A magical spectacle of nature
Can you imagine lying in bed and out of nowhere a green or colored light starts dancing in the sky? It's possible! That's why I'm going to tell you about hotels where you can see the Aurora Borealis and fall in love with it even more.
On our 60-day train journey through Europe, we set aside at least 8 days to hunt for the beautiful Aurora Borealis, we traveled through three countries above the Arctic Circle: Finland, Norway and Sweden and had the honor of seeing this spectacle of nature from the comfort of our hotel fully prepared to see the Aurora Borealis.
I'm going to tell you about four hotels to see the Aurora Borealis in three different countries and it will be difficult to choose which is the best option. The order of the hotels to see the Aurora Borealis in this text is simply the order in which we made the trip and before I tell you about them, I'll explain a little about this phenomenon.
Aurora Borealis
The Aurora Borealis is a magical phenomenon of nature, where colored lights dance in the dark of night. For many years it has been regarded as something mystical by ancient peoples. The Sami people, for example, thought that the Aurora Borealis was caused by the tail of a mystical fox that threw sparks into the sky.
However, today we know that the Aurora Borealis happens when there are solar storms with small explosions in which plasma breaks out of the sun. This plasma comes into contact with the Earth's atmosphere in its magnetic field and what we see in the sky is nothing more than this shock traveling through the Earth's poles.
To give you an idea, the speed at which the particles that form the aurora borealis travel is more than 11,200 km/h, which means that what we see in the sky is something that has traveled more or less 5 days to reach Earth.
But this phenomenon can only be seen in a few places in the world: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Alaska, Finland, Scotland, Russia, Iceland, Greenland and Canada.
There is also an Aurora at the South Pole, but it is called the Aurora Austral.
Hotels to see the Aurora Borealis - Now that I've told you a bit about the Northern Lights, let's talk about the best hotels
Treehotel- Harads Sweden
We started our hunt in Sweden, where we chose a tree house hotel that is simply a dream!!!
There is also the option of a normal room without a tree house.
As soon as we arrived, we went crazy with the architecture and all the snow, it felt like we were in a movie.
The property is huge, full of tree houses and one different from the other, it is in this hotel that we find the Cube of Mirrors that blends in with the landscape, a beautiful forest!
In this case, we don't exactly see the Aurora in our bed, but the property is fully prepared for us to hunt the Aurora Borealis, with warm cabins, chocolate to keep us warm and even toilets scattered around the property. We ended up seeing the green lights dancing in the sky a little after dinner, when we went out to look for the Aurora, we found it next to the tree house which is a Flying Saucer, is that a hint? It really does look like something from another world!
It turned out to be great, since the day we saw the Aurora Borealis it was minus 27 degrees! And we were just a few meters away from our warm room and all the comfort the little one needed, after all, he was only 3 years old. After seeing the Aurora Borealis, we went for a delicious hot chocolate and warmed up in the blankets.
The Treehotel is an hour from Luleå, where we arrived by train and rented a car for convenience, as the hotel is in the middle of the forest and a little away from the village of Harads. The hotel has all the facilities you need to spend days out and about, with tours departing from the hotel. The hotel has a magnificent restaurant!
At the Tree hotel, nature is the highlight
It's a great option for those who want to be in touch with nature and relax. It's also one of the most different Aurora Borealis hotels I've ever stayed in!
Seaside Glass Villas - Kemi Finland
We've arrived in Finland, more precisely in Kemi!
A room with huge, transparent windows so that we don't miss it at all if the Aurora appears. Just imagine? You're asleep and when you open your eyes a wonderful trail of colors dances across the sky?
In fact, the Seaside Glass Villas is located in the Snow Castle Resort Kemi, a complete hotel with attractions for the whole family!
It's also home to the Snow Castle, which is also a hotel where you can literally sleep on ice!!! And of course we went to see how it works, right?
However, we'll leave that for later, as security measures mean that only children over the age of 7 can sleep there, and as we also wanted a hotel to see the Aurora Borealis, there was no point in us staying in a closed room.
One more tip: go and have one of your meals there! It's incredible to eat at tables, chairs and everything else made of ice at Ice Restaurant 365. However, if you want to eat warm, with wonderful food too, there's the Lumihiutale Seaview Restaurant, with a spectacular view.
There are so many activities!
What's more, the outdoor area is great for the little ones to play for as long as they like! This hotel is all about the little ones, with a mascot and everything! Emmanuel kept floating down the ice slide non-stop, it was one of the highlights of the whole trip!
