I’ve come for a three-night break with tour operator Best Served Scandinavia and am hoping to experience it all – the Northern Lights as well as snowy fun.
And that fun starts in one of the igloo’s 27 rooms. While I won’t be overnighting here – I’ve just come for a sneaky peek – I’m drawn towards one of their icy beds thanks to the thick wodge of reindeer rugs strewn on top. How would it feel snuggling up? I climb on, lie down and it’s actually surprisingly comfortable.
Swap it for my centrally heated hotel in the town centre? Err, not convinced, but I do hang around a while at the bar. Their specialty blue ice drink is laced with alcohol, served in a glass made of ice (naturally) and deliciously warming.
Afterwards, it’s time for dinner. Not in a venue made from ice, but instead in a restaurant belonging to Sorrisniva’s luxury lodge next door. The King Crab ravioli followed by reindeer with lingonberry (sorry Rudolph) are both superb.
My hotel is bang in Alta’s centre and overlooks the kind of church you wouldn’t expect to come across in the Arctic Circle wilderness.
It’s the Northern Lights Cathedral and is a strikingly futuristic architectural masterpiece, its whirling, swirling form designed to mimic the aurora borealis which so often shines above it.
Talking of Northern Lights, while there’s more chance of seeing them in Alta than anywhere else (thanks to its geographical location) there are still no guarantees.
Should the sky be too cloudy or the moonlight too bright, chances are they won’t be visible. So it’s best to focus on other Arctic adventures and, if the lights shine while you’re doing them, it’s a bonus.
My first adventure is snowshoeing and ice-fishing. This sees me padding through a forest, heading out on to a frozen lake, drilling a hole through the metre-thick ice and casting my fishing rod into it, maggot bait and all. Do I catch anything? No, but I enjoy trying.
Afterwards, I warm up in my hotel’s sauna before joining a “Hunt the Northern Lights” expedition. We’re seeking clear skies rather than the lights themselves. Any luck? Yes, after a 43km drive northeast the clouds clear and we spy a green band arching over the sky. The atmosphere’s slightly hazy, however, so the lights are faint.
No matter, there’s still one more day and one more chance for the aurora.
After fuelling up on herrings and smoked salmon (my hotel serves an excellent Scandi breakfast) the morning is spent husky sledding followed by a hike up Komsa Mountain.
It’s a 45-minute trek each way and the view from the summit is of Alta’s gentle, mountain-framed fjord. The setting’s so serene it’s hard to believe Germany turned these calm waters into their naval base during World War II.
Norway is as much about its natives as its scenery, however, and the country’s north is home to the Sami, an indigenous people who are nomadic reindeer herders.
Before leaving I meet Espen, a local Sami who explains how these animals are integral to their lives. They make clothes from the fur (think trousers, shoes and hats) and use their meat for food.
“They’re also handy for transport,” he says, attaching a handsome brown one to a sledge.
A reindeer sleigh ride is my final activity and a stark contrast to the husky experience earlier in the day. Where the dogs were powerful and fast this deer is gentle and balletic. Its hooves and antlers prance lightly through the snow, like a vision from a Christmas card. All that’s missing is Santa.
I’ve come without expectation, but when we reach a clearing and look up, the aurora borealis is shining bright – sprays of green flaring from the horizon towards a thick emerald arc slashed across the sky.
It’s a magical ending to the trip and confirms Alta as the ultimate Northern Lights destination.
The problem is that locals want to keep it to themselves and have made one request.
Visit by all means. Just don’t tell anyone else about it.
DETAILS
Best Served Scandinavia (best-served.co.uk) offers a Northern Lights city break in Alta from $2180pp, including return flights from the United Kingdom, three nights’ B&B at the Scandic Hotel Alta and the snowshoeing, husky and Northern Lights excursions.
For more information visit nordnorge.com/en and visitnorway.com.
