Borealis & bunny rabbits? 2013 offers rare chance to see Northern Lights at Easter

Dec. 11, 2012 - PRLog -- Two factors are behind this clash of the calendar titans.  Firstly, as everyone from Aarhus to Zanzibar surely now knows, 2013 is expected to benefit from the Solar Maximum – which, in plain English, means the best Northern Lights for several decades.  Thus the odds of Borealis appearances in the last weeks (beginning 25 March & 1 April) of the Aurora-watching season in Scandinavia – normally a faintly risky time to go, as night-time windows of opportunity shorten – are far upped.

Secondly, Easter falls exceedingly early next year.  So early, in fact, that it overlaps with those last Northern Lights trips; Easter Sunday will be celebrated on 31 March in 2013.  

All of which raises the uncommon prospect of travellers seeing the Aurora Borealis while greedily devouring chocolate ovals: the Lights with your Lindt, dazzling displays enhanced by Dairy Milk.  As March brings less cloud cover (hence the nights shortening), you’ll also have longer to appreciate Lapland’s serene beauty, and for daytime activities such as meeting reindeer herders and snowmobiling across still-frozen lakes.

Northern Lights specialist The Aurora Zone has completely sold out many of its tours for this season, but still has space on Easter-included departures for these two trips, suitable for adults:

Aurora & Snow Village Adventure (4 nights in Kittila, Finland, graded ‘Very Active’)
This action-packed, four-night break involves determined Aurora-hunting excursions at night.  Once skies darken and local guides have communicated the Lights’ newest location, guests will whizz across pristine fells in snowmobiles and husky-drawn sleds with cameras at the ready. There’s more snowmobiling by day – an 80km journey across frozen lakes and tundra to Lainio Snow Village’s ice sculptures and chapel – as well as soothing saunas and reindeer safaris through quiet Lappish forests.
--Departing 28 March, the trip costs £1,695 pp (two sharing) including flights (Heathrow), transfers, four nights’ full board and activities.  The Aurora Zone (01670 785 012, http://www.theaurorazone.com).

Aurora in the Wild (6 nights in Nellim, Finland, graded ‘Very Active’)
Set beside the vast wintery expanse of Lake Inari, Nellim is a tiny one-street village in the far north-eastern corner of Finnish Lapland, very close to the Russian border.  On this six-night trip, based in cosy log cabins, visitors will embark on a snowshoe trek, take a wilderness snowmobile safari, spend a day with a reindeer herder and ride in husky sleds.  But the best fun is the simplest: if the Lights are visible overhead, lie back on warming reindeer skins and just gaze skywards.
--Departing 24 & 31 March, the trip costs £1,825 pp (two sharing) including flights (Heathrow), transfers, six nights’ full board and activities.  The Aurora Zone (01670 785 012, http://www.theaurorazone.com).

A full list of Aurora-hunting itineraries is available at http://www.theaurorazone.com.  

ENDS – 11 December 2012

Note to editors:
The Aurora Zone is a brand of Activities Abroad.  The company has been arranging Northern Lights tours for ten years.  The Aurora Zone was created to highlight the innovative concept of Aurora-hunting, and to promote the fact that the next couple of seasons may offer the greatest opportunity to see the Northern Lights until 2030.  

For more information, to discuss press trips or to request photography, contact Richard Mellor at Travel PR, tel: 020 8891 4440, email: r.mellor@travelpr.co.uk.