Price is based on a shared room (no single rooms available due to the limited beds available)

Included: 

Night train from Stockholm to the Arctic Circle in a 3 person compartment with lay-flat beds. The return trip from Lulea to Stockholm is not included. See the 'not included' section for the explanation. 

All accommodation (based on shared bunk bed rooms) from the day you arrive until the day you leave. 

6 nights in cosy & comfortable wilderness camp. 1 room is shared by 2 guests, 1 room is shared by 4 guests. 

Essential insulated clothing to stay warm in extreme temperatures: jacket, pants, snowboots, hat & balaclava.

All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks) from the moment you catch the train until you reach the airport on the way back.

All non-alcoholic drinks. Due to the remote locations, no alcoholic drinks will be available during this photo tour.

Local transportation by private vehicles.

A full-time local wilderness guide who possesses endless knowledge of the area we are in. 

VAT, bed levies & tourist taxes  (subject to change as per our T&C’s). 

Krijn van der Giessen as your personal photography guide, with daily one-on-one instructions, masterclasses and workshops. 

Please note that the Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and cannot be guaranteed. It depends on the solar activity, but also the clarity of the night skies...

Not included: 

Flights to and from Stockholm to your home destination

Flight or train from Lulea back to Stockholm. Since the night train takes over 12 hours to reach Stockholm, some photo tour guests prefer to fly back to Stockholm to speed up the return home. This is why the return trip to Stockholm in not included. I am however more than happy to assist you with booking the night train ticket if you prefer to take this option. 

Spending money for personal expenses 

Alcoholic drinks

Travel insurance (compulsory for all tour guests) 

Covid-19 related costs, like compulsory PCR tests

Photography equipment 

EUR 12,- + btw STO Garant guarantee fund costs

  No hidden fees! 

Accommodation:

The camp is located on the edge of a large frozen lake, which feels like a true piece of paradise. We have booked this camp outright, so we are the only guests. The owners cook for us every night. Local and traditional dishes can be expected! This camp however is far removed from the main world. The sauna is the place where you can shower, using warm water from the heater: such a nice experience. There is no 'normal' shower. The toilet is a compost toilet. This toilet is very eco friendly and doesn't use any water. Of course it feels like a normal toilet, but it is located just outside of your cabin. You will share your room with other guests: 1 room will be shared by 2 guests, another room is to be shared by 4 guests. 

This is roughly the programme we will follow. It is possible that we change the order of the activities, depending on weather conditions and other local influences.

Day 1:
Today is the first day of your Northern Lights photo trip. You will meet the other travellers in the group at dinner (19.00 hrs at Stockholm Arlanda airport), before we take the night train to the Arctic Circle around 10pm. A 15-hour train journey train journey lies ahead of us, but as we have booked a sleeping compartment (3 people per cabin) you'll enjoy a good night's sleep as the train slowly travels through the wintry landscape.

Day 2:
Welcome to Winter Wonderland! When you open your eyes early in the morning after a good night's sleep on the train, you will notice that you are completely surrounded by snow. While enjoying breakfast in the bistro car of the train, you might already see some moose or reindeer jumping through the deep snow.

As soon as we arrive, our local guide will be waiting for us. It takes about 45 minutes to reach our accommodation for the coming nights. As this is a very remote part of the world, the accommodation is accommodation is relatively simple. A wooden chalet with 2 bedrooms with bunk beds, a small living room and a compost toilet just next to your chalet, but with a sauna with wood-fired stove (so good!), delicious organic food a fantastic atmosphere.

After we have checked in to our rooms, found the right size of winter clothing and enjoyed a delicious lunch around the fire, we will explore the area on foot. Can you already spot a nice foreground for the possible aurora borealis tonight? Finding a good location is already 90% of your picture. So keep your eyes open 🙂

When we come back to the camp, we will give a workshop about photographing the northern lights. This workshop prepares you for the possible natural spectacle of tonight. We will also pay attention to astro photography: we will photograph stars and star trails when the northern lights are not visible.

Day 3:
After breakfast we jump in the vans and drive in about 3 hours to Storforsen: a 500-metre long, partially frozen fast flowing river. On the way we drive through the small back roads, while we try to spot moose, reindeer and many other animals. We stop regularly to take beautiful photos. Do you have ND filters? Then take them along! You will get amazing pictures if you can slow down your shutter speed.
After photographing, we enjoy a delicious lunch in the local hotel. Tonight we hope to see the Northern Lights again. No luck? Then we photograph stars and star trails. Or maybe a moonlit landscape will be nice!

Day 4:
Is it a dream to spend some time with huskies? Today you will spend on a dogsled, while the diligent husky's pull you through the snowy landscape. As a real husky-musher you will prepare the husky's for an exciting day of sledging.

You play with the dogs for a while (and in the mean time take some cool close-up shots), put on their harnesses and put them in the harness at the front of the sledge. Today we are using a large sledge, so you can sit back, relax and take some pictures, while a professional musher steers the sled through the beautiful landscape. Lunch we cook over a fire.

Day 5:
Today is Moose safari! We leave at dusk for the mountains, the time when moose are best visible. During the drive we have a great chance of spotting moose, corn & snow grouse, reindeer and maybe even foxes.

