Customer Review

The Wilderness Lodge was the most perfect accommodation, welcoming and relaxing after a busy day of activities. Hard to choose a favourite activity really as each was such a truly wonderful experience. All the guides from the hotel were so knowledgeable, friendly and supportive making the activity a real joy to be part off. My stand out moments were the snowmobiling to reindeer farm, snowshoeing and Aurora camp where we were lucky to see the Northern Lights.

The Husky safari was great fun meeting the dogs and seeing how keen they were to run and how much noise they make while waiting compared to the silence when they run; also a nice way to take in the surroundings at a more relaxed pace than the snowmobiles and the driver gets to see everything too as the dogs do most of the steering. Really well organised with lots of fun activities to occupy your day but still leaving plenty of time for you to relax and not feel you're run ragged trying to keep up. The cold weather kit provided is really good, particularly the snow boots, so comfy and warm we want a set. The hotel staff and guides are all really friendly and happy to answer any questions and always had the info we wanted (or could get it quickly). Even though we weren't lucky enough to see the Aurora we still had a great holiday with lots of new experiences and memories and will definitely look at doing a repeat in the future.

Thanks once again, Finland in January glistened like a magic kingdom just as I had read.

We had the most amazing time at Brandon Lodge. From the moment we got picked up from the airport, the whole experience was everything we had hoped for and so much more. The food was incredible, our lodge was so cosy and comfortable, we were made to feel so welcome by everyone we met, all the guides were so knowledgeable - I could go on and on about how good every single part of the holiday was. In fact my fiance didn't want to leave!! Also a huge thank you and shout out to Graham who I spoke to on the phone and managed to find us the perfect Northern lights holiday at the last minute - absolutely fantastic customer service (and I don't say that often!). We loved every single moment but the stand out activity was the dog sledding! Driving the dogs through the snow covered forest was something neither of us will ever forget.

In Muotka the management of the food was excellent - it never ran out, and there was always someone checking that there was enough of what was needed and people liked it. Similarly the guides at Muotka, all of whom that we met were Finnish, were excellent, engaging, interesting and interested, and able to give a Finnish insight into the culture and history, as well as being good guides. Matt Robinson, the rep at Muotka, was brilliant, particularly his knowledge and explanations of the Aurora (to see which was principally why we had gone). He also made sure we were being properly looked after and enjoying ourselves; and took some excellent photographs. We particularly enjoyed the husky safari, provided at Nellim. Driving silently through the snowfields of Lake Inari and the surrounding woodlands was magical. It was an excellent holiday which we really enjoyed. That was helped by the three displays of Northern Lights and by the unusually heavy snowfall which had happened the night before and morning of our arrival which made everything look amazing.

Whole holiday excellent. We need to go back to Tromso, we didn't get enough time there, we didn't realise how much you can do there or how much we'd love the place. Whilst nothing was 5 star it was very nice and had a charm all of its own. Friendly staff. This was a very enjoyable holiday, well conceived and delivered by you, thank you! Passed our holiday itinerary to 3 colleagues already as it was so good and can't wait to get back there. Hopefully to find the whales which were much further north this year, selfish creatures (-:

The overall holiday was absolutely amazing. We all had a great time. The support and help received at the time of booking was extremely good and helpful with all questions and queries answered. Without a doubt the snowmobile safari was a favourite and we must put a special shout out for our guide Jenni. She was brilliant. She took photos of us all and then whatsapp'd them to us which made the whole experience more meaningful and gave us a sense that she wanted us to enjoy our experience as well. She also cooked our pancakes for the Aurora workshop and was our guide for our snowshoe trek. She always stopped and chatted to us, without a doubt a very valued person. I would def book again and have given the link to your site to a few people as highly recommended it :-)

I did this trip by myself but felt extremely welcomed by friendly staff and met another girl travelling by herself as well. Someone dared me to go into the icebath so I did. ????? I would recommend this trip to everyone! My favourite part was sledding with the huskies. ? I could have done that all day!

The hotel and all staff were absolutely fantastic. We would like to thank our guide Jani in particular - he was friendly, knowledgeable, enthusiastic and a brilliant and safe driver. He helped make our trip.

I loved absolutely every minute of the holiday - except the going home part. I loved the cross-country - it was such fun, like being a big kid all over again and even though I fell over several times - we all had such a laugh. How the guides put up with our childish antics I will never know.                  

