Customer Review

Most enjoyable was dog sledding. Always wanted to do it, it was awesome. Would go back again just to do dog sledding and snowmobiling AND we saw the Northern Lights on the last night.

One of the best holidays we have ever been on, loved every minute. Everyone was great, we loved the place. We just loved being out on the sleds with the dogs, so quiet and such fun! The natural situation of the hotel and the unspoilt environment make the holiday.

One of our most memorable holidays to date. The last full day was spectacular and is in my top five experiences - husky safari and amazing Northern Lights show in the evening.

I loved every minute, but the Northern Lights, which we saw on our last night, and the husky sledding, were my favourite. The hotel was warm and cosy, the staff friendly and helpful, and the food plentiful, varied and delicious. The setting was very pretty and the snow-covered lakes and forests were stunning. We were very well looked after by our excellent wilderness guides, who entertained us with stories and anecdotes, and whipped up a campfire and lunch in no time at all. Loved the berry juice.

(The) husky safari – gave a great sense of freedom. You felt like you were in control without actually having to have any skill. Dogs were adorable and the guide clearly loved what he did. Our four nights and the daily schedule seemed like the perfect amount of time and set of activities to really feel as though we'd experienced Lapland. Fantastic holiday, only marred by a wait at Helsinki on the way back (but we'll get over that!). All staff and guides at the lodge were extremely helpful, friendly and enthusiastic. When we booked we mentioned that Fran had an intolerance of onion - we were amazed when not only the lodge staff but also third party staff on activities were aware of this and went to significant lengths to accommodate this.

I was so impressed with the attention to detail regarding my wife being gluten free, even when we were out on excursions she was well catered for. The husky sledging (favourite activity), the dogs were so friendly. We enjoyed helping set up our team and loved fussing them. We will remember this trip for the rest of our lives.

Wow, what a brilliant holiday. Even the lights came out to play four nights out of six and were truly amazing - a wonderful experience seeing them. All arrangements were so smooth and on time. The hotel and room were excellent as was the food. The sauna was a great plus at the end of an exciting day of activities in -16 to -30C temperatures. At those temperatures even wearing our full ski wear we needed the provided additional snowsuits, gloves and boots. The hotel staff were excellent, accommodating and helpful especially when we disappeared to watch the lights as Christmas Eve dinner was about to be served. Their English was far better than our Finnish! Apart from the light displays the husky sledge ride was probably the number one activity followed closely by the skidoo activities. It was lovely to see the dogs working yet enthusiastic and apparently enjoying it as much as we were. The guides for all activities were knowledgeable and friendly and went out of their way to ensure we had the best experiences even going as far as extending the time of our activity to accommodate the lights showing up late. There were no negatives to this Christmas holiday except that it went by so fast. Couldn't fault it - everything worked smoothly from start to finish. The schedule was perfect. Lots to do and enough free time to see the Sámi centre, the village and have a nice riverside walk. If we had wanted we could have booked another activity such as ice fishing instead. The Aurora watch channel on the TV in our rooms and in the bar was particularly useful to save us running outside in the cold to check if the lights had appeared.

Most enjoyable apart from four nights of clear skies and excellent Aurora Borealis viewing - definately the husky sledge run, great fun.

We thoroughly enjoyed the range of your activities - all new to us & although we didn't see much of the Northern Lights it didn't seem to matter as everything else was so exciting! Driving a team of huskies from a sleigh across snowy fields in the moonlight - was exhilarating and unforgettable. Staff were friendly, helpful & knowledgeable. The range of activities was wide and included cultural and historic information about the area as well as the more active "hands on". Accommodation was comfortable and the equipment provided exceptional. We would not hesitate to recommend the 'package' to our friends.

Dawn was so helpful both during the booking process and afterwards. Delivered an excellent level of customer service and a true asset to The Aurora Zone. Thank you. Most enjoyable (activity): The husky ride it was fast fun and cute. Thank you so much for an amazing holiday - in particular to Dawn and team. I am pleased to let you know that my proposal was successful and I am now engaged.

The food was actually better than I expected. There was plenty of it and the quality was very good. If the choice was a little limited, it really didn't matter. Most enjoyable (activity): Like most people, the husky ride. Apart from anything else, the dogs were obviously loving it and just wanted to run. Least enjoyable (activity): I don't think there was one! I can't think of any improvements. This was a truly memorable holiday. It was cold, of course, -30C at the hotel and colder on the lakes, so we had to put a lot of clothes on just to go from the cabin to the hotel for meals. But it was worth it, and we were very lucky with glorious displays of the Northern Lights.

This holiday, including accommodation, activities and lodge staff surpassed all expectations and suffice to say we had an awe inspiring time! Every day was a wonderful, new experience that we will treasure forever!! The husky sledding was amazing! I also loved being able to have close contact with the dogs after the sledding. I absolutely loved all of it... can't fault any of it!  All the staff from chefs, front of house, waitresses, guides etc were incredible! They created such a wonderful environment; relaxed but professional, scoring 10+ out of 10!

