aurora sky station

②Aurora Sky Station：在山顶，最好的极光观测点。有纪念品店和极光展览，提供住宿，可整夜守候极光。 开放时间12月-3月，晚上8点-12点，690克朗。 2天过夜3450克朗。（价格包含坐Chair-Lift返回） www.auroraskystation.se/火车站及游客中心（网络照片）极光观测台（官网照片）

Firstly if you don't like heights or being exposed to the elements this isn't for you. The chairlift is completely exposed, you basically dangle and swing in the -15C wind all the way up the mountain which is just under 4000ft high. Put it this way, I wouldn't go up Ben Nevis or Snowdon on a exposed chairlift so the Ice suits they give you are paramount. Make sure you wear a hat too as the windchill is quite extreme.Food in the restaurant was great, all the usual local produce, Elk, Moose, Reindeer etc. Lovely. As is the hilarious enthusiasm of the staff. The northern lights were pretty impressive too, albeit viewed whilst holding on for dear life as the wind was so strong, would be great i'd imagine if you got a windless night, can't imagine this happens that often though given it is at the top of a mountain! P.S. remember a tripod, you won't get a decent pic of the lights without it.

Now, this review is going to be a little biased because most people will not have the same experience I have. My fiance and I took the ski lift up. That for me was pretty terrifying! It's the oldest ski lift in Sweden. If you are afraid of heights, go at night time! It is cold, so be prepared! We are from Louisiana so this was a shock to our body. Don't worry though, once you get to the top you can warm up and fika! We went to the top of the restaurant and looked around for a bit then warmed up inside the cozy loft. We then proceeded to climb up a little mountain to see the auroras. It was so incredibly beautiful. The mountain provided a shield form the wind so it was actually pretty pleasant. We sat down and watched shooting stars pass among the auroras. Just as it was about time to head back to our hotel, my finance got down on one knee and asked me to marry him under the northern lights. You don't have to go for a romantic trip, even though it will be the most romantic trip you will ever go on if you're lucky enough to see the lights! There were several couples and solos along for the trip. I highly suggest going to the aurora sky station. It's not cheap, but remember that travel is the only thing you can buy that will make you richer. Just keep in mind that you are NOT guarantee to see the lights. We went during the solar maximum. Do your research, know when the best times are to go. We were super lucky and saw the auroras all but one night of our 5 day stay.

My boyfriend and I did the dinner and aurora viewing after. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate with us and we did not see the lights. Too cloudy. However, I have no regrets on spending the money for this experience. Upon arriving, we were given warm suits, which I highly recommend for anyone. It's amazing how well they work! I wasn't cold at all! The chair ride up the mountain takes about 20 minutes and it's so beautiful. After the chair ride, we had a four course meal, which was excellent. The only issue was the portion sizes. For the price we paid, it would have been nice to have larger portions...especially after a long day of skiing. Nevertheless the wait staff was wonderful, the food was delicious, the wine was flowing (although not included in the meal price) and it was a great night. After dinner we had a small lecture and tour about the lights and then we were able to walk up the mountain and hunker down to wait for the lights. It was really fun to lie in the snow and wait. Again, I didn't get cold in the suit. The only bad part of the night is that weather rolled in quickly and a thick fog covered the mountain so we were unable to see the lights. All in all though it was a wonderful experience and I highly recommend it.

We walked to the base station where we were given snow suits. We then went up on the chair lift. At the top we had a pleasant meal with wine. Not cheap but a good experience.We saw the Lights which were fantastic. It was cold and the wind was biting but the suits kept you warm. Best thing to do is lie in the snow and enjoy the spectacle - unless you are a professional photographer. We were worried about the journey back down on the chairlift as it was very windy but it was fineAll in all a memorable experience

Ok, after reading other people's reviews, let's get this straight. YOU ARE IN NATURE. Nature here is really cold. You are not guaranteed to see the lights. Getting to the sky station is cold, fairly high on a chair lift which takes a while with several stops. You'll be cold for twenty minutes. One there, if there are lights, you'll need to go out in the cold again. To see them, you'll be cold the whole time that you're looking at them. If you don't like the cold, don't like nature, don't like moderate heights (I'm scared myself) and expect the lights to come when you're there, then you will not like this and quite possibly, oh I don't know, the entirety of northern Sweden in winter. It's also expensive high class dining. It is what it is. The staff here were great. They give you all the gear they can, warm overalls, boots. Bring a hat buff and gloves or you'll be cold. There's a big warm fire. The food is amazing. I'm vegetarian and they had a great menu for me. I must say swedish high class dining is a little more relaxed than I'm used to, but this is also the swedish way to try not to be too snobby. So, the lights came it was amazing. When you go out, you're in nature, there are about five steps and then you're hiking up there through the snow. The ground is uneven, tiring, and slow. I was surprised actually at how natural it was, nothing to hold on to, no path cleared for us. Take it slow and easy. With the snow overalls on I could lay on my back and look up. It was great. There were so many lights I couldn't see them with just a normal view, I had to look all around. So, the restaurant is a fancy pants special restaurant with great staff and a chef who works really hard on a little oven. The chair lift is slow and a little high. It's cold in winter. It's in Abisko. We had no problems with booking and payment. I'd recommend it, just explaining that its nature, wilderness and the lights aren't guaranteed. It was a great present for me.

