Snowmobile - Iron Road Expedition in the Arctic Circle

Available from 15th of January - 15th of April. Groups of 4 to 12 people.

Day 1 After breakfast, our guides pick you up at the hotel for a transfer to our starting point. Here your guides will equip you with thermal clothing, helmets, gloves and balaclavas. The Expedition starts with a training session where our guides instruct you on safety and how to handle the 500cc snowmobiles. We then begin our trip out onto the frozen Gulf of Bothnia. We pass through the Archipelago soaking up the incredible landscape and all that nature has to offer from the virgin forests through to the amazing Arctic horizon. After half a day driving the snowmobiles, we stop for some ice-fishing and a Lapland lunch sitting on reindeer skins around the campfire. Later in the afternoon, we make our way to the Jopikgården, a beautiful, peaceful location in the middle of the forest on top of one of the biggest islands in the archipelago. After driving a further 50 km on the snowmobiles, we stop for a sauna and relaxing shower.  After the sauna, we enjoy a wonderful two course Lapland dinner. We will spend the night in comfortable accommodation in Jopikgården (4 beds to one room).

Day 2 We start the day with a Lapland breakfast at Jopikgården. We prepare to set off and help each other pack the snowmobiles. Our safari takes us through the archipelago heading north between the islands and if weather conditions allow, we travel out to the drift pack ice region. We stop for lunch in the forest, sitting by the campfire on reindeer skins and discussing the mornings events. After lunch, we travel through the river mouth of the Råneå River. We take some time out to look at the incredible landscape while trying our hand at some deep snow snowmobile driving. We make a stop for coffee and snacks by a campfire en route. In the late afternoon we reach a small wilderness camp and husky farm in the middle of the forest.  We have the opportunity to drive husky sledges on trails in the beautiful snow covered forest for approximately 7km with professional guides. After the husky drive, a sauna and hot tub is waiting for us after a long day in the wilderness. A two course dinner consisting of local specialities is served in the cabins. The overnight stay is in a log cabin with sleeping bags.

Day 3 We start our day with a hearty forest breakfast. We prepare for the days journey and help each other pack the snowmobiles.  Then we start our journey back to Luleå and civilisation.  A Lapland lunch en route at a beautiful spot in the forest region and if snow conditions permit, we will try to find a route back through virgin snow. In the late afternoon we reach our original starting point. Transfer back to Luleå city centre and your hotel.

       

Iron Road Expedition - Price: Swedish Kr 12,650 per person - 2 people per snowmobile

Price includes: VAT, certified and experienced guides, 1 Snowmobile with 2 people, fuel, thermal equipment, 1 night at The Jopikgården inn, 1 two course evening meal at Jopikgården, 1 sauna at Jopikgården, 3 lunches, 2 breakfasts, snacks and hot beverages on route, ice fishing, 1 night in a log cabin including sleeping bag, 1 dog sledge tour, 1 sauna at the husky farm, 1 two course dinner in a Lappish Tee-pee, transfer two ways from hotel to start point.
Price excludes: Alcoholic beverages.

The Illua Igloo Village - Stay in an Igloo

Out on an inlet of the Skabram Lake, just a few kilometres from the village of Jokkmokk, the starlight, the moon and hopefully the Northern Light all cast a very special light over the Igloo Village and its dome shaped igloos. The beauty of the natural surroundings is the most spectacular part of what the Igloo Village offers you. Welcome to a night in an igloo!

Stay overnight in an original Swedish Cold War Bunker

The Victoria Fort offers a unique chance to experience day to day life as it was for the soldiers in the Cold War era. The Fort is the only one of its kind left in Sweden that accommodates guests. Most of the furniture, equipment and even the paint on the walls are original.

For groups who would like to combine training and conference facilities with the opportunity to add adventure trips such as snowmobile safaris, clay pigeon shooting, paintball, Go-Karting, skiing and snowshoe expeditions, fishing trips and wildlife tours, the Victoria Fort offers an original and exciting experience.

