Finland FAQ

Levi is one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights. Located above the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, Levi combines high aurora activity, long polar nights, minimal light pollution, and access to varied microclimates, making it one of the most reliable Northern Lights destinations in the world. If your goal is to see the aurora, Levi offers outstanding chances.

Levi sits directly under the Aurora Oval, the zone where auroral activity is most frequently observed. The Aurora Oval is an invisible ring around the magnetic poles, and when you’re under it—as Levi is—you have a chance to see the Northern Lights even during low solar activity (as low as KP 1). Because Levi remains under this oval throughout the aurora season, it’s possible to catch the lights frequently, often several times a week, even when space weather conditions are calm.

Levi is located at 67.8 degrees north, which places it well within the aurora “sweet spot.” This means it’s far north enough to see the lights regularly, but also accessible and comfortable enough for winter travel. From late August to mid-April, Levi enjoys long hours of darkness and a high likelihood of auroral displays—especially between October and March, when nights are longest and skies are darkest.

The surrounding region offers a range of microclimates. Finnish Lapland is full of forested hills, fells, lakes, and valleys. These natural features can create clear skies in one area while nearby regions remain cloudy. Our guides use real-time weather tracking and in-depth local knowledge to chase gaps in the clouds, often driving various distances away from Levi village to improve visibility. This flexibility means that even on nights with overcast forecasts, you still have a chance to see the auroras—especially on guided tours.

Levi’s inland location means colder, clearer weather. Unlike coastal aurora destinations, Levi is not affected by the Gulf Stream, so the air tends to be drier and colder—which is ideal for clear night skies. While this does mean colder temperatures, especially from December to February (–15°C to –30°C or lower), proper Arctic gear ensures you stay warm and safe. Most tours include thermal suits, boots, and equipment to keep you comfortable, even on the coldest nights.

Whether you stay in Levi village or venture into the surrounding wilderness, the auroras here are often vibrant, frequent, and unforgettable.

The northern lights season starts in September and lasts until the beginning of April. The probability of seeing the northern lights depends on solar activity and the availability of clear, dark skies. Solar activity can be slightly higher in autumn and spring, but the winter season provides increased periods of darkness each day (particular in Finnish Lapland!) Therefore, more time during the darkness to see the activity. However, winter weather in Levi can be highly variable, and it is impossible to guarantee which days the skies will be cloud-free and clear enough to view the lights.

We advise you to plan your trip based on other factors such as flight prices, tour availability, and your personal schedule. We also suggest, if possible, planning multiple nights to attempt to see the lights to increase your chances in case of poor weather or low solar activity on a single night.

While it’s possible to drive yourself, we highly recommend joining a guided tour — and here’s why; Levi’s weather can be unpredictable, and cloudy skies in Levi Town don’t necessarily mean it’s cloudy everywhere. The region has many micro-climates, so conditions can change dramatically just a short distance away. Our experienced guides know how to read these patterns and will take you to the areas with the best chances of clear skies and visibility — something that can be difficult to do on your own.

In addition, our tours include comfortable transportation, warm gear, and expert guidance, so you can relax and simply enjoy the experience. By booking a tour, you’ll maximize your chances of seeing the Northern Lights and make the most of your time in the Arctic.

At Wandering Owl, we do not offer refunds or discounts if the Northern Lights don’t appear. The main factors to see the Aurora Borealis are solar activity and weather, both of which are beyond our control and difficult to predict.

To increase your chances, we recommend booking multiple nights. However, even then sightings are never guaranteed. The tour is designed to be enjoyable regardless—cozy, immersive, and focused on the beauty of the Arctic wilderness.

Our goal is to find clear skies safely, driving up to 2 hours in any direction. Some nights, the Aurora may be faint or barely visible. If you’re expecting a dramatic display, it’s possible you may feel disappointed.
It’s important to communicate with your guide during the tour—they’re there to help manage expectations in real-time, not after the fact. Also, please keep in mind that openly expressing disappointment may impact other guests’ experience.
We know how meaningful this trip is, and we promise: every night of the season, we’ll do our very best to find the lights. To give you peace of mind, last Aurora season we took statistics and learned that we saw activity on 81% of evenings. Our success rate is due to the knowledge and experience of our guides and drivers as well as the supportive framework provided by the rest of the team that enables them to excel.

The first thing to understand is: you’re not chasing the Northern Lights themselves. The Aurora occurs over 80km above Earth—if there’s activity, you’ll see it if we can find darkness and clear skies. So, the real hunt is for gaps in the clouds.

Northern Light tours are different every night, the conditions are ever-changing, this means that the locations change sometimes even during the evening. For this reason, we have broken the tour into three sections.

