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Ultimate Arctic Circle Adventure in Norway

Husky sled, snowshoe and fat bike your way through the Arctic and sleep in a dome under the glow of the aurora

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Trip Ref #10409

Ultimate Arctic Circle Adventure in Norway

Husky sled, snowshoe and fat bike your way through the Arctic and sleep in a dome under the glow of the aurora

DURATION

3 nights

LOCATION

Norway

ANNUAL LEAVE

3 days off work

SEASON

Dec-Mar

GROUP SIZE

Up to 8 people

MEETING POINT

Alta Airport, Norway

ACCOMMODATION

Comfort

Arctic Dome

OVERALL RATING

5.0

Based on 29 reviews
DIFFICULTY

Easy

This is an easy trip, suitable for anyone with basic fitness levels - you'll just need to enjoy being out in sub-zero temperatures

Mush the Arctic with Alaskan Huskies, snowshoe to a frozen lake, try your hand at ice fishing and relax in a Nordic sauna

Fat bike through snow-blanketed trails at night on an aurora-hunting adventure, weaving through hushed pine forests

Hop on a snowmobile for an epic journey to the edge of the Finnmark Plateau, one of Europe's last true wildernesses

Bunk down in the dreamy Aurora Canvas Domes, warm up by the wood burner, and watch the northern lights dance above

Day 1

Welcome to the Arctic Circle

Dog Sledding

2.5hrs

Northern Lights Watching

2hrs

Touch down, meet your host at the airport and head to the remote coastal town of Alta - found on the inner reaches of the Altafjord in Norway's most northern county. Settle into your unique Aurora Canvas Dome before heading out in the late afternoon to go dog sledding. Take in the stillness of the Arctic on a journey through the forest and open landscapes beside the Alta River, with beautiful Alaskan Huskies and a local musher for company. Later on, indulge in a feast of local food before heading out on your first hunt for the aurora. Settle in for the night beneath the stars in the Aurora Domes.

Day 2

Snowshoeing, ice fishing, fat biking and the northern lights

Snowshoeing

1-2hrs

Cycling

1.5hrs

Northern Lights Watching

1hr

After breakfast clip on some snowshoes for a hike, heading to a wilderness camp through peaceful pine forests surrounded by high mountains. You'll reach the idyllic camp beside a small lake and warm up around an open fire inside a Lavvu - a Sami herdsmen’s tent. Have a go at catching some Arctic Char for lunch by fishing through an ice hole on the lake. Head back to the Aurora Domes for some downtime in the afternoon, before strapping on a headtorch and hopping on a fat bike for an otherworldly bike ride to hunt for the aurora. Pedal through the snow-blanketed forest at night on a network of trails, with the collective glow of head torches lighting the way before everyone switches their light off to (hopefully!) watch the Northern Lights dancing way above.

Day 3

Snowmobile to the Finnmark Plateau

Snowmobiling

2.5hrs

Enjoy a lazy morning at the Aurora Domes ahead of your next Arctic adventure. Then hop on board a snowmobile for a journey through one of Europe's last wildernesses, gliding your way through beautiful winter Arctic scenery from Sorrisniva, through the Alta Valley, all the way to the Finnmark Plateau. Eyes peeled for the region's famous reindeer. On the way back you'll stop at the Igloo Hotel and tuck into lunch at the restaurant. In the evening you can warm yourself up with a traditional Nordic sauna before a three-course meal of local delicacies. If the aurora comes out again tonight, you'll be able to head out for more northern lights watching.

Day 4

Farewell to the Arctic

Say goodbye to your cosy Aurora Dome and soak up the last of your time at the base in Alta with a short stroll or sauna, before your host transfers you back to the airport in time for your flight home.

Included

Guides

Expert guides and a local musher for the husky ride

Accommodation

3 nights in an Aurora Canvas Dome

Meals

Munch on tasty local food throughout

Transfers

Airport transfers and everything in between

Permits

All permits and entry fees

Equipment

All snowshoeing, fat biking, dog sledding and snowmobiling gear

Not Included

Flights to and from the meeting point

Travel insurance

Personal expenses

Visas where required

Day 1

Arctic Dome · Twin share

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Day 2 – Day 3

Arctic Dome · Twin share

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

Day 4

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

What is the food like?

Breakfast consists of freshly baked rolls with locally sourced spreads and toppings, juice and fresh coffee. Lunch on Day 2 will be a selection of local delicacies grilled by your host, hopefully including some Arctic Char which you have caught from the lake. Lunch on Day 3 is a sumptuous feast at the Igloo Hotel in Sorrisnova, where the chefs create unique dishes using ingredients from Arctic Norway - including reindeer and moose from the tundra, seafood from the Alta River and the Norwegian sea, vegetables from local farms and berries picked in the nearby wilderness. Dinner on Day 1 is a simple affair of soup and bread, before you head out to hunt for the aurora. On your second and third evenings, you'll be treated to a three-course meal of local foods, including specialities such as fresh cod and halibut, salmon, moose, reindeer and king crab.

