POLAR EXPRESS
NORWAY, SWEDEN, FINLAND
10 DAYS
20 PEOPLE
3690 EURO
10 days
20.12.2026 - 29.12.2026
30.12.2026 - 08.01.2027
We go to welcome 2027 in the north of three Scandinavian countries - Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The name of the expedition «Polar Express» was chosen for a reason: the railway will be the main thread of the route. But beyond trains, we'll ride plenty of other things as we discover the North.
A yacht and an icebreaker, snowmobiles and dog sleds, reindeer sleighs and even swimming among ice floes in dry suits.
Beyond the vivid action, there will be atmospheric pauses: by a campfire on the shore, in the yacht's saloon, among ice sculptures, and deep in the forest.
Stories await us about polar expeditions, Sami reindeer herders, Christmas myths and contemporary art - weaving the route into one cohesive northern narrative.
ROUTE PLAN
Tromsø ➙ Narvik ➙ Abisco ➙ Kiruna ➙ Luleå ➙ Kemi ➙ Rovaniemi ➙ Helsinki
8 nights in hotels with breakfasts included, 1 night on a train (2-person compartment with a shower);
all transfers along the route by trains and bus;
a yacht cruise with king crab fishing + lunch;
an icebreaker cruise with swimming in survival suits;
snowmobile riding (2 people per snowmobile, self-driving) + lunch;
reindeer sledding (2 people per sled);
husky sledding (4 people per sled);
tickets to the Ice Hotel, Snow Hotel, and Polar Museum;
funicular ride to the mountain in Tromsø;
a storybook as a memory of the expedition;
accompaniment by the author of the program.
flights (start - Tromso, finish - Helsinki);
meals, except breakfasts;
airport transfers;
active travel insurance.
1. Our company operates as an international travel organizer, therefore groups are formed from travelers from Ukraine, the Baltic countries, the EU, Israel, North America, and other countries. The working languages of the trip are Ukrainian, Russian, and English, depending on the group composition and translation arrangements. Each guide speaks Ukrainian, and in personal communication we respond in the language of the inquiry. If a 100 percent Ukrainian-language trip is essential for you, please уточнюйте this before booking. The company does not cooperate with citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
2. Due to the fact that our expeditions do not include international flights to the starting point of the program, we cannot be held responsible for changes in flight conditions by airlines or airport requirements. Since our travelers fly from many different countries and cities, we never participate in the purchase of air travel and limit ourselves exclusively to advisory services in the selection of flights. Air agents or airlines from which tickets were purchased are responsible for the purchase and technical support.
PROGRAM
Day 1
(20.12.26) (30.12.26)
Tromso, the first encounter with the Arctic
We fly into Tromso - one of the northernmost cities in Europe, the maritime gateway to the Arctic.
Independent transfer to the city center, hotel check-in.
In the evening, we’ll take a walk through the cozy center of Tromsø. At the end of December, the city is especially charming: a Christmas market, the aroma of hot gløgg, and a festive atmosphere without the usual hustle and bustle.
Day 2
(21.12.26) (31.12.26)
Crab safari, the Polar Museum and New Year's Eve
In the morning we head out to sea on a four-hour king crab fishing cruise.
A winter fjord, cold sea air, working with the traps and lunch from freshly caught crab - a fine way to experience Tromso as a living Arctic port whose history is inseparable from the sea.
After returning we visit the Polar Museum. In a wooden harbour building nearly 200 years old, artefacts and stories of whalers, hunters and Arctic explorers are gathered.
We check into the hotel, where our left luggage is already waiting.
In the evening we gather at a waterfront tavern for a group dinner. We bid farewell to the outgoing year and receive antique lanterns - the symbol of our expedition.
After dinner we walk to the cable car to welcome the New Year at the viewing platform above the fjord. Lantern light in our hands, the island's lights below, fireworks in the sky - and if we're lucky, the northern lights.
Return to the hotel approximately by one in the morning.
Day 3
(22.12.26) (01.01.27)
A slow start to the year and a sauna on the water
We sleep in after New Year's Eve, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, check out and head to the floating sauna.
For northerners a sauna with cold water is an important winter ritual. Locals value it for its health benefits, and for us it will be a moment of complete relaxation before the transfer to the next city.
By evening we arrive in Narvik and check into a new apart-hotel overlooking the city.
Day 4
(23.12.26) (02.01.27)
The first train: Abisko National Park and Kiruna
In the morning we board the train and head towards Sweden. This stretch is one of the most beautiful on the entire route: snow-covered fjords, mountain forests and remote stations pass by the window.
We step off at Abisko National Park for a walk along a small frozen canyon. Here the quiet and wild beauty of nature is especially tangible - a place where humans are merely guests.
After lunch and warming up, we board the evening train to Kiruna.
Check-in at a central hotel for two nights.
Day 5
(24.12.26) (03.01.27)
Snowmobiles and the ice hotel
Today we’ll meet the huskies that have helped people for centuries with travel, work, and survival in the North. Their energy, endurance, and friendliness are felt immediately.
We’ll ride in a sled across the frozen Torne River, then turn into the forest — along a trail between snow-covered fir trees, as if straight out of a winter postcard.
