How much an Abisko aurora tour costs
An evening under the northern lights from Abisko costs from ~$100 for a seat on the bus chase up to ~$160 for a small photo tour with a camera lent. The spread pays for group size and for what you take home, not for a clearer sky. Below are the five tours side by side, then the costs the listing totals leave out.
Five tours side by side
The table lists the five tours on our home page at their regular "from" price per person. GetYourGuide often shows a lower sale price, and the figure moves a little with the date, so read these numbers as a ceiling.
| Tour | From | Length | Group | How you travel | Included | Suits |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lights Over Lapland photo tour (our pick) | ~$160 | 4 h | Max 8 | Foot, 4x4 van, snowmobile sleigh | DSLR, tripod, overalls, headlamp, hot drinks, snacks | Photographers, ages 10+ |
| Lights Over Lapland aurora chase | ~$100 | 3.5–4 h | Up to 28 | Bus, up to 100 km round trip | Warm drink, warm clothing, camera equipment | Budgets, families with kids 5+ |
| Experience Abisko snowmobiles | ~$100 | 3 h | Up to 18 | Snowmobile or sled | Snowsuit, boots, hat, gloves, helmet, warm drink, light snack | Riders who want speed |
| Explore Arctic with a photographer | ~$146 | 3.5 h | Max 8 | Car | Photos of you, warm drinks | Couples who want portraits, ages 3+ |
| AbiskoHikes husky hike | ~$140 | 3 h | Up to 12 | On foot, about 4 km | Overalls, boots, mittens, headlamp, fire, drink, cinnamon buns | Walkers and dog lovers |
All five cancel free until 24 hours before the start, and GetYourGuide lets you reserve now and pay later on each one. When a cloudy forecast can turn a night around, that flexibility counts for more than a few dollars.
The two cheapest seats
Lights Over Lapland's aurora chase from ~$100 and Experience Abisko's snowmobile tour from ~$100 share the bottom of the price range. They buy two very different evenings, though.
The chase is a bus that collects you from hotels in Björkliden at 7:45 pm and in Abisko between 8 and 8:15 pm. It then covers up to 100 km (60 miles) there and back to whichever spot looks clearest. Warm clothing and a hot drink come with the fare.
The downside is the crowd. Up to 28 people share the bus, and GetYourGuide reviewers give it 4.4 for value, a little under its overall 4.5 from 350+ reviews. On Viator it holds 4.9 from 200+ reviews.
The lowest fare with a bus that hunts for clear sky
Lights Over Lapland picks you up at your hotel and drives to whichever lake or river looks clearest that night. Expect a full bus and a warm drink between stops.
The snowmobile figure is a starting price. A seat in the sled behind the guide is the base, while driving your own machine or sharing one can cost more, so pick the option on the booking page before you compare.
The fare covers snowsuits and boots along with hats and gloves, plus a helmet for each driver and a light snack. To drive you must be at least 18 with a licence valid in the EU, and the tour holds 4.7 from 140+ reviews on GetYourGuide.
The middle band
AbiskoHikes' husky hike from ~$140 costs more than the bus and takes you on foot, about 4 km (2.5 miles) round trip with a few retired Alaskan huskies. Overalls and boots are lent for the walk along with mittens and headlamps.
The fare also pays for a stop in a lávvu, where cinnamon buns are warmed by the fire and served with a hot drink. Groups stop at 12, and it holds 5.0 from 30+ reviews on GetYourGuide, a high score from a small sample.
Without a vehicle you cannot run from clouds, so the price buys a good evening outdoors rather than a chase. If the sky closes, you have paid for the fire and the dogs.
Explore Arctic's car chase from ~$146 sells something none of the others do. Its guide doubles as a professional photographer, shooting portraits of you beneath the aurora and sending the files once the tour is over.
Eight guests at most ride in the car, and the tour holds 4.9 from 80+ reviews on GetYourGuide. You get their photos rather than lessons, and a cloudy night leaves them little to shoot.
Our pick charges the most per head
The Ultimate Aurora Photo Adventure from ~$160 is the dearest of the five. The fare lends you a DSLR with its lens preset for the aurora. A tripod comes with it, and so does a backpack to carry it.
Warm overalls and a headlamp are in the price. So are coffee or tea and hot lingonberry juice with snacks. The group stops at eight, which gives the guide time for each camera, though the teaching on the night stays basic.
You do not choose how the night runs. Depending on the weather, it goes on foot to a nearby teepee or by vehicle, either a 4x4 van chase or a snowmobile-pulled sleigh to a wilderness camp.
It holds 4.9 from 500+ reviews on Viator and 4.6 from 90+ on GetYourGuide. What the borrowed camera can and cannot do is in our guide to photographing the aurora.
Price per hour and the size of the group
Divide each fare by its hours and the order shifts. The bus chase and the snowmobile tour stay cheapest per hour, the photo tour lands in the middle over its four hours, and the husky hike costs the most for its three.
Group size is the hidden variable. On the bus you share the guide with up to 27 other guests, while on the photo tour or in the photographer's car you share with seven at most.
A big group sees the same sky as a small one. What changes is how much help you get with a camera and how long you wait for a clear view at the edge of a lake.
Extras the listings leave out
- An SD card for the photo tour, 4 GB minimum; bring one, or buy a 32 GB card there for about 250 kronor
- Heavy arctic boots, which the photo tour rents out if yours are not warm enough
- Dinner before you leave, since the snacks on board are light and the evening runs late
- Hand warmers and a spare phone battery, which no listing mentions
- A second or third night in Abisko, so one cloudy evening does not use up your only try
The extra night changes your odds more than any upgrade. The aurora is never guaranteed, and our plan for a cloudy night shows how to spread the risk across a short stay.
Clothing is the other quiet cost. Most tours lend overalls or suits, but your own layers still matter, as our guide to dressing for the cold explains.
Matching the fare to the trip
On a tight budget with young children, the bus chase covers the most ground for the money and keeps a warm seat between stops. Our page for families lists the age limits on each tour.
If you came for photographs, the choice sits between borrowing a camera on the photo tour and having a professional take your portrait. Riders who want speed pick the snowmobiles, and our comparison of the ways to chase weighs all four shapes.