Which Night Should You Book a Northern Lights Tour in Lapland?
Which night of a Lapland stay to book a northern lights tour: the first night, the moon dates, the dark hours, and each tour's terms if the night is cancelled.
Book the first night of your stay. If the weather cancels it, you still have time to join another night, and the refund-or-rebook terms of the Rovaniemi hunts only help if there is a night left to rebook. Polar Lapland Oy’s Rovaniemi: Authentic | Northern Lights Tour 100% guarantee, from US$66 on promotion, usually US$133 a person (checked November 2026), runs no tour when cloud gives a very low chance and gives a full refund if no Northern Lights are captured on camera.
On the dates we read (27 November and 10 December 2026, 20 January and 17 February 2027), its cheapest option, 5 hours, started at 8:00 PM and cost US$132.59 a person. The start time is confirmed by email at 3:00 PM on the day, and free cancellation runs up to 24 hours before.
Why the first night
The hunts compared here decide on the day. The start time arrives by email in the afternoon, and a night the cloud rules out is cancelled on the day; on Polar Lapland Oy’s hunt you hear by email. On a three-night stay, a first-night booking leaves two nights to try again; a last-night booking leaves none.
The terms differ in what they give you when a night goes wrong:
| Hunt | If the weather rules the night out | If no aurora is captured on camera |
|---|---|---|
| Polar Lapland Oy | No tour when cloud gives a very low chance; you are told by email on the day | A full refund |
| BookLapland | Tours operate only when conditions are suitable | A 100% refund, or rebook for the next available night |
| Experience Tours Lapland | Cancelled by 4:00 PM with a full refund | A free place on another hunt, as many times as you need, or a full refund (Group and Small-Group Tours) |
| Arctic Safari Guides | Cancelled only in exceptional circumstances, such as emergencies or unsafe roads, with a full refund | Free rebooking, or a full refund if rebooking is not possible during your stay |
| Arctic GM Experiences OY | The tour does not start when conditions are unfavourable, and you get a full refund | A 100% refund; any aurora captured by camera counts as a sighting |
GetYourGuide listings, checked November 2026. Refunds follow the terms of the booking you made.
A rebooking term is only as good as your free nights. Experience Tours Lapland’s re-hunt and BookLapland’s next available night both need you still to be in Rovaniemi.
The moon
A bright moon lightens the sky and hides the faintest displays, though a strong one shows through it: a guest on Lapland Explorers Oy's hunt saw the lights under bright moonlight in October 2026. If you can choose your dates, the week around a new moon gives the darkest sky.
| Month | New moon | Full moon |
|---|---|---|
| November 2026 | 9 November | 24 November |
| December 2026 | 9 December | 24 December |
| January 2027 | 7 January | 22 January |
| February 2027 | 6 February | 21 February |
| March 2027 | 8 March | 22 March |
Finnish time, from the US Naval Observatory’s moon-phase tables.
The dark hours
In Rovaniemi the sky is fully dark from 18:11 on 15 November 2026, 17:40 on 21 December, 18:13 on 15 January 2027 and 19:36 on 15 February (computed, Finnish time). The Finnish Meteorological Institute gives midnight, and a couple of hours before and after, as the typical time for auroral displays, so an evening start leaves the hunt out through the likeliest hours. From late March the nights shorten fast: on 1 April full dark lasts only from about 00:09 to 02:31.
Missing your pickup
The terms are strict on the other side too. Royal Nordic issues no refund if you do not show up within 15 minutes of the pickup time and cannot be contacted, and its bus leaves its meeting point at Ruokasenkatu 3 at the set time. Keep your phone charged and your email open on the tour day.
Book it
For the first night of a short Rovaniemi stay, book Polar Lapland Oy’s hunt, and keep the following nights free.
See dates for Polar Lapland Oy's hunt
Bring your own winter clothes, because it excludes warm clothing, and your passport, because some nights cross into Sweden. Polar Lapland Oy’s hunt also sells on Viator as Rovaniemi: Northern Lights Tour for US$67 (checked November 2026); the operators price in euros, so what you pay in US dollars depends on the day’s conversion.
More from Lapland
Aurora and Winter Tours with Open Dates
Other northern lights hunts and winter evenings in Lapland with live availability. Where each starts, what it includes and the cancellation terms show before you book.
Book Your First Night
Polar Lapland Oy's hunt from Rovaniemi: small groups of up to 8 per guide and vehicle or a heated bus, DSLR photos, warm drinks and cookies, and a full refund if no Northern Lights are captured on camera.
See dates