Where to Stay in Fairbanks

For an Arctic Circle tour, stay in a hotel in Fairbanks itself. Every tour on this site starts in Fairbanks, the operators that offer pickup collect only from town (most of them only from hotels), and the aurora combos drop you back around 3 a.m., so the two things that matter are being on the pickup list and having a front desk awake when you get in. A dark-sky cabin outside town suits your other nights, and Chena Hot Springs is a good place to recover afterwards, but neither is a base for the tour itself.

The pickup rules, from the listings: Alaska Wild Lights collects from hotels within Fairbanks city limits. 1st Alaska Tours collects from hotels in town but not Airbnbs or private homes, and names 26 pickup hotels. Midnight Sky Adventures will collect from hotels and Airbnbs in Fairbanks and North Pole. Northern Alaska Tour Company collects from nobody: you check in at its office on the East Ramp of Fairbanks airport.

Fairbanks hotels: the pickup list

This is where most people should stay. All six hotels below appear on the 1st Alaska Tours pickup list; for other operators, check the pickup terms on the listing.

• Pike’s Waterfront Lodge is on the Chena River, with a glass Aurora Conservatory, a sauna and a free airport shuttle.
• Sophie Station Suites has suites with kitchens, northern lights wake-up calls and a 24-hour airport shuttle.
• Golden North Inn keeps it simple on Old Airport Road, with a free 24-hour airport and train shuttle.
• SpringHill Suites by Marriott Fairbanks is downtown on the Chena Riverwalk, with kitchenettes, an indoor pool, free breakfast and an airport shuttle.
• Best Western Plus Pioneer Park Inn offers aurora wake-up calls, a short path to Pioneer Park and some suites with in-room hot tubs.
• Hyatt Place Fairbanks has an indoor pool, a free airport shuttle and Pioneer Park within walking distance.

If you are taking a Northern Alaska Tour Company tour, which meets at its airport office at 9 a.m. or earlier, a hotel near the airport shortens the morning; the company also runs a return shuttle to hotels for a fee. See all stays in Fairbanks.

North Pole

Hotel North Pole is a walk from Santa Claus House and offers northern lights wake-up calls. North Pole is covered by the Midnight Sky Adventures pickup, but it is outside the city-limits pickup zone of Alaska Wild Lights, so check your tour before booking here. See all stays in North Pole.

Dark-sky stays outside town

Staying out of town gives you a darker sky from the window on the nights you are not on the Dalton Highway. The trade-off is the pickup: Arctic Circle operators rarely collect this far out, so plan to drive to a meeting point in town.

• Aurora Villa is about 15 miles out, with floor-to-ceiling windows, breakfast and a shared guest kitchen.
• The Wandering Wolf – Frontier Village rents whole cabins with a kitchen and fire pit near North Pole.

Midnight Sky Adventures asks guests outside city limits to contact it in advance, which is the one route to a pickup out here.

Chena Hot Springs

Chena Hot Springs Resort sits at the end of a 56.5-mile paved road east of Fairbanks, roughly an hour’s drive and the opposite direction from the Dalton Highway. It has late-night soaks, the Aurora Ice Museum kept at 25°F all year and a free geothermal tour. It works well for the night after a 14-hour tour, not the night before one.

Map

Hotels and rentals around Fairbanks, North Pole and the roads out of town:

The three areas side by side

Hotels near the Arctic Circle itself

There are no hotels at the Arctic Circle sign. The closest beds on the Dalton Highway are at the Yukon River Camp at milepost 56, which has 24 rooms, and Coldfoot Camp at milepost 175, which is open year-round. Day tours do not stop overnight at either, so they matter only if you book an overnight trip to Coldfoot. For a day tour, your bed is in Fairbanks. Read more on the Yukon River stop.

If you arrive late or fly out early

Do not book the tour for the day you land. The Northern Alaska Tour Company and Alaska Wild Lights tours on Viator are non-refundable or refundable only up to 7 days ahead, and a delayed flight into Fairbanks would cost you the whole day. Arrive the day before, sleep near the airport or in town, and leave a day between your tour and your flight home, since aurora combos finish in the small hours. Hotels with a 24-hour airport shuttle, such as Sophie Station Suites and Golden North Inn, make an early flight simpler.

Booking tips

Book the tour first, then the room. Cancellation terms on tours are stricter than on most hotels: Northern Alaska Tour Company is all sales final, Alaska Wild Lights refunds in full only up to 7 days before, and the 1st Alaska Tours and Midnight Sky Adventures listings allow free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. Once the tour is fixed, check your hotel against its pickup terms. Airbnbs are excluded by 1st Alaska Tours and accepted by Midnight Sky Adventures.

For the late return, ask whether the front desk is staffed through the night. Pickup times are confirmed by the operator before the day; Midnight Sky Adventures usually sends the exact time and place by 4 p.m. the day before.

Still choosing a tour? Compare them on the homepage comparison or on our northern lights tours page, and read our review of the Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour. The Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour is the one featured here, from $363 per person with hotel pickup inside city limits.

Check dates and availability.