Rovaniemi's Highest-Rated Northern Lights Tour

No tour can promise a natural phenomenon, but we back every hunt with our Northern Lights Guarantee. We see the aurora on about 95% of tours. If the guides' cameras capture no aurora during your tour, you join another hunt free, as many times as you need, or take a full refund.

Your guide has a camera out on every hunt. If the cameras capture nothing during your tour, you choose — join another hunt for free, as many times as you need, or get a full refund.

The photographs settle it, and that is deliberate. They leave a record rather than an argument in the dark, and they let one rule cover the whole season. You keep every shot either way.

We see the Northern Lights on approximately 95% of our tours, because we drive with unlimited mileage to wherever the sky is clearest that night.

The hunt starts the day before: we begin following cloud forecasts a day ahead, and on tour day we track them from the morning on. We also watch space weather — solar flares and coronal mass ejections leaving the Sun, and where they are on their journey towards Earth. By departure time we know how far and in which direction to drive. At the spot, your guide follows live solar-wind data from satellites, which gives a rough forecast of whether the aurora is likely within the next hour.

No — we have hundreds of possible spots across Lapland to choose from. Which one we drive to depends entirely on the weather and cloud cover that night: if the sky is clear close to Rovaniemi, we won't drive hundreds of kilometres for no reason. What matters is a genuinely clear sky, an open view to the north, and a spot away from light pollution — once we've found that, it's just a matter of waiting patiently. If the aurora shows up quickly, we don't rush back either: there's usually still time to visit a second spot too. Every night is different.

Because the aurora is the same everywhere — drive 200 km further north and you'd see the same display, just slightly higher in the sky. What matters is a clear sky and an open view to the north, and that's what we pick the spot for. Constantly relocating is the real risk: you can miss the whole show while driving, because you can't stop in the middle of the road when the lights appear and parking spots are few and far between in Lapland. So we choose the best spot, stay at least 1–2 hours, and wait — patience is the hunter's greatest skill. If the lights come early, we often visit a second location the same night.

Only roughly, and the reason is worth knowing. The Kp number most apps show is a three-hour planetary average that mainly describes how far south the aurora reaches — useful in Germany, less so here, since Rovaniemi already sits under the auroral oval. What actually opens the sky is Bz, the north–south tilt of the magnetic field carried by the solar wind, and Bz cannot be forecast: it is measured by satellites 1.5 million kilometres away, which gives everyone roughly half an hour to an hour of warning. That live satellite data hints at what the next hour may bring, but the aurora is genuinely hard to predict: sometimes it appears when the data looks poor, and sometimes it stays away when the data looks great. Sometimes we wait for hours; sometimes the sky ignites the moment we stop — or even shows through the windows mid-drive. That's exactly why every hunt is backed by our guarantee.

Usually not, and the difference is worth knowing. Most aurora photos are long exposures, so the colour comes out far stronger than the eye sees it. What the eye gets instead is the movement: the shape shifting and travelling while you stand there, which no photograph shows. On a strong night the green is clear to the eye too, often with pink or red along the top.

The clip further up this page is the better guide. It was filmed on an iPhone rather than a long exposure, and it is a fair match for what a good night looks like to the naked eye.

Not at all. The heated vehicle is right there at the spot — warm up whenever you like, and we'll call you out the moment the sky starts moving.

An unlimited-mileage aurora hunt, expert local guides, unlimited professional photos delivered within 3 days, and complimentary hot drinks.

The Small-Group Tour minibus (max 19, one guide) offers door-to-door pickup and a personal, flexible experience. The Bus Tour (up to 47, 2–3 guides) departs from a central point and is the best value. Both include photos and hot drinks.

The Bus Tour departs from Korkalonkatu 23, Rovaniemi (bus stop next to Pub Uitto), scheduled for 7:00 PM. Small-Group Tour guests are picked up from their accommodation, usually 6:30–7:30 PM. The time shown on your booking is the default start time — we email the exact departure or pickup time by 3 PM on tour day, once the aurora forecast tells us where we are driving.

At the latest by 4 PM (16:00) on tour day. Forecasts get more accurate the closer we get to departure, so we wait until we can trust the data before making the call — deciding earlier would mean deciding on worse information. That said, if we already know days ahead that the weather will rule out the tour entirely, we let you know right away rather than making you wait. Then you choose what happens next: we move you to the next night, or another one that suits you, or you take a full refund.

The aurora season in Rovaniemi runs from late August to early April. Autumn brings reflections and milder weather, winter the snowy scenery, and spring clearer skies.

Normal winter clothing, worn in layers: a warm hat, gloves, a winter coat and trousers, thick socks and warm boots. If you are arriving from a mild climate, bring or hire a genuinely warm outer layer — a city coat is not enough at −20°C. There is always a heated vehicle a few steps away to warm up in.

No, and on this tour you do not need them. We are not trekking through the snow: we drive to a spot and wait there, with the heated vehicle right beside us, so you can step inside and warm up whenever you like. Normal winter clothing in layers is enough — and it means no queuing to be fitted into a suit, and no sweating in one once you are back in a warm van.

The Bus Tour is €69 per person and the Small-Group Tour is €129, both for the same 5–8 hour hunt and the same guarantee. The difference is the group: up to 47 on the bus with 2–3 guides, up to 19 in a small group with one guide and door-to-door pickup. Nothing else is charged on top — unlimited mileage, unlimited professional photos, hot drinks, and free cancellation up to 24 hours before. Check live availability above for your date.

Some guests do, especially if they're staying a few extra nights. It isn't quite as simple as it looks from the window, though — reading the cloud cover, knowing which back roads stay open through the winter, finding a stretch of real darkness away from town. That's the work our guides do every night before choosing where to bring you. If you'd still like your own car for the rest of the trip, our founder's rental company, Car Rental Rovaniemi, includes a free Telegram channel called Aurora & Beyond with every booking — a three-day aurora forecast for Lapland, driving tips and viewing spots, and honest alerts when nothing is showing.