Czech company launches Nordic wilderness challenge for auto enthusiasts

A Czech company is taking luxury travel into a new gear. Ricard & Bonette organizes premium excursions to destinations which are heaven for car enthusiasts and adrenaline junkies, all the while bringing an authentic take on local culture and food.

The company is now offering places for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the Nordic wilderness of Swedish Lapland this winter. Attendees will experience racing on a frozen lake in high-performance sports cars, as well as other snow-based adventure sports and fine Swedish dining.

The five-day all-inclusive trip will run twice, from Feb. 20-24 and from Feb. 27 to Mar. 3. While all of Ricard & Bonette’s tailored automotive holidays are a feast for the senses, this trip to Sweden will see attendees truly taking their capabilities to the edge, by drifting on eight kilometers of perfectly prepared track on a frozen lake near the town of Malå.

In two days of driving on the lake, participants will clock up around 500 kilometers in a Subaru WRX STi and a Toyota GR Yaris, both equipped with studded tires. All attendees will receive ice-driving training from an English-speaking expert instructor, both within the car and via radio.

The intensive drift course will be followed by adrenaline-pumping night drives, culminating in a race to find the king or queen of the ice lake.

Then, participants will experience an adrenaline rush like no other in a three-hour driving tour on snow scooters through the virgin forests of Swedish Lapland near the town of Arvidsjaur. Powering through stunning open nature on 150-horsepower scooters is an unforgettable way to take in the majesty of the landscape.

After the scooter safari, attendees will go on a wild ride in snow buggies, before racing in specially-modified go-karts on another ice track.

The tour is unique for its combination of automotive thrills and stunning scenery in a real-life winter wonderland. Swedish Lapland is one of the world’s great remaining unspoiled wildernesses, home to the Sámi people, reindeer, and deep pine forests dotted with lakes full of fish. A peace and quiet unknown in modern life brings a sense of tranquility and perspective to balance out the fast-paced nature of the racing activities.

In an environment that heightens the senses, Ricard & Bonette also focus on culinary adventures, through a range of authentic local dining experiences. These will include a traditional Swedish smorgasbord in a wooden teepee, an open-air lunch in the wilderness, and a meal and party in an igloo on the final evening.

Guests will stay in recently renovated three-star hotels for four nights, with breakfast included. Each participant will have their own room to rest and unwind after the day’s adventures. All fuel and car insurances are included, as are transfers by minibus within Sweden.

But the main reason for Ricard & Bonette’s decision to take guests to this frozen wilderness isn’t its natural beauty, or its great food and hospitality; it’s the deep-frozen lakes which provide an ultimate wild ice-driving experience unparalleled anywhere else in Europe.

The complete package costs €6,900 per person. For a surcharge of €1,500, guests can choose to drive solo during the main training sessions on the frozen lake, instead of taking turns behind the wheel with another participant. Each of the two tours is anticipated to host 8-16 participants.

It’s not often that adrenaline-filled sports are combined with sightings of reindeer herds or dog sleighs, and the isolation of the landscape makes sensory stimuli, especially the thrill of driving on ice, all the more intense. This makes the tour unmissable for those who see driving as one of life’s great pleasures.

Ricard & Bonette caters to this group with other tailored driving holidays too. Guests can roar through stunning mountain passes in the Swiss Alps, or rip up the racetrack in a real-life Formula 1 vehicle supervised by experts.

All of Ricard & Bonette’s excursions are outbound from the Czech Republic. The company’s name combines references to its two central passions: Circuit Paul Ricard, a race track in Provence, representing its love of circuit racing; and the Col de la Bonette Alpine mountain pass, representing the company’s popular road trips.

It was co-founded by Jakub Hanus, a Czech who, after living and working in Switzerland, decided to share his love of Europe’s great driving experiences with other car enthusiasts.

In doing so he is redefining the possibilities of experiential automotive travel. Father and son pairs, groups of colleagues, and solo travelers can all make memories to last a lifetime with Ricard & Bonette. Even by the company’s remarkably adventurous standards, this winter’s excursions to Swedish Lapland offer five days of truly unforgettable fun, guaranteeing, as the company's motto goes, a "smile every mile."