Northern Lights in Murmansk Tour4 Days | Murmansk, Khirovsk/Khibiny Mountains, Minkino, Loparskaya

Flight to Murmansk. Upon arrival in Murmansk meet your driver and transfer to the hotel to begin this Northern lights in Murmansk tour. Murmansk, located on the Kola Peninsula near Russia’s borders with Finland and Norway, is the largest city in the world located north of the Arctic Circle. It experiences the midnight sun in summer, the polar night in winter, and snowfall even as late as June. Your visit to Murmansk will begin with an evening tour to experience a unique natural phenomenon, the breath-taking northern lights or aurora borealis. The tour usually starts between 19:00 and 21:00 and lasts for 3-6 hours, depending on weather conditions and the time it takes to find the best views of the aurora (driving about 10-15 km away from the city reduces the effect of the artificial lighting and allows better photographs). Please note that, due to the nature of this phenomenon, we cannot guarantee that you’ll be able to see it, especially when there is low cloud cover. Nevertheless, the availability of 27-day solar activity forecasts and 2-day cloud forecasts increases the probability that you’ll be able to see the northern lights on at least one of your three evenings in Murmansk. Based on the forecasts, we will decide which evening is likely to offer the best views of the aurora*. As Murmansk experiences frost even in September, we recommend that you wear winter clothes for the tour (of course, you can also warm up with hot tea in the vehicle!). After the tour, return to the hotel. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tours: 3-6 hours
*If, due to poor weather, the northern lights tour does not operate while you are in Murmansk, we will offer you a partial refund.

After an early breakfast, transfer from Murmansk to Kirovsk (210 km, 3 hours) and beyond to the foot of the Khibiny Mountains in the middle of the Kola Peninsula. Meet the instructors that will introduce you to a real northern experience, a 1.5-hour snowmobile ride across picturesque snowy landscapes. Highlights of your journey along the easy and safe 25 km route include the glacial valley, the shore of the Maly Vudyavr Lake, the Kukisvumchorr Pass, and non-freezing geysers surrounded by ice (please note that in bad weather the route may need to be altered). After the snowmobile ride, take a break for lunch in Kirovsk and then visit the town’s main attractions, the Snow Village and the Apatit Museum and Exhibition Centre. The Snow Village is an impressive tourist complex sculpted from snow and ice, and the Apatit Museum, the town’s main museum, tells the history of mining in the area and displays unique minerals from the Khibin mines. Return to Murmansk. Overnight at the hotel.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 10-11 hours

After breakfast, meet your guide and spend your last day in the Murmansk area learning about the unique traditions of indigenous peoples living in far north-western Russia: the Pomors and the Sami. The Pomors are local Russian people united by common traditions and a way of life that has been associated with fishing and hunting since ancient times. You’ll visit a Pomor house in the village of Minkino (22 km, 30 minutes from Murmansk) on the shores of Kola Bay. The Bolshukha (as the Pomors call the mistress of the house) will welcome you to the unique atmosphere of a Pomor home and show you the homemade floorboards, traditional stove, and various objects associated with Pomor life. She’ll then invite you to taste local tea and pies and join a traditional Pomor “evening party”. In old times, the villagers and guests used to gather in the evenings to talk, have fun, sing songs, and make “goats” (traditional biscuits that symbolise health, love, family, and well-being). You can participate in a master class to try making your own “goat” and then take home a (pre-made) “goat” as a souvenir.
Duration of sightseeing tour: 2 hours
Continue to the village of Loparskaya (40 km, 1h30m) to immerse yourself in the fascinating culture of the Sami, the indigenous people of northern Europe. Meet a representative of the community, who’ll tell you about the traditional rituals, culture, and life of these “northern nomads” and explain how, for the Sami, reindeer are everything – transport, currency, housing, clothing, and food. After the talk, you can feed the reindeer with lichen (northern moss), take unique photos of yourself wearing traditional Sami clothing, and try the local natural herbal tea and lingonberry pie. At the end of the village visit, you’ll have the opportunity to buy souvenirs (traditional crafts made from leather, bone, or wood).
Duration of sightseeing tour: 2 hours
Afterwards, drive back to Murmansk. Free time in the evening. Overnight at the hotel.

After breakfast, check-out of the hotel and take a sightseeing tour of Murmansk. This fascinating Arctic city, now one of Russia’s most important military, fishing, and commercial ports, was founded just before the Russian Revolution and has a significant Soviet legacy. Murmansk’s main street is the Avenue of the Heroes-Sailors of the Northern Seas Fleet, the Communist party newspaper “Polyarnaya Pravda” (“Polar Truth”) was founded here, and the famous nuclear icebreaker “Lenin” was placed here after decommissioning. The tour includes admiring the views of the city, with its commercial port and Russia’s icebreaker fleet, from observation decks on different sides of the Kola Bay. You’ll also discover various attractions reflecting Murmansk’s maritime history: the “Waiting” Monument dedicated to the women waiting for their loved ones to return from being at sea, the “Alyosha” Monument to the defenders of the Soviet Arctic during World War II, a memorial complex for sailors who died in peacetime (which includes a monument to the sailors who lost their lives when the Kursk nuclear submarine sank near Murmansk), and a fragment of the jaw of a blue whale. After the tour, transfer to the airport. End of the Northern lights in Murmansk tour.
Duration of sightseeing tour: Murmansk 2-3 hours