Virtual travel experts have created a new four-day virtual holiday, for anyone to experience two of the Arctic’s most anticipated experiences from the comfort of your own home!
The new virtual holiday travels to the region of Northern Sweden around Lulea where guests will join a tour of the Arctic Bath, the new floating hotel and spa. They’ll also experience the remote wilderness of the Aurora Safari Camp, and go for a spectacular hot air balloon ride over the Arctic tundra.
Designed by Virtually Visiting, the experience will be released over four days from Thursday, April 30 through to Sunday Tuesday, May 5. It can be experienced on Virtual Reality goggles or via computer, tablet or phone – and is all completely free for people to experience.
New virtual holiday experiences will be released each morning lasting from 5 to 20 minutes each. Each experience has been filmed to allow guests to get a true feeling of the adventures with expert guides throughout.
“This is the second full virtual holiday we have released with the aim of putting you, as the guest, right in the action. You’ll experience the tours as if you were actually there,” says Jonny Cooper, founder of Virtually Visiting.
“This new tour is a really exciting opportunity to visit the Arctic Bath, one of the most anticipated and distinctive spa and wellness experiences, launched this winter, and soar above the Arctic wilderness on a hot air balloon ride. Both are new experiences this year, with two very different views of the Arctic.”
The virtual holiday begins on Thursday, April 30, with guests virtually arriving into the coastal city of Luleå and the capital of Norrbotten County. Just 70km north of Luleå is the Aurora Safari Camp, the first stop for the tour. Here guests will join Fredrik Broman on a tour of the camp including a traditional Sami Lavu (teepee) where they will learn about the camp and the nature that surrounds it.
On day two, Friday, May 1, a triple treat awaits. Guests first join the guide, Fredrik Broman, on a nature walk to the Arctic Circle learning about the complex balance of animals and plants as they thrive in the varied Arctic conditions.
The afternoon offers a different perspective of the Arctic, soaring above on an Arctic Hot Air Balloon flight, newly introduced this year. Get ready to sit back and relax as you take off from a frozen lake and rise above Europe’s last true wilderness.
To end the day, guests arrive at Arctic Retreat, a traditional Arctic luxury log cabin deep in the Lapland wilderness, where your host will take you on a tour before leaving you to enjoy the countryside from an outdoor Jacuzzi.
The highlight of the four-day holiday happens on Saturday, May 2 when you’ll join local guide Peter Engström on a tour of the long-anticipated Arctic Bath. Opened to guests in December, this floating hotel and spa are the world’s first Arctic floating spa, delivering wellness, mindfulness and cleansing treatments through spa partners Kerstin Florian.
The Arctic Bath Hotel and Spa, designed by architects Bertil Harström and Johan Kauppi, freezes into the ice of the Lule River in the winter and floats on top of the water in the summer. The tour will cover the accommodations and main spa building while informing about the local connection to history, culture and nature.
As the trip nears its conclusion, there is time for one last experience for guests on Sunday, May 3. As you head back towards Lulea, the trip will stop off for a nature encounter like no other, meeting the moose.
Guests join local guide and founder of Cape Wild, Thomas Dahlquist, to meet “Zigge” and “Zebbe,” learning about and feeding them. As heavy as 1400 pounds each, the moose at Cape Wild are gentle giants and love to be petted and fed snacks.
The trip concludes after a short trip back to Lulea. Virtually Visiting founder, Jonny Cooper, adds, “We really want to give people a true-to-life experience of these amazing activities and experiences led by some of the best and most knowledgeable guides in the region. We hope this will transport visitors to the region – so set the mood, turn off your heat, grab a wool hat and join us for our next virtual adventure.”
But, don’t worry, the tour will stay online if you can’t visit on those dates exactly, or if you need to time-shift to meet your schedule.
For more information on this virtual holiday and other virtual travel experiences, visit www.virtuallyvisiting.com.
Read more travel guides and adventures in our dedicated section here.