Section 1: Pick – up, departure & driving to the location.
We ask all guests to arrive 10 minutes early to the pick–up point to ensure a prompt departure. If a guest is delayed, we cannot wait for them as this may result in the group missing out on finding a parking spot for the camp and ultimately missing valuable opportunities to see the Northern Lights.

Once we meet you at the pick–up location we will confirm your name against our manifest, our guides may request to see your id to ensure you are in the correct group. We’ll ask you to sign our liability release form and privacy agreement before entering our vehicle. Signing is mandatory. To save time, you can read it and sign it in advance [https://forms.office.com/r/Xrt2DEEeBF]. If you have questions, please contact us ahead of time. No refunds or rescheduling are possible once pick-up has begun.

Driving time depends on environmental conditions and cloud cover, ranging from 30 minutes to 2 hours. Since you are joining a tour of up to 8 guests, the guide will be required to focus on the driving, not providing a running commentary on the surroundings in case of challenging weather conditions. This is for safety reasons.

If possible, the guide will make a toilet stop at the beginning of the tour. However, this is a tour into the wilderness, please expect that there may not be toilet facilities. If nature is the only option, we strongly encourage the leave-no-trace policy.

When you arrive at the location, the guide will offer you your thermal suits and boots.

Section 2: On location
No two evenings are the same. On some nights, gaps in the clouds are forecast in a specific area at a specific time — in those cases, it makes the most sense to head there early, secure a good parking spot, set up, and wait. On other nights, we may need to drive longer distances, in search of clearer skies.

On some evenings the guide may be able to spend hours taking photos for guests and chatting, on other evenings they may be required to continually check the environmental condition reports and be in contact with other local guides regarding what they are seeing or not seeing to make an assessment and decision on their hunt locations.

During the evening, the guide will decide on a location for their main camp. Here they will serve the hot meal. This is a wonderful opportunity for travelers to listen to the story telling and learn about the region, and of course to get to know each other.

Section 3:
Before driving back to Levi, the guide will retrieve all hire equipment from the guest. It is important for the guest to return the equipment undamaged to avoid replacement or damage charges. The guide will then pack the vehicle, and you will depart for Levi. If possible, the guide will stop for a toilet break. You will arrive back in Levi before 2:00 am (exceptional circumstances, such as road conditions, may arise and delay the return). It’s important for the guide to return on time to ensure they can manage their rest and fatigue safely. Occasionally and if possible, the guide might stop on the way back in case the northern lights appear.

After returning to Levi, you will be dropped off at one of the offered locations. Your guide will provide you with edited and watermarked jpg files in web-sized resolution within 3 days of the tour finishing. If you have not received your images within 3 days and have not heard from our office Owls regarding any delay, then please reach out to us via email or phone. We need your email address to send the photos.

The main limitations are:
– Incorrect forecast for the environmental conditions
– Road closures, icing risks or avalanche risks preventing us from going into an area where gaps in the clouds are more likely
– Extreme cold can make staying outdoors difficult (extreme example)
– Human limitations around time management — such as guests being late for pickup, taking extra time to get dressed, or needing a bathroom stop — can make a significant difference. In some cases, it could be the difference between reaching a clear, dark-sky location in time or missing a rare gap in the clouds altogether

There is not enough darkness in the summer to see the Northern Lights. During the summer the sun does not set, this means we experience up to 24 hours of daylight and enjoy the midnight sun circling above us. The activity is still occurring, we just can’t see it!

Though this is not a good time to see the Aurora Borealis, it is a great place for a summer vacation that is off the beaten track!

The Northern Lights look different every single day, and depending on where you are in the world, their appearance can change based on solar activity happening at the time. We’ve put together a gallery to show you just how much they can vary from night to night, depending on the weather and environmental conditions.

It’s true that many people photoshop their photos heavily, but at Wandering Owl, we don’t overly edit any of the images you’ll see or receive. We take photos because we genuinely love photography and want our guests to have beautiful, authentic memories of the night — something to look back on and remember not just the sights, but the feelings of the experience.

Here is the link to our gallery so you can see how different it looks on different nights of the season.

If you go into the experience with the mindset that you’ll enjoy a night out in the Arctic wilderness no matter what, you’ll likely come away feeling satisfied with the adventure — whether or not the Northern Lights appear.
Some evenings the activity is bright and colorful, on others, it can be barely visible. Here is a link to our gallery to show you how different the Aurora Borealis can appear each evening, depending on the environmental conditions.

Our team will always do their best, every night of the season – BUT the guests’ involvement in the activity will also greatly impact the evening. Here are some tips for you to help yourself get the most out of the activity with our team.