Murmansk, the largest city within the Arctic Circle

Murmansk, the largest city within the Arctic Circle. From December 2nd each year until around January 18th of the following year, the sun remains below the horizon. The polar night can be quite long, and it's only when you get here that you realize the polar night is not a continuous darkness. In fact, there are 3 to 4 hours each day when the sun is visible. Daylight disappears, dawn directly transitions into dusk, and the sun hovers around the horizon, rising and setting over the sea, easily giving rise to extended moments of the blues. A 3-day itinerary is arranged in Murmansk Day1️⃣ Murmansk city walk (northernmost McDonald's - train station - icebreaker) Day2️⃣ Husky Park - chasing the Northern Lights at night Day3️⃣ Day trip to Teriberka - stay at the Aurora Village at night 🏨 Hotel: Azimut Hotel (I personally think it's great value for money, there's a Christmas tree downstairs, and if you stay on a high floor, you can enjoy the night view of Murmansk from your hotel room. Right across is the northernmost McDonald's, and ❗️ there's a natural gas bank nearby for cash withdrawals!) - Most people come to Murmansk to chase the Northern Lights; there's not much to do in the city, just a few parks to visit for a photo and to check in. ✔️ Husky Park: There are different sections like the Sami village, small huskies, and big huskies. The Sami village feels like it's catered to tour agencies. The small husky area is closer to the city, while the big husky area is farther (🚗2.5 hours) and more famous, and also harder to book, so I decisively booked the big huskies. (You can see the details in my previous posts) ✔️ Chasing the Northern Lights: You need to find aurora hunters. Every day around 6 or 7 pm they will notify you whether there will be Northern Lights that night. The index was very low for the first two days, and we didn't set out until 10 pm on the second night. They took us to a dark place on the outskirts of the city to wait, and the aurora hunters kept checking their various apps. At 12:30 am, they suddenly said the lights were visible, called us out of the car, set up tripods, and everyone lined up to take photos. The index was very low that day, and with the naked eye, you couldn't see anything—I would have believed it if they said it was a cloud. Finally, we got back to the hotel at 3 am, utterly exhausted. ✔️ Day trip to Teriberka: A Russian guide picked up 6 people in one car, and we would stop at photo spots. The guide tried very hard to introduce everything to us, using both English and translation software—a very nice young lady. Here, daylight lasts only 3 to 4 hours, so you must cherish the time when it's light.