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Best Hotels in Svolvær and around (Lofoten)
Svolvær is Lofoten's main town, the place most flights and ferries land, and it has by far the widest hotel selection on the islands. It's a pretty city, but it’s not the only option nearby if you want something slightly more scenic. Kabelvåg is right next door, and Henningsvær, one of Lofoten's most photographed fishing villages, is about a 30-minute drive away. Here's where to stay in Svolvær and around.
7 Alternatives to Tromsø for the Northern Lights (Without the Crowds or the Price Tag)
We've spent winters all over the Arctic: Alta, Senja, Tromsø & Lofoten in Norway, Swedish & Finnish Lapland, Iceland and Greenland. So when people write to ask where else to go because Tromsø is booked out, we've usually just come back from one of those alternatives ourselves.
We've even recommended Tromsø before, as a calmer, less commercial answer to Rovaniemi in our Magical Alternatives to Rovaniemi guide. The trouble is, the same thing that made Rovaniemi worth escaping has started catching up with Tromsø: sold-out hotel, tour buses queued at the same handful of viewpoints, and prices that climb every winter the city gets more popular. Here are the alternatives to Tromsø we’d recommend for the northern lights, and what you'd be trading to go there.
Car Rental in Rovaniemi: Everything You Need to Know
Rovaniemi itself doesn't demand a car. The center is walkable, Santa Claus Village is a short bus ride away, and most northern lights tours pick you up from your hotel. But the second you want to see Finnish Lapland (the true one, the one we love) beyond the city limits, on your own schedule, a rental car changes the trip. This is everything you need to know about renting a car in Rovaniemi: where to pick one up, what winter driving involves, and where to venture.
Best Northern Lights Hotels in Lofoten
We've been to Lofoten several times but we’ve watched the aurora show up over Lofoten from a hotel window exactly once, standing by the pier at Kaikanten Rorbuer in October. Most nights it doesn't work out that well, and you often need to drive for clearer skies. But some bases put you closer to that outcome than others. Cabins with the fjord right outside, villages dark enough that you don't need to drive anywhere if Lady Aurora and Mister Weather decide to join forces. Here are our favorite northern lights hotels in Lofoten. But as usual for the aurora, treat them as a bonus rather than an absolute goal.
Tromsø vs. Rovaniemi vs. Kiruna: Which Arctic Hub Should You Visit?
We've spent different seasons all over the Arctic: Kiruna, Abisko, Luleå, Alta, Tromsø, Lofoten, Svalbard, and Finnish Lapland outside Rovaniemi too. So, when people ask us to pick between Tromsø, Rovaniemi, and Kiruna, we're quite qualified to answer.
These are the three biggest, easiest-to-reach Arctic hubs in Europe, one in each country, and they're different trips wearing the same "see the northern lights" marketing and Sámi culture. I actually covered this lack of differentiation in my Master thesis on polar tourism! Here's how Tromsø, Rovaniemi and Kiruna compare, and how to get between them if you’d like to combine.
Renting a Car in Lofoten, Norway
Lofoten, Norway, looks small on a map, but it drives slow. The E10 threads through tunnels and along fjord edges, most side roads narrow down to a single lane with passing places, and the drive from Å to Svolvær takes a lot longer than the distance suggests. Plus, you’ll want to stop all the time to take photos… or just take it all in!
A rental car is how you actually see the islands beyond the villages your bus or tour drops you at, but where you rent one is worth thinking through before you arrive.
Hiking in Finnish Lapland: The Best Trails Near Rovaniemi, Plus a Few Worth the Drive
Finnish Lapland doesn't hike like its neighbors. There's no Norwegian drama here, no Sarek-style wilderness that eats inexperienced hikers alive. What you get instead is something closer to “lagom”, that Nordic idea of just enough: fells worn smooth by two billion years of weather, trails marked clearly enough that getting lost take effort, and free wilderness huts spaced out along the way in case you want to stop and boil coffee. It’s also accessible in winter, sometimes with snowshoes or cross-country skis. We've hiked a handful of these trails ourselves, in both fall and winter, and these are the Finnish Lapland hikes we can recommend, both near Rovaniemi and further.
How to Get to Lofoten: Flights, Ferries, and the Ferry-Free Drive In
Lofoten looks like it should be hard to reach: a chain of islands hanging off the top of Norway, ringed by open ocean. In practice it isn't, and you have more options than you would expect given the remoteness. You can fly straight into Svolvær or Leknes, take the Bodø ferry with your rental car, ride the Hurtigruten in past the incredible "Lofoten wall," or, and this surprises people, drive in without a ferry at all. Here is every way to get to Lofoten — we tried them all!
Best Northern Lights Hotels in Alta, Norway
Alta gets called the northern lights capital of Norway for a reason. Dark skies, low light pollution once you're a bit outside of town, and an aurora season that runs from late September through early April. And, as usual with northern lights, where you sleep matters. This is a rundown of the best northern lights hotels in Alta to optimize your chances.
