Your Guide to Choosing the Right Northern Lights Tour
Booking a northern lights tour in Rovaniemi can be confusing — there are dozens of operators offering similar-sounding experiences at wildly different prices. After eight winters of testing tours, I've learned exactly what separates a good aurora experience from a disappointing one. Here's my complete guide.
What Makes a Good Northern Lights Tour?
Not all tours are the same. Here are the key factors I evaluate:
Pickup Location
Most tours offer free pickup from Rovaniemi city centre hotels and accommodation. Check the pickup radius — some only pick up from certain areas, leaving you to find your own way to a meeting point.
Photography
Do you want professional photos? Some tours include a guide who takes DSLR shots of you under the aurora and shares them afterwards. Others just point at the sky and let you use your phone. If photography matters, book a dedicated photo tour.
Group Size
Small groups (6-10 people) mean more flexibility — the guide can adjust the location based on aurora forecasts, and you're not waiting for 30 people to get back on the bus. Larger groups (20+) are cheaper but less responsive to changing conditions.
Food and Comfort
Some tours include a warm meal, hot drinks, and a campfire. Others just provide basic snacks. In -20°C, having hot berry juice and grilled sausage by a fire makes a big difference to your enjoyment.
Aurora Guarantee
Some operators offer a "free rebooking" if the aurora doesn't appear — you can try again another night on your trip. This is valuable for short visits where you have limited chances.
Quick Comparison of Tour Types
| Tour Type | Best For | Typical Price | Group Size | Photo Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classic Bus Tour | Budget travellers, large families | $60-100 | 20-40 people | No |
| Small Group Minibus | Couples, solo travellers | $100-160 | 6-12 people | Often yes |
| Photo Tour | Photography enthusiasts | $150-250 | 4-8 people | Yes (pro DSLR) |
| Unique Experience | Adventure seekers | $130-200 | 6-12 people | Sometimes |
Top Pick: Best Of Lapland — Sauna, Ice Swimming, Dinner & Northern Lights
Best Of Lapland: Sauna, Ice swimming, Dinner & Northern Lights — $196 · ★ 4.9 · 160 reviews
Best Of Lapland: Sauna, Ice swimming, Dinner & Northern Lights
Top PickThis is the tour I recommend most often to friends visiting Lapland for the first time. It combines four classic Lapland experiences in one evening: a traditional Finnish sauna, a quick (invigorating!) dip in an ice hole, a hearty dinner, and then northern lights hunting. The flow works perfectly — you warm up in the sauna, cool off in the lake, eat dinner, and by the time you head out to chase the aurora, you're relaxed and ready.
The guides are true locals who know the top aurora spots based on real-time data. Group sizes are capped at 12, so you get personal attention. Dinner is Finnish-style grilled salmon and roasted vegetables — proper food, not just snacks. Professional photos of you under the aurora are included in the price.
Best for: First-timers who want the complete Lapland evening experience. Couples on a special trip. Anyone who wants to try ice swimming in a safe environment.
Currently ★4.9 with 160 reviews. One of the highest-rated activities on Viator for Rovaniemi. The combination of experiences and the quality of guides make this worth the price.
Unique Alternative: Aurora Arctic Ice Floating
Aurora Arctic Ice Floating
Unique ExperienceIf you're looking for something completely different, this is it. You wear a thermal floating suit — think of an insulated drysuit that keeps you completely warm and buoyant — and lie back in a hole cut in the frozen lake. Floating in absolute silence, staring up at the aurora if it's visible, is a surreal experience I've never found anywhere else.
The suits are incredible — even in -25°C, you stay warm and comfortable in the water. The guide provides hot drinks afterwards and professional photos are included. The downside is the shorter duration — you're in the water for about 30-45 minutes, with the rest of the time spent suiting up and driving to the site.
Best for: Adventurous travellers, couples looking for something romantic and unusual, photographers wanting a unique aurora shot.
At $153 with a perfect ★4.9 rating from 118 reviews, this is the most unique aurora experience in Rovaniemi. It's not for everyone — if you hate the idea of being in cold water, skip it — but for those who try it, it's often the highlight of their trip.
Other Recommended Aurora Tours
Aurora Hunting by Minibus with Campfire BBQ
Great ValueA reliable mid-range option that hits the sweet spot between price and quality. Small group minibus (max 10), campfire BBQ with sausages and hot drinks, and a guide who takes aurora photos with your own camera. The guide shares real-time aurora data and is willing to drive further if conditions are better elsewhere. No professional photos, but you'll get help setting up your camera.
Best for: Budget-conscious travellers who still want a quality small-group experience.
What to Avoid in Aurora Tours
After testing dozens of tours, here are the red flags I've learned to spot:
- Large buses with 40+ people. You'll spend more time waiting for people to get on and off the bus than actually watching the aurora. The guide can't customise the location, and you're stuck at a crowded viewpoint.
- No aurora guarantee or rebooking policy. The aurora is natural and unpredictable. Tours that don't offer any kind of rebooking are gambling with your limited time in Lapland.
- Tours that promise "guaranteed" aurora sightings. Nobody can guarantee the northern lights. Honest operators say "we maximise your chances" — any operator promising "guaranteed" sightings is exaggerating.
- Photography not included. If aurora photos matter to you, check before booking. Some tours just drive you to a spot and let you figure out photos yourself. With a smartphone, that usually means blurry green smudges.
- No hot drinks or shelter. Standing outside in -20°C for 3-4 hours without access to a warm vehicle or hot drinks is miserable. Any good tour has a heated vehicle you can return to and offers warm drinks.
Don't book the cheapest tour. The cheapest aurora tours cut corners — larger groups, no photography help, basic snacks instead of meals, and less flexibility to chase clear skies. You're better off paying a bit more for a quality experience, or skipping tours entirely and booking a glass igloo night instead.
Mia's Aurora Stories
The night that almost wasn't. I took a tour out in late November and the forecast was terrible — 100% cloud cover over the entire region. The guide drove us 90 minutes north, past where the forecast showed a break in the clouds. We waited for two hours in a frozen field, and just when we were about to give up, the clouds parted for 15 minutes. The aurora was faint, but the silence in that field, the collective gasp when green appeared on the horizon — I'll never forget it. Patience pays off.
The ice floating skeptic. I was nervous the first time I tried ice floating. Floating in dark water in -20°C goes against every survival instinct. But the thermal suit is engineered so well that you genuinely feel warm. I floated on my back, staring at the stars, and the aurora appeared — a green ribbon drifting directly above me. I cried inside my hood. It was that moving.
Tourist trap alert. Early in my reviewing days, I booked a cheap "aurora bus" for €45. It was a coach of 50 people, one guide who shouted instructions through a microphone, and we drove to a pre-set spot where 3 other buses were already parked. We got aurora photos with headlights in the background. I genuinely felt sorry for the families who'd saved up for that experience. It's why I'm so careful about recommending the right tours now.
About the Author
Official Resources
These official sites provide additional planning information:
- Visit Finland — Official tourism site for Finland
- Visit Rovaniemi — Rovaniemi's official travel guide
- Finnish Meteorological Institute — Weather and aurora forecasts