Northern Lights Experience And Cabin Dinner

George was our tour guide. George was wonderful, friendly and very knowledgeable about Northern Lights and things around Fairbanks. There was an unexpected incident on our tour. George picked up a passenger in a wheelchair. George was unaware that there would be a passenger in a wheelchair. George was very accommodating to this passenger and family. This was extra work needed from George. This was not a fault of 1st Alaska Tours at all. It was a fault of the family for failing to notify the tour company that a wheelchair passenger would be transported. Kudos to George. The yurt was nice perfect to get out of the windy cold weather. Viewing was ok. I with recommend 1st Alaska Tours.

1st Alaska tours (Joseph) picked us up for Dinner and The Northern lights tour. When we arrived at the yurt there were six other people and their guide Paul. Instead of hearing stories about Alaska or the Northern Lights, we had to listen to Paul. Paul talked constantly about himself and even spoke very negative about previous guests. He spoke to Joseph about previous specific female guests being idiots. Paul was very interested in talking about all his photography equipment and showing his photos and even tried to sell them to us. The guides just announced that we could keep going outside and checking on the lights but they stayed inside to continue their conversation. At one point, I cut the light on in the porch to see where to walk. The outside was very slick and snow/ice piled uneven and not easy to walk on. Paul raised his voice and said to keep the light off. Joseph said he hoped we didn’t fall because that would be a lot of paperwork but showed no concern. Paul’s group wanted to leave an hour early. It wasn’t until I told Joseph all of my complaints and disappointments that he started to actually talk to us and be a tour guide. He even offered to take our picture. 1st Alaska tours was a waste of time and money. Save yourself the hassle and book with someone else.

This takes full advantage of tourist brain. 1st Alaska isn’t the service provider. They are the shuttle. (They pick you up, they drop you off, they don’t care, they’ve already been paid). There is no “tour”. The sledding and dinner are hosted by another company. I have no problem with off the grid (peeing a bag in an unheated room with frost on the walls). What I have a problem with is paying over $300. to be served salad and dessert on paper plates and not having a bread plate; and despite two sinks being in the yurt, we were all unable to wash our hands after petting the dogs, going to the bathroom or before eating. While Aurora viewing can’t be guaranteed, decent companies will give you the chance to re-book for a different date if viewing predictions are low. 1st Alaska’s “Aurora viewing” tagline is in there for marketing purposes, to catch all the bucket list hopefuls. My tour was cut short because it was snowing and they knew chances of viewing were very low. You will have a better experience and save a bunch of money if you go with different companies for each activity, and not this bundle of disappointment.

It was amazing!! The dinner was delicius, was perfect for the auroras expirience!! The chef was great... Dan, our tour gide was very attentive, thougful and helpful.. All this made a great expirience...

The experience was phenomenal. I would recommend it to anyone. The tour guide Paul was very knowledgeable and very thoughtful on time and kept us entertained for the entire trip. Joe was our cook. The food was sensational. Jerry was our dog guide. He was very knowledgeable about the area and the dogs. I felt safe as we were on our sled ride.

The tour, salmon dinner, and Elijah’s guiding were great. Elija told us stories based on local lore (including Big Foot, he neither accepts nor denies seeing it ;-) ) and his travels to Arctic circle and other places. He was our driver as well. Overall we had a great experience, it was a great tour. Thanks 1st Alaska Tours, Elijah, and Joe who prepared our dinner. I recommend this tour.

Our guide Joe was very informative,down to earth,personable,friendly,definitely would take another tour with him.

I’m going to be brutally honest here, so buckle up. There was ONE good thing about this tour and that was the communication between the scheduler and us. They kept us updated about the tour and the times of pickup. Pickup was on time and then the tour went downhill from there. Our tour guide was Paul who was polite, but told stories that were inappropriate, and crass. He told us of a dare he took to slap a moose on the rump, thought it was funny, and compared slapping a moose’s rump to all of the other butts he’d slapped. When we reached the “lodge”, a yurt, another guide, Joe, was there with his group. He talked non stop and showed us pictures on his phone of some moose by his place for an hour. No one was interested and he just didn’t get it that we weren’t there to look at his phone pictures. While he was “entertaining”us, Lisa, our cook was preparing our meal of “charcuterie, a stale cracker with salami and sweaty cheese, a very limp green salad and ranch dressing, and a pretty presentation of dry, overcooked salmon and rice. We were the first table served and it took about twenty minutes to serve the rest of the salmon to the other guests. MEANWHILE, Joe and Paul were tag teaming telling us stores, showing us more pictures from the phone, and Paul reciting a decent, but long, poem about a gold miner. Paul then brought out objects from a ziplock bag, including a oosik, a walrus penis bone and excitedly told us about it and asked us if we wanted to hold. There were three teenagers in the room and this seemed inappropriate and vulgar. Paul and Joe kept going outside to see if there were any northern lights, and there weren’t, but we knew that there was a risk of not seeing any, and that was not their fault. When we left at 2:00 after sitting there since 10:30, we then had to listen to more of Paul’s inappropriate non stop talking until we got back to our hotel. I WOULD NOT recommend this tour to anyone . I would give this experience a terrible review even if we had seen the northern lights. It was a long, painful night!

