Abisko itineraries for three to five days

6 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

The plans below assume a winter stay between December and March, when the snowmobile tours run and the evenings are dark. They are built around a simple rule: one activity in daylight, one in the evening, and at least one evening left for a second attempt at the aurora. All tours mentioned here collect guests in Abisko, so you need neither a car nor a taxi. Swap days freely, since the weather will decide some of it for you.

Plan the evenings first. The guided Night Visit at the Aurora Sky Station has only 40 places per evening, and the evening tours decide how many chances you get at the aurora. Then fit the daytime activities around them.

Three days in winter

On the first day, arrive by the night train at Abisko Turiststation or by bus from Kiruna. In the afternoon, walk the yellow canyon loop from the naturum along the Abiskojåkka, about an hour with a wooden walkway above the gorge. In the evening, book an aurora tour, for example the photo tour by Lights Over Lapland, which provides a set-up camera and lens and lasts about four hours with pickup.

The second day starts with the guided morning hike in the national park, about two hours and three to four kilometres, which several reviewers describe as a short, easy walk. In the afternoon, Outback Abisko's snowmobile route along the Kungsleden to Lake Abiskojaure takes about four hours plus half an hour for pickup, with two people sharing each machine. In the evening, try the Night Visit at the Aurora Sky Station, which starts at 20:30 and ends by 01:00 at the latest.

On the third day, go ice climbing. The tour lasts about three hours, the guide is UIAA-certified, and boots, crampons, harness and helmet are provided, though warm clothing is not. Spend the evening on Abisko.net's husky walk, about four kilometres return to a lávvu with a fire and cinnamon buns, before you leave the next day.

Five days in winter

Add two days to the plan above. One works well as a day trip to Narvik across the Norwegian border. Explore Arctic's fjord tour takes about six hours with viewpoints, wildlife stops and a packed lunch, in a group of up to 19. One reviewer noted that some viewpoints could not be reached because of road conditions, so expect changes in bad weather. You are back in Abisko for an evening tour, for example Experience Abisko's Sámi-inspired barbecue, where souvas, lightly smoked reindeer meat, is cooked over an open fire in a hut below Abisko Guesthouse, looking out over Torneträsk, before the group goes out by minibus to look for the aurora.

Keep the fifth day open as a weather reserve. If the aurora has not shown up yet, put it into another evening tour. Otherwise use it for a quieter day: the shore of Torneträsk, the reconstructed Sámi camp behind the station or the naturum, which in winter opens only on a few afternoons a week. Leaving through Kiruna, you can turn your departure day into a visit to the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi; the day trip from Abisko takes about seven hours and can drop you at Kiruna Airport with your luggage.

Around the polar night

From 6 December 2026 to 6 January 2027 the sun stays below the horizon, and on 21 December there is civil twilight only from about 09:09 to 14:16. Daytime tours then take place in blue twilight rather than daylight, and anything after mid-afternoon is in the dark. Put the snowmobile and ice climbing tours in late morning or around midday, and accept that the evenings start early. Our page on the polar night shows what this means for each week.

Late winter and spring

From February the days lengthen quickly, and the ski areas in Björkliden and Riksgränsen open after the dark period, in 2027 from 4 and 18 February. The Aurora Sky Station runs daytime lift rides from 13 February to 26 April 2027, and its evening season continues until 27 March. A four- or five-day stay in March can therefore combine a ski day, a snowmobile tour and several aurora evenings.

A summer version

In summer the aurora is gone, but the plan becomes a walking one. The Kungsleden starts at STF Abisko Turiststation, and its first stage to the Abiskojaure huts is 14 km on a wide, easy path, about four to five hours one way. The chairlift up Mount Nuolja runs in daytime from 14 June to 27 September 2027, with evening openings under the midnight sun until 18 July. Note that the Abiskojåkka delta is closed from 1 May to 31 July for nesting birds. For dates across the year, see the best time to visit, and for the train and flight connections, getting to Abisko.