7-Day Alaska Aurora Winter Tour: Arctic Adventure, Fairbanks, Coldfoot

Arrive in Fairbanks, the Golden Heart City of Alaska, just 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle! Transfer to your hotel via hotel shuttle. Enjoy dinner on your own. 1st time for Aurora Viewing Tour: Greet your guide at 10:00pm for your first visit to our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Hot drinks are always on hand and snacks are available for purchase. Your guide can provide tips for capturing images of the Northern Lights. Tour returns to hotel between 2:00am & 3:00am. The lore of the native Athabascan people of Interior Alaska tells that the Aurora Borealis are torches carried by spirits to light the way to the afterworld paradise for those who have recently passed. You will undoubtedly wish to weave your own legend after viewing the magical Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, have captivated the imaginations of people for thousands of years. Legends abound about the source and meaning of this magical natural phenomenon. Visit one of the world’s great locations for viewing the Aurora. Fairbanks, Alaska, with its perfect combination of location and conditions offers one of the best opportunities anywhere to see the mystical Lights for yourself! Our 4 Day/3 Night Aurora Winter Adventure package offers a wonderful combination of activities in addition, with visits to world-famous sites like Denali National Park and Chena Hot Springs Resort. Comfortable accommodations give time to re-charge in your chase for adventure!

Enjoy spectacular views of the Alaska Range as you head south to Denali National Park. Explore the Denali Winter Visitor Center to learn about the magnificent wilderness surrounding North America’s highest peak and the park’s preservation of this sensitive ecosystem. Enjoy a winter walk (complimentary snowshoes are available) through the frosted forest. Look for moose, snowshoe hare, ermine, raven and willow ptarmigan, Alaska’s state bird. Travel into the park to take in views of Denali ("The Great One" in the native Athabascan language), weather and road conditions permitting. Pack your own lunch to enjoy in the park while taking a break from snowshoeing. When the Alaska Railroad’s Aurora Winter Train has departures during your date of selection, you will be able to upgrade to ride the train back to Fairbanks. Due to the northern latitude, the amount of daylight is greatly decreased in winter, especially around the winter solstice in late December. It might be dark when you depart for your tour in the morning and the sun will set as you return to Fairbanks. We plan this day's tour departure time accordingly, to ensure that you will have daylight while in Denali National Park. Upon your return to Fairbanks, you will have time to enjoy dinner on your own before another nighttime quest for the magical Lights at our Aurora Viewing Lodge. 2nd time for Aurora Viewing Tour: Greet your guide at 10:00pm for your second visit to our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Hot drinks are always on hand and snacks are available for purchase. Your guide can provide tips for capturing images of the Northern Lights. Tour returns to hotel between 2:00am & 3:00am.

Bring your swim wear! We will drive through the boreal forest to Chena Hot Springs Resort, where you can soak in the indoor or outdoor hot pools* and tour the world’s only year-round ice museum (at your own expense)and hotel. Enjoy a refreshing "appletini" in a glass carved from crystalline ice (at your own expense). You may enjoy the fine cuisine in the resort dining room (at your own expense), before returning to Fairbanks for your third night of scanning the skies for the mystical Northern Lights at our Aurora Viewing Lodge. *Indoor pool – all ages welcome. Outdoor pool – 18 years of age and older only. 3rd time for Aurora Viewing Tour: Greet your guide at 10:00pm for your second visit to our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Hot drinks are always on hand and snacks are available for purchase. Your guide can provide tips for capturing images of the Northern Lights. Tour returns to hotel between 2:00am & 3:00am.

You may choose to purchase an optional activity, including dogsledding, ice fishing or snowmachining. These can be arranged through your guide. * Dogsled Kennel Tour (This tour would take approximately 2.5 hours) After a quick 15-minute drive to our favorite professional musher's kennel, you will learn about the mushing lifestyle and the essential role dog teams have played in Alaska history, then tour the kennel and pet the puppies! Then, it's time to load up on the sled for an invigorating ride through the frosted forest (about 30 minutes' ride time), then return to the kennel cabin to warm up with hot drinks while your fellow travelers take a spin through the woods. Mushing is still a means of transportation in some remote locations and a variety of short- and long-distance dog sled races enable mushers to earn big prize money to support their lifestyle. * Ice Fishing Tour with BBQ (This tour would take approximately 2.5 hours) Learn and enjoy a favorite Alaska winter pastime and get your fish on! Get cozy in our guide’s heated fishing hut and drop your bait through a hole augered through the foot-thick ice to pull in a lunker, then the guide will cook it up right there for you to snack on while you wait for the next nibble. Trade stories, or invent great fish tales with your friends while you learn the tricks of the trade from your guide. * Snowmachine Tour (This tour would take approximately 2.5 hours) Don’t call it a snowmobile in Alaska! Learn the basics of operating a snowmachine, from safety to steering and stopping, then strap on your helmet and off you go on the Iron Horse of the Northland. Your knowledgeable guide will keep an eye out for your safety and enjoyment as you cruise over a frozen lake and across beautiful wooded trails. Come on and enjoy a scenic route with lots of fresh snow as we experience the paradise on earth. (Please bring you winter gear such as waterproof suits, hat, gloves and warm boots to avoid frostbite.) Later in the day, explore fascinating local culture with a visit to Fairbanks Morris Thompson Cultural Center. Learn about the history of Interior Alaska and its first people, the Koyukon Athabascans, who have lived in the region for thousands of years. Find out more about the modern economic forces that have shaped the city, the discovery of gold in 1898, the ongoing growth of the military in the region from WWII to today, the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970's and forward to today's diversified economy. Visit the Cultural Center gift shop to don traditional Athabascan clothing for photographs. Exquisitely hand-crafted parkas, coats and mittens made of animal skins and furs are available for you to wear while a photographer snaps pictures for you, a wonderful keepsake from your visit to Alaska! We hope you have enjoyed a great time with us on our four-day Fairbanks tour! Have a good night of sleep in Fairbanks before your Arctic Circle adventure starts in the morning. You may choose to add an optional additional night of aurora viewing this evening, or just enjoy relaxing on your own.

Head for the Arctic Circle and beyond! Depart Fairbanks at 10:00am on a comfortable coach for the journey across the Yukon River to the Arctic Circle and Coldfoot, Alaska. Enjoy the low winter sun on the horizon as it shines on the windswept arctic tundra. Traverse the frozen Yukon River and enjoy the snow-sculpted forest as you make your way across the Arctic Circle. Arrive in Coldfoot. Hotel – Coldfoot Camp: Located halfway between Fairbanks and Prudhoe Bay, Coldfoot Camp provides an excellent base for travelers in Alaska's Brooks Mountain Range. Although rustic by urban standards, Coldfoot Camp is clean and comfortable. Each room features two twin beds and private bath facilities, a luxury in the remote wilderness of Alaska's Arctic.

Select from a variety of optional tours: an excursion along the Dalton Highway, into the Brooks Mountain Range, as far north as Atigun Pass (weather permitting); a one-hour dog sledding experience with a local musher; and additional aurora viewing in Wiseman (optional tours at your own expense).

Return to Fairbanks via air, arriving approximately 2:00-4:00pm. We will drop you off in the hotel, please take hotel shuttle bus to Fairbanks airport. Safety is our top priority, so in the rare event of a weather-related flight cancellation, we will return you to Fairbanks via ground transportation - you will be back around 2:00am next morning. We will drop you off in the hotel, please take hotel shuttle bus to Fairbanks airport.