A sled dog ride will both excite and terrify you. You can either sit as a passenger or choose to try running the dog team yourself over frozen lakes and snow-covered forests. During the trip there is also a chance for you to see different animals such as reindeer, moose or wolf. The tour will take you to the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi for some sleep. The hotel that people from all over the world come to see every winter is a mighty building made up entirely of ice and snow. Every year architects and snow builders gather to build the winter version of the hotel, each year with a new touch and design. So, pack your coat and get going, this is an adventure you won’t soon forget.
When the city has fallen asleep, you must take the opportunity to sneak out and sit down to look out over the snow-covered landscape. If the sky is clear, it is not uncommon for you to see the northern lights. The delicious natural phenomena that dance in the sky is a beautiful sight to the eye and is something you must not miss when you are this far north.
40 kilometers north of Kiruna you will find the space base Esrange. The plant is owned by Swedish Space Corporation and is the only space rocket base in Sweden. Here they research for example northern lights and satellites, and many scientists come here to send up sounding rockets or high-altitude balloons to test different experiments in the atmosphere or measurements up in the air. Although the base is not yet launching its own satellites, there is activity here to receive data and monitor satellites that other stations have launched. Using the large antennas in the area, the satellites up in space can send information to the base, which is then forwarded. So rent a car and take you to the area, even though the space base is not open to the public, it’s exciting to see it from the outside and just explore the sparse surroundings.
