Arctic Circle holidays, tailor made
| country: | Sweden |
| location: | Swedish Lapland, Arctic Circle |
| departures: | This trip can be tailor made at a time to suit you from mid December to mid April, and can be adapted to suit your interests, budget and requirements as necessary |
| price: | From Kr9700 (approx £713 in chalet) - Kr10200 (approx £750 in hotel twin room) (6 days) excluding flights. 50% discount for children under 16 years. Extra night from Kr400 (approx £29), additional activities from Kr300 - Kr2500 (approx £22 - £183) |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
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the amazing things you'll be doing
Explore the natural delights of Swedish Lapland. Our tailor-made itineraries allow you to design your own holiday in an area with few other tourists. Simply decide how long you want to stay and add in as many, or as few, activities as you wish. You can change activities in itinerary below and you can take part in activities such as dog-sledding, horse-sledding, reindeer-sledding or snowmobiling.
Our activity company specialises in educational adventure and during our activities, you will be skiing through the forests and around the lakes, discovering the local plants, fish, birds and mammals native to this part of the Arctic Circle.
Your guide will explain the complicated ecosystem we are dependent upon and the influence of the local people on it. We will collect you from your accommodation at 8am and take you back around 5pm (Arctic Night on the icy River Torne: 8pm to 12pm). We will ski between 3 and 10 km a day, but the duration and details of the tours can vary according to the experience of the participants and the prevailing weather conditions and cold.
Due to weather conditions this activity is usually too strenuous for children under 12, but depending on the size of the group, we can vary it according to individual needs.
Accommodation in en suite twin rooms at a hotel including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners, or in comfortable chalets including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners. Price includes English-speaking tour leader and guide, local transport, accommodation, equipment and meals as indicated. Flights are not included. Group size: 2 - 8 persons.
Our activity company specialises in educational adventure and during our activities, you will be skiing through the forests and around the lakes, discovering the local plants, fish, birds and mammals native to this part of the Arctic Circle.
Your guide will explain the complicated ecosystem we are dependent upon and the influence of the local people on it. We will collect you from your accommodation at 8am and take you back around 5pm (Arctic Night on the icy River Torne: 8pm to 12pm). We will ski between 3 and 10 km a day, but the duration and details of the tours can vary according to the experience of the participants and the prevailing weather conditions and cold.
Due to weather conditions this activity is usually too strenuous for children under 12, but depending on the size of the group, we can vary it according to individual needs.
Accommodation in en suite twin rooms at a hotel including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners, or in comfortable chalets including Scandinavian breakfasts and buffet dinners. Price includes English-speaking tour leader and guide, local transport, accommodation, equipment and meals as indicated. Flights are not included. Group size: 2 - 8 persons.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrival at airport and transfer to accommodation in Övertorneå. |
| Day 2: | Cross country skiing and/or ice fishing: Whether you're an old hand on skis or have never touched a pair before, cross-country skiing on broad forest skis introduces you to the magic of the snow. Skiing off the beaten track gives you freedom to explore and experience nature in a quiet and peaceful way as you make your own tracks in the soft, deep and friendly snow. Ice fishing through the little hole you have drilled in the thick ice will be a new and different way of fishing. Your first fish will probably be a perch, the most common species in these lakes, and you will proudly show it off to the others. If you handle it carefully you can let it go again - unless you want to eat it. But, as with other kinds of fishing, we cannot guarantee that you will catch anything at all. We will cook our lunch outdoors over a campfire and enjoy it along with the view of the beautiful lake. |
| Day 3: | Peace of mind in the magic old forest: The old trees groan under the snow, whispering to us their life stories as we quietly and serenely potter around one of the most ancient of forests in the area around the Arctic Circle. We will cross the occasional animal track, and almost without fail, we will spot that subject of myths, the Siberian Jay, who may even join us as we prepare a traditional lunch over a campfire. |
