The Arctic Circle Trip
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We’ve been planning this trip for the last two months. We’ve found a good deal for some train tickets so we decided that this can be our chance to light up November a bit with some Northern Lights. I have to say from the beginning that we couldn’t really see them but this Norway trip definitely brought some light in this end of November.
We started our journey Wednesday afternoon at 6 p.m. from Stockholms central station, with plenty of enthusiasm because both for me and Philippe, this was the first time we will take the night train and sleep in the sleeping wagon. For the whole trip we’ve been together with four of my classmates, so we all fitted very well in the sleeping cabin which has exactly six places. We prepared a bag with a few kilos of fruits and some other things to eat, to be sure that we will not gonna starve until we arrive at our destination.
Our first sleep wasn’t that good because we were waking up at every single train shake. Still, even though the clock didn’t record any complete hours of sleep, is was totally worth it in the morning when we woke up to such an amazing views. We were entering the fjords and the landscape was just incredible. After 19 hours (and 1600 km) we arrived in Narvik, the last station, where the Arctic Circle train 94 stops. I have to mention that the light doesn’t really exist in the North so those four hours of …cloudy light do not allow for good photography exposure. Still, I hope that the photos will express, even if just a bit, the atmosphere of those places.
In Narvik we continued our expedition towards the North, to the city of Sjovegan where our Airbnb housing was waiting for us. This white paradise came together with spectacular roads, that where a bit frozen, and also with plenty of darkness. After another 2 hours of driving, we arrived at our final destination, a cosy log cabin named Villa Hegge. We were so impressed by how nice this space looked and felt. We could see very easily all the passion invested in each corner, and the place really was cut out of the magazines (no, for real, there was on the table a magazine that featured it). This cabin raised up the bars for a possible living place, having a Scandinavian design, completed by natural materials, big windows and spectacular views. Only in the morning, before starting the trip to the fjords, we were able to see the Wonderland we arrived in.
On the second day we visited the fjords on Senja island. Each corner of the road provided us with even more amazing views, and at each curve we were trying to find a little place to squeeze the car in order to capture these beauties, each of us with his/her on device (a second blog post will feature aerial photos made with our drone soon). I can’t say more about this because the landscape was doing all the job.
On the third day we went back to Narvik, but not before taking a few photos of the cabin in natural light. And we also enjoyed the same natural light on our way back, which was again surprising us with new spectacular views at each curve of the road.
On the train back to Sweden we had a very nice experience, when all of us realised that we are getting hungry and decided to give it a try and make a special delivery of pizza. The train had just one minute stop in Gällivare, so we called (45 minutes ahed) at one pizzeria near the central station, and to our surprise, we received the order right on time.
For us this trip to the Artic circle was extraordinary, and for those who want to take the train to the North, we think it’s really worth it, without any hesitations!
We’ve been planning this trip for the last two months. We’ve found a good deal for some train tickets so we decided that this can be our chance to light up November a bit with some Northern Lights. I have to say from the beginning that we couldn’t really see them but this Norway trip definitely brought some light in this end of November.
We started our journey Wednesday afternoon at 6 p.m. from Stockholms central station, with plenty of enthusiasm because both for me and Philippe, this was the first time we will take the night train and sleep in the sleeping wagon. For the whole trip we’ve been together with four of my classmates, so we all fitted very well in the sleeping cabin which has exactly six places. We prepared a bag with a few kilos of fruits and some other things to eat, to be sure that we will not gonna starve until we arrive at our destination.
Our first sleep wasn’t that good because we were waking up at every single train shake. Still, even though the clock didn’t record any complete hours of sleep, is was totally worth it in the morning when we woke up to such an amazing views. We were entering the fjords and the landscape was just incredible. After 19 hours (and 1600 km) we arrived in Narvik, the last station, where the Arctic Circle train 94 stops. I have to mention that the light doesn’t really exist in the North so those four hours of …cloudy light do not allow for good photography exposure. Still, I hope that the photos will express, even if just a bit, the atmosphere of those places.
In Narvik we continued our expedition towards the North, to the city of Sjovegan where our Airbnb housing was waiting for us. This white paradise came together with spectacular roads, that where a bit frozen, and also with plenty of darkness. After another 2 hours of driving, we arrived at our final destination, a cosy log cabin named Villa Hegge. We were so impressed by how nice this space looked and felt. We could see very easily all the passion invested in each corner, and the place really was cut out of the magazines (no, for real, there was on the table a magazine that featured it). This cabin raised up the bars for a possible living place, having a Scandinavian design, completed by natural materials, big windows and spectacular views. Only in the morning, before starting the trip to the fjords, we were able to see the Wonderland we arrived in.
On the second day we visited the fjords on Senja island. Each corner of the road provided us with even more amazing views, and at each curve we were trying to find a little place to squeeze the car in order to capture these beauties, each of us with his/her on device (a second blog post will feature aerial photos made with our drone soon). I can’t say more about this because the landscape was doing all the job.
On the third day we went back to Narvik, but not before taking a few photos of the cabin in natural light. And we also enjoyed the same natural light on our way back, which was again surprising us with new spectacular views at each curve of the road.
On the train back to Sweden we had a very nice experience, when all of us realised that we are getting hungry and decided to give it a try and make a special delivery of pizza. The train had just one minute stop in Gällivare, so we called (45 minutes ahed) at one pizzeria near the central station, and to our surprise, we received the order right on time.
For us this trip to the Artic circle was extraordinary, and for those who want to take the train to the North, we think it’s really worth it, without any hesitations!
