Swedish Lapland: Kiruna, the Icehotel and Abisko

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Kiruna

   Kiruna Airport (KRN) to your hotel in Kiruna

   • Environ 15 min de route
   • Welcome dinner
   • Nuit : Kiruna
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Kiruna Airport, about 10 km from town, usually on a connection from Stockholm Arlanda: plan to land by about 3 pm. A driver meets you at arrivals for the short transfer to the hotel. Kiruna is Sweden's northernmost town, built around the iron-ore mine in the Kiirunavaara mountain, and the town itself is moving: the mine has spread under the old centre, so homes, shops and even the church are being rebuilt or carried a few kilometres east. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group, fits everyone with the winter outfit you keep for the week (thermal overall, boots, mittens, socks and a balaclava) and runs through the plan, the cold and the aurora forecast. Then we sit down to a welcome dinner of northern Swedish food, perhaps Arctic char or reindeer. If the sky is clear and the forecast strong, your guide takes anyone who wants to go to a dark spot at the edge of town afterwards.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Kiruna Airport (KRN)
   • Winter outfit fitting and welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner
   • An aurora outing at the edge of town if the sky is clear and the forecast strong

   Temps libre : Free until the 5 pm briefing

2. Jour 2 : Huskies and the Icehotel

   Kiruna to a husky kennel and the Icehotel at Jukkasjarvi, then back to Kiruna

   • Environ 45 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Kiruna
   Détail du jour 2

   The husky ride goes first, in the best of the short winter light. We drive about 20 minutes east towards Jukkasjarvi to a kennel in the forest, where the dogs start barking as soon as the sleds come out. After a safety talk from the mushers you ride two to a sled, one standing on the runners and one sitting, swapping halfway, on a trail of about 10 km through snowy pine and over frozen marsh. Lunch is a hot, sit-down meal in Jukkasjarvi. In the afternoon a guide takes us through the Icehotel, built on the bank of the Torne River from blocks of its own ice: the ice bar, the main hall and suites carved by artists, different every winter, and the year-round Icehotel 365 building. Before heading back we look into the old wooden church in Jukkasjarvi village, one of the oldest in Swedish Lapland. The evening is free in Kiruna, or stay behind for a night in an Icehotel cold room if you booked the upgrade.

   Compris

   • Husky ride of about 10 km near Jukkasjarvi, two to a sled
   • Sit-down lunch in Jukkasjarvi
   • Guided visit to the Icehotel: the seasonal ice building and Icehotel 365
   • The wooden church in Jukkasjarvi village

   Activités en option

   • A night in an Icehotel cold room in place of the Kiruna hotel, quoted when you book
   • Snowmobile safari from Jukkasjarvi (a valid car driving licence is needed to drive)

   Option plus facile : Ride as the passenger for the whole husky trail, wrapped in a reindeer skin, or swap the husky ride for a calmer visit to a Sami reindeer herding family near Jukkasjarvi (ask when you book).

   Option plus active : Drive the sled for the whole trail, if your sled partner agrees and the musher is happy with your braking.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Kiruna

   Activité : Huskies pull hard. Standing on the runners means holding on and using the brake on the downhill parts; the mushers teach you first. Inside the Icehotel it stays at about -5 C.

   

3. Jour 3 : Kiruna's new centre, then along Tornetrask to Abisko

   Kiruna to Abisko on the E10, along the shore of Tornetrask

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Abisko
   Détail du jour 3

   Upgrade guests are collected from the Icehotel after breakfast. We start with a short walk in Kiruna's new town centre with your guide, past the new town hall and to Kiruna Church, the big wooden church moved in one piece from the old centre in 2025, with the mine mountain on the skyline behind. Then we drive about 95 km north-west on the E10, about an hour and a quarter, with a stop on the shore of Tornetrask, a lake about 70 km long, frozen and white from shore to mountains in midwinter. We reach Abisko for a sit-down lunch and settle into the hotel, our base for three nights. In the afternoon twilight your guide leads a short walk into the Abisko canyon, where the river has cut through layered rock and freezes into ice falls and blue ice. Dinner is together at the hotel, and if the sky is clear we walk down to the lake shore afterwards, a few minutes away, to watch for the Northern Lights away from the village lights.

   Compris

   • Walk in Kiruna's new town centre and Kiruna Church with your guide
   • Photo stop on the shore of Tornetrask
   • Sit-down lunch in Abisko
   • Guided walk into the frozen Abisko canyon
   • Dinner in Abisko
   • Aurora watch on the Tornetrask shore if the sky is clear

   Activités en option

   • LKAB's visitor mine tour in Kiruna, on the days it runs (book ahead; we add a morning in Kiruna and leave for Abisko after lunch)

   Activité : The canyon path is short but can be icy; we lend ice grips for your boots.