Vuollerims Village Cafe

Every summer, Vuollerims Village Café becomes a hub of activity from midsummer celebrations, to baking days and tourist buses on their way further north. The Hembygsgården building is very close to the stone-age museum Vuollerim6000 and is a very pleasant way to finish a visit to the museum in the summer months.

Run totally by volunteer staff, the café offers coffee and tea, cakes and freshly cooked waffles most of the summer, together with a good selection of ice creams and soft drinks. There is also a small museum in the building together with some locally crafted gifts for sale. Next door is the baking cabin, which is available for people to hire to bake homemade Swedish bread and buns the traditional way in an open wood fired oven.

Kåbdalis Mountain Ski Resort

Kåbdalis is located between Älvsbyn and Jokkmokk in Swedish Lapland. The winters are mild and snowy due to the geographical location of Kåbdalis. There are four lifts and 9 prepared slopes all offering the chance to experience different degrees of difficulty, three off-piste runs and some tough cross country skiing tracks. All of this makes Kåbdalis a skiers paradise at an affordable price. There is also an excellent restaurant, après ski, pub evenings and many other events every year.

Årrenjarka Mountain Village

What do we look for in a modern holiday? Rest? Lazing on a beach? Or is it simply an escape from our safe, modern lives. Stress is often quoted as one of the biggest reasons for booking a holiday nowadays, but does laying on a beach really pull your thoughts away from the day to day at home? If it doesn’t, read on…

The Sarek National Park is one of the true remaining wilderness regions left in Europe. Sarek is within the UNESCO region of Laponia and is protected. Motor vehicles are not allowed into Sarek and you can wander for days without seeing anyone, summer or winter. Scattered around Sarek are the smaller, but equally beautiful National Parks of Padjelanta, Muddus and Stora sjöfallet.

Having these wonderful places to visit just a three hour direct flight from Heathrow followed by a 300km drive is all very well, but what do you do when you are there? Sarek is wild and foreboding, especially in the winter. Step forward Årrenjarka Fjällby. Årrenjarka Fjällby is a mountain holiday village based in the Arctic Circle just 17km from Kvikkjokk and at the base of all the National Parks in the region. The tourist industry in this region is still a fledgling operation, but this fact has passed Årrenjarka by without a thought. From luxury cabins next to the lake to basic accommodation for passing hikers, Årrenjarka has everything you need as a base for your trip into the Kvikkjokk mountains. 

Helicopter Rides in Lapland



Fiskflyg is based in the heart of the World Heritage Region Laponia – Europe’s last wilderness. Laponia consists of four national parks and two nature reserves. Today the Sami’s reindeer still migrate through this area as they have done for millennia. If you would like to fish or hike deep into the mountains or simply see this area from the air, Fiskeflyg will take you safely, securely and efficiently around this incredible part of Scandinavia.

Contact us for more information on adding a Fiskeflyg tour to your holiday.

Christmas at The Solberget Reindeer Retreat

Christmas at the Reindeer Wilderness Retreat on the Arctic Circle couldn't be farther from a traditional Christmas. Surrounded by forests covered in deep snow, the area invokes a feeling that you are living in magical world of hobgoblins and fairies.

You will also wonder at the the perfect peace and quiet you experience at the retreat. With only five hours of daylight, the sky is strewn with an unbelievable atmospheric colour due to the sun hanging low in the sky. The nights provide a breathtaking starlit Arctic Light and even the chance to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

Jokkmokk Winter Market - the largest Winter Market in Scandinavia

The Jokkmokk Winter Market is coming - Northern Europe's largest winter festival, a meeting place for visitors from near and far. You will find Sami handicrafts, exhibitions and lots of exciting winter events. Don't miss this years 'historic market' which is now celebrated as well as the main market every year since the recent 400 year anniversary.