We visited here on 13th Feb, thinking that it would be more of a scientific station - if we'd read trip advisor reviews before we left we would not have been so surprised when we got to the top!First piece of advice - however warm you are waiting for the lift, take a thermal suit! The wind is biting and the chair lift is completely open! The ride takes about 30 minutes depending on how many people are getting on - it stops to let people on and off. Essentially the station is a cafe with a few items like thermal socks that you can buy. It is toasty inside which was a blessing, and there is a room at the back with information about the aurora, with 'guided tours' regularly. The guided tour consisted of people cramming into that room to listen to a little bit of science about the list, but most of what we were told was related to folklore - it was still interesting but not very fulfilling for a couple of geeks. The hot chocolate on offer was tasty and warming but it was very expensive for some powder in a cup, that you had to put your own water in and top with squirty cream! Just so you know, the toilets are an outside privy, which were completely frozen and had no locks on the door! When you perch on the seat (and boys, you have to do this too as there is sign with a man standing and weeing with a RED LINE through him!) your body heat defrosts the moisture on the seat and you come away with a wet bum. It's an experience.When the aurora made an appearance there was a cry of 'The lights! The lights!' (Think Hunchback of Notre Dame) and everyone piled outside. It was a fairly weak display on the night we attended, which probably has a lot to with the star ratings of most of these reviews, although to be fair I probably wouldn't have rated it much higher due to the lack of science. Would I go again? No. Would I recommend it? Not really, I think that if the lights are putting on a show, that you will see them from ground level. Our hotel offered a short guided walk which we did the following night and which I much preferred, without freezing our backsides off and arriving at the top of a mountain dribbling with snot. But if you do want the experience - and why shouldn't you? - don't forget to wear the suit! You can always hang it up at the top if it's too warm

I seriously can't believe these people. We had prebooked going up to the sky station before our visit to Abisko. On the night we were supposed to go, we were told the lift was not running because of the cold and that there was an optional activity to replace it. After some confusion and explanation we understood that it was our choice whether we went or not, and because we hadn't paid for it yet, we decided we wouldn't go. However, after, we were forced to pay a shocking 3000+kr, that's almost $500USD for ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. Having argued with the managers at the sky station for a refund because we were forced to pay for something we didn't do at all, the best they could say to us was sorry. I'm just absolutely shocked at the level of customer care given here. Sure, there is no refunds on bookings but this case should have been treated individually. Watch what you sign up for.

Spent 3 nights at the Turistation very close to the Sky Station wanting to go up. But it costs a minimum of 595 SEK to go up! It also runs as a chairlift in the daytime for a much cheaper price, but only certain times of the year. There is also a walking route up for the fit, but if you're going to see the lights you're going to see them from the lake too. The third night it was running after being closed the first two nights due to the cold (-30°C), and it looked like a very exciting ride up but costing far too much! As there were no lights that night, I gave it a miss saving myself a lot of money.People are encouraged to book not to miss out, but as most people go up early to get their money's worth, I was told I could buy a ticket at the station around 10pm before the last ride up at 11pm. I met a lot of disappointed people coming down as it was cloudy and as the view is the main attraction, there is little else up there.If you buy a ticket and it is not running, as someone in my dorm had, they take you outside to a tent with a campfire and hot chocolate and if you don't get to see the lights, that must really suck. Make the pricing more flexible!

We visited Abisko National Park to go and see the Northern Lights at the Abisko Sky Station. We had read excellent reviews on Trip Advisor beforehand. We were expecting a cable car to the top rather than a ski lift/chair lift type of device. Despite this, when we arrived we both got into all our gear & my girlfriend used the suits provides by the station at the bottom. It was approx. -22C when we arrived at the car park so we made sure we had all our gear on. The lady at the ticket booth advised us that it would be approx. 20mins to the top. So we rushed onto the chair lift in anticipation of seeing the lights. I am quite nervous of heights so I wasn't the most confident going up, but decided to brave it anyway as it was only a 20 minute journey. We progressed up the mountain & the the lights started to appear so we were really looking forward to getting to the top. However, after a number of short stops (to let other people off we presumed) the chair lift stopped again. We again just thought this would be a stop for some people to alight. So we waited…..a few minutes passed by & I started to get nervous but my girlfriend reassured me that it would start again soon. So we waited, and waited, and waited. Then eventually we reasoned that it must have been broken down. Because of the few stops during the trip it had taken us approx. 20 minutes to get to where we were & now we had been stranded for approx. 30 minutes. We decided that at this stage we needed to phone someone so I cautiously took out my phone (not wanting to drop it) and as we had no idea who to call we used the internet to google the station. We rang the number but it was closed/didn't answer. So we decided we had to ring someone, we googled gain & found the hotel across the road that is linked to it. We rang & LUCKILY they answered. The girl didn't initially know where we were or what we were on about but when we explained she said she’d ring the station & see what was going on. A few minutes later the phone rang and it was the lady from the ticket office/entrance. We had been forgotten about!!!! At this point my hand was so cold from having it out of my gloves & on the phone it was locked into position & I could barely move my fingers. The lift began to move & we started to make our way to the top. At this point my girlfriend broke down completely. I was just furious that something like this could happen. We arrived to the top & the guy at the top apologised to us and casually asked if we had hypothermia?! At this stage I let fly. Saying how could you leave us there for over an hour in -20+ temperatures with a wind chill so maybe as low as minus 25. He didn’t really say anything to that and mentioned we could go in & get tea & coffee if we wanted. We went inside & started to warm up, with what had really happened and the possibility of what may have happened beginning to dawn on us… The guy disappeared. Didn’t even clear the way at the stove for us to warm up & get some heat back in. Bring us over coffees & teas or try & comfort us. Nothing. We would have turned around and gone straight back down apart from the fact that we didn’t ever want to get on the chair lift again. We looked to see if anyone was leaving but they weren't so about 30-45 minutes later we went out & saw the lights. They are brilliant and it seemed we got a great night for it but it was all tempered by the experience on the way up, Because of the brilliance of the lights on this night no on wanted to go down so we had to wait for ages to get behind another coupe going back down. As soon as we touched ground again we both breathed a sigh of relief. BE VERY CAREFUL GOING UP HERE. ENSURE YOU GET AN EMERGENCY NUMBER TO CALL & INFORM THEM YOU DO NOT WANT THE LIFT TURNED OFF UNTIL YOU ARE AT THE TOP.

We just took the train to Abisko purely on a whim. Desperately seeking the Lights, we didn't think twice about visiting the Aurora Sky Station as we haven't caught them anywhere else in Kiruna.We booked our tickets for the chairlift form the STF Tourist Hotel and walked up to the base of the mountain stationing the sky station; which was also the chairlift station. The walk here from the hotel takes just 10 minutes, but be careful as it is not a very brightly lit path.The much dreaded chairlift ride took some 20-25 mins to get up and turns out, it was not dreadful at all! The chairlifts are part of one big ring so if passengers have to board/depart them, your chairlift would stop. Yes, high up in the air, dangling in the freezing windy weather. At any point in the journey you are only 5 feet from the ground, and it feels as smooth as a car or train ride. So, don't fret about it.Once we were up there, I couldn't help but realize that this may have been a waste of time and money. They take you through the history and some important facts about the Aurora Borealis. They have a tiny cafe setup; one would expect more for the kind of fee you've paid. It was almost impossible to stand outside even for a moment because of the bad weather. But, the sky seemed to be clearing up a bit. Since this place closes at 1 AM, we arranged for our transport back to Kiruna at 12.30. Unfortunately, the skies were cloudy that night and we didn't see them. But apparently, they did show up...at around 1.15 AM!