Of course, there are a thousand and one activities that can be done directly from the Snow Castle Resort Kemi, such as riding the icebreaker Sampo and diving into the frozen sea!
Or maybe go snowmobiling in the surroundings. The Aurora Borealis turns out to be another of the incredible attractions of this complex!
If you want ice even in summer, no problem! There's a pavilion where that's possible with an ice slide and everything else, the Snow Experience 365 is fun for all ages.
However, if you go in summer, you won't be able to see the Aurora Borealis or the Ice Castle - it's a completely different experience.
This is also a hotel further away from the city center, about 1.5 km away, which makes total sense as it's one of the hotels to see the Aurora Borealis, since the city lights hinder this phenomenon.
Snow Hotel Kirkenes - Norway
Kirkenes is the last town before the Russian border and belongs to Finnmark, Norway's northernmost county.
The road to Kirkenes is already an attraction in itself. We drove all the way north through Finland and then crossed the border into Norway again, arriving in Kirkenes.
The road is safe and they clear it of snow from time to time, but the whole way back there is a lot of snow and incredible scenery, especially at night when the stars seem to jump out of the sky! You can see the Aurora Borealis even on the way to Kirkenes.
This is another wonderful option for those who want to be immersed in the snow and enjoy an ice hotel, the Snow Hotel Kirkenes, has both the option of rooms completely made of ice, as well as warm rooms.
We stayed in our warm, beautiful and wonderful little room, with a huge window strategically facing the northern lights, so it's also perfect and makes it onto the list of hotels to see the Aurora Borealis.
In addition to these options, the Snow Hotel also offers a restaurant with a beautiful view and various excursions, such as fishing for delicious giant crabs, where after fishing you can enjoy an unforgettable lunch!
Snow activities such as ice fishing and husky rides are also present.
The Snow Hotel Kirkeness is also a little away from the city, but that's not a problem as there's a restaurant and everything you need to enjoy a great stay! Especially as it's in paradise in the middle of nature.
Santa's Igloos Arctic Circle - Rovaniemi Finland
We're back in Finland on our hunt for the Northern Lights, and this time we've decided to combine the useful with the pleasant! We went to the land of Santa Claus, Rovaniemi, so why not stay right next to Santa's official home? In fact, we chose Santa's Igloos Arctic Circle because it's in Santa Claus Village, and we were right!
We were happy to have the Aurora Borealis over our heads and Emmanuel to have a snow amusement park, and of course, Santa Claus so close, it was more than magical!
As soon as we entered our igloo, we were stunned by its beauty. Our room was entirely glazed, with a magnificent ceiling. The highlight is the alert service on the tablet next to the bed to send out a warning if the Aurora Borealis appears. It's one of the best prepared Aurora Borealis hotels we've ever stayed in.
The glazed roof had a heating system and melted all the snow that was there, leaving it clean at all times, especially so that we could see this wonder of nature!
And it's Santa's House!
Well, while at night there was the wonder of the Aurora Borealis, during the day there was Santa Claus, snow toboggans, an ice castle, an ice restaurant, huskys and reindeer.
We also took a wonderful electric snomobile ride over the frozen sea! It's a complete and wonderful experience, we even saw the official mail from Santa Claus!!! Especially if you're traveling with children or children in general and want to see the Aurora Borealis, this is the best place ever.
Even I, an adult, was thrilled to see Santa Claus. Mainly because I couldn't believe I was standing in front of Santa Claus.
Here's the full text on experiences and prices in Rovaniemi and Santa's House
Which is the best hotel to see the Aurora Borealis?
Well, I think that's an impossible question to answer, especially if you've read my text, you'll see that each one has an incredible particularity and are unique experiences! I would absolutely go back to all of them and I loved every second of it.
The experience of traveling through three countries in search of the Aurora Borealis was incredible! I have to confess that it's a bit addictive, I already want to go back, and if I could I would do it every year and it's likely that you'll get hooked too.
All the hotels to see the Aurora Borealis that I've described here are hotels that I've been to and shared my experiences with you. However, they are not random hotels, I did a lot of research before choosing them, and saw that they would be great for both us adults and our little one!
I wanted this Aurora Borealis hunt to be as enjoyable for us as it was for our son. And I ended up discovering that it is possible to make this trip with a child. In fact, as well as being possible, it's delicious and has given us memories that will remain with us for the rest of our lives.
After all, what child won't remember meeting Santa Claus in their own house at the North Pole? The world is huge and surprises us, and I say it again: traveling as a family is possible and A LOT OF FUN!
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