Vegans and vegetarians can be catered for on this trip, however, please request this at the time of booking.

What is the accommodation like?

Alta

A real highlight of this trip is staying in the Aurora Canvas Domes. These are purpose-built aluminium and canvas domes, with under-floor heating and a wood-burning stove, designed to get you as close to nature as possible. You can even open the roof – perfect for aurora watching. All the electricity here is 100% renewable and drawn from hydro-electrical power, produced by the nearby Alta River. You'll stay in twin-share domes.

Upgrades

Due to the limited number of Aurora Domes, it is not possible to request a private room upgrade for this trip. Your host can arrange a single room at a nearby hotel if you would like to join the trip and have your own room - however, you'll be missing out on the Aurora Domes as one of the trip highlights in this instance.

The Area

map

Logistics

Starts

Alta Airport (or city centre)

Any time before 15:00 on Day 1

Ends

Alta Airport (or city centre)

Any time on Day 4

Transfers

Transfers are included from Alta Airport (or your hotel in Alta, if you have arrived a day early) any time on Day 1. It is only a 15-minute drive from the airport to the base where you'll spend your adventure. The dog sledding experience on Day 1 begins at 16:00, so we recommend arriving no later than 15:00 so you can settle into your Aurora Dome accommodation first.

On the final day of your trip, your host will provide a transfer at your preferred time either to the airport or to an alternative destination within Alta city. Return flights from Alta tend to depart in the early afternoon, and you only need to be at the airport 90 minutes before your flight since it is a small airport, so there is some time in the morning to soak up the last of the area at the base.

Your base for the trip is a short distance from the airport. If you need a private transfer you can simply take a taxi from the airport to the base, this will cost approximately 400NOK (£35/€40/$50).

Travel options

There are regular flights to Alta from major airports across the UK and Europe.

Enjoy 12.5% Off Outdoor Gear

In need of a few more items? All bookings receive a 12.5% discount to use at Cotswold Outdoor, Snow + Rock and Runner's Need.

What's included?

  • Thermal suit and over boots (to go over your winter boots) for each of the activities
  • Snowshoes for the hike to the wilderness camp and frozen lake
  • Ice fishing equipment
  • Headtorch for fat biking to see the aurora

What do I need to bring?

Bags

  • Main suitcase or backpack
  • Daypack (20-30 litres)
  • Waterproof liner for daypack

Clothes

  • Down jacket
  • Ski jacket (waterproof jacket with light insulation)
  • Ski trousers (waterproof trousers with light insulation)
  • Breathable wicking layers
  • Fleece jacket or similar
  • Thermal base layers (wool/merino is best)
  • Warm hat
  • Thick thermal gloves/mittens
  • Buff or neck scarf
  • Underwear and warm socks (wool is best)
  • Winter boots for wear in and around the Aurora Domes base
  • Something to sleep in

Other

  • Swimwear for sauna
  • Sunglasses
  • Universal travel adapter
  • Power bank or solar charger
  • Passport
  • Drivers license
  • Earplugs
  • Personal first-aid kit
  • Personal items (biodegradable toiletries, sanitary wear etc)
  • Reusable water bottle

No optional extras are available for this trip.

- Ola(February 2023)

Definitely a bucket list adventure ❄️ this must be one of my favourite trips I’ve done in ages. The rooms were very cosy and had a working fireplace. Great selection of activities. All well managed and super fun. My favourites were dogs sledding and skidooing. Great mixture of people, some solo travellers and some couples. We got on very well. What made this trip so special is the care and attention of the hosts. All the little touches such as coffee delivered to your room every morning. AMAZING food. All the interesting things we learned about Norway from our guides. And of course the Northern Lights!

- Mikael(February 2023)

Everything was a really nice experience and adventure, all of it was really planed well and the hosts was amazing, the pick up time, the day planning, food, accommodation, just everything was planned too the very end. I couldn’t except anything better, a 5 star experience. I didn’t know that Norway could be beautiful and still I’m coming from Sweden, please tell the hosts of our great adventure ❤️

- David(February 2023)

Where to begin with this - quite simply the most wonderful trip I've had the privilege to go on!

Our hosts, couldn't do enough for us, they were on hand whenever we needed anything. The Arctic domes are pristine, set in a stunning location, and the food was out of this world.

Activity schedule is chock-full, so expect a busy trip! But the planning and care taken to ensure everything runs seamlessly is noticeable, every step of the way ran on time and efficiently.

Truly brilliant. If you're thinking about booking, take the plunge and do it! You won't regret it.