   

4. Jour 4 : A day on the ice and the Aurora Sky Station

   Abisko to the frozen lake and back, then up Mount Nuolja

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Abisko
   Détail du jour 4

   Today is spent on a frozen lake. In the late morning a local guide takes us out onto the ice of Tornetrask, or onto a smaller lake near Abisko in December before Tornetrask is safe to walk on. We drill holes with a hand auger and fish for Arctic char and trout, while those who would rather move snowshoe along the shore with your guide. Lunch is cooked over a fire in a tent or hut on the ice: fish if anyone catches some, a reindeer stew if not. The afternoon is free to rest, take a sauna if your hotel has one, or eat an early dinner. In the evening we take the open chairlift up Mount Nuolja to the Aurora Sky Station, at about 900 m above the dark valley, with a view over the lake and no lights in it. Warm drinks, a small exhibition and a terrace to watch from. If the forecast makes another evening much better, your guide moves the visit when tickets allow.

   Compris

   • Ice fishing on Tornetrask (or a smaller frozen lake in December) with a local guide
   • Snowshoe walk along the shore
   • Lunch cooked over a fire on the ice
   • Aurora Sky Station on Mount Nuolja, with the chairlift up and down

   Activités en option

   • The Aurora Sky Station's set dinner at the top (book ahead)

   Option plus facile : Stay by the fire on the ice instead of snowshoeing, and skip the chairlift if the cold or the height do not suit you: watch from the lake shore near the hotel instead.

   Option plus active : A longer snowshoe loop of about 5 km along the shore with your guide while the others fish.

   Temps libre : Afternoon free in Abisko; dinner on your own

   Activité : The chairlift is open to the air and the ride up takes about 20 minutes in the dark; with the full outfit and a blanket it is cold but fine.

   

5. Jour 5 : Snowshoes in Abisko National Park and a campfire night

   Abisko, the national park and a dark spot outside the village

   • Environ 15 min de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Abisko
   Détail du jour 5

   A free morning, for sleeping in after a late night, a cross-country ski on the prepared tracks, or the train along the lake to Riksgransen on the Norwegian border for mountain views. Around midday your guide leads a snowshoe walk of about 3 to 4 km into Abisko National Park, set up in 1909 and one of the first national parks in Europe, through low mountain birch bent by the snow, looking for the tracks of hare, fox and ptarmigan. On a clear day the U-shaped gap of Lapporten, the mountain gate to the south-west, stands out across the valley. After a rest we sit down to a farewell dinner together. Then we drive a few minutes out of the village to a dark spot by the lake, light a campfire, hand round hot drinks and wait for the sky. Your guide checks the forecast and the cloud cover all day and picks the spot with the best chance.

   Compris

   • Guided snowshoe walk in Abisko National Park
   • Farewell dinner
   • Campfire aurora evening at a dark spot outside the village

   Activités en option

   • Cross-country ski hire
   • Train to Riksgransen and back
   • Snowmobile safari (a valid car driving licence is needed to drive)

   Option plus facile : Take the shorter snowshoe loop of about 1.5 km and head back to the hotel early.

   Option plus active : A longer guided snowshoe or a morning cross-country ski on the tracks near the village before the group walk.

   Temps libre : Morning free in Abisko

   Activité : Snowshoeing is walking with wide feet: no skill needed, but deep snow is tiring, so we set the pace to the slowest walker.

6. Jour 6 : Abisko to Kiruna Airport

   Abisko to Kiruna Airport (KRN) on the E10

   • Environ 1.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 6

   A last breakfast with the lake and the mountains outside, and time to hand back your winter outfit at the hotel. Mid-morning we drive back along the shore of Tornetrask and through the forest to Kiruna, about 105 km and an hour and a half, arriving at Kiruna Airport around midday. Your guide sees you to check-in before saying goodbye. Most flights from Kiruna connect through Stockholm Arlanda, so book a flight leaving after about 1 pm. If the E10 is closed by a storm, as happens a few times each winter, we take the train from Abisko instead. If you would like more time in Sweden, Stockholm is an easy addition: we can suggest hotels and what to see, from Gamla Stan, the old town, to the archipelago. If you want a second week in the snow, our Finnish Lapland trip from Rovaniemi is a short flight away via Helsinki or Stockholm.

   Compris

   • Drop-off at Kiruna Airport (KRN)

   Activité : Book a flight from Kiruna leaving after about 1 pm.

Faune et météo : For a few weeks around the December solstice the sun does not rise in Kiruna or Abisko; days are a few hours of blue twilight, so the outdoor activities sit in the middle of the day. February is often the coldest month. March has 11 to 12 hours of daylight, deep snow and milder days. The Northern Lights are possible on any dark, clear night through the season; cloud is what most often hides them. Tornetrask usually freezes hard enough to walk on from about January.

• Kiruna2 nuits
• Abisko3 nuits