Arctic winter in Swedish Lapland amid snow, ice and the 'blue' hour

The long winter in northern Scandinavia and Swedish Lapland, Sweden's Arctic region, comes as snow envelops the landscape and ice begins to form on the sea and on lakes and rivers. The days grow shorter and shorter and at night the sky is tinged with green, red and purple under the dance of the Northern Lights. Here you can enjoy nature and cultural experiences stretching from Abisko and Kiruna in the north to Luleå and Haparanda along the Gulf of Bothnia. Above the Arctic Circle, one can experience the polar night, when the sun remains below the horizon for the entire day. During the brief 'blue hour', the landscape and sky are coloured with a magical blue glow, a natural phenomenon that can only be seen in the Arctic. One of the best places in the world to observe the Northern Lights is in Abisko National Park, not far from the Norwegian border. Here, a unique microclimate often guarantees clear skies and an almost complete absence of light pollution. In Lapland, winter can be experienced in many ways: hiking in the forests among snow-covered trees, adventures on the frozen Gulf of Bothnia or on the expanses that stretch across the mountains, trips on board an icebreaker or a more relaxing meal around the fire in the heart of nature. While in the more northern regions, the sauna tradition is deeply rooted: in Kukkolaforsen, on the Swedish-Finnish border along the Torne River, just north of Haparanda, there are no fewer than 16 immersion saunas. In addition to the classic Arctic dog-sledding adventure, it is also possible to get close to moose, Scandinavia's largest wild animals, which are the protagonists in the vast forests of northern Sweden.