Book Lapland Northern Lights Tour from Rovaniemi: What to Know Before You Book

What to expect on the Book Lapland Northern Lights tour

Book Lapland’s Northern Lights tour is an evening aurora hunt from Rovaniemi with a guide who is also a photographer, a heated vehicle, warm drinks and cookies, unlimited photos and a full refund if no aurora is captured on camera. It started from $77 per person when we checked on 10 October 2026, shown reduced from $156, for the group option.

Pick a date on the calendar below to see which options run that night and what each one costs. Free cancellation is available up to 24 hours before the start.

The guides choose a direction each evening from cloud radar, solar-wind readings and aurora forecasts, and the listing says they will drive up to 200 km to find clear sky. On a clear night that can mean a spot 30 to 60 minutes out of town. On a cloudy one, the drive can run two hours or more, sometimes as far as the Swedish border. GetYourGuide’s own scores put the guides at 4.9 out of 5, transport at 4.8 and value for money at 4.7.

You can look for the aurora without a tour. Ounasvaara, on the edge of the city, is darker than the centre, and our Rovaniemi Northern Lights guide lists other spots. Cloud is the usual problem, and without a car you can’t drive out from under it. The tour’s main advantage is that someone else watches the forecasts and drives you to where the sky is clear.

This tour makes most sense if you have no car and want a strong chance of seeing the aurora on one night. Expect a long evening, much of it on the road.

We haven’t taken this tour ourselves. This page is built from the listing, Book Lapland’s own website and recent reviews, including the lower-rated ones, read for what an evening on the group option involves.

Four points about how the evening runs are useful to know before booking:

• The standard option is a group tour of up to 50 people on a large bus, and several buses can leave the same evening.
• On cloudy nights, several reviewers were offered a paid upgrade to unlimited distance, the day before or on the day.
• Return times range from about 1 AM to 5 AM, because the drive goes on until the guides find clear sky.
• The refund depends on the camera, so a faint aurora that shows in photos counts as a sighting.

The listing’s booking notes mention the time range and the camera condition, but you have to scroll past the highlights to find them. Low-rated reviews are rare: GetYourGuide says 93% of English-speaking travellers gave the tour a perfect score.

Group bus or small group: which option suits you?

The listing sells several options on one booking calendar. The group option is the one the $77 price refers to. Book Lapland’s own website describes it as a group tour of up to 50 guests, with group size varying by departure, and reviewers describe a large bus with roughly 50 to 60 people on board. Reviewers also describe two or three buses going out on the same evening, sometimes to the same viewing spot.

Because the vehicle is large, stops have to be places where it can park, so some viewing spots are beside a road with passing traffic. The guides photograph everyone in turn, so you queue for your pictures and may get only a few. Reviews praise the guides and the effort they put into finding clear sky, but some people found the night crowded.

The listing’s booking notes recommend the small-group option “for higher flexibility and success rate”. Book Lapland’s website lists it as a premium small-group tour for up to 8 guests, lasting 4 to 12 hours, at €159 per person when we checked. Prices for each option appear on the GetYourGuide calendar once you choose a date.

If you want a small group from a different operator, two other guaranteed hunts with free photos have small-group options of up to 8 guests:

• The Polar Lapland small-group photography tour started from $66 per person when we checked and is rated 4.9 from more than 500 reviews. It runs small groups of up to 8 per guide and vehicle, as well as a bus option, so check which one you are booking.
• The Arctic GM Northern Lights tour with unlimited mileage started from $77 per person. Its small-group option takes up to 8 guests in a heated 4x4 minivan with accommodation pickup and drop-off, and usually lasts 6 to 10 hours.

The “from” prices on these listings are for the lowest-priced option, and each small-group version is priced separately on its calendar.

Here are other Northern Lights tours and evening trips from Rovaniemi, if you want to compare more options:

Tips for booking the Book Lapland tour

• Choose the small-group option when you book if you want space at the viewing spot. It appears on the same calendar as the group departure.
• Decide before you travel whether you would pay for an unlimited-distance upgrade. Reviewers who were offered one paid between €60 and €100 per person on top of the tour price, and the offer came the day before or on the day when heavy cloud was forecast. You can ask the operator in advance what it costs.
• Keep the next morning free. Departures are between 6 PM and 9 PM, the final start time is confirmed on the day, and long chases bring you back in the early hours.
• Eat a proper dinner before you meet. Dinner isn’t included, and the warm drinks and cookies are a snack. One reviewer on a long chase into Sweden wished a sandwich had been part of the night.
• Ask for overalls and boots at check-in if you haven’t brought Arctic clothing. The listing includes them, rated to about −40°C.