After the ride we drive to ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjarvi.
It is considered the world's first ice hotel. Since 1989 it has been built each autumn from the ice of the Torne River - the very same river we rode across this morning.
The room interiors are created by artists and sculptors from around the world. The carving takes roughly six weeks, and in spring these masterpieces melt and return to the river.
There is something very Scandinavian about this: humility before nature and the ability to create beauty within its rhythm.
We have lunch, wander through the ice halls, explore the rooms and take photographs.
By evening we return to Kiruna.
After a full day we rest at the hotel, which has a sauna, restaurant and cinema room.
Day 6
(25.12.26) (04.01.27)
Train to Lulea and the ice road
We sleep in after the busy day in Kiruna and make our unhurried way to the station. A daytime train to Lulea - yet another beautiful stretch of the railway route - awaits us.
On arrival we check into a central hotel for two nights and head out to the waterfront.
In winter Lulea literally expands beyond its shores: when the Gulf of Bothnia freezes, a ice road (Isbanan) is laid across it. You can walk, skate or ride a kicksled - the local kick-sled for gliding across the ice.
We’ll have a small barbecue by the shore: a simple dinner over the fire, hot tea, and the darkness of the northern night.
Then we’ll walk across the frozen sea with lanterns, occasionally glancing up at the sky — as if we hadn’t come here in search of the Northern Lights.
Day 7
(26.12.26) (05.01.27)
Snowmobiles to the Remote Islands
In this expedition, we ride something new almost every day, and today brings the most dynamic experience yet — snowmobiles.
For a full four hours, we’ll follow a route along the winter coastline of Luleå — through forest trails, across the vast frozen expanse of the Gulf of Bothnia, and farther out toward the remote islands of the archipelago. Midway through the journey, we’ll stop for lunch by the fire.
By evening, we return to Luleå for some rest, dinner, and a second night at our hotel in the city center.
Day 8
(28.12.26) (06.01.27)
The icebreaker and swimming among ice floes
In the morning the bus picks us up from the hotel and drives us towards Finland along the Gulf of Bothnia. This is one of the few places in the world where the sea truly freezes in winter. Today we will forge our own path through the ice - on an icebreaker.
During the three-hour cruise we watch as thick ice cracks and parts beyond the hull. Then we descend onto the surface for striking photographs with the ship against the white expanse.
Then we put on dry suits and swim among the ice floes - already our second sea in the first week of January!
We have lunch at the pier and drive on to Rovaniemi. There cosy cottages with a sauna await us, along with dinner in a fireside hall - exactly what is needed after a day like this.
Day 9
(28.12.26) (07.01.27)
Reindeer, Santa's post office and a farewell dinner in ice
People usually come to Rovaniemi for Santa Claus Village - to send postcards with a polar postmark and step into the fairy tale that for many people today defines Lapland.
We will go there too. But a little later.
First - a different Lapland: quiet and far more ancient than any tourist postcard.
Deep in the forest, far from mass tourism, a meeting with its living symbol awaits us - reindeer.
An ancient forest, the slow gliding of a sleigh over fluffy snow.
Fika in a reindeer herder's cabin - the northern tradition of a snack by the fire.
And a close encounter with reindeer calves - whom you can feed by hand.
Then we spend some time at Santa Claus Village.
Our farewell dinner will be held in an ice restaurant - a chance to appreciate the Finnish take on ice aesthetics.
And afterwards we board the train to Helsinki. The last night of the expedition, like the first, will be spent away from hotels.
Day 10
(29.12.26) (08.01.27)
Helsinki. The return
Arrival in Helsinki around nine in the morning.
Like all good fairy tales, this one too must eventually come to an end. But the moments we lived will stay with us: the lantern light in our hands and the glow in the sky, the taste of crab and the salt air of the fjord, the festive fireworks and the silence of Abisko, the speed of the snowmobiles and time frozen in ice sculptures, the warmth of the campfire and the burning cold of the water, the barking of huskies and the crack of ice against the icebreaker's hull, the twilight forest and the reindeer calves stepping out to meet us in the light.
And perhaps that is the finest way to enter the New Year: with new people by your side, powerful impressions within, and the feeling that many more roads lie ahead.
WHY WITH PAGANEL?
We are unique
For many years, we have been traveling the world to our small planet's most remote and unusual places. We do not use the services of domestic travel agencies. The trips we invent and carry out are always unique and have their unique zest, charm, and adventurous spirit.
Creation
The first thing that interests us is creativity in everything. During the expeditions, we shoot a lot of videos, take pictures, write stories, draw pictures. If you are interested in a creative approach to life and travel, then WELCOME... we are very happy to meet you!
Interest
By joining our team, you join a kind of club family, which already consists of several hundred people who are interested in discovering the world with us.
Since most of the expenses for organizing a trip – air tickets and travel documents for other modes of transportation, accommodation, excursions, services of local companies and guides, etc. – are made by us in advance, long before the trip, the prepayment or payment for the trip is non-refundable in the event of cancellation.
Since most of the expenses for the organization of the trip are air tickets and travel documents for other types of transport, accommodation, excursions, services of local companies and guides, etc. are not refundable in case of your cancellation of the trip. We simply have no way to return it.
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