Oct 19, 2026 · @Tania Venter
The Arctic Circle isn’t one holiday. It’s several, and the right one depends on how you like to travel.
Some of our clients want to watch the sky from the deck of a ship. Others want a cabin in the snow, a sauna and a snowmobile. Families want reindeer and a visit to Santa. And some would rather leave the planning to a Travel Director and see two or three countries in one go.
Here are six ways we’d do it, what each one suits, and what to think about before you book from South Africa.
First, pick your season
The Arctic is two different places depending on when you go.
Winter is for the Northern Lights, snow underfoot, reindeer and husky trails. Days are short and nights are long, which is exactly what you want if seeing the lights is the point of the trip.
Summer is for long, light evenings, green fjords and Iceland’s coast. You won’t see the Northern Lights, but you’ll have far more daylight for exploring.
Five of the six options below are winter trips. The sixth is our pick for summer.
1. By ship: Hurtigruten’s Coastal Express
A Hurtigruten Coastal Express ship sailing along Norway’s snowy coast.
Best for: couples and independent travellers who want to unpack once and let the scenery come to them.
Hurtigruten’s Coastal Express follows Norway’s coast between Bergen and Kirkenes. You can sail one way north, one way south, or the full round trip. Wi-Fi, full-board dining and an expedition team are included, so the days run themselves.
The appeal is simple. Instead of driving out at night to look for the lights, you’re already out on the water, away from town lights, with the sky above the deck. We currently have festive and New Year sailings on offer, so ask us for dates and prices.
2. In a wilderness resort: Vaattunki, Finnish Lapland
Snowmobiling through the forest in Finnish Lapland.
Best for: couples who want the real Arctic without planning every detail, in the weeks before Christmas.
Our five-night Vaattunki Wilderness Resort package includes private return transfers from Rovaniemi Airport, an Arctic Deluxe room and breakfast daily. Three experiences are built in: a private sauna and jacuzzi session, a one-hour snowmobile safari, and a Northern Lights eSafari with sausages on the grill, flatbread and hot drinks.
The package is for travel between 27 November and 23 December 2026. A high-season supplement applies from 18 December, so earlier dates offer better value.
3. With the children: Santa Claus Holiday Village
A reindeer and sleigh in Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland.
Best for: families with children aged 3 to 11 who want Lapland in the new year.
This five-night package at the 4-star Santa Claus Holiday Village includes a Classic Cottage, breakfast and dinner daily, luggage handling and daily housekeeping. Three experiences are included:
- A reindeer farm visit with a 400-metre sleigh ride, hot drinks and pastries
- A Rovaniemi city tour with a visit to Santa Claus Village and entry to the Arktikum Museum
- A family aurora tour: the Little Aurora Hunters School, followed by a Lappish barbecue
Thermal clothing and English-speaking guides come with each experience. Travel dates run from 7 January to 15 March 2027, and there’s special pricing for two children sharing with two adults. Airport transfers aren’t included, so we’ll add them to your quote.
4. On a guided tour: Finland and Sweden with Trafalgar
Kiruna Church under snow in Swedish Lapland.
Best for: travellers who want to cover a lot of ground with a Travel Director handling the logistics.
Trafalgar’s nine-day Scandinavian Northern Lights tour starts in Helsinki and flies north across the Arctic Circle to Saariselkä in Finnish Lapland. It includes a visit to the Siida Sámi Museum, lunch at a reindeer farm, and a night in Rovaniemi with a stop at Santa’s post office. From there, it crosses into Swedish Lapland, through the UNESCO-listed church village of Gammelstad, Luleå and Kiruna, before ending in Stockholm.
Optional extras along the way include aurora hunting, husky sledging, a snowmobile safari and a visit to the Icehotel near Kiruna.
5. For younger travellers: Arctic Norway with Contiki
Tromsø at dusk from Mount Storsteinen, at the top of the Fjellheisen cable car.
Best for: younger travellers who want a sociable group trip with plenty going on.
Contiki’s seven-day Norway Fjords & Northern Lights trip starts and ends in Tromsø. It includes a cable car ride up Mount Storsteinen and two nights on a Hurtigruten ship, sailing via Honningsvåg to Kirkenes, with a flight back to Tromsø. Optional extras include a whale safari, a trip to the North Cape, dog sledging, and a Sámi culture evening.
6. In summer: Iceland and the fjords with NCL
Summer in Flåm, one of the Norwegian stops on the NCL sailing.
Best for: cruise lovers who’d rather have long, light evenings than snow.
NCL’s Norwegian Prima sails a 10-night itinerary from Reykjavík to Southampton in summer 2027. It calls at Ísafjörður and Akureyri in north Iceland, then crosses to Norway for Ålesund, Hellesylt and Flåm, before finishing via Zeebrugge in Belgium.
This is a summer trip, so it’s about scenery rather than the Northern Lights. It ends in Southampton, so South African passport holders need a UK visa as well as a Schengen visa for Iceland and Norway.
An honest word about the Northern Lights
The Northern Lights over a snowy road in Swedish Lapland.
No one can guarantee a sighting, and we won’t pretend otherwise. Our suppliers say the same.
What we can do is improve your chances. The lights need a dark, clear sky, and Contiki’s guidance is that they most often appear between 5 pm and 2 am. So we look at the time of year, how many nights you’ll spend in the far north, and whether you’ll be away from town lights. More nights in the right place means more chances.
We’d also suggest building a trip you’ll love even if the sky stays cloudy: the reindeer, the snow, the sauna and the scenery are worth the journey on their own.
Planning from South Africa
These are the things we sort out for you, and the ones worth thinking about early.
- Flights: none of these packages includes international flights. We’ll quote routings from Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban to match your dates.
- Visas: Finland, Norway, Sweden and Iceland are all Schengen countries, so South African passport holders need a Schengen visa. Allow plenty of time to get an appointment and your visa back before you travel. The NCL sailing ends in Southampton, so for that trip you’ll also need a UK visa.
- Travel insurance: essential for any Arctic trip, and not included in the packages.
- Warm clothing: several experiences include thermal clothing, but you’ll still need proper winter layers for the rest of the trip.
- Timing: for the lights, go in the dark months. For Lapland at Christmas, book well ahead. For long, light days, go in summer.
Which one suits you?
Tell us who’s travelling, when you’d like to go and what matters most, whether that’s the lights, the snow, Santa or the scenery. We’ll match you to the right trip and send you options with current prices and dates.
Get in touch through our website, or comment ARCTIC on our latest Instagram post, and we’ll send you options.
Tania, Jenny’s Travel.
