The Northern Lights is on a lot of bucket lists, and UK travel company Off the Map Travel can help tick it off. Off the Map Travel Director and Northern Lights expert Jonny Cooper has taken thousands of people into the Arctic to experience the phenomena, and has come up with some new ways for Australians to experience the Northern Aurora.
The Aurora Village overnight experience sees guests staying is one of three traditional Swedish ice-fishing huts on the banks of a frozen lake in Northern Sweden. The huts, traditionally used by ice-fishermen in the region during the Arctic Winter, have uninterrupted views of the greatest light show on earth, but Jonny says they are “cosy, heated and insulated”.
Isolated from any light pollution on the frozen lake with pitch black skies, the huts give you perfect conditions to experience the Aurora.
Although you feel like you are deep in the Arctic Circle, the Aurora Village is easily accessible by either snowmobile or snowshoe from the base in Bjorkliden. There’s also the Aurora Safari Camp – five traditional Sami Lavvu rooms (traditional Arctic tepees) purpose-built on the banks of the Råne River.
With plenty of log burning stoves in all of the rooms, the Lavvu rooms stay warm and cozy, regardless of the freezing outdoor temperatures. An open fireplace outside also gives guests a magnificent view over the river and up through the trees to spot Aurora.
The best time to see the Northern Lights is from September to March.
