After many years of renting cottages all over Lapland for our Northern Lights tours, we never deviated from our dream, which was to one day have our very own cottages. We have always wanted to design them from scratch and place them in an awesome location that we determine. Well, we are very happy to announce that dream has been realised! Midgard is our VERY OWN dedicated northern lights tours at our VERY OWN BRAND NEW holiday village and you can now book it for winter 2020-21! Cottages are currently being built and will be ready Summer 2020! Pictures of the cottages on this page are from an near identical model the manufacturer has made. Ours will be better still as we have made some big changes.
So we bought a couple hectares of forest, just north of Kaamanen village a few years ago. First thing we did was build a Fire hut (aka Kota) on it so we could use it while we were out on cold nights aurora chasing to warm up. It’s been an amazing spot for us. The skies around here are just incredible. We have actually run tours in this location before quite a few years ago from rented cottages and it was an absolutely superb location for us (search our tripadvisor reviews for Midgard). It was no longer feasible to rent those cottages, hence we temporarily paused our Midgard tours a few years ago until we had our very own cottages. But now we are back!
Our new Midgard site is located right on the river bank of the Kaamasjoki river and it faces due North. Perfect for Aurora Gazers like us. It is also so far north, (69° 7′ 15.1284” N) it is right on the edge of the Boreal Forest Line, where Pine Forests make way for open Arctic Tundra. As an aurora chaser, logistics play a key role. Some nights when you have to hit the road, you want access to all points on a compass. With very few roads in Lapland, this often isn’t possible. But at our Midgard site, we are truly blessed with roads going North, South, East and West. Logistically, it doesn’t get much better than this. We can go aurora chasing in any direction from our Midgard site, which of course improves the odds of finding Northern Lights greatly!
Our Midgard tours have had some epic shows over the years!
The best bit about this location is that there are no towns above us for 100km, it is just Arctic Tundra & wilderness, meaning GREAT northern night skies. The other great thing is that we are only a 1 hour drive from our more northern Asgard tour, so if we get reports that there are clear skies and Aurora Borealis up there, we can drive up there and watch them! And vice versa if we have aurora and they don’t, they can head down here. It’s really a team effort, we all work together to help get all our customers under the northern lights, no matter which location they are at.
Stood on the river in front of the cottages, this is how clear our skies are here!
So all this sounds great so far, we feel we definitely chose the right location. But how about the cottages? We could build basically whatever we wanted, log cabins, houses, chalets or whatever. But being the top ranked tour company in Lapland, we don’t cut corners. We decided to build GLASS COTTAGES. Don’t be confused with Glass Igloos, which are tiny. Our glass cottages are 50m2 proper sized cottages! Complete with all mod cons, even including your own Sauna.
Step down to the river, a mere 30 metres from your cottage door for the best vantage point to watch the northern lights.
As usual, our motto “it’s all about the lights” has never been truer, because we hand picked every single thing about this northern lights holiday ourselves entirely from an aurora chasers perspective. It is 100% dedicated to Northern Lights and about maximising the chances of seeing them. We go chasing the lights around Finland’s northern wilderness and Arctic Tundra region. We head so far north we leave the Boreal Pine Forests behind and head into barren (and treeless) tundra, where the only company we will have is a few Reindeer and the occasional Moose.
Our Midgard Fire Hut (Finnish: Kota)
There is no need to feel cold in Lapland with us. We provide warm snowsuits, a warm fire hut, warm bus and warm cottages. If ever you start feeling the cold, simply go an warm up a bit in any of those places. We run a really relaxed and laid back system. Your guide can even come and knock on the window when good aurora starts to kick off so you don’t have to stand outside waiting if you don’t want to.
Warm up and roast some marshmallows in our fire hut (Finnish: kota) while we are waiting for the aurora to show up!
Our responsibility for you seeing northern lights is not just when we are driving round in the evening trying to find them. Our responsibility of helping you see Northern Lights begins when you step off the plane, until when you step back on it! So even if we are not with you at the time, we want to maximise your chances of seeing the lights! For this reason, we have chosen not to put you in a hotel, instead we have personally selected some row cottages that you will be staying in that hugely maximise your chances of seeing the lights, even if we aren’t with you at the time.
Amazing aurora over our Midgard site
So you will have 4 nights accommodation in your own glass cottage situated exactly 30 metres throw from the famous Kaamanen River (Finnish: Kaamasjoki). You can watch the Northern Lights all night from your cottage, from the kota (wooden hut with fire inside – super warm!) or from the river.
View from above our cottages
The maximum number of people we take PER WEEK is just 12. We can actually accommodate up to 24 people if you have a group size larger than 12 you can exclusively book us for your large group with prior arrangement. But for the most part, for individual and family bookings, the maximum amount of people we take is just 12 PER WEEK. This means even if we are fully booked, it’s just you and 11 other aurora chasers for the entire week. You have your own cottage with your own kitchen and sauna too, so it is a really comfortable system, you can wake up when you like, eat when you like, and have a sauna when you like all in the comfort of your own cottage with your own privacy.
As with all our tours, we generally require a minimum of two people. However we often have odd numbers of people or large groups in one or two cottages, so we usually accommodate individual travellers throughout the winter, so please do contact us if you are an individual and would like to visit.
Each cottage has one twin (or double) bedroom. For tons of info on the cottages click here.
If the weather isn’t playing ball over Midgard, we’ll jump in the bus and go hunting for aurora!
