Some Adventures give you goosebumps even in your thoughts, chasing Northern light was such an experience. I live in Southern part of India which has dry tropical weather throughout the year, so going towards North pole and facing the extremely low temperatures was a herculean task for me even in my imagination, but once we were able to do it, it became once in a lifetime experience and memory.
What are the Northern Lights?
Aurora Borealis or Northern Light is the spectacular show of colored lights in the night sky in Arctic Region and is one of the most unique natural phenomena on the Earth.
What is the science behind northern lights?
When the charged particle from the Sun strikes the atoms or gaseous molecules of Earth’s atmosphere, they charged up and causes light. The various color lights are produced due to various types of gas-particle in the atmosphere.
- Green Aurora – due to low altitude oxygen particles
- Red Aurora – due to high altitude oxygen particles
- Purple Aurora – due to Nitrogen particles
Why go for northern lights
I am a nature lover, so I always try to visit those places which have an abundance of nature. Northern lights are one of the most unique and fascinating natural wonders and watching it has always been on top in my travel list. After reading a lot and watching lots of videos about arctic adventures, I also decided to experience it first hand.
Though all of us were very fascinated by northern lights, we were worried whether we will be able to watch it in extremely low temperatures along with kids. This question was continuously in my head. Even my husband has a problem with cold weather, but somehow I managed to convince him for this trip. Maybe by seeing my determination for this place for past 8-9 years he got convinced himself.
Best places and time to watch Northern Lights
Once we decided to go for this trip, the question was where to go as we can see these lights from many places. Abisko in Sweden and Tromso in Norway seemed to be the perfect options as they are in the Arctic Circle. Abisko is one of the best places due to the high probability of clear skies and its geographical position. Abisko is also well connected from Stockholm via Flights and train. September to March is the best time due to longer nights and clearer skies.
Also in Sweden and Norway, kids can do many other activities. Since northern lights may not always be visible, keeping the option open for other activities make sense especially for kids. As for my teenager, it is just trees, mountains and water….and it is not so interesting than PUBG or FORTNITE games. So we wanted to keep our options open so that all of us can enjoy.
By the time we started planning seriously, it was mid-Jan, so we decided for March end. This time was good because temperatures are not too low and the school break would also start in Bangalore. We were very excited about our trip to Scandinavian countries but there was one more doubt “what if Aurora is not visible on the days when we plan”. It was a huge risk, as generally if you have to visit Europe, summers will be a better time. After seeing so many doubts on my face, my husband asked me a question that, if I want to experience or watch just one place where will I go or what I want to see and my answer was Northern Lights, hence there was no place left for any doubts. I started preparations but parallelly these doubts were continuously popping up in my head until we finished our journey. So this was the story behind my travel to Scandinavian Countries and chasing a lifetime experience of magical Aurora Borealis a.k.a Northen Lights.
Finally on the road
We started our arctic trip by taking a flight to Stockholm from Banglore and after spending 2 nights and experiencing the city life, we headed to Abiskpo National Park for watching Northen lights. Abisko National Park is in Arctic Oval and one of the best places to watch Aurora Borealis on Earth.
Aerial view of Kiruna from flight
We took flight from Stockholm to Kiruna, which is the northernmost town of Swedish Lapland. The flight took around 90 minutes and we were at Kiruna airport, very small but still very special. As our plane landed on the snow, I looked around 360 degrees and it was only white snow all over the place. It gave me the feeling of Alice in Wonderland (in this case Swati in Wonderland). After being lost in the white snow wonderland for some time, we went inside and collected our luggage.
Kiruna Airport is a small airport and the population of the town is also very less. It is the home to original ICEHOTEL.
From Kiruna Airport we took a bus for Abisko. The bus journey took around 2 hrs. We had booked the tickets for bus online earlier.
The whole journey was very scenic filled with tall mountains and frozen lakes. Every frame was looking like a painting and we loved every part of it, many times we clicked photographs. On the way, we also saw Reindeer Herd on the white snow, they were the only creatures in this far north Sweden.
We had booked a cottage at Abisko Turistation online, which had a kitchen, dining and 2 rooms with a total of 6 beds. So it was quite a nice arrangement with all the amenities. At Abisko Turistation they have a restaurant which offers breakfast, lunch and dinner and a shop where you can buy or rent winterwear and sports stuff like skiing or other stuff like a camera tripod, etc. you can buy souvenirs and little bit grocery stuff also from here.
After taking keys of our cottage from the reception area and buying some frozen veg pizzas we entered into our cottage. It was comfy, we took rest for a while and then ate pizza and drank coffee(Kaffee). We went for a walk towards the frozen lake and it was very refreshing.
Day1- Northern Light Tour by Van
Tour experience
Our tour was supposed to start by 7:30 pm. We had to be ready for our first northern light van tour, so we layered up kids and ourselves properly and reached near the reception area where our guide was waiting. We all were super excited about this adventure. The adventure started and on the way, our guide Nigel was telling about Northern Lights(NL) phenomenon and other stories related to NL in Sami culture, some of which I already knew due to my research.
Myths and stories around northern light
Our guide told that local Sami people believe that this is the soul of dead people and are a bad omen and they stay inside when aurora show happens in the sky. I started thinking again that here we are and other tourists around the world planning, so much for the travel and putting hard earned money to just watch this magnificent show of nature, which is also not sure shot that it will happen on the days we are there. We are chasing it a whole night just to see one glimpse of it. Aurora is proof of nature’s spectacular beauty. While the people who stay here see it as a bad omen…so strange.
