Northern Lights and Chena Hot Springs Tour from Fairbanks in Fairbanks booking from $195.00

Northern Lights and Chena Hot Springs Tour from Fairbanks

Overview

Discover the ethereal beauty of Alaska’s famous celestial display, impressive ice sculptures and the state’s ancient healing waters on an evening trip from Fairbanks. Throughout the night, admire the artwork inside Aurora Ice Museum and a dip into Chena Hot Spring Resort’s outdoor mineral water baths before chasing the lights. Your guide will lead your small group out to ideal northern lights viewing locations, where you’ll wait with warm beverages for a chance at glimpsing the multicolored display in the sky. Round-trip transport from Fairbanks or North Pole hotels is included.

City: Fairbanks

Mon 30 Sep

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Starting at $195.00

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Mon 30 Sep

Starting at $195.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Local Guide

Access to Chena Hot Springs Resort's hot springs, hot tubs and swimming area

Additional Info

Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Operates in cold weather conditions; please dress appropriately
Please don't forget to bring bathing suits, bath towels, at least 2 quarter for each locker and a photo id for the cocktail in the ice museum. (has to be purchased separately)
The outside rock pool is only allowed for Adults 18 years and up. However, children are allowed in the inside pool.
Pregnant travelers are not allowed in the outside rock pool.
We have enough room for a foldable wheelchair. The hot springs are wheelchair accessible.
We can only pick up from inside the city limits of Fairbanks or North Pole. For other locations, you will need to go to an agreed location (eg Walmart), please contact our office to discuss if you are staying outside the city limits.
Face masks provided for travellers
Hand sanitiser available to travellers and staff
Regularly sanitised high-traffic areas
Gear/equipment sanitised between use
Transportation vehicles regularly sanitised
To be in compliance with the CDC and the State of Alaska: Guests are not required to wear face masks, but may if they wish. We also urge you to review the updated Health Advisory Number 2 at https://covid19.alaska.gov/health-advisories/ .

What To Expect

Chena Hot Springs Resort

After wandering through the cool museum, don your bathing suit and enjoy the resort’s legendary namesake. The revitalizing mineral water soothes muscles with its warm temperatures of 106 degrees F (41 degrees C) year-round. You can also soak under the stars in an outdoor hot tub, or indoors in the heated pool. In between, slip away to the Aurora Café or the historic Resort Restaurant, where you can purchase meals, snacks, or beverages. When ready, join your expert guide for a small-group outing to view the Aurora Borealis. Your guide will lead you through one of the best places on earth to witness the green and purple illuminations loop across the night sky. Wait and witness the celestial wonder with hot beverages in the late evening, when viewing opportunities are the highest. The lights are also visible inside the cafe's Aurora Room, which serves as a comfortable and warm location for viewings. Note: We can never guarantee the Northern lights sighting.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (460)

