Kiruna Snowmobile Aurora Hunt & Lappish Dinner

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1/9

Duration5h

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN · SV

Mobile ticketAccepted

Snowmobile into the Arctic Dark, Then Warm Up by Fire

You drive a snowmobile through Arctic forest and across frozen lakes in search of the northern lights, with a guide who knows the best viewing spots. Halfway through, you stop at a forest hut for traditional reindeer dinner and cloudberry dessert by an open fire, then head back out to watch the sky. The package includes all winter gear, the guide, and transport from town — you just show up and drive.

Step-by-step itinerary

Snowmobile tour and dinner in forest

Collect warm clothes in town
Meet adventure guide
Drive minivan to forest start point
Receive safety briefing and snowmobile instructions
Snowmobile through forests and frozen lakes
Swap drivers and take photos
Stop at forest hut for traditional dinner
Warm up by open fire and sip hot drink
Return to start point by minivan

The Experience

So you're actually going to drive a snowmobile across a frozen lake in the dark while watching for auroras — yeah, that's the whole thing, and it works because your guide knows where the lights tend to show up and where the ice holds. You meet in Kiruna town, get fitted into a full snow suit, boots, gloves, the works (they handle all that), then a minivan takes you about twenty minutes into the forest where the real landscape starts. The snowmobiles are two-seater, so if you're going with someone who has a license, you can swap driving halfway through — or pay extra to have your own machine if you'd rather not share.

The route winds through the forest, crosses frozen lakes, follows the Torne River when it's solid enough. Your guide leads, and you follow their headlight into the dark, which sounds simple until you're actually doing it and the only sound is the engine and the snow under the runners. The northern lights don't perform on schedule — some nights they're vivid, some nights they're faint, some nights they don't show at all — but the guide knows the spots where they're most likely to appear, and you get plenty of time to stop, kill the engine, and just watch. Phone cameras struggle with the aurora, but there's time to try.

Around halfway through, you pull up to a forest hut where a traditional Lappish dinner is waiting — reindeer souvas (slow-cooked reindeer), local cloudberry dessert, hot drinks by an open fire. It's the kind of meal that tastes different when you've been out in the cold for an hour, and the hut is warm enough that you can actually feel your fingers again. After dinner, you head back out if the lights are still active, or wrap up and return to town depending on what the sky is doing and how late it's gotten.

The whole snowmobile aurora expedition in Kiruna runs through the winter season when the nights are long enough and the ice is thick. Bring contact lenses if you wear glasses — regular glasses fog up instantly in the cold, and the guide will tell you that on day one. You need to be comfortable on a moving machine for a few hours, but the pace isn't aggressive and the guide watches the group.

What’s included

Hotel pickup in Kiruna, minivan transport to the forest start point, snowmobile rental (shared or single-driver upgrade available), safety briefing, all winter gear (snow suit, boots, socks, gloves, balaclava, helmet), traditional Lappish dinner with reindeer souvas and cloudberry dessert, hot drinks by the open fire in the forest hut, guide throughout the tour, and return transport to town.

Good to know

Easy physical levelNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditionsNot for back problems

Operated by Kiruna Guidetur AB

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to experience the Arctic on a snowmobile with a real chance at seeing the northern lights, and you'd rather have a guide handle the route planning and the dinner logistics than figure out the backcountry yourself. The shared snowmobile keeps the cost down if you're traveling with someone, and the fixed itinerary means you're not improvising in the dark.