Customer Review

What a great trip! Both the British and the local guides could not have been more friendly, genuine and patient and they were great fun as well. We shall remember the good natured banter for a long time. Tales of reindeer parliaments, exploding sausages, girls ice hockey teams and unrequited love were particular highlights. Next Valentine's Day I shall carve a wooden flower for my beloved and see if I have more luck! The accommodation and food were excellent and the trips were exhilarating, well-organised and safe. I never expected to see an indignant husky but that's the expression we got every time we used the brake - they seemed to want to run for ever. The clouds lifted and the Northern Lights kicked off in glorious fashion on our first night and the following two as well, finishing with an impressive display right over the hotel! At the end we left with new friends and vivid memories and hope to return soon. 

Everything about the holiday was what we hoped for and more - I would recommend it 100%. The most enjoyable part was the dog sledging without a doubt, it was a fantastic experience!!!! The least enjoyable activity for me was the cross-country skiing, only because I was hopeless at it and when I fell down I couldn’t get up again; that was due to previous riding accident injuries, however we did have lots of fun trying!!!!! There is nothing at all I would have changed about this holiday, it was perfect.

Reindeer farm visit, day with reindeer herders and husky sledging - great activities with the animals and knowledgeable hosts. Also spectacular Aurora on five out of six nights... just brilliant, enjoyed it all. Holiday was excellent from start to finish. We'd particularly like to thank Graham Hughes for his help in sorting our booking; to the guides Markku, Becky and the team in Inari for making our holiday so enjoyable and to the Hotel Kultahovi hosts and team for great hospitality.

Activity guide Alan was in particular very good. Draw between the husky experience/safari and the snowmobile safari (across the frozen lakes) as favourite activity and the fab light show on the last night.

Fantastic trip. Katrina was extremely friendly and welcoming. Hotel basic but comfortable. Alan was great for the tours, enthusiastic and encouraging. Nice mix of activities and time to relax. Food was good, and plentiful. Would have maybe liked tea and coffee facilities in the room. Treated to a fantastic display of the Northern Lights on the last night. Snowmobiling was amazing. Huskies a fantastic experience. Loved the campfire by the lake after nightime snowmobiling. Can't choose the best activity!

The sled and husky driving experience was fantastic because the opportunity to drive your own sled pulled by huskies happens once in a lifetime. The dogs were great and even sitting in the sled while my husband was in control was amazing because I could take pictures of everything around me. Overall my husband and I had a fantastic break and we saw the lights every night.

Pre-trip inquiries/assistance was excellent, prompt and informative. Information was thorough and easy to find/use. Organisation of flights/transfers etc was smooth. Accommodation was nice, comfortable, with friendly helpful staff at the accommodation and on the tours/activites. Activities were great, nice and small group sizes, and very fun/great experiences. One of the best trips I've ever been on. Husky sled riding - incredible way to travel, beautiful scenery.

As a non-meat eater, (though I do eat fish), I felt the staff at the lodge did really well to provide me with tasty alternatives. I certainly felt I ate well! Joint most enjoyable were the Aurora photography and the dog-sledding. I was lucky enough to see a (3/10) Aurora on the night I was booked to do the photography, so benefited hugely by the knowledge and expertise of our photographer. The dog-sledding was such a pleasure. It was a delight first to see and hear the dogs' enthusiasm to get to work before we got going, and then their focused quiet concentration once we got on the move. And the peace and tranquility of the park as we travelled through it were absolutely wonderful. It was also so interesting to hear all about dog-sledding from Tommas. I thought you had got it organised perfectly. Brilliant location, really helpful and friendly staff both at the Lodge and leading the activities, and all aspects of logistics (travel/advance info such as Sweden dossier etc/transfers etc) well-considered and carried out.

Husky dog sledging (was) an experience-of-a-lifetime - being pulled across a frozen lake, with amazing scenery by six very excitable husky dogs. Also seeing how well looked after they are back at the kennels.