- Charly(February 2023)

Fantastic and beyond expectations. Really loved that everything was well planned out and all we had to do was just show up on time. Every person in the group was super friendly and fun. Food was delicious. Our hosts and guides are amazing people and helpful to make sure we're warm and comfortable.

- Lindsey(February 2023)

This trip is brilliant- if you can go- you should. The local guides are fantastic, the activities are great and the food is unbelievable. 10/10!

A moment I will never forget is sitting on a frozen lake with my ice fishing rod locked and loaded, cracking open a local cider in the low winter sun thinking it won't ever get better than this!

- Carla(February 2023)

Stunning holiday with plenty of activities and tasty cuisine. The rooms were comfortable and warm. Hosts felt like family and made us all feel very welcome.

- Cheryl(January 2023)

Everyone at the base and involved in the activities was friendly and helpful, genuinely passionate about their lives in Norway and the stories they shared with us. The accommodation was actually more advanced than I expected, with heating, electric sockets and even electric blankets in the domes. The only thing 'missing' is running water, but there were bottles easily available and the main building with running water to top up, toilets and showers was only 30 seconds' walk away. The activities were all great fun, the only challenge I had was struggling to keep up with the others on the fat biking as the rest of the group happened to be very sporty and I'm more accustomed to city/road bikes - the instructor did offer to slow the pace but there was also the option to stop after the first shorter circuit, so I took that. We were lucky enough to see the Northern Lights twice, not only on the scheduled tour but also on the last evening in the field just behind the base - an all-around brilliant experience.

- Carol-Anne(January 2023)

This was a phenomenal trip. The experiences were authentic and well considered, the local hosts were knowledgeable, friendly and accommodating and the great group dynamic added to the experience. The accomdation and food were superb too. This was our first trip with MBA and the only thing that puts me off booking another is that I don't know if this one could be beaten. I'm going to find out though. I'd 100% recommend this trip to anyone!

- Louise(January 2023)

What an incredible trip! The amount of activity to downtime is great; there is so much to do but you never feel rushed and have time to really enjoy all of your experiences. The accommodation is stunning: so cosy and perfect, and the hosts were everything you could ask for - friendly, fun, and knowledgable.

- Anne(January 2023)

Just the best adventure ever! I was so scared before going in this trip as it was my first time travelling solo and I am quite a shy individual. I needn't have worried. Everyone was so friendly - the hosts, guides and the other guests. Every activity was carefully planned and was simply amazing! My personal highlight was the snowmobiling but honestly I loved it all! Wouldn't hesitate to recommend this trip, it was perfect from start to finish!

We've crunched the numbers to work out the total carbon footprint of this trip, and plant enough trees to suck 2x as much back out the atmosphere.

What's the number?
It works out on average at 64kg of CO2 emissions per person, including all local transport, accommodation, food, activities, guides, staff and office operations.

The only thing it doesn’t include right now is flights and travel to the destination. We do make an overall estimate across all our customers separately, but as we don’t book flights, have customers from all corners of the world, and no way of reliably knowing their travel plans, we simply can’t include an individual number in the figure on display here. We’ve got a goal for 2023 to fix that, so that when you book, there is a way to measure and mitigate the carbon emitted by your flight too.

But what does the number mean?
Yep, hard to picture eh? To give you an idea:

  • Driving 1000miles/1609km would be approx. 281kg of CO2 in an average car (or 140.5kg per person if there was 2 of you in it).
  • A return economy class flight London - New York would be approx. 1,619kg (1.66 tonnes) per person.
  • 10 trees in a temperate forest are estimated to remove approx. 250kg of CO2 from the air in a period of 5-10 years.

What are we doing about it?
Our trips are relatively low-carbon by design, and we're working with all our hosts to develop long term carbon reduction plans. For every person booked with us since 2016 we’re planting enough trees to suck at least 2x more carbon out the atmosphere than is emitted by their trips. All native trees, as part of amazing projects that are re-foresting degraded land, tackling the biodiversity crisis and supporting local communities at the same time. We go further than that too, also funding re-wilding projects worldwide to help protect important keystone species from extinction. See the reforestation and re-wilding schemes we support. See our carbon action plan.

Want to know more?
Amazingly, no international travel company has ever publicly published their carbon measurements before, as far as we know. We believe that must change, quickly. So we’re openly sharing the method we used in the hope that other companies will be able to more easily follow suit and build on what we've done so far. You'll find it all here.