What an incredible experience seeing the Northern Lights for the first time! It was a jaw-dropping experience to watch the dancing light show caused by the solar wind. And to think we were just about to leave but Ash, our tour guide with 1st Alaska Tours, caught it and it was an experience I will never forget! I can't say enough good things about Ash. From the time he picked us up until the time of drop off, he was so accommodating and considerate of the needs of the entire group. He had boundless positive energy, and shared his passionate and unique perspectives of life in Alaska. We also opted for the dinner as well and it did not disappoint. Overall, I highly recommend this tour, especially if you get Ash as your guide!

Britney was a great tour guide! We had an unforgettable experience even though the clouds didn't cooperate for most of the evening. We were still able to see some auroras, especially when we took long exposure pictures with our phones. Highly recommend.

This was a small group experience with a great guide. Salmon dinner with the greatest view of the aurora borealis. I highly recommend this company.

Ryan was our tour guide to the site and our musher. He gave us a lot of information about life in Alaska and dog mushing. The hospitality and the food at the yurt were great. No Aurora viewing due to cloudy weather. We got to spend time with the dogs who were very excited to go for a run. Ryan let us know exactly what would be happening as we moved through the forest at night. Thanks Ryan - you made this a wonderful experience!!!

Ryan was a good guide. The couple that owns this yurt are very hospitable and she is a very good cook. I highly recommend this tour.

Ryan and Matthew were amazing as well as our chefs. It was a really great experience. Knowledgeable, helpful and gave a great tour!

The views were good, and we were able to capture great photos!! Jake was very knowledgeable and probided some great insights about Northen lights.

Awesome experience! Dinner was delicious and the Aurora really put on a show for us that night! Our guide Joe was wonderful - shared lots of great stories about his adventures as a lifelong Fairbanks resident. I would definitely do this activity again!

It was beautiful! Absolutely worth it! Spectacular experience. The sledding was awesome and the aurora borealis was beautiful! All of our hosts/guides were excellent!

On January 11th we experienced a 1st Alaska Tour that was sensational. We were told to be ready at 9:30pm and the van pulled up to our hotel at exactly 9:30pm. Our driver, Jack, was friendly and informative. When we arrived at the yurt, the walk from the van to the door was short and well defined with handrails. The yurt was warm and we watched as another two people returned from a dog mushing outing to join us for the dinner and Aurora viewing. Peggy, who prepared and served the meal was delightful. The meal was Very Very Good! My husband has salmon and I had a pasta dish. Both were flavorful and the asparagus perfectly cooked. We didn't have room for the pecan pie and ice cream...the other party told us it was delicious. The lights were turned off in the yurt and we watched as the Aurora danced. At 2:00am Jack took us back to our hotel. This is a night I will always remember.

We did three tours with 1st Alaska, back to back days, including dog sledding and the home cooked meal. All three guides were friendly and personable and knowledgeable about the area. We only got to see the lights one night out of three but they did their best to keep us entertained and engaged while we waited out the other nights.

We did enjoy the fellowship of other travelers as we shared a meal in the "yurt" cabin, and it was warm and comfortable in the cabin. The food was good though eating at 11:00 PM was a little late for our usual habits nonetheless the gracious hosts and friendly atmosphere made it a memorable experience. The Auroral Borealis was disappointing (a hazy smudge on the horizon), but I'm pretty sure we can't blame the organizers for that.

We had a great time even though the lights did not show up. It was a wonderful meal prepared and served by Meriam (guessing at the spelling). Our driver Caleb was very informative and helpful. All of the staff were friendly and knowledgeable. It was a great evening.

Host Mike was very helpful in alerting when the lights were active. Miriam cooked a wonderful dinner! The accommodations were surprisingly warm given how bitter it was outdoors! Got some attractive views of a mild to moderate light night. And some people from a dogsled outing joined the group for dinner. Great clear view of a starry sky.

We had a wonderful time with our guides, Randy and Brooke. The environment was warm, friendly and informative. Miriam cooked us a perfect dinner and dessert. We're looking forward to our next adventure with this team tomorrow.

got what we payed for . great meal , and northern lights,picked up at hotel on time ,driver was good and told us what to expect

We were so excited for our Northern Lights and Midnight dinner tour. Our excitement grew after we were picked up by Aaron, our tour guide!! He was so enthusiastic about the "Aurora" activity on the way to our destination! We were able to develop a friendly relationship with him because he was so easy to talk to about the Aurora, everything Fairbanks, and beyond. His enthusiasm was contagious with all of the participants in the yurt that night. Plus, he shared some amazing pictures of us under the Aurora. We will definitely be requesting him on our next trip to Alaska!!

<p>Wonderful experience had the time of our lives! We were lucky enough to see the beautiful Northern lights was the highlight of our trip. Food was deliciously prepared by Mariam and Caleb our tour guide couldn't have been nicer and more informative and made our trip most enjoyable. Highly recommend!</p>