The Northern Lights

are a magical but elusive experience. Outside of the town limits, and away form most light pollution, there are often great chances to see the northern lights if they are active and if the skies are partially clear. We have selected several northern lights tour where we think the experience will be enjoyable regardless of the lights and where the guides have the experience to help you find and perhaps capture the the northern lights and preserve and amazing memory.

Northern Lights Tour by Minibus Starting in Luleå

A nature experience with a local professional aurora guide who will help you find the best places to see the Northern Lights around Luleå. We will head to 2 or 3 great locations where we know there are great chances of northern lights viewing, and if you have your camera with you, the taking of really interesting northern lights images. There is, of course, no guarantee that we will find the northern lights but we will aim to have a fun tour in any case.

Price: 1000 sek per adult and 500 sek per child
Min 2, Max 6 people
2-3 hours
Departures at 19:00 or 20:00 from your hotel in Luleå, depending on the sunset and conditions.

Rebooking/cancellation:
These tours are booked by email, so we can maintain flexibility with cancellation and/or rebooking as per the notes below.

If the weather forecast shows over 50% cloud cover, you can rebook or cancel the tour up to 24 hours before departure.
You pay for these tours using a payment link sent to you approximately 36 hours before departure.

Northern Lights Nature Tour on a Snowmobile drawn Sled at Brändön

A two-hour search for the northern lights where your nature guide will teach you about the fantastic natural phenomenon and the science behind it. In this activity you sit in a snowmobile drawn sled filled with reindeer pelts and warm blankets. Our guides drive the snowmobiles that are pulling the sleds as we search for the Northern Lights. We head out across the frozen sea and move from island to island. On the way we will stop regularly and the guides will inform you about the local nature (including sea, forest and wildlife) as well as their arctic lifestyle. We will also stop and learn to make a fire in the snow to boil tea, coffee or chocolate and nourished by a warm cake and wait for the Aurora.
Min 2, Max 12 people
2 hours
Starts at 19:00
Transfer departures between Luleå and Brändön are an optional extra when booking.

Northern Lights Snowshoe walk with dinner

We will head out through the Luleå forest onto frozen sea to learn about our amazing nature and, if possible, find the Northern Lights. Walk with snowshoes in the forests with an experienced guide that will tell you about the environment and if conditions are right the northern lights may be spotted. We will discuss the science behind the aurora including the different possible colors, its frequency and give you tips on how to photograph it. We will pause and you will learn how to light a fire in the snow, how to recognise the stars and even wildlife tracks. On this longer 3 hour adventure, dinner will be prepared outdoors by the guide and enjoyed sitting on reindeer furs under the dark sky. This is as close to nature as you can get.
Min 2, Max12 people (subject to availability)
3 hours
Starts at 19:00
Transfer departures between Luleå and Brändön are an optional extra when booking.

What are Northern Lights?
The aurora are collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.
Northern Lights displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet can also be seen on occasion.
The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky.

What causes the Northern Lights?
The Northern Lights are the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.
The connection between the Northern Lights and sunspot activity has been suspected since about 1880. Thanks to research conducted since the 1950's, we now know that electrons and protons from the sun are blown towards the earth on the 'solar wind'.
The temperature above the surface of the sun is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive. Free electrons and protons are thrown from the sun's atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through holes in the magnetic field. Blown towards the earth by the solar wind, the charged particles are largely deflected by the earth's magnetic field. However, the earth's magnetic field is weaker at either pole and therefore some particles enter the earth's atmosphere and collide with gas particles. These collisions emit light that we perceive as the dancing lights of the north (and the south).
The lights of the Aurora generally extend from 80 km to as high as 640 km above the earth's surface.

Aurora Northern Lights Lulea

The Northern Lights

Northern Lights Tour by Minibus Starting in Luleå

Northern Lights Nature Tour on a Snowmobile drawn Sled at Brändön

Northern Lights Snowshoe walk with dinner

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