We enjoyed everything we did and our guides, Mikko and Christina, loved their country and were very enthusiastic and informative on all our activities.

Really good and enjoyable break, didn't have a non enjoyable activity.

This is the first time we have used a company to arrange a holiday of this type, when we have done this before we have made our own arrangements. I have to say that from the initial enquiry to actually getting on the plane to leave, everything was in the right place at the right time (even though it was the Xmas period). Thank you to the customer service team and a special thanks to Dawn for being helpful, friendly and totally professional from the initial contact. The travel arrangements were fine and everything was seamless from getting on the plane at Gatwick to arriving at Brandon Lodge. The accommodation was really good and very warm for such cold conditions. Overall it was clean, functional and fitted the surrounding perfectly. I’ve got to mention the staff at Brandon Lodge who though seemed very young (maybe I’m just really old!!) but were excellent in every way and couldn’t do enough for you. The food was plentiful and very tasty but limited in choice, saying that the kitchen made every effort to satisfy everybody needs. Overall we had an excellent time and have already recommended Brandon Lodge to family and friends – thank you The Aurora Zone. One major grump was that we didn’t get to see the Northern Lights but you cannot control Mother Nature.

The entire staff were so helpful and prompt in communication and providing information after we booked the trip. This was very impressive, especially because of the 5 hour difference in time zones. Jono Archer and your staff were so helpful in expediting changes with FinnAir and at Nellim Wilderness resort when FinnAir changed the direct flight times from Ivalo to London, making it impossible for us to make our connections from London to the US. In the end, we were able to enjoy the entire time at Nellim and were not penalized because of needing to change our Finnair flights and the days spent at Nellim. Thanks so much!

We enjoyed all the activities, because they were varied and exciting & fun all in their own way. The activity guides were very friendly, knowledgeable and helpful.

Overall this was an excellent experience. Admin and transfer were excellent during the trip. People were there when they said they would be. The Radisson Blu is a great choice for its bar, food and location. The clothing issue at the start was excellent. The boots were the big plus in the minus 15-20 cold and we walked everywhere in them whilst others just got the kit for the specific trips. So all in all it was very good. Thank you.

Each activity had its enjoyment, hard to pick one that was the best. All in all we had a great time and highly recommend others to do this trip.

Everything was perfect!! Thank you all for providing us with an incredible holiday!

The whole holiday was excellent. We need to go back to Tromsø, we didn't get enough time there, we didn't realise how much you can do there or how much we'd love the place. Whilst nothing was 5-star it was very nice and had a charm all of its own. Friendly staff. This was a very enjoyable holiday, well conceived and delivered by you, thank you! Passed our holiday itinerary to three colleagues already as it was so good and can't wait to get back there.

The most enjoyable trip for us was our first trip out to the Lake because we got to see the Northern Lights. Overall the place is amazing and we loved it.

Really enjoyed the 20 km husky trip, we were looking forward to this activity and it didn’t disappoint. Excellent trip, hotel staff and facilities really superb. Loved the small, quiet resort.

The guides and staff at the hotel were amazing. The husky sledding was an amazing experience. The guides and activities were great as well as the kit provided

Difficult to choose what was most enjoyable as all good - probably the two night time activities of photography and the Northern lights and then the night husky sledge experience. Overall my family was very happy and pleased with the vacation arrangements and activities arranged.

We just loved the snowmobile, husky and reindeer safari but of course the highlight of all was the Aurora hunting. What we loved most was the Aurora hunt by minibus where we went to an open space. At least, while waiting for the Aurora and we felt too cold, we could hop into the warm bus!

Utsjoki is a wonderful retreat with a comfortable hotel and good restaurant. Amazing staff.

The food was amazing. The Clarion Hotel was wonderful but unfortunately due to our very late arrival and early departure we didn't see enough of it. Wonderful breakfast.

All was amazing - great fun and really enjoyable.

Thank you - one of the most amazing things we have ever done - and definitely will do again. I would also say that the guides were all fantastic, but particular mention to Ben and Johnny who were knowledgeable, fun and couldn't do enough.

Everything was amazing, but the husky sledging was probably my favourite, although it was very, very cold.

Our guide was absolutely brilliant, very friendly and easy going, made the activities all the more fun. The New Years event was brilliant as well, very well thought out and an excellent way to bring in the New Year.