Lapland Northern Lights Packages

Most Lapland packages are built from the same five parts, and knowing which ones are in yours is the whole exercise:

• Flights into Rovaniemi, Kittilä or Ivalo, usually seasonal charters
• Airport transfers, which matter more here than elsewhere because the resorts sit 20 to 40 km out and taxis are scarce and expensive
• Accommodation, from a standard hotel room to a glass-roofed cabin
• Thermal clothing hire, a proper insulated suit and boots, which sounds like a small item and is not
• Activities, typically one or two: husky sled, reindeer farm, snowmobile, or a guided aurora hunt

The thing most packages do not include is dinner. At a remote resort with no alternative restaurant, that is 40 to 70 EUR per person per night you have not budgeted.

The other thing to check is whether the aurora hunt is included or sold as an extra once you arrive. A guided hunt is genuinely worth having in Lapland, because the guide drives to wherever the sky is clear. If it is not in the price, add 100 to 150 EUR per person.

A three to four night Lapland package from a European city typically runs 900 to 1,800 EUR per person in a standard hotel, and 1,600 to 3,000 EUR with glass-cabin nights. From North America, add the transatlantic flight and expect 2,500 EUR and up.

Roughly where that goes: flights 300 to 600, accommodation 400 to 1,400 depending on whether you have a glass roof, activities 200 to 400, transfers 80 to 150, clothing hire 60 to 100.

The glass cabin is the single biggest lever. Two nights in a normal room plus one in a cabin costs far less than three in a cabin, and you still get your night under the sky. Most people who book three cabin nights would have been happier with one cabin night and more activities.

Christmas is priced for Christmas. A late December package costs 40 to 70 percent more than the same trip in February, and December is not a better aurora month. If Santa is the point, pay it. If the aurora is the point, go in February or March and spend the difference on a longer stay.

A package is usually better if you are going in peak season, want glass-cabin nights, are travelling with children, or do not want to think about transfers. Operators hold cabin allocation months ahead that individuals cannot get, and the transfer alone is a real problem to solve independently at 68°N in January.

Booking yourself is usually cheaper if you are going in September, October, February or March, you are happy in a normal hotel or cabin, and you are comfortable hiring a car. Outside the Christmas window there is plenty of availability, and you can pick your dates against the forecast rather than against a charter schedule.

The strongest argument for doing it yourself is flexibility on dates. Packages lock you into fixed charter days. If you can book flights, a room and a car separately, you can pick the moon phase, avoid a full moon washing out a faint display, and stay longer for less.

The strongest argument against is that a Lapland package is genuinely good value on the accommodation, because operators buy blocks. Price both before deciding, and price them for the same month.

The season runs late August to early April, and the good months are not the popular ones.

February and March are the best combination of long nights, stable cold weather, deep snow and the spring equinox pushing geomagnetic activity up. Availability is easier and prices are lower than December.

September to mid October is the cheapest good window. The autumn equinox produces the year's strongest storms, lakes are unfrozen so you get reflections, and there is daylight to do things. No snow.

December and January have the longest nights and the highest prices, and midwinter is the cloudiest stretch. Long darkness does not help under overcast.

Check the moon. A full moon does not stop the aurora but it does wash out anything faint, and a package booked blind can land on one. Our aurora calendar works through the month-by-month detail.