Another myth. The Vikings believed that Northern lights illuminating the sky were the reflections of the Valkyries’ armor as they led the Warriors to Odin, the god of Asgard. So now it was the symbol of bravery…
So many perspectives to the same concept or phenomenon. There are many other myths and stories around lights. But let’s move on…
We went far from the lodging area so that there should be darkness only, the darker the better view of Aurora, our guide said. First time when we came out of the van we were frozen as the chilling wind was making it more difficult, but the sky was clear so beautiful stars were visible…but there was no sign of Aurora, so guide decided to move on. Our guide was continuously telling us that NL is a natural phenomenon and he will try his best to show us the Auroras. He tried at multiple stops where it was absolute darkness, every time we came out of the van, Nigel(guide) was telling multiple stories about Aurora lovers. He shared his own experiences of chasing Auroras like, how he went to Iceland and then Finland to watch Aurora 3 years earlier, but there were no signs of it, but his passion for Aurora drove him to Abisko National Park as it is in the center of Arctic Oval and one of the best places on earth to watch Aurora with pure fresh air, water, and pollution-free sky. Nigel(guide) told the exact day and time when he saw the Auroras for the first time in life at Abisko National Park. I can understand, Aurora is not only unique but also Aurora lovers. Lots of determination is required for chasing Auroras at subzero temperatures( -15 degrees on that night).
No doubt, whatever he was saying it was absolutely true word by word as whenever we came out from the van for 30 min on every stop, we enjoyed clear sky, sometimes with cloud but no pollution and very very fresh air….all around there was no one except us as not many tourists come to visit or maybe as it was end of the season…There was absolute silence and we were mesmerized by it. In between, Nigel(guide) told my husband how to fix lens and aperture time for the camera to click this Nature’s wonder as we have no clue about night photography skills needed for this. To keep us warm, he gave us hot Lincon berry juice which they say is very healthy and help them to keep them warm in colder climates. It tasted like lemon tea…and was very much needed at that time. We enjoyed his hospitability. Finally, after stopping at multiple stops on both sides of the hill we all came back to our cottage around midnight.
We all had mixed feeling, as it was the first day. We explored and enjoyed the silence of nature and our guide tried his best to show us Auroras and we got to know so many new things, but there was little fear also as what if we were unable to watch it tomorrow but then we decided to look at the positive side as you just can’t rely on lights as it is in Nature’s hand...you should enjoy the whole experience. So we started discussing that we have other activities to do the next day and 1 more night to see Aurora as for next night we had booked a snowmobile-sled tour. So we should not lose hope. After having 1 cup of hot coffee while kids drank hot milk, mothers and kids decided to change and go for sleep as it was 12:15 am. While the kids started to change their clothes, my husband and his friend decided to stay awake and wait for Aurora.
Finally Magic Happened
My husband and his friend were talking and waiting for Aurora by seeing outside the window and suddenly around 12:25 am they saw some faint green light and the whole situation changed, they started shouting that all of us should come down and try our luck, maybe it is Aurora, and the magic was going to happen.
We all went outside the cottage and started looking up in the sky. In the starting, it was very mild green light changing shapes and dancing but after 10 min it was more visible and we can clearly see the dancing Aurora in the sky…we were elated and felt alive at that moment, other guests were also cheering at the Abisko Turistation. This was the moment for which we all came from so far and finally, the magic happened. Hypnotized with the beauty of Aurora, we thought to capture it.
We started fixing our camera to capture this magical moment, as we never know when this amazing dance show by nature will come to end. We didn’t have a tripod, so I brought a small table from the cottage and on the way I fell down on hard ice and got bruises...so now all colors of Aurora were visible on my hand, but time was very less and the excitement level was very high, so I ran with the table. Finally, we kept the camera on the table and tried capturing it. We tried to capture 3-4 pix and then the show ended. Our soul and eyes wanted more but, Nature is the supreme master, no one can interfere in it’s say. All of us were very happy and went back to the cottage and Aurora Euphoria continued for some time and then all of us slept in peace and happiness inside.
Important Points
What are Northen lights?
Northern lights or Polar lights or Aurora Borealis, are a magnificent display of colored lights in the night sky, in the Arctic region. It depends on the high solar wind activity and clear skies.
Best time
September to March end
How to reach Abisko, Sweden
- Flight to Stockholm and then
- Flight to Kiruna and then bus or train to Abisko
- Another possibility is to take a night train from Stockholm to Abisko
Where to stay
- Abisko Turistation or other hostels in Abisko village
- STF turistation
Food
Vegetarian and non-veg both available. For vegetarian, it is better to carry some food of choice and book the cottage as it has a kitchen.
Best place to watch Northern Lights in Scandinavia
- Abisko National Park – Sweden
- Tromso – Norway
- Finland, Greenland, Iceland
Tours and other services
- Bus Ticket booking- https://www.visitabisko.com/
- Northern Light Tour Operator- http://www.visitabisko.com/
Travel with Swati 
Spectacular description!! I too want to go and watch the northern lights myself now.
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Thanks Neha
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Loved the way you wrote…..all that view can be visualized. You can write a book. …..all the best Swati for your futur.
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Thanks Poonam..!
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Great description. I felt like, being there myself. My curiosity remained till the end, if you were able to watch the magic or not.
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Thanks Ruchi. I am glad that you enjoyed the blog till the end and virtually experienced the magic with me…!
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Excellent Read… excellent trip.wish you many more such trips so that we get to know and read such gr8 posts
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Thanks Malvika
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Really amazing ,so beautifully penned down with all finer aspects.your blog is treasure for any travel lover .Keep
it going on !!!!!
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Thanks Padma..!
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Nicely written. Keep traveling and keep writing 👍🏻
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Thanks Shikha..!
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