When the tour runs

The tour operates only when conditions are suitable for the Northern Lights, and the final start time is confirmed on the day of the tour. Book Lapland says departures fall between 6 PM and 9 PM, depending on the season and the weather. Later in the season the evenings are lighter, and a March review describes leaving town at 10 PM.

When we checked on 10 October 2026, the GetYourGuide calendar showed dates every day from October to the end of April, and nothing from May to August, when the nights in Lapland are too light to see the aurora. September 2027 was already on sale. These are observations from the calendar on one date, and availability can change.

September and October nights are dark enough for the aurora but there is usually no snow yet, so the viewing spots look like autumn forest and lakes rather than a winter scene. Our guide to the best time to see the Northern Lights in Rovaniemi goes through the season month by month.

What the night is actually like

The group option meets at the Book Lapland office at Koskikatu 22 in central Rovaniemi. There is free street parking next to it between 6 PM and 8 AM. At check-in you are given a bus number. On busy nights the buses can leave late while they wait for everyone to arrive, and recent reviews mention delays of 20 and 45 minutes.

The listing gives a duration of 5 to 8 hours. Its booking notes say 4 to 6 hours is typical and that the time can vary from 3 to 8 hours with the weather and the distance needed. In practice, on a clear night the first stop can be under an hour away and you may be back around 1 AM. On a cloudy one, the drive can take two to four hours each way, sometimes into Sweden, and you may get back at 4 or 5 AM.

The vehicles are heated and have a toilet on board, which helps on long chases. Once the guides find clear sky, the listing says the group stays put, and a stop can last anything from 20 minutes to three hours while the activity rises and falls. You can wait inside the warm vehicle between displays.

At the viewing spot

Viewing spots vary from lake shores and forest clearings to laybys beside the road. One reviewer described walking down to a lake shore through deep snow in the dark, which was difficult even with poles, so wear boots with a good grip. Warm berry juice or tea and cookies come out at the stop, and on some nights there is a small fire.

The aurora often looks paler to the naked eye than in photos. The listing’s booking notes say so directly: “Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and may appear stronger in photos”. On a strong night the aurora is green, moving light overhead. On weaker nights it can look like a white or grey glow that only turns green on the camera screen.

Some travellers wanted more explanation of the aurora on the drive. Others praised guides who explained how it forms and what the colours mean, so this varies with the guide.

How the photos and the refund work

The guides take unlimited photos of you with the aurora on a professional camera, and the listing says they are emailed within 24 to 72 hours. Some travellers had theirs the next day. Many reviews praise the photos, and a few people were disappointed with the quality of theirs.

The refund is tied to the camera. The listing says that if no aurora is captured on camera during the tour, a 100% refund applies. A recent reviewer whose group saw no aurora with the naked eye said the company would not refund them, so read the condition as written: a faint aurora that registers on the camera counts.

Other practical things to know

• The listing says English is the guaranteed language. Other languages can be requested after booking but depend on guide availability.
• The listing says the tour is not suitable for wheelchair users, visually impaired people, babies under one or people over 95.
• Alcohol and drugs are not allowed on the tour.
• Two reviews from last winter mention a bus that broke down or got stuck in snow, which delayed the group. On long nights, some reviewers found the on-board toilet dirty or out of paper by the end.
• Late-night tours with small children can be hard going. One reviewer on a tour running from 8 PM to 1 AM said several children were very tired by the end.

Is the Book Lapland Rovaniemi Northern Lights tour worth it?

Yes, if you have no car and want someone to chase clear sky for you. The $77 price we saw bought a guide who photographs you, a heated vehicle, warm drinks and cookies, overalls and boots if you need them, and a refund if nothing shows on camera. On cloudy nights there may be an extra charge to go further.

It probably isn’t the best fit if you want a quiet evening with room at the viewing spot. The small-group option on the same listing, or one of the small-group tours from Polar Lapland or Arctic GM, suits that better. If you have three or four nights in Rovaniemi, book the hunt early in your stay so a cloudy evening leaves you time to try again.

How we put this together

We have not taken this tour. This page draws on the GetYourGuide listing, Book Lapland’s own website and the tour’s reviews, including the lower-rated ones, read in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and several other languages. Prices, ratings and availability were checked on 10 October 2026 and change over time, so confirm them on the booking calendar. If you book through our links, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.