Itinerary
The holiday is Monday to Friday. On the Monday afternoon when you arrive, we’ll pick you up from Ivalo airport (all the details on which airport to fly to, which flights to get and lots of other useful information is here). Depending on the road conditions, it is about a one hour drive back to your cottage through beautiful snow capped pine forests and past frozen lakes.
Before we get to your cottage, we’ll stop at the supermarket so you can get some groceries etc for the week (remember your cottage is self catering). The supermarket is pretty big and it has everything you need for breakfast, lunch and dinner all week. It also has beer/cider.
Once at your cottage you’ll be shown around, instructed how to use the fire, sauna etc. The cottages are nestled in a small pine wooded area which helps shelter you from the arctic wind. There is a kota (wooden teepee style fireplace) in the grounds of our cottages where you and the other aurora service guests can sit watching northern lights for as long as you like (we’ll leave you to it).
There are a lot of Reindeer around our Midgard location. If you talk a little walk down the river it’s quite likely you’ll see one.
The kaamasjoki river freezes really fast as winter approaches and the forestry commission marks a trail out down it. Great for walks (and snowmobiling of course).
It will be around 3.00-4.00pm by the time we get you to the cottage and you will have been travelling non-stop all day, so we’ll leave you to settle in to your cottage and have an evening relaxing after a hard days travelling. We’ll just show you the kota, where you can watch the Northern Lights from on your first night. The aurora chasing begins on Tuesday evening. It’s important you relax the first night so you are fresh for the rest of the week, because we will be out chasing the light for 3 nights straight, and depending on the the aurora show, we could be out quite late each night, well into the early hours.
Our Midgard Glass Cottages 🙂
You have the daytime to yourself. Whether you want to go for walks, take up some of the activities we offer or just relax at your cottage reading a book. You can do anything you like, at your own pace. It’s especially good if your a photographer you can use the daytime to work on your previous nights aurora footage 🙂
Super warm and cosy. Don’t like the cold? Just lay on the sofa and watch the northern lights from inside 🙂
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm each evening (purposefully just after dinner time so your not chasing the lights on an empty stomach), our aurora chasing tours begin. We will come and collect you from your cottage and go out chasing the lights for 4-5 hours or more (depends how good the show is) each night. When we get back to the cottage, you can put some wood in the kota/fireplace and carry on watching the northern lights into the early hours at your own leisure, with a beer or a glass of wine in your hand.
Not your average drive to the airport…
On the Friday morning we’ll come and collect you at 10.30am and take you back on the beautiful hour drive to Ivalo airport.
If you want to do some winter activities in the day time, we do offer some, which you can add-on to your holiday. Click here for more details.
The Price
Only €1245 per person! Kids (under 11) half price! Convert to your currency now
-with only €100 deposit to secure your place and the remainder payable 2 months before arrival.
What you get:
- 4 nights accommodation in your own cottage (with your own sauna)
- 3 nights chasing the lights for 4-5 hours (or more)
- Free collection to and from Ivalo airport
- Free hot drinks, hot soup and snacks while out aurora chasing.
- Free snow suits, snow boots, hats and gloves.
- Free help and advice with camera (inc battery charging from the van).
- Free aurora pics from the week transferred onto your memory card that we have taken on our pro cameras.
- Free firewood for both your cottage fire and the fireplace outside.
What isn’t included:
- Flights are not included.
- Travel insurance is not included. Due to the nature of our holiday, travel insurance is a requirement.
- Meals are not included. But your cottage has a fully equipped kitchen so you can eat what you want, when you want (we visit a supermarket on the way up from airport).
Tour Dates 2020-2021 Aurora Season
Tour 1 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 2nd November – Friday 6th Nov 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 2 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 9th Nov – Friday 13th Nov 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 3 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 16th Nov – Friday 20th Nov 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 4 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 23rd Nov – Friday 27th Nov 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 5 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 30th Nov – Friday 4th December 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 6 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 7th Dec – Friday 11th Dec 2020 | 12 places available
Tour 7 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 14th Dec – Friday 18th Dec 2020 | 8 places available
Christmas Break
Tour 8 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 28th Dec – Friday 1st January 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 9 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 4th Jan – Friday 8th Jan 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 10 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 11th Jan – Friday 15th Jan 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 11 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 18th Jan – Friday 22nd Jan 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 12 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 25th Jan – Friday 29th Jan 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 13 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 1st February – Friday 5th Feb 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 14 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 8th Feb – Friday 12th Feb 2021 | 8 places available
Tour 15 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 15th Feb – Friday 19th Feb 2021 | 4 places available
Tour 16 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 22nd Feb – Friday 26th Feb 2021 | 12 places available
Tour 17 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 1st March – Friday 5th March 2021 | 8 places available
Tour 18 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 8th March – Friday 12th March 2021 | 8 places available
Tour 19 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 15th March – Friday 19th March 2021 | 4 places available
Tour 20 | Weekday (4 nights) Monday 22nd March – Friday 26th March 2021 | 12 places available
At our prices and with the small group size we have on our tours, places fill up very fast (we are usually sold out 6 months in advance). So please book well in advance to avoid disappointment. It is first come first served basis. If the dates you are looking at are unavailable or you would like to go on the waiting list for the next available season you may add yourself to the waiting list here.
Secure your place on one of our tours now with only €100 deposit:
The dedicated northern lights holiday in Finland was conceived by us. We are the original!