This is the 2nd holiday we have taken with Aurora Zone which I think speaks for itself. The organisation of the holiday was superb from the moment I phoned to make the booking right through all the paperwork, the transfers to and from the hotel and to and from the activities. I have rated food choice as average; actually there was only one choice at each meal, but you did state this in the info, and the quality of the food was good (and we are not fussy eaters) so it was never a problem. Most enjoyable: Don't even know where to start. I guess it has to be the morning with the Reindeer Herder. He really seemed to enjoy talking to us about his way of life and answering all our questions even though he must have been asked them a hundred times. It was great to be in a small group (only six) and made it feel less like a tourist activity. We set out with grey skies and snow falling and suddenly the sky cleared and the sun came out. The journey through the woods was beautiful and it was wonderful when he called the reindeer and they began to appear through the trees until we were eventually surrounded by about 100 of these lovely animals. Sitting in that clearing by the fire drinking tea while they ate all round us was truly memorable. And at the end of the visit I had my first experience of being lassoed. I don't think I stopped smiling all morning. Unforgettable!!  Least enjoyable: Don't really want to put anything here as I enjoyed everything. If you twisted my arm I would have to say Ice Fishing, but only because we didn't catch anything. They guy who took us was very keen to talk to us and show us the different ways they fish under the ice which was really interesting. Improvements : No, it was pretty much perfect. Maybe remind the hotel to stock up on tea bags when a party of Brits are coming. Last year we went on "Aurora in the Sámi Heartlands", and we were a bit anxious about going back in case it didn't match up to that amazing holiday, but we need not have worried. The Hotel was more basic as described in your info, but still very comfortable (and with a fabulous Sauna), but the location was absolutely wonderful, everything we had hoped for and more...a real Arctic wilderness, and so peaceful. The Kota was the perfect place to sit round the fire and warm up on those freezing evenings when we didn't want to go indoors, but the cold was starting to get the better of us. We were glad of last years holiday because it all felt a bit familiar and gave us the confidence to strap on Snow Shoes and go straight out onto the lake to explore. The activities were less "touristy" than last year so they felt like new experiences. And we had two amazing displays of the Aurora....so beautiful, quite overwhelming; we felt very, very lucky. This for us was pretty much the perfect holiday.

The holiday far exceeded our expectations. We were extemely pleased with our choice of hotel!

This was an absolutely fantastic trip - we loved just about every minute of it. We saw the Aurora Borealis in truly splendid form, and the dog sledding, ICEHOTEL and the area itself were absolutely mind-blowing. 

We enjoyed all the activities, our guides were excellent, really helpful. We enjoyed the reindeer sledding, snowmobiling, snowshoe hiking, cross-country skiing and the husky sledding. The Aurora alert is an excellent idea. We know that we were extremely lucky to have had an excellent show of the Northern Lights, but it was this that made our holiday go from a brilliant activity holiday, to a BREATHTAKING AMAZING STELLAR EXPERIENCE.

Fabulous, exciting and a fun experience, well paced and memorable . Please say thank you to all at The Aurora Zone.

Dog sledding - I love dogs and this was a magical way to cross the countryside! Also the Sámi visit - Maria is very knowledgeable and makes great reindeer soup! Loved hearing about all the superstitions that the Sámi have as well.  The staff at the Abisko Mountain Lodge are fantastic. 

We had an amazing holiday spending many hours of darkness out on the ice and were very lucky to see the Aurora 5 nights out of 7 with two spectacular corona displays. Scotty was an exceptional guide taking us on some great snowshoe hikes and exceptional Aurora hunt.

Without exception, all the staff were friendly, helpful and courteous. Our activity guides (Jorno and Terhi) were super - caring and supportive - and the restaurant staff couldn't do enough for us and were very informative. Having seen the other locations, I'm really pleased we chose this holiday; so quiet and intimate. The Arctic clothing really worked well - I didn't need my handwarmers. The Aurora alarms were worth their weight in gold. After the night-time reindeer safari with a cloudy sky, we were about to return to our cabin, when we were alerted to the beginning of a stupendous display.

For myself the whole holiday was enjoyable. Obviously seeing the lights was an added bonus and seeing them three nights out of four was more of a bonus. The trip to the forest on the snowmobiles was for me, magical, especially when all the headlights went out and you could see the sky, the stars and 'hear' the silence. I honestly do not think that there was a time when I did not enjoy myself. The whole holiday was amazing and even sitting here now typing this, I am thinking about what I was doing this time last week! The rep, Katrina was so friendly and helpful and should be praised. The person who put the icing on the cake, was the guide, Alan who was absolutely amazing. By the end of the trip, you felt as though he was part of your friendship circle and he made every activity accessible for all and helped me realise a lot of things.

I really enjoyed 'mushing' my own team of dogs on the husky safari - but the absolute highlight was getting to see the Northern Lights twice during the trip.

The trip was extremely well organised and successful for us in every way. We would comment that the group size (10) was perfect and think that 12 would be a maximum number to get the full benefit of all the activities, bearing in mind the amount of time needed to prepare for those activities.

I have quite a number of food intolerances and the lodge catered for me really well, with varied and tasty dishes. Husky sledding - I love dogs and it was such a unique way to see Lapland, lots of fun steering the sled too! Loved it!

This is one of the best holidays I've been on; we had a brilliant time, and were very lucky to see the Northern Lights four nights out of six. Everything ran very smoothly, the activities were great and the staff, guides and rep all very friendly and professional. The husky safari was a brilliant morning spent with these amazing animals taking in some beautiful Arctic scenery. What could be better!

What a brilliant holiday, thank you. I have attached some pictures for your interest. The images were taken with a film camera not digital. A Nikon 28mm 2.8 lens and a 400 ISO Kodak Portal film, for those interested in these things.