| Day 4: | Life beneath the ice: Above the thick ice of Lake Puostijärvi it could be freezing, but beneath the ice the fish swim and hunt even during the shortest days in the middle of the winter. You will be suitably dressed to experience the exiting tradition of net-fishing beneath the ice; we might even catch some pike, pike-perch, burbot and perch. We will prepare our lunch outdoors over a campfire, which tastes so much better outdoors. If the weather gods are against us, there is a little hut where we can warm ourselves. |
| Day 5: | Daytime: at your leisure or optional activity. A day to take it easy, browsing around the locality, shopping and seeing the sights. At a further cost, you can take part in activities such as dog-sledding, horse-sledding, reindeer-sledding or snowmobiling. Evening: Arctic night on the icy River Torne. An evening stroll on the thick ice of the frozen border river can be very magical, especially when the stars and the moon are shining. Sometimes, if we are lucky, even the Northern Lights will light up and curtains of colour will move quickly across the sky. We will seek out the nocturnal burbot, which lives an unusual life beneath the ice, spawning in the coldest winter month of February. You will help with the catch, fishing in the traditional way with hooks. You will also try ice-fishing with a small fishing-rod. In a Sami tent with a wood-fired stove out on the ice, you will be served a simple snack including traditional ingredients from Tornedalen: coffee, a rieska sandwich, coffee-cheese, dried reindeer meat and a taste of burbot. |
| Day 6: | Transfer from your accommodation in Övertorneå to airport. |
travellers' tales
It was all amazing - we have so many wonderful memories! The landscape is beautiful and we experienced so many new things in just a few days: cross country skiing, ice fishing, seeing moose and reindeer, dog sledding, snowmobiling and sampling delicious local food. (more)
travelling with a local operator
This holiday is operated by a company based in the holiday destination and they will be able to provide expert local knowledge. They will be able to tailor make your holiday to suit your requirements not only concerning the dates of travel but also typically the standard of accommodation, and thus price. It is rare for local operators to be able to help with the booking of your flights.flights at Xmas & New Year
For the Christmas and New Year period you need to book your flights early to ensure availability and good value for money. Flights fill up very quickly and are normally impossible to book by the end of November. We recommend Scandinavian Airlines, www.flysas.com who offer flights from the UK to Lulea (via Stockholm). We can then collect you from the airport. Rovaniemi and Kemi in Finland are also possible.how this holiday makes a difference
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Our company is a small-scale activity company, based in Swedish Lapland and locally owned. When you choose to buy your holiday directly from us, over three quarters of your money will benefit locally based and owned companies that employ local people. Wherever possible, we use local suppliers for food, materials, detergent, expendable items and equipment.
We cooperate with other locally owned companies for accommodation in hotels and chalets, hire of cars/minibuses and activities we don't do ourselves, like dog sledding. We encourage our guests to visit local small businesses and handcraft shops to buy locally produced products and souvenirs e.g. clothes (wool and felt), jewellery, the wooden traditional cup ("kåsa"). To reduce our environmental impact we work with small groups and a "leave no trace" philosophy. We work closely with nature and we avoid being intrusive or harmful. Where possible we use eco-friendly products: food, detergent, materials. Locally sourced meat, such as elk and reindeer, fish such as salmon and pike-perch, vegetables and potatoes - usually organic - are provided during the activity programme. We try to minimise consumption of material and products. We recycle package materials and compost our organic waste. Waste is carried out and package materials are recycled according to our policy. We don't use disposable cutlery, plates and similar. We try to influence the companies we cooperate with to be more environmentally responsible. Depending on your request, we can recommend several accommodations: ordinary hotels that have made no or little extra efforts to be more responsible, companies with chalets varying in how well they are adapt to environmental demand or a small guesthouse which is also a member of Responsible Travel. Our company is a member of The Swedish Ecotourism Society and the owner is the chairman of the local Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, a national non-profit organisation that works to conserve nature both within Sweden and globally. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |