Kevin Malcom Blanc Kevin Malcom Blanc

Tromsø and the Northern lights

The Northern Lights will take a special place in your memory, forever carved.

For that reason you should put all your efforts, energy, and budget towards increasing your chances to see them.

The northern lights can be very different from one day to another, any additional outings can give you a totally different experience, and if you’re lucky enough, you might even see them dance!

‘‘So how do I increase my chances?’’

There are several things to consider. First, a few tips:

  • Secure at least 3x nights dedicated to see the Northern Lights

  • Any month is fine, (October to March), at the end of the day you need to be lucky with both the weather, solar wind activity, and magnetic field behavior.

  • I highly recommend not cancelling a booking after one successful evening, every tour offers a unique experience with different Northern lights intensities and shapes.

  • Don’t cheap out, it’s more expensive to have to come back another time than to put all your effort into one trip.

  • Except for whale watching, other type of activities are tertiary and should only be considered if you are not coming to see the northern lights.

    Put your eggs in the right basket!

‘'Which tour should I choose?’'

  • Car rentals

  • Cable car

  • Minivan (2 - 8 pax maximum)

  • Minibus (8 - 16 pax)

  • Bus

  • Boat tours

Let’s break down the pros and cons.

Car rentals:

pros:

  • Freedom of where and when you go

  • Cheaper (barely depending on the gas cost)

cons:

  • Very Risky from November to Early March, it is highly likely to cause or have minor accidents.

  • You will have a stressful night with unpredictable weather conditions (random blizzard/ice..)

  • Not all cars are properly equipped (cheap winter tyres, 2-wheel drive..)

Cable car:

pros:

  • Close proximity

  • Open until midnight

cons:

  • Expensive

  • Low chances to see the lights (the light pollution will reduce the color intensity of the northern lights)

  • Crowded

  • Closed if windy

Minivan (2 - 8 pax maximum):

pros:

  • Intimate experience

  • Get to talk and meet your dedicated guide, get to know the history of Northern Norway and more local knowledge

  • Experienced guides with weather, location, and driving

  • Most companies provide warm equipment (foot warmers, suits, bonfire, warm food)

  • Live Guide network to know the best current sky in the viscinity

  • Flexibility, a small group can be on the move quickly if the sky becomes worse

  • Mobility, smaller vans and 4 wheel drive allow you to get off the beaten paths

  • Pro photographer on most tours

  • Less time constraints for the tour

  • Vebasto heating system in a lot of mini vans

  • Wild locations (Forest, frozen lakes, beautiful fjords and mountains..), enjoy a small campfire in a beautiful and scenic location

cons:

  • Some tour companies just stop next to the road, risky and not pleasant

  • Quality comes with a cost, more expensive, but it feels more worth your money given the intimacy.

Minibus (8 - 16 Pax):

pros:

  • Get to know the history of Northern Norway and more local knowledge

  • Experienced guides

  • Few companies provide warm equipment (suits, bonfire)

  • Live Guide network to know the best current sky in the viscinity

  • Photographer on some tours

cons:

  • Crowded, often park next to other groups

  • Mini busses are not very mobile and hard to park, they will tend to park next to the road when they stop, and you will usually just stand there or inside the minibus

  • Expensive for the experience

  • Hit or miss regarding the warm equipment depending on the companies

Bus:

pros:

  • Cheaper

  • Comfortable seats

cons:

  • Few parking lot where they can stop

  • No toilets available while driving (2/3h+ drives sometimes)

  • No warm equipment

  • Very crowded and also park next to mini busses

  • Harder get to know the guides because of the amount of people

Boat tours:

pros:

  • Food and drinks onboard

  • Toilets on-board

  • Great experience (..if you like boats!)

cons:

  • They cannot go far compared to cars

  • High light pollution

  • Expensive for the small distance

  • Time constraints

  • Weather constraints (often gets cancelled)

Conclusion!

If you have done extensive research, you have a lot of experience driving in blizzard-like condition, wind, ice, snow, sure, just rent a car!

Apart from that, if you want the best and most memorable experience, I highly recommend at least one tour a minivan.

If you don’t mind a more crowded experience and your budget really does not allow, then pick a minibus tour, or even a bus tour, especially if you come with small children.

Disclaimer: As one of Creative Vacations' French/English guides, and after more than 150 tours so far, I hope to welcome you during your stay in Tromsø!

Here are a few links from other guides I know that provide amazing experience, the way I want YOU to experience it!

Recommended experiences for mini van or private tours:

FR/EN/ES

https://creativevacations.no

EN

https://greenlander.no

FR/EN

https://souvenirs.vincent.voyage

EN/ITA

https://www.arcticphotoguide.com

Minibus:

https://guidegunnar.no

Thank you for reading if you made it this far, until next time!

-Kevin

Read More