Loved the whole experience from start to finish. Other than seeing the Aurora the local activity guides and hotel staff were the best part of the holiday. They made each activity and indeed the overall experience extremely enjoyable and looked after their guests extremely well. We loved the huskies, the snowmobiles and the bubble. We would highly recommend the holiday, the hotel and your company - thank you.

Most enjoyable activity: Snowshoe trek for two reasons: an amazing Aurora display on our very first night and Tim, our guide, who was knowledgeable, passionate and took excellent care of us. Least enjoyable: Nothing! It was an amazing trip, the trip of a lifetime! The guidance, advice and enthusiasm from your company was invaluable.

Most enjoyable activities were Huskies and Snowmobiles! We loved meeting the huskies and riding with them. Especially the snuggles afterwards. Driving the snowmobiles was fun too. There was no least enjoyable activity - (we) loved it all.

I really enjoyed the team and the support I had. The flights worked pretty well, and we had great support from people in Abisko and Kiruna. The staff at the Abisko Mountain Lodge were polite, and very willing to help. I had a simple, but still wonderful lodging. The food was incredible and it has been a while since I ate so well. I think that our guide, Tim Nordström, also did a great job with Aurora "hunting" and ice fishing. I have no complaints. Definitely, this is a holiday I would recommend to everyone.  Definitely, the most enjoyable activity was looking for the Aurora since that was my primary goal. I was downhearted at first because the weather was really bad in Kiruna and it remained so until we got to Abisko. When we got there, the weather shifted completely to clear skies and we were able to see the Aurora the same night. This reminded me of the fame of Abisko regarding the changes to see the Aurora there. In any case, we were really lucky since others were there for several days and could not see it. We were able to see it well for at least two nights. We had a show for about two hours on our first night and only half an hour on our second night. The third night was really cloudy and we could not see much, otherwise, it would have been incredible, since the cameras were able to detect the lights behind the clouds. I enjoyed all activities.

All the guides and the rep looked after us really well and were very knowledgeable. Most enjoyable activity was the husky dog sled. Such good, fun and eager dogs. We thought the number of people in the activity groups was ideal for us. Thank you for a great holiday!

Fabulous experience from the pre-booking through to the final farewells. The office staff in the UK were amazing giving good advice even before I made a booking; the ground team in Finland seemed pleasant, but they perhaps were the people I felt we had least connection with. The husky sled riding/driving (was) an exhilarating experience, with good knowledgeable guides. Wish I had thought to film it on my camera instead of taking stills. Believe this will sell the experience even more. For me the snowshoe walking was hard going & tiring. However I was pleased to participate in all the activities and really appreciate the accommodations the guides made.

It is hard to choose as the whole trip was amazing but the husky trip was something that we will never forget. We were fortunate enough to be the only two on the trip which meant we spent the whole day in the national park learning everything we wanted to know about the area, the huskies and the way of life. The guide cooked a delicious lunch of reindeer and we sat and watched the sun go down. To top it off as we were coming home we saw the Northern Lights and managed to get some great pictures with the husky dogs. We had a trip of a lifetime and everything was very well organised.

We had an amazing time. The hotel staff and activity guides were excellent - they explained things clearly and made us extremely welcome, sharing some local traditions and knowledge with a joke or two. Once they knew about my allergy to strawberries, they made sure that there was hot chocolate for me instead of the local gloki - which is made with strawberries! The huskies were a real treat. None of us knew what to expect and the dogs seemed very well looked after and willing to run. Also, a special mention for Jukka - who was with us for four of our activities. He was very informative and looked after us well.  Honestly, this was the best holiday we have had! The food, accommodation, the special warm suits, the hotel staff and the activity guides were all excellent! We didn't want to come home and are already talking about if we can go back.

Absolutely fantastic - Nellim was beautiful and the staff were brilliant.  We loved the snowmobiling but it was all fantastic. Ice fishing (and cooking the winnings) was brilliant too.

Well what can only be described as the most magical breathtaking beautiful experience ever! Possibly the most beautiful place I've been. We were here for five days, the hotel was stunning, the food was delicious, the staff very welcoming and friendly. Our two reps Karen and Graham were fantastic, always there if you needed them. Huge choice of activities and the husky sleigh was easily my favourite. Snowboarding, snowmobile sleigh Aurora hunt... everything was spectacular! I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone as it's a trip of a lifetime... and the biggest bonus was we saw the Northern Lights on the 3rd night.... breathtaking! Thank you Karen and Graham... I'll see you next year :)

Hotel was cosy and warm, dinner service & food was excellent! Service staff were generally friendly and warm too! Wifi service was erratic in room but was alright in the lobby/dining area. Olli was a friendly and great host! While he was not a man of many words, he was always smiling and willing to give a hand/explain things. Most enjoyable activity was the car hunt for Northern Lights. An unforgettable experience, complete with the Lights, shooting stars and snow flurries.

