If you are looking for the perfect winter escape, look no further than The Aurora Collection Resort.
Those of you who are regular readers of this blog will know that I’ve dreamt of seeing the Northern lights for so many years. I’ve travelled far and wide to try and make this dream a reality and still to this day my luck hasn’t quite extended to seeing them with my own eyes, that being said, I know the PERFECT place I’d like to see them!
Introducing, The Aurora Collection Resort
Last month I went on an absolute trip of a lifetime to Finnish Lapland. It was my second visit to Lapland but my first in Finland and a totally new experience for me. If you were to imagine the perfect white winter escape I’m not sure your imagination could extend to the reality of the few days we experienced staying at The Aurora Collection Resort.
The Aurora Collection Resort is a brand new Northern Lights experience hotel. Situated on the top of a picturesque hill, just a short walk away from the festive town of Saariselka, the resort is a collection of glass-front cabins creating the ultimate inside-out living experience for guests.
There are two categories of cabins, Suites with a mountain view and Suites with a hot tub. We stayed in the latter of the two, cabin, which came complete with the promised star gazing jacuzzi and also a sauna in the bathroom. The room was our little haven for a three night stay in Lapland, escaping the beauty of the scenic snow-covered hillside was perfectly impossible.
The cabins were cosy with a bed you could literally melt into to warm up and watch Netflix whilst awaiting the night-time displays of colour. The days are short in winter time so feeling so comfortable in our cabin was something we were really grateful for as we were in and out all day (and night) long 😉
The resort was built with the purpose of providing a unique and memorable experience of seeing the Northern lights. The owner used to drive to this very spot when taking people on tours from the town as it was always a great place to view them in all their glory. So on top of the stunning rooms, you get the added bonus of potentially seeing the aurora from your bed or in our case hot tub 😉 The Dream!
The Resort feels like a true home from home due to the attentiveness of the team, they really go above and beyond when it comes to making your stay special. Swish private car services are available from airport transfers to a simple lift to lunch, no request is too much. Breakfast is delivered to your door and there’s a selection of coffees and teas in the room when you arrive.
Saariselka
When it comes to dining out for lunch and dinner, there’s a really lovely variety of hearty options in the town of Saariselka, from fine dining to takeaway burgers there’s also a swimming pool and spa, supermarket, off licence and bowling alley.
Outside of magic of the resort itself there are so many activities to enjoy in the snow, the team at Aurora Collection Resort can help you arrange all of the exciting excursions on offer. Here’s what we got up to:
Husky Sledding
Is it a trip to Lapland without watching wagging tails race in front of you through the snow?
Husky sledding is a popular and magical experience in Lapland, we enjoyed an hour long journey with the excited pups and dashing through the powder covered trees was such a wonderful way to start our trip.
Finland’s Biggest Sled Hill
Winter escapes are notoriously more expensive than your average beach holiday and that’s mainly down to having to splash out on pricey activities to keep yourselves busy in the colder temperatures but the most fun I’ve had in years last month was actually FREE of charge.
The longest sled hill in all of Finland is a perfect 5 minutes walk from Aurora Collection Resort and it’s freaking EPIC.
Whooshing down the hill with pretty pastel colours painted across the sky will go down as one of my all time favourite memoires. Sitting side by side the ski lift, entry the hill is completely open with clear markings so all you have to do is arrive with a sled and excitedly slide down 😉 If you don’t have your own sled you can simply collect one from the bottom (again for free!) and then head back up to the top.
Snowmobiling
The most unexpected and exhilarating experience we had, thanks to the Aurora Collection Resort team, was Snowmobiling. We had seen numerous people whizzing round on the speedy snow quads but if it hadn’t have been for the team suggesting we go, I’m not so sure we would have booked in for a drive. That would have been a huge mistake!
I absolutely LOVED snowmobiling. it was a true highlight of our trip for sure. The motion is described as ‘riding a jet ski on snow’ and I would agree with that but what makes it even better in my opinion is the magic of winding through the shadowy snowy trees! I highly recommend the thrilling excursion, it’s available to book during the day or evening but I loved riding in the dark for a unique adrenaline pumping twist.
The Northern Lights
So the moment you’ve all been waiting for……..did I see the Northern Lights?! Well, sort of!
Though my eyes may not have seen the magic, my camera managed to 😉 As I mentioned, the team at Aurora Collection Resort were amazing when it came to guest satisfaction and knowing how much I wanted to see the Northern Lights they kindly offered to take us out ‘hunting’ for them every evening in case they didn’t dance their way above the sky of the resort itself.
I decided to make sure I was prepared for the search and sat at my window on the very first evening ‘practicing’ taking a long exposure pictures by the window. I set up my tripod and appropriate settings on my camera and clicked………….would you believe it, when I looked at the capture a flash of green light had swooshed across the tree in front of me!
RIGHT INFRONT OF OUR BED!!!!
Sadly, we didn’t see them with our own eyes, just these pretty colours that my camera managed to pick up but it still bought a gleeful tear to my eye as we proceeded outside to the balcony of our cabin to take more snaps of the phenomenon. Here’s a few more images I managed to take with my iphone:
We weren’t lucky enough to see the display in full force which is a real shame because WOW is Aurora Collection Resort the best place to see them! The evening we left they saw them perfectly, what are the chances?! Take a look at their instagram here to see how stunning they can be!
It’s rare for me to want to return to a hotel as soon as I’ve departed but if I could return next week I would in a heartbeat! Who’s coming with me?
