Night1     Thursday

We hope you have enjoyed a great time with us on our four-day Fairbanks tour, or even better – you have added the pre-tour package that started in Anchorage! 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.

Hotel – Springhill Suites by Marriott or similar

Day 1     Friday

Breakfast at hotel included

Head for the Arctic Circle and beyond!  Depart Fairbanks at 10AM 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 and settle in for your 2 night stay.

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.

Day 2     Saturday                                                                                                                                                                                                                  

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).

Hotel – Coldfoot Camp

Day 3     Sunday

Return to Fairbanks via air, arriving approximately 2-4 PM.

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 AM next morning.

Optional Activities

Fairbanks

Additional hotel nights – Extend your stay before or after your tour itinerary.

Aurora Viewing Lodge (additional nights beyond tour itinerary) – 4+hours.  Your guide will pick you up at your hotel for the 20 to 30-minute drive to one of our aurora viewing lodge locations, where you can search the skies for the magical Aurora Borealis.  Hot drinks and snacks are always available for a warm-up and your guide will be able to offer tips on capturing images of the Northern Lights on your camera or smartphone.

Dogsled Kennel Tour – 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.

Snowmachine Tour – 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.

Ice Fishing Tour – 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.

One-Day Arctic Circle Driving Adventure – 17-18 hours.  Earn your official Arctic Circle certificate!  Our customized ground transportation gets you there comfortably while you enjoy the views and spectacular scenery.  Cross the Yukon River on your way north to the Arctic Circle and search for the Aurora as you return to Fairbanks.

One-Day Arctic Circle Fly/Drive Adventure – 14-15 hours.  Fly north to Coldfoot, enjoying beautiful views of the White Mountains and the south flank of the mighty Brooks Range.  Then transfer to our customized ground transportation for the southbound leg.  Enjoy the spectacular scenery, stop at the Arctic Circle and cross the Yukon River, searching for the Aurora as you return to Fairbanks.

Anchorage

Additional hotel nights – Extend your stay before your tour itinerary.

Helicopter Tour with Glacier Landing – 1 hour.  Buckle in for a thrilling 15-minute flight to a massive icefield high in the Chugach Mountains. Enjoy a 30-minute walk on the ice with your guide and marvel at the deep blue color of the 1000-year-old ice.  Learn about how icefields are formed, how they feed the glaciers’ slow descent from the highlands and how the glaciers’ unstoppable force in turn forms the landscape around them. 

Aurora Chasing – 4+hours. Though not as ideal as Fairbanks when it comes to aurora viewing, Anchorage does offer occasional opportunities to enjoy the mystic light shows when both solar activity and weather cooperate. Under such promising conditions, our experienced tour guides will take you to locations with the best chances for aurora observation and photography, typically within an-hour drive out of Anchorage. Leaving hotels around 10pm and returning between 2am and 3am. Please dress warm. Hot drinks are provided. When conditions do not meet the requirements for a reasonable aurora viewing opportunity, guides will cancel the tour and notify guests between 18:00 and 20:00 on the day of the tour with full refund.

Coldfoot

Arctic Mountain Safari – 7 hours.  Enjoy a guided driving tour north into the Brooks Mountain Range to Atigun Pass, on the Dalton Highway, the highest point on Alaska’s road system (dependent on weather and road conditions).  Learn more about the extremes that Mother Nature throws at life in the Arctic and stop along the way to take pictures of the fairy-tale snowscapes. 

Arctic Village Aurora – 4 hours.  Visit an historic gold-mining community near Coldfoot to listen and learn about its dynamic past and present, inside one of the historic miner’s cabins.  Then, scan the skies with your guide for dancing Northern Lights and enjoy complimentary hot beverages while you warm up from the Arctic chill.