📍Abisko, Sweden

Abisko is a village in Swedish Lapland, about 250 miles within the Arctic Circle.  I traveled there during February of 2022.

Why?

The northern lights aka Aurora Borealis

Top Tips:

• Your cell phone can probably shoot the northern lights, google up your model and night photography settings. Most modern phones can keep the shutter open for x number of seconds
• If you’re bringing a DSLR/mirrorless/whatever - google the relevant settings and try to set things up before you leave your accommodations - fiddling with all the buttons in the dark in -25 wind chill is difficult.
• Bring a headlamp if you’re going to be trying to change settings. Something with a red light setting is ideal since it preserves your night vision and is less obnoxious to other photographers who might have their cameras set up
• Bring a pair of liner gloves in addition to something heavy-duty to keep warm. You don’t want to mess around with devices with bare hands when you’re outside for 3 hours straight and it freezing
• If you don’t have fancy equipment, bring an SD memory card- most tour guides will let you pop your card in their camera and grab some shots
• Yes, a tripod is best, but your camera can just sit angled up on a bit of snow and get a great steady shot too
• Understand how to dress for the cold and ask your guides/host for recommendations - wool is best, and bigger puffy layers work great to create a big cocoon of insulation. No cotton.
• For more logistics and travel tips, this blog inspired my entire journey

From Stockholm, I took a plane, bus, and train to reach this destination. There is also an overnight train from Sweden to Abisko, but it’s a 17-hour journey which did not sound appealing especially considering that the cost was comparable to that of the flight.
A short walk from the train stop was the Abisko Guesthouse where I stayed for the next 10 days.  Some of the rooms had access to a sauna which was amazing after a day out in the sub-zero temps. Despite some of my last-minute shopping in Stockholm, I still found myself somewhat inadequately dressed for the weather at night.  Luckily the guesthouse provided access to an equipment room with snowsuits, boots, gloves, hats, and everything needed to endure the elements.
On my first full day of exploring I learned that eyelashes do indeed freeze.  The temps were -20℃ with wind-chill at night taking it to -25℃.

The first organized event that I attended was the BBQ tour with the amazing tour guide Felipe.  The event was held in a traditionally inspired Sami hut which warmed up our group nicely before we headed out for the aurora chase. They had a wonderful vegetarian alternative prepped for those who did not wish to partake in the reindeer meat.  Although we tried several locations, we did not see the auroras that night.  However, Felipe took us on a tour of the night sky, pointing out different constellations and telling the group a bit about the lore behind them.  He also snapped this photo of the Milky Way which he was kind enough to share with me via email.  (Some of the other tour guides did not share photos but all of the tour guides were happy to help you set up your camera and tweak your settings to get the perfect shot)

Even if you don’t have a powerful camera, bring a memory card with you - the guides usually bring their cameras and many are amazing astrophotographers so there is a good chance that if you ask, they’ll let you pop in your SD card into their equipment and snap some amazing photos.

The stars in the night sky were unlike anything I’d seen previously.  Even though the first few nights there were no visible auroras, I was able to sit out stargazing for hours on end.  If you’re a lifelong city dweller like me, this will be an amazing treat.

On the fourth night, I had the most amazing religious experience.  The lights were visible as I started the walk down to the frozen Torneträsk Lake.  What started as faint green wisps across the night sky soon turned into dancing green curtains, appearing to wave in the wind.  It was as if the gods themselves were painting with broad strokes across the night sky, revising their masterpiece every few moments.    This went on and off for three hours as I tried to keep warm while craning my neck up at the sky.  At some point, I took a few breaks laying on the frozen lake and enjoying the dancing show above but those were short since it was entirely too cold to be laying on the ice.
The show was indescribable.  Those who have only experienced faint auroras might have walked away thinking that this miracle that Mother Nature puts on might be overhyped, but I strongly encourage anyone interested to keep hunting during the winter months as the full show is truly a life-changing experience.