Hi! I came back from my trip to Luosto (7th-11th November 2014) and want to thank the team so much for such a wonderful time. I have attached some photographs from the trip and have many more! Thanks again, Vicki 

The breakfasts we received at both hotels were excellent and provided plenty of choice. I found the administration side of things to be excellent and the booking process was very straightforward. Any emails I sent were answered promptly and I found the staff to be very helpful and knowledgeable. Travel, transfers and accommodation were all excellent and everything ran very smoothly. It's difficult to choose (a favourite activity) as there were so many! We loved the super jeep experience and visiting glaciers, mountain ranges, lava fields and waterfalls. Iceland was an amazing country and we felt privileged to experience just a small amount of what it has to offer. I booked the holiday for my boyfriend's 30th birthday and it was a very special way to celebrate. We also enjoyed the Northern Lights trip and although sadly we didn't see them, it was such a unique experience to be out in the middle of nowhere with a sky full of stars. It's a trip that we'll always remember. Least enjoyable: The only thing that would've improved it would've been for us to spend more time there, with an option to spend an extra day in Reykjavik and an extra day at Hotel Ranga. It would've been great to have these days on our own, just to relax and enjoy the places but sadly budget didn't allow on this occasion. My boyfriend and I thoroughly enjoyed our holiday. Our guide was excellent and exceeded all of our expectations. I can't praise him enough! We've never done a 'group' holiday before and weren't sure what to expect. The guide made it a very relaxed, enjoyable ride (quite literally) and his knowledge and enthusiasm made us feel very at ease. The only reason I've marked 'possibly' on whether we'd book with the Aurora Zone again is purely down to whether we could afford such a trip again. At the moment, it really is a once in a lifetime thing but hopefully in the future we may be able to travel with you again.

One of the best organised trips I've been on. A special thanks to the two guides Pascale and Oleg, who were excellent.

I wanted to say a great big thank you for the trip I had hoped for AND I saw the Northern Lights! Everything worked really well. Hotel and food were much better than I had expected; Graham and Karen could not have been more helpful and the information you provided was extremely useful.The cold weather gear invaluable. All in all, superb, and I will definitely recommend your company.

The welcome at Muotka was superb and I can't think of anything else they could have done. We really had a fantastic time and on the last night we saw the Lights which we thought were totally wonderful - much more so than I had expected, indeed I find it hard to put into words how very special I thought they were. We really loved Finland and enjoyed the activities which were very extensive although we particularly enjoyed the Husky sledge driving. Red squirrels appeared outside the window most mornings whilst I was eating my breakfast and they were absolutely enchanting and quite different to our red squirrels. We were very impressed by our guide Santo - his knowledge of the area was encyclopedic and he worked tirelessly, indeed I'm not sure when he slept. All of the staff could not do enough to help - we were really impressed - the additional outer clothing provided was great and absolutely essential. All in all it was just fabulous and I really hope to go again!

Every day brought something better whilst we drove around. Amazing views, very interesting places to visit, extremely nice, polite, helpful people. The hotels we stayed in were different, but all we would recommend, the staff were helpful and friendly and stunning locations. We drove 1100 kilometres in seven days around the western side to the north non-stop - snow-covered mountains, great cliffs along the sea, wildlife...Sea Eagles, Raverns, Seal and other water birds. We were lucky with the weather and had mostly clear with some clouds at night. Saw the Aurora for three nights; first night mostly cloud but an arc was visible especially on the camera. Second viewing stronger with mostly clear sky; 3rd viewing from the Northern Light Inn - sky cleared and the Aurora danced across the sky for a long time, got to bed around 2am. I think Iceland has the best car park in the world...inside a volcano..extinct of course!

I booked my holiday with Aurora Zone with 1-month lead time. The team was exceptional and planned an amazing excursion! Our local tour guide Heimir Wium, was outstanding. He loves his country, shared his passion for it, and gave us a fantastic cultural experience. Iceland is the land of extremes, as Heimir, told us, therefore, there is no bad weather in Iceland, only bad clothes. Preparedness is critically important and the Aurora team, once again, provided excellent guidance. The Golden Circle was beautiful but the off-roading route to get there was exceptional. The southern coast is filled with indescribable beauty and having a local tour guide like Heimir, who points out the many trolls and elves as well as the many sights only helps one fall in love with the country. The Hotel Ranga is absolutely lovely - fantastic accommodations and food as well as one of the best places to see the Northern Lights. Throughout my journey, we came across many people who told us that they'd been to Iceland multiple times and NEVER seen the lights. I learned that they planned on their own. I am happy to report that this was my first trip to Iceland and on Day 4 not only did we see 12 rainbows, we saw the Northern Lights right from the comfort of the Hotel Ranga!! We saw them four times within two hours! Absolutely spectacular and exhilarating experience. I highly recommend the Aurora Zone!! My only advice - be sure to request a review of the meals being planned so that there are no surprises. All food choices were very good however if you are picky Americans like us, you may want to know!