Jokkmokk market begins on the first Thursday in February and lasts for three days. The population of Jokkmokk explodes over these days and the small community caters for 10 times its usual population. As early as the sixteenth century, Jokkmokk was the trading centre of Swedish Lapland. Here the Sami people sold leather, handicrafts and reindeer while they bought salt, flour, coffee and tobacco.

Today the market consists of a huge and wide selection of everything imaginable. You can taste and the buy some elk and reindeer meat, Sami bread, smoked trout and jams made from berries found in the region. You will always find something beautiful and unique amongst the Sami crafts and there is always something for all ages to choose from.

There are always plenty of activities to enjoy during the market week, such as dog sledding, snowmobiling or taking a helicopter ride and of course the reindeer racing on Lake Talvatis.

German TV Visits The Tree Hotel

The Tree Hotel

Reuters: By Matt Cowan - LONDON | Thu Jul 8, 2010 12:49pm EDT

A lofty new hotel concept is set to open in a remote village in northern Sweden, which aims to elevate the simple treehouse into a world-class destination for design-conscious travelers. Tree hotel, located in Harads about 60 km south of the Arctic Circle, will consist of four rooms when it opens on July 17th: the Cabin, the Blue Cone, the Nest and the Mirrorcube. Two additional structures are scheduled to open in October - the UFO and A Room With a View. "Our goal in five years is to have 24 rooms from 24 different architects," says Treehotel co-founder Kent Lindvall, a former guidance counselor who came up with the concept along with his wife Britta. The first six structures were designed by five different architects. The Mirrorcube which stands four meters high and four meters wide, has drawn widespread attention as it will be attached to a single tree.

"It's an interesting building. You cannot find anything like this in the world today. It's absolutely unique," says Lindvall, as he stands next to the room's mirrored outer wall. "Everything will reflect in this - the trees, the birds, the clouds, the sun, everything. So it should be invisible nearly in the forest." Lindvall says a special film will be applied to the glass which will be visible to birds. This is just one of the steps being taken to minimize Treehotel's impact on local wildlife says Anette Selberg, who is in charge of crafting an excursion program for guests. "This is untouched forest and we want to maintain it the same way. We decided for example to not offer snowmobile safari which is very common up here," says Selberg. Instead, wilderness walks will be offered. "We might see a moose, a reindeer and if we're lucky we might see a bear," she adds. She said the Treehotel's vision is proving a powerful draw, with enquiries coming in from far and wide. "Mainly from Europe but I know that New Zealand has been contacting us, Australia," she says, looking across to the tall pines.

"I think what's exciting here is that we're just 60 km below the Arctic Circle which means there's a good possibility to have the northern lights in the winter and during the summer of course you have the midnight sun."

Epic Snowmobile Trip Launched

Amazing trip over the Kvikkjokk mountain regions of Lapland, Northern Sweden. You have your own snowmobile for 5 days and travel over the vast snow covered terrain stopping for ice fishing, snowshoe walking and of course learning how to handle a snowmobile in the deep snow. Accommodation is a mixture of hotels, remote cabins and mountain based village camps with excellent restaurants.



Exciting Photography Courses in the Lapland Mountains

Our photographic courses have just been launched and are based in Swedish Lapland from the riverside Porjus home and Photo Gallery of Patricia Cowern. Patricia was recommended by Sunday Times Travel Photography expert "Doug McKinlay"  in his article “The best travel photography holidays” in 2007 (excerpt below).

"The Arctic Colors Gallery is run by renowned landscape and Northern Lights photographer, Patricia Cowern. Operating from the small Swedish town of Porjus, 40 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Patricia hosts small groups of photographers - beginners as well as advanced - who would like to experience some of nature’s most contradictory moods. September brings in the autumn and this is when Patricia guides and tutors photographers in the fine art of autumn colour images, often concentrating on something as simple as the intricacies of a single dying leaf."