Darrell_M

Mar 2022

The driver, Jacob, was absolutely great. He was very attentive when driving, and also extremely helpful finding the Aurora along the way. The resort itself was disappointing. The ice museum was a very poor cousin to the sculptures from the World Ice Sculpture competition we had seen in Fairbanks a couple days earlier. The main meeting room where we first arrived was in a building that badly, I mean badly needs a major rehab investment and better on-going cleaning and maintenance. One toilet wouldn't flush, and the aurora viewing room was worthless. It had a door into the central meeting room and one on the opposite side that led outdoors so rather than a quiet constantly dark viewing room we had doors opening and slamming shut about every 5 seconds - no exaggeration. And the viewing area outside would be great except for the dozens of people all with their lights making photography and viewing difficult - and then there were the cars and snow cats driving in front of you every couple minutes. And until about 11 p.m. building lights were also intrusive. It really diminished the experience. Organization was not good either. When we arrived we were taken to the central meeting room where we and a crowd of others waited for about 40 minutes before we were finally taken to the ice museum. As noted, the ice museum is not great and worth about 10 minutes. But we all spent 20 to 30 minutes there. Then we were sent "to the building with the green light" (not guided there), which was where we had a group 8 p.m. reservation. Except that when we were finally called there weren't enough seats and my wife and I were placed in the Bar while the others ate in the dining areas. And the prices were fairly stiff. Fortunately, we had bought sandwiches in anticipation of high prices and so we excused ourselves to go to the main meeting room where we ate our sandwiches. Then we went to the adjacent viewing room. I've indicated what that was like. The good news is that we were able to go outside, come inside and rewarm, and then go back out. In spite of the crowd, and excessive ambient light the sky was largely clear and we were able to see the Aurora slowly form on the hilltop and gradually grow. At about 1 a.m. we though we had seen about all we were going to see, which was a very modest appearance of the Aurora. Literally as I went to get into the truck I looked skyward one last time and all of a sudden the show was on. Highways of light into the sky, changing formations by disappearing in one place and appearing in another a few seconds later. We watched for a while and then headed back to Fairbanks. On the way, however, our driver took us to a pullout about 5 miles west of the Chena Hot Springs resort. It was totally dark, only one other car there. And the Northern Lights were spectacular. Even with just my I-phone and a shaky hand I was able to capture multi-color shots of the Aurora. At only one time did I see it actually undulate like you see in films or on TV, but I was able to capture it on my I-phone. And the totality of the Aurora was so awe inspiring that even without the rapid undulation, the pace at which it appeared, disappeared, and then reformed in different locations all over the sky was breathtaking. So Jacob, our driver, is a 5 star plus. He saved the day for this tour and for us. In fairness, we did not go to or into the hotsprings itself to take a dip as many did. And several in our van said it was fantastic. So the natural setting and features of the Hot Springs are good, and one visitor told us their room accommodation they had stayed in was old but clean and in decent repair. But for us, organization and setting management were big downsides. I would recommend the tour if you have Jacob or another really good driver who is into making sure you get what you came for - the Aurora. But if the weather is good, as it was for us, and if you are comfortable driving on bumpy but manageable roads, I would offer driving yourself and finding a pullout near the hot springs so you can avoid the madding crowds and watch the Aurora on your own - if it shows - which only nature determines.

Response from Host

Mar 2022

We are sorry to hear that you did not have a 5 star experience on your tour with us. While we do take our tours to the Chena Hot Springs Resort, we are not in charge of the care of the grounds there. We have passed along your review to the resort in hopes that they can rectify these issues as soon as possible. Our tour guides all try to make each tour an excellent one and we are glad to hear that Jacob shined on this tour. Please contact our office during normal business hours if you would like to speak more about your experience on this tour. We again apologize that you had a bad experience but we are happy that the lights did come out and put on a show for you.

Cynthia_P

Mar 2022

We got to experience God’s spectacular handiwork of the Aurora Borealis dancing and changing colors like a symphony in motion. An experience of a lifetime!! Kudos to our vigilant and knowledgeable guide Radine😊

757caitlynm

Mar 2022

this is a decent budget combo package . what is killer is the ride up there . the van is small and they filled it with adults which meant regular american sized adults for ninty minutes to two hours each way. so if your the last on because your last hotel pick up you get the last row with no foot room and no room to even get your shoulders on the back of the seat since there are four seats back there. i’m 5’4’’ and 130 lbs and this was terrible. worst tour experience. At least four different groups on our tour said they were trying to find an uber for the ride back …. and most of them had better more spacious seats in the other three rows which were three across….. i’ve done three days dogsledding trips in healy in -40 and this was a less comfortable experience . So honestly Id stay away from this tour for this reason but will review the actual tour below. Our guide was fine. helped us see the Aurora. The Hot Springs were nice, Northern Lights experience ok. if i was to do it again i would sign up for another tour for the Northern Lights such as the photo tour. At this experience you just have access to an area outside the activity center of the resort which is fine but probably not the best offering at the Hot Springs . The ice museum i could do without. I think the best idea would be to stay at the hot springs so you can experience it at night and day and then do a more specialized tour for the aurora .

Response from Host

Mar 2022

Thank you for taking the Chena Hot Springs and Northern Lights tour with us. We are sorry to hear that you felt that this tour was worth only a 2 star review. Chena Hot Springs Resort is located 60 miles from downtown Fairbanks. Due to the unusual amount of snow and ice that we have had this year, the roads have had a hard pack of ice and snow on them which has made difficult for the state to clear. This does make for a bumpy ride and makes this drive sometimes up to 2 hours long due to not being able to take it at normal speeds. We use Ford Transit vans in our fleet and run our biggest one to Chena Hot Springs Resort. This van can seat 14 guests and the 1 driver. Especially during the winter months when people are wearing layers of clothes along with heavy jackets, it can be a tighter fit for everyone in the van. We are sorry that you felt that the transportation accommodations were uncomfortable on your tour. Please feel free to contact our office during normal business hours if you would like to discuss your tour experience further.

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Northern Lights and Chena Hot Springs Tour from Fairbanks

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