On the lookout for the Aurora Borealis: Euromaxx reporter Gönna Ketels also shows us what else there is to experience on a trip to Lapland.
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00:00Are the northern lights on your travel bucket list?
00:03They've always been on mine.
00:06I'm here in the Arctic Circle to hopefully get a glimpse of them.
00:11Let's explore the wonders of the Far North
00:14on an adventure in Lapland!
00:25I head out into nature.
00:28Today there's an index of 4.0,
00:31which means there's a 40.2% chance that I'm going to see northern lights.
00:36That's not bad.
00:43Nothing. No northern lights.
00:45I don't know what I'm doing wrong.
00:47The conditions seemed good, but I didn't see anything.
00:50And now it's just getting too cold.
00:52I have to warm up and I think I will need some help.
00:56I want to get some advice from the most famous inhabitant of Lapland.
01:03Here we are, Santa's office.
01:05If anyone can make my northern lights wish come true, it's him.
01:09I'm very happy to see you.
01:11I'm on a mission to see the northern lights while I'm here.
01:14Do you have any advice?
01:16Just open your imagination.
01:18That's the first.
01:20Open your eyes and look around.
01:22And when you see something going,
01:24firstly it looks like the clouds going like this,
01:27then it might be the northern lights already.
01:31Santa's village is open year-round
01:33and is the number one attraction in Finnish Lapland.
01:36It gets over half a million visitors a year.
01:39You can send letters from Santa's post office or cross the Arctic Circle.
01:45A new day, a new chance.
01:47I'm only here today, so it's my last chance to see the northern lights.
01:51But before it gets dark, let's check out a few outdoor activities you should try.
01:56I need three layers of warm clothing and a special suit so I can stay outside longer.
02:02Another layer.
02:05You can learn to snowshoe quickly with tour companies like Wild About Lapland.
02:10But you're probably not as clumsy as me.
02:13It's safe to go ice fishing here.
02:15The ice on the lake is over a meter thick.
02:17It's like it's frozen or stuck.
02:20You need patience though, which is easier said than done at minus 27 degrees Celsius.
02:27Oh, you catch a bait.
02:29Oh, I broke my fishing rod.
02:33Hopefully I'll have more success with the northern lights tonight.
02:37But first I want to relax a bit
02:39But first I want to relax a bit
02:41in a place that only exists between mid-December and the end of March
02:45when temperatures hit rock bottom.
02:48I'm visiting a very special hotel that's a sightseeing attraction in itself.
02:52It's built from ice and snow.
02:56The Arctic Snow Hotel is rebuilt every year.
03:00Maria from the hotel shows me the rooms,
03:03all 20 of which have been individually designed by artists.
03:07If you haven't booked an overnight stay,
03:09you can still take a tour during the day.
03:12Sleeping in this kind of Arctic conditions
03:15where the temperature is from 0 to minus 5 degrees,
03:19it's an experience.
03:21And also not all people are used to sleeping in the sleeping bags,
03:26which you really need to be warm for the night.
03:31I prefer roast venison in the ice restaurant
03:34with hot Glögi, Finnish malt wine.
03:37It's so warm, it's almost burning my fingers now.
03:41And cheesecake for dessert on a plate of ice.
03:44Then I try my hand at ice carving.
03:47And I try out the unique snow sauna,
03:50which melts a little every time it's used.
03:55It's 7pm, five hours after sunset already, dark,
03:58and my next chance to see the northern lights.
04:01And this time I'm joining a guided tour.
04:04Our tour guide, Vince, drives us long distances in a minibus
04:08to be in the right place at the right time.
04:13We drive through the night on small roads to deserted places.
04:17Then he suddenly pulls over to the side of the road.
04:22If we go outside, it's above us.
04:24The northern lights!
04:27The tour operator calls this a northern light safari,
04:31and I can see why.
04:32We're chasing light that can often only be seen for a few minutes
04:35and only in one place.
04:37All I see is black, until Vince makes the northern lights appear
04:41using the long exposure on his camera.
04:47My last night in Lapland comes to an end.
04:50Not quite as I had imagined.
04:53I didn't see the northern lights with my bare eyes,
04:55but at least they showed up in the pictures.
04:57Hunting for them was quite an adventure.
04:59What about you? Would you like to come here and visit?