A tailor-made Lapland adventure in Levi, Finland

our hand-picked accommodation might be an Aurora Suite with a glass roof in the Northern Lights Village Levi, to give just one thrilling example. These breathtaking suites, which can accommodate up to five and include a sauna – making them ideal for families – are a truly magical way to experience the clear, star-speckled skies and, hopefully, the Aurora Borealis itself from the cosy warmth of your bed, positioned right beneath a laser-heated glass roof.

On your first day here, you’ll take a two- to three-hour excursion through the polar night, stopping for snacks around an open fire and taking in the sights and sounds of the forest beneath the moonlight. The following day you’ll enjoy a small-group tour, experiencing the wilderness as you take it in turns to drive a sled and to ride in one, soaking in the views and snapping photos as you whizz along. 

Day Three sees a two- to three-hour snowmobile safari to the Levi Ice Gallery, near the Ounasjoki River north of Levi. This is a lodge with ice sculptures, a fabulous snow castle, and an ice restaurant with tables and a bar counter made of bright river ice. You’ll return to Levi through the spectacular forest scenery.

Included in your package are private transfers from and to Kittilä Airport, breakfast at your accommodation, and the three activities mentioned, plus return flights from London Heathrow. If you stay in the Northern Lights Village Levi, it has a welcoming buffet restaurant serving cuisine from Lapland and the Barents Sea regions. Among the delicious dishes you might sample here are hearty homemade soups (the likes of cep mushroom, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, or salsify), elk entrecôte with game sauce, roast cod with horseradish and white wine sauce, fried Arctic char with crayfish tzatziki, and for dessert, cloudberry parfait, berry pie, or other treats.

Founded in 1964, Levi is Finland’s leading ski resort, with spectacular downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, and other winter activities. There are 44 ski slopes for all tastes, a ski school, ski tracks, fields of snow, and fabulous forest routes to explore. Other activities you might try here are winter biking on special trails, snowshoeing, ice-karting, and Arctic diving (scuba diving under the ice). And afterwards you can check into a sauna or a spa to warm back up.

A small city in Sirkka, Levi is especially famous as a great destination for seeing the Northern Lights, especially from around the end of August to the end of April. It’s a place to experience Nordic nature at its most pristine and incredible – one of river valleys, frozen lakes, and fells with glorious views over the Arctic landscape.