If you’re planning your first vacation of the year, how about a trip to Finland to catch a glimpse of Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights? Organised by The Backpacker Co., you will have travel writer and photographer Rishad Saam Mehta as your guide. At Rs 1.95 lakh per person for nine nights and 10 days, you can avail of 4-star accommodation on twin-sharing basis, round-trip airfare (Mumbai-Rovaniemi-Mumbai), visas, travel insurance, activities and meals mentioned in the itinerary, all transfers and sightseeing. Following your departure on March 4, 2010 you will set up base at Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland. The programme includes visits to the Arktitum Science Museum, Santa Claus village, Amethyst Mine, Arctic Academy (to view the awesome Northern Lights), Tankavaara Gold Prospector Museum and more. To add to the excitement, you will move about on snowmobiles, dog-led sleds and pendolinos (snowcat-pulled trams) and ride horse sleighs. You will also get a chance to go gold panning and earn yourself a reindeer-driving licence! Bookings will be accepted until the second week of February. For more, go to www.thebackpackerco.com.

Holiday hotspot

SARAH JANE DIAS, model and actor

I’m extremely fond of travelling and thanks to my work, I get to travel widely. There are a lot of places on my travel list, but New Zealand is my favourite holiday hotspot. The country simply takes my breath away, it is so beautiful. I love the beaches and the mountains. When I’m there it’s quite difficult to believe that I’m on Earth. Having travelled across New Zealand and having been to Christchurch, Auckland and South Island, I can proudly proclaim that there are more beautiful places there than were shown in Lord of the Rings.