A Tryst with the Northern Lights
Ask a random stranger on the street for their bucket list. Chances are that seeing the Northern Lights will figure somewhere high on that list. One cold December we got to check this off of our list when we had our very first tryst with the Northern Lights in Tromsø, Norway. A trip like this definitely falls into the proverbial "once-in-a-lifetime" category so we threw a whole lot of planning into it. From doing mountains of online research to seeking tips from our Norwegian friends, we really left no stone unturned. Needless to say we would love to share all the tips and tricks we collected with you so that you can enjoy your "once-in-a-lifetime" trip as well!
Tip 1: Plan to stay for at least 5 days and book with a professional touring company to maximize your chances of seeing the Northern Lights.
If you are planning a Northern Lights trip and can shell out some extra money, we would highly recommend going with a local tour agency who have experience doing this. The Northern Lights can be pretty elusive and simply turning up in a city above the Artic Circle like Tromsø doesn't guarantee that you will see the lights. Why? One, the light pollution in the city is high and two, because of it's coastal climate, the areas surrounding Tromsø are frequently cloudy. It is not uncommon for touring companies to drive vast distances (sometimes to the order of 500 km) all around Northern Norway, Finland and Sweden just to find clear skies! In our case, we booked our 5 day/night trip with Chasing Lights. One thing we liked about them is that they offer a unique flexible itinerary feature where they help you pick the best nights during the duration of your stay based on weather, solar, and geomagnetic activity reports. This helps boost your chances of seeing the lights at least once during your stay. Remember that the northern lights are a natural phenomenon that cannot be guaranteed, and the best (and only) way to increase your chances of seeing a good show is simply to go out more nights - 3-5 nights should usually be enough.
As for seeing the Northern Lights, it can be anything between a faint line in the sky to a big dancing show. We went out 3 nights and saw a big dancing show on one night only. But boy was that a night to remember! :) Here is one of our favorite images from that night, where we saw the green northern lights with dabs of pink.
Ask a random stranger on the street for their bucket list. Chances are that seeing the Northern Lights will figure somewhere high on that list. One cold December we got to check this off of our list when we had our very first tryst with the Northern Lights in Tromsø, Norway. A trip like this definitely falls into the proverbial "once-in-a-lifetime" category so we threw a whole lot of planning into it. From doing mountains of online research to seeking tips from our Norwegian friends, we really left no stone unturned. Needless to say we would love to share all the tips and tricks we collected with you so that you can enjoy your "once-in-a-lifetime" trip as well!
Tip 1: Plan to stay for at least 5 days and book with a professional touring company to maximize your chances of seeing the Northern Lights.
If you are planning a Northern Lights trip and can shell out some extra money, we would highly recommend going with a local tour agency who have experience doing this. The Northern Lights can be pretty elusive and simply turning up in a city above the Artic Circle like Tromsø doesn't guarantee that you will see the lights. Why? One, the light pollution in the city is high and two, because of it's coastal climate, the areas surrounding Tromsø are frequently cloudy. It is not uncommon for touring companies to drive vast distances (sometimes to the order of 500 km) all around Northern Norway, Finland and Sweden just to find clear skies! In our case, we booked our 5 day/night trip with Chasing Lights. One thing we liked about them is that they offer a unique flexible itinerary feature where they help you pick the best nights during the duration of your stay based on weather, solar, and geomagnetic activity reports. This helps boost your chances of seeing the lights at least once during your stay. Remember that the northern lights are a natural phenomenon that cannot be guaranteed, and the best (and only) way to increase your chances of seeing a good show is simply to go out more nights - 3-5 nights should usually be enough.
As for seeing the Northern Lights, it can be anything between a faint line in the sky to a big dancing show. We went out 3 nights and saw a big dancing show on one night only. But boy was that a night to remember! :) Here is one of our favorite images from that night, where we saw the green northern lights with dabs of pink.
Tip 2: When the Northern Lights are faint or just starting to appear, they are often hard to distinguish from clouds. One quick way to tell - if you can see stars through the cloud-like formations then you are likely looking at the Northern Lights, if it's opaque and you can't see through, they are clouds.
Our Chasing Lights guide for the trip was Hermann and he drove us around Tromsø across 3 unbelievably beautiful nights. Our quest for the Aurora Borealis took us to the town of Nordkjosbotn, a beach by the fjord at Laksvatn and then visited a valley near Signaldalen. Here is a map of the beautiful stops that we stopped by on our way..
Tip 3: Make sure to throw in some day activities to do besides chasing the Aurora at nights. During the depth of winter, the sun does not really come out in Tromsø so you get about 3-4 hours of almost perfect golden hour light to do photography or other fun daytime adventures.
Here are suggestions for some daytime activities to complement your nighttime Aurora viewing:
1) Whale Watching: Take the ferry to Vengsøya and stand on deck to see whales (cheap option) or simply book a whale watching tour.
2) Dog Sledding: Drive your your own team of Huskies through the Arctic landscape. Super thrilling! We did this with Arctic Adventure Tours.
3) Snowmobiling: We did a thrilling 11 km Snowmobiling ride through the Arctic Landscape with Lyngsfjord Adventure. In the end we also got delicious hot reindeer soup to drink in a traditional North Norwegian setting.
4) Fjord Excursion: With more than a 1000 gorgeous fjords in Norway you simply cannot 'afjord' to miss out on seeing a few of these! :D During this day trip we saw the site of the sinking of the World War II battleship Tirpitz and even a few humpback whales that came close to the shore. Here are some shots from the excursion:
Tip 4: Tromsø has excellent eating and drinking options. Do not miss out on trying local Norwegian cuisine and drinks.
1) Go to Vertshuset Skarven (The Skarven Inn) and drink Akevitt in the Skarven Bar (very strong!) and eat any of Cod Tongue, Reindeer, Snow Crab, Halibut, Monk Fish, Bacalao, Bokna fish or even the traditional Minke whale (if you are adventurous!) in the restaurant Arctandria. We greatly enjoyed the Halibut and Creme Brulee in Arctandria.
2) Check out Verdensteateret Bar which also has a cinema - actually the oldest running cinema in Northern Europe!
3) Risø Mat & Kaffebar is great for soups, pastries and sandwiches.
4) You can snack on Torrfisk (dried fish) at Rorbua Pub while you enjoy a beer from local brewery Mack, the Northernmost brewery in the world. If you really end up liking the Mack beer, be sure to go to the oldest bar in Tromsø called Ølhallen, where Mack is the only beer they sell.
5) For more local food options, check out Mathallen.
Other Must See Attractions:
1) Check out the angelic Ishavskatedralen (Arctic cathedral) and it's huge stained glass windows. If you are there on New Year's Eve, then the New Year Concert inside the cathedral is a must see. We still remember the beautiful Christmas carols and folk tunes in Swedish, Norwegian and Danish that we heard that evening. When we came out of the cathedral after the concert, we looked up and lo and behold - there were the Northern Lights right on top of the cathedral! A few hours later we saw New Year Fireworks from the atop a hill and right above the cathedral. Magical!
2) The Polar Museum: Discover stories of Arctic trapping and Polar explorers.
3) Polaria: Nice aquarium and gift shop.
4) Hey, if you really end up having bad luck and bad weather and can't see the lights, you can always see them as a last resort inside a plasma chamber all year round at the Tromsø University Museum!
Good luck chasing the lights and feel free to shoot us a note if you need more tips!
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