Best Hotels in Ålesund, Norway (+ Sunnmøre & Geiranger)
We've watched the sunset from Mount Aksla, hiked on Runde bird island, tried the floating sauna Svai when the sea was 4 degrees, and almost stayed forever deep in the Summøre Alps & fjords.
Ålesund, Norway, definitely rewards that kind of wandering, and where you stay changes the trip. A harborside room in the Art Nouveau center is a different experience than a night an hour inland with a fjord out the window! Here's our selection of hotels in Ålesund, and in the surrounding Sunnmøre Alps and fjords.
Reine Rorbuer: Which One to Book
Reine is the name on every Lofoten postcard, but it's not really just one place. What people mean by "Reine rorbuer" usually stretches across a string of small settlements tucked along the same stretch of coastline, Hamnøy, Sakrisøy, Olenilsøy, Toppøy, Andøy, each with its own rorbuer (read fisherman’s houses), its own dramatic view, and its own personality. Here’s our guide to the best rorbuer in Reine and around, because it’s the most authentic and picturesque accommodation you can stay at.
How to Get to Rovaniemi: Flights, Trains, Buses, and Getting Around
Rovaniemi is Finnish Lapland's main gateway, and it's built for it: an airport that runs seasonal direct flights from all over Europe, an overnight train from Helsinki with a spot for your car, and a bus network that reaches deep into the rest of Lapland once you've landed. We've done this trip both ways ourselves, flying in for a quick visit and taking the train up from Helsinki when we wanted to visit our friend Altti. Here's how each option works, and how to get around once you're here.
Where to Stay in Lofoten: Best Areas, Islands & Villages for Every Kind of Trip
Lofoten isn't one destination; it's a chain of islands strung together by bridges and a single road. And where you sleep decides how much of it you see, especially if you have a short amount of time. Base yourself wrong and you'll spend half your trip driving back and forth for dinner. Base yourself right, and everything from the Reinebringen sunrise to the last ferry out is fifteen minutes away. This is a village-by-village breakdown of where to stay in Lofoten, built around what each area is good for.
For the full list of specific hotels and resorts across the islands, our Best Hotels & Resorts in Lofoten guide has the complete picks; this one is about choosing the right base first. We stayed at a few!
Car Rental in Kiruna, Sweden: Everything You Need to Know
Kiruna, Swedish Lapland, is definitely small enough to walk across, but the moment you want the ICEHOTEL, Abisko, or a run at the aurora somewhere darker than town, you'll want your own wheels. Here's your guide to rent a car in Kiruna. We’ve been there 7 times!
Kiruna to Abisko: How to Get There by Train, Bus, or Car
Abisko sits about 94 kilometers northwest of Kiruna, Swedish Lapland, on the same rail and road corridor that continues on to Riksgränsen and across the border into Narvik, Norway. Most people making this trip are headed for Abisko National Park, the Aurora Sky Station, or a stretch of the Kungsleden, and there are three ways to get from Kiruna to Abisko: train, bus, or car. We did the three, and here's how each one works.
How to See the Northern Lights in Rovaniemi: With or Without a Car
Rovaniemi sits right on the Arctic Circle and is easy to reach from all over Europe, but it's still a city with streetlights, so where you stand does more work here than in a lot of Lapland towns. And whether you've got a car changes everything. Here is how, when, and where to see the northern lights in Rovaniemi with or without a car.
Car Rental in Bodø: Everything You Need to Know
Bodø, Norway, doesn't get talked about as a road trip base the way Lofoten does, but it's often the smarter place to actually pick up your rental. It's a bigger city with more cars and companies; it sits right at the ferry crossing into Lofoten, and its own surroundings are worth exploring by car too, whether you've got an afternoon or a week (or a lifetime?).
Northern Lights in Bodø, Norway: When and Where to See Them
Bodø sits right on Norway's coast above the Arctic Circle, which makes it one of the easier places in the country to catch the aurora. It's also the mainland's usual jumping off point for Lofoten, so plenty of travelers end up chasing the lights in both places on the same trip. Follow our guide to see the northern lights in Bodø!
Lapland on a Budget: How to plan Cheap Holidays to Rovaniemi & Finnish Lapland
Every year, some people pay somewhere around 400£ to 600£ a person (or more) for an 18-hour coach-and-flight day trip to Finnish Lapland. A flight to Rovaniemi on its own can cost less than a taxi ride across London, if you book it right. Obviously, the Nordics are never cheap, but this guide will help you plan your trip to Lapland “on a budget". It's Finland-focused throughout, since that's what almost everyone searching for "Lapland" actually means.
If you're curious about the Swedish side, particularly Kiruna, we've covered that separately, and you’ll find lots of resources in our Lapland Travel Hub.
22 Glass Igloos in Finland: The Best Ones and How to Choose
Every "best glass igloo" list in Finland points you toward the same photos. At Penguin Trampoline, we're not going to pretend we've slept in every one of them, because we haven't. We experienced the aurora igloo concept in Iceland, we visited the Arctic SnowHotel property (more on that below), and we dug into the rest property by property.
Here's what's different between them and what tends to move the price, and we also broke them down by region because we understand it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you want to get it right!