From Stockholm we took a flight in to Kiruna,where we camped for 2 nights at Camp Ripaan,which is a really nice accommodation and kids can freak out here building snowmen and angel in the snow.After spending two nights in the small but happy town of Kiruna ,we realised that the 'Aurora Borealis',was not a phenomenon occurring everywhere and we had to chase it.So we headed to Abisko in a train,where the sightings as very common.The most interesting and surprising fact about Abisko apart from the fact that here the moose and the reindeer were more in population than the locals was,that we met with loads of Indians chasing the lights.There was a group of 60 year olds who had done an Antartica expedition last year and were now hoping to see the lights and there was a backpacking group of youngsters with the same hope and then there was us,somewhere in the middle of all this. As we booked our ski lift ride to the Abisko Sky station ,where the probability of the phenomenon viewing is the highest,we also prayed .The view from the ski lift of the small town of Abisko was awesome,in the dark you could see the small trail of lights of the Abisko town ,surrounded on one side by the lake which was nearly frozen and on the other side by the wilderness.This small town has 150 families and just 800 residents,in all.I wanted to capture it all on my phone ,but was scared to take my hand out of the overalls that I wore over 4 layers of clothing,fearing that they would freeze and I would drop my expensive smartphone.After a point on the ski lift it was pitch dark and all we could see and feel was cold.At several points the ski lift would stop and we would be just hanging in the air several feet above the ground and even oscillating at times.Finally there was light,at the pinnacle was the warm and inviting Abisko Skystation.The sky station was like a nice and warm cafe,there were guides explaining the origin,folklore and the science behind the Aurora sightings.In 1621, a French scientist, Pierre Gassendi, saw the lights in the north and named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora. He added the word "borealis" for the Roman god of the north wind, Boreas. In the southern hemisphere, they are called aurora australis, meaning "southern."For experiencing this phenomenon in it's glory it is deemed to have temperatures way below minus 30 and a clear night sky and then they are supposed to dance.We were however not so lucky,the temperature was just minus 15 degrees and the sky was cloudy.The Gods,however did not disappoint us and we did see the sky light up magnificently and the light travelled from one end to another in a curved path.What was interesting was that Aurora pictures that we have seen through our childhood have shown to combine multiple colours but here it was singular and while we saw white and mild orange light lit up the sky,the cameras caught it as stark green.Imagine a bunch of over clad ,over enthusiastic people in pitch darkness and snow clad mountains,in the middle of nowhere gazing and marvelling the nature's spectacular ,magical phenomena and jumping in excitement each time the sky lights up and sighing when it darkens .This was us .It was amazing,it was outstanding and it was a tick on my bucket list.

We were put off by some of the negative reviews in trip advisor, but I'm so glad we decided to go here! We arrived at the chairlift base station at 8.45pm and everyone was getting in to their big snow suits. You should definitely borrow their snow gear - it is snow proof and warm, definitely needed if you want to sit on the mountain looking for auroras for a few hours! The staff at the chairlift station were friendly and very helpful - we had forgotten to print off our booking email, but it didn't matter. We got on to the chairlift and were treated to a 20 mins ride up to the main sky station. I am scared of heights, but the chairlift wasn't that high, so don't let that put you off! Once up at the station, we had a guided tour of the aurora exhibition where they explained the science and history behind the aurora. Then we went outside and we were taught about how long it takes our eyes to acclimatise to night time viewing conditions, how to work out which way is north etc.The station itself is warm and cosy - filled with tables and chairs, big comfy sofas and a roaring fire. I should also mention the cafe where you could buy tea coffee etc, free refills. They also served cakes, chocolate, cereal bars etc. They take credit cards up there too! I had done some research before hand on how to photograph the aurora, so we set up our camera on the mountain side there... and it seemed there were a few other people who were doing the same. I would highly recommend doing this - the thrill of getting your very own photo of the aurora is like nothing else! I would recommend investing in a tripod (we got a basic £15 one from amazon which was perfect), chemical hand warmers, a red light torch and either buying or borrowing a decent camera. You need one with manual settings so you can adjust the shutter speed, ISO etc. A point and shoot camera/iPhone won't do. We were very lucky that we were treated to a great display that night, and got some great photos! Some of our group seemed to get bored after a while and went back down the mountain early, but we stayed right until the end. I think you get more out of the visit if you can take some photos yourself.Even if you don't get to see the aurora, the sky station is cosy and cute and you get a lovely view of Abisko and across the lake. Obviously if you see the aurora, it is the icing on the cake! We had a great time and I would definitely recommend paying a visit if you're goi to Abisko.

We went one evening. The views from the top are very good - and we had an amazing aurora display as we went up on the chair - but be prepared for very windy and icy cold conditions as you go up the mountain on an old chair lift. Once up there, you can defrost with a drink (or dinner if you've booked dinner there in advance) and you can walk around and see some amazing views down into the town and across the lake.

The Sky Station visit was an ultra-expensive chairlift at night with not much to see, and plenty of freezing cold air. We were transferred to the Sky Station base by our accommodation arriving just before 9:15pm. It took about 15mins for the single staff member at the base station to get organized so we began our 25min journey on the chairlift at about 9.30pm arriving just in time for the 10pm tour. We spent about an hour at the crowded sky station not able to either see or do much due to the bad weather outside, before having to make our way back down on the chairlift to meet our transport back to the accommodation. All up, an expensive disappointment and a complete waste of time and money!I would recommend only visiting this attraction on a clear night when the chances of seeing the Northern Lights is almost guaranteed. I wouldn’t waste the time or $$$$ on it any other time.