Norway’s Night Lights and Ice Dreams
by André Koester, Luxury Travel Advisor
My 13-year old twin sons, Sam and James, and I were looking for something fun and different to do for their winter break, and we came up with the idea of exploring northern Norway. Sleeping in an ice hotel for a night was what first drew us to Norway, but we experienced so many other great adventures that we decided it was one of the best trips we’ve taken.
The adventure started with sleeping in a canvas “igloo” next to a glacier. The room was cozy and very warm with down comforters and furry rugs. We loved looking out the large window at the winter wonderland. Our activities included dog sledding with a team of 10 friendly, eager dogs through knee-deep snow and being pulled on sleds at top speed behind a snowmobile.
Our next stop was at a lovely lodge in Alta that is not only an excellent base for many winter activities but also has an ice hotel next door. On our first day here, we visited a Sámi family, the local indigenous people who live in Lapland (northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland). Their livelihood is reindeer herding, which they have done for thousands of years. The reindeer were much bigger and faster than we realized. They pulled each of the twins on a sled and got up to 25-30 miles per hour! After the sled ride, we went into the Sámi “lavuu,” which looks like a teepee. There was a crackling fire in the middle (a hole in the top of the tent let the smoke out), and we enjoyed a delicious meal cooked over the fire while chatting with the Sámi family about their lifestyle. My twins loved hearing how the Sámi are mixing their ancient traditions with new technology; the reindeer are fitted with collars that have GPS tracking. Our host pulled out his iPhone to show us exactly where his herd was on the map.
The next day was spent snowshoeing through the woods to a lake for ice fishing. The fixings for our lunch were pulled on a sled by Bruno, a friendly Alaskan husky. After our guide taught us how to make a hole in the ice with a special tool, we sat on reindeer skins on the ice, waiting for a nibble from Arctic char. Alas, it wasn’t our lucky day to catch anything (and we weren’t willing to wait long because of the chilly temperatures). However, we still enjoyed a delicious salmon and roasted vegetable lunch over the fire (Sam and James feasted on roasted hotdogs and chocolate bars and were very happy).
That evening was the highlight of the trip. First, we chased the Northern Lights. I had always thought the Northern Lights just appeared, but you dramatically increase your chances of seeing them if you go to a place with no light pollution. You need to do it on a night with no clouds. This night was clear, and we had an experienced guide who has chased the lights for 20 years. He knew exactly where to go for minimal light pollution. At first, there was only a small arc of green in the sky, but as we watched over a period of two hours, the lights moved and danced across the sky with an amazing array of colors–yellow, green, and pink. It was stunning, and we were mesmerized by the show.
After seeing such an amazing display of the Northern Lights, it seemed unlikely that anything could match that, but we spent that night in the ice hotel, and that was Sam and James’ favorite adventure of the trip. Sleeping in an ice hotel is not as cold and uncomfortable as it sounds. We had a regular hotel room to shower, use the bathroom and leave our things. After getting ready for bed, we walked over to the ice hotel, picking up our sleeping bags and pillows along the way. Our cozy room was complete with stunning ice carvings of reindeer and Nordic scenes. Our bed was an ice platform covered with reindeer skins, and once in our sleeping bags, we were quite cozy and slept well. The only tricky part was getting out of the sleeping bag to head back to the regular hotel in the morning! We enjoyed a delicious, hot breakfast as soon as we got back, and boy was it good!
What made this trip particularly memorable was sharing these fun and unusual adventures with my sons in weather that we usually avoid when we’re at home. Being out in the gorgeous Norwegian winter scenery and enjoying ourselves was just incredible. Our only regret was that the twins’ older brothers and their dad weren’t with us. We already want to take them back!