transportation to our tepee in the Arctic birch forest.

The real adventure starts at the trailhead to our Arctic teepee around 8:30 PM. This teepee was meticulously selected and built with this specific tour in mind. Our teepee has a cozy fireplace in the center with inside seating for up to 30 people. This large size allows us to have a warm retreat for large groups and creates the perfect atmosphere for telling centuries old stories about the northern lights! There is a large viewing deck with more outside seating which surrounds the entire teepee and provides the perfect vantage point for viewing and photographing the northern lights. The teepee is located in the Arctic birch forest that surrounds Abisko National Park and offers clear views of Abisko, Mt. Noulja, Lake Torneträsk and wide open views to the north: the home of the northern lights.

The trail to the teepee is relatively short, which means that guests of nearly any healthy physical ability can enjoy a night under the stars with us. The candle lit trail glows with shimmering reflections of flames dancing in the breeze and meanders through the Arctic birch forest for about five minutes. It is common to see animal tracks including Arctic Hare, moose, reindeer, ermine, and other local fauna along the way to our teepee. Our guide crew will be sure to stop and point out any tracks along the way, which adds a nice additional experience while hunting for the northern lights.

Upon arrival at our teepee, our guide will ask everyone to turn their headlamps off so that their eyes can adjust to the darkness. This will ensure that our guests eyes adjust to the night sky which makes it easier to spot the northern lights dancing overhead. The guide will then have a brief discussion about safety and point out all of the areas that are accessible during the tour. On calm nights we may build an additional fire outside of the teepee so that our guests can enjoy a night by the campfire and enjoy all the beauty and romance associated with a bonfire in the Arctic.

As the night continues, our team will help each of the guests search for the northern lights, set up their cameras and answer any questions that they may have about the Arctic, the northern lights, the local residents of Abisko or any other curiosity that our visitors may have. Camera gear is not included, but our guides are happy to help if guests bring their own cameras. We will also spend ample time photographing each guest so that everyone can go home with a beautiful photograph of themselves with the teepee, the glowing campfire or the northern lights in the background! Each guest will have an opportunity to pose for a couple of individual photographs of themselves or with their travel companions and a group shot will be taken each night. Our photographers will edit the images and send them to the tour leader or account manager within two weeks for further distribution among the clients. We find that these photographs are an excellent souvenir for the guests and that they are also great marketing tools as they will all undoubtedly share their photo with friends and family via social media.

No aurora adventure is complete without a warm drink by the fire! During the course of the evening, our guides will boil a delicious kettle of piping hot lingonberry tea which is prepared over the fire. While the drinks are being served we will give a short presentation about the Sun, and how it is the engine that creates the northern lights. This presentation will be made in layman’s terms so that everyone in the teepee can get a high level understanding of the science behind the northern lights. We will also discuss the culture of the local Sami people as well as the beliefs that the older generation have in relation to the magic of the aurora borealis. Finally, we will discuss life in the Arctic and the impact that the Polar Night has on the local inhabitants.

At approximately 11:15 PM we will begin the journey back to the hotel. Our guide will lead the guests back up the trail head to a waiting coach which can either be provided by the tour operator, or by our partners at Visit Abisko.