This trip is suitable for anyone with basic fitness levels. None of the activities are hugely demanding, and you'll never be exerting yourself for more than a couple of hours at a time. The trip is a busy one though, with plenty to pack in, so you'll be regularly on the go - although, there is some downtime so that you can enjoy your base around the Aurora Dome as well. To get the most out of the trip you should enjoy being out in the cold during the winter and come prepared with adequate warm clothing - see the kit list for guidance. For each of the activities (dog sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing and fat biking) you'll be provided with a thermal suit, winter boots, gloves and woollen socks to ensure you are plenty warm enough to enjoy each mini-adventure.

Winter in Alta and on the Finmark Plateau can be described in one word: cold! This is the coldest time of year in this part of Norway, with average temperatures fluctuating between -11.4°C (11.5°F) and -6.7°C (20°F). There are only around 2 hours of full daylight at this latitude in January, with an extended twilight either side of the short sunrise and sunset. This doubles to around 3.5-4 hours of full daylight in February and increases again in March. Of course, the short days make for the best chances to see the Northern Lights, which can be seen until early April.

Fat bikes have extra fat, knobbly tyres that are designed for riding on soft surfaces like sand and snow, and they have little or no suspension. The super-fat tyres distribute the rider’s mass across a larger area, so you don’t sink in and do gain more traction than you would with a standard tyre size. You can ride easily and with stability, even over firm snow and ice. Fat biking around Alta in the winter is one of the most commonly used methods for locals to travel short distances and is becoming increasingly popular as a way to see the northern lights, both by tourists and locals alike. You won't be riding very far, so anyone who can ride a bike at a basic level will enjoy fat biking to see the aurora.

Snowshoeing is a type of hiking that uses a special type of footwear - a snowshoe - to spread your weight over a larger area, allowing you to move easily across powdery snow-covered terrain. While today's snowshoes look modern, snowshoeing has actually played a vital role in Arctic life for centuries, with traders and trappers using wooden versions to move freely through the wilderness.

Snowshoeing is incredibly easy, comfortable and safe. You simply clip your snowshoe to the outside of your hiking boot and off you go. You'll be in the hands of local, experienced, and trained guides who know the area intimately and will guide you safely throughout the hike.

Absolutely. Our host uses a local family outfit called Tristi & Trina who have a lot of experience looking after the dogs and running a small scale sledding business in the local area. The dog's welfare has been and always will be their top priority. The breed of dog they work with is a polar type of dog called the Alaskan Husky. They are born outside, and are happy to live outside all their life - but of course, they are provided with insulated huts full of warm straw and hay to sleep and retreat into.

As this breed was bred to run, they need to have a lot of activity to stay happy and healthy. This is why your host ensures that every dog has enough possibility to move every day, depending on the dog's individual age and state of health. Young dogs, veterans or disabled dogs have reduced running. They will do a run on 5-20km running 4 to 5 days a week, with 2-3 days of rest. Normal dogs can run up to 40-50 km per day, depending on the day and conditions.

To make sure that every dog needs the care and attention they need, our hosts have a daily staff of dedicated employees tending to them. Every morning and afternoon they are trained in and provide the medical care of the dogs. They also work closely with local veterinaries in Alta, who take over where their medical expertise comes to an end.

Sure can! Over 70% of our travellers travel solo, it’s a great way to meet like-minded people.

Sure - you can leave your luggage at your Aurora Dome accommodation for the full duration of the trip.

We recommend checking out the country specific information here and also talking to a travel nurse.

For current advice about travelling in Norway, have a read of the UK Foreign Office pages here.

Our recommended travel insurance provider is Campbell Irvine.

Travel insurance is compulsory for all of our adventures and you are required to provide your policy information before departing.

Your insurance should include adequate protection for overseas medical treatment, evacuation/repatriation, your baggage and equipment and the specific activities involved on your adventure. We also strongly recommend it includes cancellation and curtailment insurance, should you be unable to join your trip for specific reasons such as illness.

We fully endorse Campbell Irvine as their insurance offers all of the above, so get in touch with them or call on 020 7938 1734 to get your insurance sorted. We suggest that you book travel insurance as soon as you book your adventure, just to cover you for any last-minute life changes. We know you’re an active lot and injuries do happen!

We automatically convert prices from the local currency that a host receives to your chosen currency. We update our exchange rates on a daily basis so this does mean that prices displayed on the site are subject to currency fluctuations, which is why you may see them change over time.

If you wish to change the currency you pay in, head to the bottom of the page.

All of our group adventures are specially designed for adults to enjoy (18+) as we want these adventures to bring together outdoorsy people who are truly like-minded. Children can be accommodated on some private departures.

You're in good company. Our adventures are typically made up of a mix of solo travellers and small groups of two or three friends who simply love adventure, pushing themselves and meeting awesome like-minded people. See here for more info about our lovely bunch of Much Better Adventurers.

Want to book a private trip? Just tap ‘Private Group’ in the dates and prices tab.

Your trip is led by carefully curated local hosts and expert guides. See here for more info about the guides we work with.

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