Must do it. Here are some notes! I fancy Lapland rather than Iceland.
I found Best Served Scandanavia, who have a number of tours offering stays at the Ice Hotel, or Tree Hotel. I fancy something a bit more normal (and cheap) and found this tour, the Luleå & Haparanda rail adventure, 4 days, fly (from Heathrow) to Luleå, where day one & four are spent, and a train to Haparanda, Finland where one stays at the Haparanda Stadshotell with its magnificent history and dining room. From £870. I did this. Haparanda is in Sweden but on the Finnish Border. I spent the last night at Camp Brandon, again, fab food, but the lights were a no-show.
I flew SAS who have an app. I’ll hopefully use the bus to get from Lulea airport to the City Center. They have a card and app. I screwed up the bus on the way in, but they take cards. I got myself a money card as Sweden seems virtually cashless.
I am back, had a fab time, and here are some of my pictures.
There are at least two bridges from Haparanda to Tornio in Finland, one is a dual gauge railway bridge, which may or may not be open; I couldn’t get to it.
Frustratingly, the train loops north, via Kalix, I was hoping for Sea views, but with the snow, it’s hard to tell the difference between a fjord and a field.
Otherwise
Hotel * ratings vary by country, here is a page which describes how they work in Scandinavia. For me, wifi is a must, but bed & breakfast seems to be standard offering; the 3/4 step includes a restaurant, and internet, but with hotspots and a decent roaming price, maybe it’s not so important. If I go to Stockholm, I need to go to some of these viewpoints.
The train from Stockholm to Luleå takes over 13 hours according to rome2rio. The train from Narvik takes 7½ hours.
Winter is best for the Northern Lights, Visit Sweden says from Dec to March and so I will likely need an ETIAS form, next year it seems. I was OK for Jan 2023.
Norwegian Airlines fly to Lulea & Narvik from Gatwick. Does it snow? Yes it snows a ton load, I am amazed the plan got off on the way back.
Expedia can get me to Kiruna or [here] for four days/ five nights by Lufthansa at Camp Ripen for £905 at the end of Oct., which is too early
And this one, from Kiruna to Narvik, by the Baltic Travel Company, called the Polar Express!
After the trip, I tidied up the text, I removed, “Frustratingly, the train loops north, via Kalix, I was hoping for Sea views. Here is a weather forecast and a webcam. or here, which gives a 24 hour review, it gets dark early.” There is also various aurora chasing apps.