We managed to get in touch with some locals who told us about visiting the Sami village in Murmansk. Since we come from a more tropical area, our experience driving in snow and ice was virtually nonexistent. That being said it made sense not to rent a car. Instead we had a two locals drive us there. It did turn out to be expensive but it was worth it because we had our own translator and we managed to understand what was going on.

It was only much later that we realized that joining the bigger group tours was cheaper and so worth it. That realization came only after we headed out to see the Aurora Borealis on Valentine’s Day.