ICEHOTEL entrance. Photo by bigbenphoto.com.
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World’s best chance to see northern lights?

Starting winter season 2010/11, ICEHOTEL will offer guided northern light tours by bus to its guests, every night. The world-famous hotel will find the best places in the area by studying the forecast and prognoses from IRF, the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, SMHI, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute and local observers.


Then a bus will take the guests to the place that offers the best chance to see the magical phenomenon. It may be a place close to Jukkasjärvi or in the area of Abisko National Park, Nikkaluokta or Vittangi, locations about one hour’s bus ride from ICEHOTEL. 

– With this new product, we can offer probably the best chance in the world to see the northern lights , says Dan Björk, Sales and Marketing director at ICEHOTEL.

ICEHOTEL has between 50 000 to 60 000 guests every year and 70 percent of them are coming from abroad. The vast majority want’s of course to see the polar night’s most fascinating celestial phenomenon, a spectacle of dancing colours in the mid winter darkness.

<p>Northern lights (Aurora Borealis)&nbsp;can be&nbsp;described as an interaction&nbsp;between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.&nbsp;Particles and atoms collide,&nbsp;transforming kinetic energy into visible light.</p>  

Northern lights (Aurora Borealis) can be described as an interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field. Particles and atoms collide, transforming kinetic energy into visible light.

Photographer: Peter Grant
<p>The many locations around Jukkasjärvi where you can see the Northern lights.</p>  

The many locations around Jukkasjärvi where you can see the Northern lights.

Photographer: ICEHOTEL
<p>The&nbsp;night sky is dark enough for the&nbsp;Northern&nbsp;lights&nbsp;to be seen from about mid-September to early April.&nbsp;</p>  

The night sky is dark enough for the Northern lights to be seen from about mid-September to early April. 

Photographer: Peter Grant
         


– Thanks to a variety of factors, ICEHOTEL can offer its guests the best possible conditions to experience the Northern lights, says Dan Björk, Sales and Marketing Director. 
  • ICEHOTEL is located in the middle of the ring-shaped area known as auroral oval, the area around the Earth's magnetic north pole where Northern lights mainly appear.
  • The so-called sunspot cycle, the approximately eleven year long cycle when the number of sunspots varies widely, is during the next two to four years predicted to reach its maximum, which increases the chances of northern lights in the auroral oval in the coming years.
  • ICEHOTEL is located in the Swedish district that during the month of January has the highest number of clear days and in percent the lowest average cloudiness, the essential precondition to be able to view the northern lights.
  • A short distance from ICEHOTEL there are a variety of different climate zones which increases the chances of finding good weather in the auroral oval. Abisko National Park for example, located about one hour's bus ride from ICEHOTEL, is one of Sweden's sunniest places and also has the country’s lowest annual rainfall.

Facts/source: Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). 

Starting the winter season 2010/11 ICEHOTEL offers its guests guided northern light tours every night at 11 pm. No matter where we go we will be back at ICEHOTEL no later than 2 am. Reservations can be booked on site in the hotel reception at ICEHOTEL until 10 pm the day of departure. The tour is only available to ICEHOTEL guests.

For more information, please contact:

Dan Björk
Sales and Marketing Director
dan@icehotel.com

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