We stop regularly at beautiful photo locations such as rivers, old Sami storage barns and panoramas. We stop for lunch in Årrenjarka, a beautifully situated village with a good restaurant. Here we enjoy lunch and typical Swedish coffee around a fireplace. After lunch we walk around to take pictures of the beautiful surroundings, before we drive back to our accommodation. Of course tonight the sauna is on again and we keep an eye on the sky for the Northern Lights.

Day 6:
We start today with a snowmobile ride to a beautiful area behind our camp. This is a perfect location to photograph the sunrise. If we are lucky, we can also see the dipper here.

We continue the day with culture. Culture is an important subject in this photo trip as Lapland is the home ground of the traditional inhabitants, the Sami. The Sami are one of the last indigenous peoples of Europe and that is why it is so important that we learn how the Sami live and what the challenges are that they experience.

Therefore, we will visit a Sami lady today. Sitting around the fire in the Lavvu you will learn about the Sami culture culture while enjoying their traditional coffee. After this we walk through the woods around the farm, where we will meet the reindeer. The Sami own all the reindeer in Lapland. Most of the reindeer walk around in the wild. Only the newborn, older and weaker animals stay around the farm. This gives you the unique opportunity to shoot detailed close-up pictures. Lunch is served around the fire in the Lavvu. In the evening, of course, we hope to see the northern lights again....

Day 7:
Today we drive a bit to the north. We leave early to drive a little more than 100km to the edge of a mountainous area. On the way we pass many beautiful views which we of course photograph. Our destination is the well-known Swedish photographer Gunilla Falk. The area behind her house is a sensationally beautiful landscape. Mountains in the background, a flowing river in the foreground, low-hanging fog... a true paradise.

In addition, Gunilla has a bird hide in this area, where she has created a true bird paradise over the years. The bird hut is known for its Siberian Jays, crossbills, goldfinches and the rare brown headed tit, which are all native birds here. Here we will spend several hours photographing these birds. 

Day 8:
This is the end of a fantastic photo trip in the polar region. We drive in about 2,5 hours to Lulea where this photo trip ends. In Lulea you have the choice to go by plane or train back to Stockholm (flight and trainride not included).

We start where others stop: The reasons why you should join one of our Photo Tours are endless. When you travel with us, you are guaranteed loads of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. We focus fully on photography, and pride ourselves on the fact that we start where others stop. 

Personal: We travel in small groups (8 people maximum, though smaller) of like-minded photographers. This ensures plenty of focus on you as an individual, and gives us the opportunity to ensure you’ll always have a window seat in our vehicles. We book small and exclusive accommodation which allows for uninterrupted views and plenty of candid photography opportunities. 

Superb hospitality: We absolutely love great food and luxury accommodation, so our Photo Tours are filled with it! Your personal photographic guide Krijn doesn’t have the title of the best photo tour operator for nothing. Although he has over 15 years experience as a nature, wildlife and culture photographer, Krijn also has over a decade of international hospitality management under his belt. For these reasons combined we go the extra mile to ensure we stay in unique lodges and serve up something delicious and, where possible, local. Picture seafood buffets on the beach, spit grills in the bush, home-made breads and some great bottles of wine and you’ll get an idea of the food we usually enjoy. We also cater to any dietary needs and requirements you may have. 

Experienced: We always travel with local and highly experienced guides and rangers. This not only ensures you will be treated to the finest and ‘off the beaten track’ locations, but it also gives us the opportunity to customise the experience for you. Learn from Krijn's experience as travel photographer. In the past years he travelled through over 50 countries, in search of the perfect photos and exciting new locations for our photo tours. 

Professional: At the end of each day, we will share our opinion about the photos taken that day. Professional advice is given to help you improve your skills, or just to help you get that second pair of eyes to encourage a different angle. How much advice you’d like to receive, as well as how in-depth you’d like to go is completely up to you. 

Fun: Our tours are mainly focused on photography, but what is life without a bit of fun? It’s one of the most important reasons we want you to travel with us! Together we will share our experiences around a bonfire, we’ll shoot star trails, engage in light painting, fly in open-door helicopters and, once the day is done, unwind with a hot beverage and a board game or two. 

Sustainable & ethical: Sustainable travel is key: wherever we go, we only leave our footprints. As much as possible, we try to offset carbon emissions and work together with local specialists. Besides that, we believe in ethical travel: we never feed animals to lure them in our direction, but rather go to areas with naturally high animal populations. 

All skill levels:We love to travel with all levels of photographers, from beginners to experts. At the end of the day it is all about the overall experience, and not about how good your photography skills may be. We encourage the group to assist each other in attempting and experimenting with new techniques. Krijn will personally help you become a more confident photographer – building on your strengths and helping you improve your weak points. 

Jam packed: We understand it’s not every day you embark on a journey like this: so lets make most of it! We jam pack our tours with interesting content, and don’t waste any time with irrelevant gaps in the program. We will fly you where possible from location to location, to not waste time driving. We have a well though-through itinerary from early morning until bedtime, to offer you only the very best the destination has to offer! Guaranteed no hidden fees gives you peace of mind when it comes to the financial side of things!