Photographing the northern lights in Abisko

5 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Abisko has been linked with aurora photography for a long time. The Aurora Sky Station on Mount Nuolja opened in 2007. Two years earlier the Japanese aurora enthusiast Hirohisa Makino had started guiding visitors in Abisko, and the first aurora camera followed before the station opened. Today the sky above the village is watched by a live camera at the station, and many evening tours are built around taking pictures. What follows covers the parts that are specific to Abisko: the timing, the places, the rules in the national park and the tours that do the technical work for you.

When the sky is dark enough

You only see the aurora when the sky is dark. In Abisko that means roughly from late August to April. From about mid-May to early August the nights stay too light, and from 25 May to 19 July 2027 the sun does not set at all. The Swedish Tourist Association, which runs the Aurora Sky Station, names mid-November to mid-March as the period with the best chances, while Kiruna Lapland notes that September, October and March often bring strong displays.

Within a night, Kiruna Lapland gives 21:00 to 23:00 as the most active period, with displays from about 16:00 possible in midwinter. It also points out that the most intense part of a display often lasts less than ten minutes. In practice that means setting up before the sky lights up, not when it does. Check the cloud forecast and the Kp index during the day, and look at the live cameras of the Aurora Sky Station and the IRF all-sky camera in Kiruna in the evening. Clouds sit far below the aurora, and Kiruna Lapland notes that even small gaps can be enough.

Clear sky and the blue hole

SMHI, the Swedish weather service, records a normal of 347 mm of precipitation a year in Abisko for 1991–2020, the lowest of any station in Sweden. The village lies in a rain shadow for most wind directions. STF calls the local effect the blue hole: clear sky that often stays open above Abisko while it is cloudy around it. SMHI publishes no count of clear nights, so treat it as a tendency and keep several evenings free.

Where to stand

A good aurora photo needs a foreground, and Abisko offers several within walking distance of the station. The green route from the naturum leads to the shore of Torneträsk, where there is a picnic area with benches. The canyon of the Abiskojåkka is close by as well. On a snowshoe tour at full moon, one operator walks guests through the birch forest to a view of Lapporten, the U-shaped mountain pass.

The Aurora Sky Station is the high option. It sits at about 900 metres on Mount Nuolja, reached by an open chairlift in 20 to 40 minutes, and the evening season runs from 19 October 2026 to 27 March 2027. The guided Night Visit has 40 places, includes overalls and boots, and should be booked ahead. If the weather stops the lift, the evening moves to a wood-heated lávvu in the park, and there is no refund.

Drones stay at home. The regulations of Abisko National Park forbid landing an aircraft in the park, and drones are named explicitly.

Tours that lend a camera

If you do not own a camera that can take long exposures, the photo tour by Lights Over Lapland is the simplest option. Each guest gets a DSLR camera with a lens, set up before the tour, and groups are limited to eight. Depending on the weather the evening is spent at a teepee within walking distance, in a 4x4 van or in a sled behind a snowmobile, with at least three hours of searching and photographing. A 16 GB memory card is not included, and an ultra-wide 14 mm lens costs extra. Reviewers mention nights spent in one place by a fire and, once, not enough cameras for everyone.

Tours that take the photos for you

On Explore Arctic's car tour the guide is a photographer who takes pictures of you under the aurora and sends all of them afterwards in digital form. It picks up only in Abisko, not in Kiruna. Another chase includes professional photos and a thermal overall, and it may drive up to 200 km in a night; from January to March it can switch to a snowmobile and sled. Experience Abisko's small-van chase and the sled tour by Activities in Abisko include help with photography on your own camera. One reviewer of the sled tour reports not receiving the photos that were promised.

For daylight pictures, Explore Arctic also runs a morning photo hike of about three hours on snowshoes, with high-quality images of your walk included.

Staying warm while you wait

Aurora photography means standing still in the cold for a long time. The Aurora Sky Station advises long underwear, a warm sweater under your warmest jacket, shoes somewhat larger than usual, and no water-based face cream before going out. Kiruna Lapland recommends a headlamp with a red light and something to sit on. Our pages on what to wear and on the northern lights tours go into more detail.