You Can Now Spend Four Days In The Arctic Virtually

The world’s first virtual holiday is here – and it’s taking us to the Arctic for four days. Welcome to the future. Culture Trip shows you how to get involved.

Praise be for technology during the Covid-19-induced standstill the world finds itself in. The familiar faces of friends and family are but one tap away, and we can do our food shopping from the couch. We can also stay curious about the world around us and the experiences that are yet to come.

Pushing the possibilities of technology even further, visual travel experts Virtually Visiting are now inviting people to join a four-day holiday to the Arctic region of Swedish Lapland. And it’s completely free. As it’s high-quality, unedited, 360-degree, 5K footage, virtual-reality (VR) goggles are the best way to immerse yourself in the experience. If you don’t have VR goggles, then a computer or phone will work equally as well. Just try not to get distracted.

What will you see in the Arctic?

The Icehotel is the first hotel made entirely from ice and snow

On day 2, travel 250km (155mi) south to Lassbyn. Here you’ll meet a local guide behind the Aurora Safari Camp to join on a snowmobile adventure through the Swedish wilderness. You’ll visit two spectacular frozen lakes and learn all about the region’s fauna and flora as you wander through the forests. Using your imagination to smell the flowers is key to the experience.

On day 3, the pace is a bit more relaxed, with a personal tour of the world-famous Treehotel. Built among the towering pine trees of northern Sweden, this hotel is usually booked up well in advance, but on this occasion, you can jump the queue. The tour will teach you the history of this architecturally stunning build, before guiding you around four of the seven treetop rooms.

The Treehotel is usually booked up well in advance

The trip wraps up with a bit of adventure. Head east 90km (56mi), to the wilderness around Krokträsk. Your vehicle? A team of huskies from Yellow Snow Husky Tours. You’ll be able to take away the knowledge of how to harness a team of huskies in preparing for the journey across the frozen landscape – if you should so need it.

When is the first holiday?

The first trip starts on Saturday, 18 April and end on Tuesday, 21 April, with experiences lasting up to 23 minutes. However, there will be more. Visit www.virtuallyvisiting.com to stay up to date.

landscape with balloons floating in the air

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Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

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We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.