Tips for Chasing the Northern Lights

The number one thing to do when visiting Tromsø, Norway is seeing the northern lights. I had two very different experiences when seeing the northern lights. The first experience was unbelievably awful and the second one was everything I dreamed. I wrote a few tips for you guys, so you know exactly what to expect when going out on a northern lights tour.

Who should you book through? Is one tour enough?

One major traveler’s tip for booking the northern lights tour is to definitely look into your options. Depending how many days you’re in Tromsø or really anywhere, you may want to go northern lights chasing multiple times. I recommend going out on these tours more than once so that way you can increase your chances of seeing the northern lights. My sister and I paid for the 7-day unlimited pass (I highly recommend) which was amazing because not only can you pick and choose what days you want to go see the lights, but it also saves you a lot of money. The cost of one night tour is about 180 U.S. Dollars and the unlimited seven nights tour was about 280 U.S. Dollars. So, as long as you go out at least two times, you’re getting your money’s worth. Remember that you are not guaranteed to see the northern lights, especially if the weather isn’t permissible, but the tour guides try to bring you out to the best spots. Even if you do see the northern lights the first time you go out (like we did), chances are you can experience any even better show if you go multiple times.

How long is it

Another thing to note before booking a northern lights tour is they are extremely long and require a lot of patience. All tours begin when it’s starting to get dark outside and last about five or six hours. That may not seem long compared to other excursions however, you stand in the same area basically the entire time. I went into this tour thinking we were going to be driving around hopping from spot to spot actually chasing the northern lights, but that is simply not the case. Most of the time they take you out on a bus and bring you to a certain location depending on how the weather is and you most likely stay in that same spot the entire time. At first the experience is very exciting, but after a while of standing outside freezing your buns off, it gets a little repetitive. Thankfully you can go warm up on the bus and a lot of tours offer hot chocolate, coffee, tea, and cookies to munch on. If you get an incredible light show the waiting around is definitely worth it, but just know going into the tour that it requires a lot of patience.

Are the lights really that intense green color?

The last major thing to know before going out on a northern lights tours is that the lights are a lot of times actually white. When the tour guide said this, I was shocked because I had done so much reading about the northern lights and no one mentioned how most of the time we can only see them as white. The camera can capture what our eyes cannot and unless the lights are really strong, they usually appear white to our eyes. Pictures you’ve seen all over social media aren’t necessarily photoshopped or edited, however, the green color in the pictures may not have been what that person actually saw in real life. When it comes to the northern lights it is all about how strong the solar activity is. The stronger the solar activity, the stronger the color appears. The moon is another major factor whether you can see the color or not, the fuller the moon, usually the less chances you have of being able to see the beautiful green color. The second night we went out we had a full moon, but we got a beautifully green light show, which means the solar activity was really strong. Just keep in mind that those crazy and intense light shows that you see on social media probably aren’t going to be what you see in real life.

Story time: The Number 1 thing I learned

My advice to you is do not go northern lights chasing unless you are in the mood for it. My sister and I made the huge mistake of going out on the northern lights tour after traveling for 36 hours straight. We arrived in Tromsø on Sunday afternoon after experiencing an overnight delay.

We were extremely eager to start sightseeing because we had already lost a day due to the airplane’s technical issues (which caused us to arrive in Tromsø on Sunday rather than Saturday). So, we decided to go out on the tour the first night we arrived which was a huge mistake. We were fortunate to have an extremely clear sky which meant that we didn’t need to drive too far out of town in order to spot the northern lights. After driving for a half hour, we stopped at a little lake and jumped off the bus. We looked up into the sky and immediately spotted the northern lights which were. . . disappointing.

My sister and I had made a poor decision not to bring any cameras with us besides our iPhones. This was a big a mistake because we were unable to capture the northern lights on our phones. We ended up buying three photos (40 U.S. Dollars per photo) from the tour company who offered this service.  What made this experience so disheartening was the fact that the tour guides we had that evening weren’t great, we weren’t able to take any photos on our iPhones, and the tour was so unbelievably long! We were exhausted and we just weren’t in the right mind-set which was our fault. After standing outside in the cold for about an hour and a half we made our way back to the bus and slept all the way until we ended up leaving four hours later. The northern lights were disappointing because as soon as we got there the northern lights had appeared, but they were that disappointing white color I mentioned before. The lights we saw that night did not have a lot of solar activity.

This first night left us feeling that the northern lights were overhyped, and we couldn’t help but feel disappointed. We didn’t go northern lights chasing again until a few days later after getting a few good night’s sleep and adjusting to the time zone. This time around we were in a better mind-set and our tour guide Sebastian was awesome! Since the skies near Tromsø were so cloudy, we drove all the way to the border of Finland in order to find clear skies. The far drive to Finland caused us to spend more time on the bus and less time freezing our bums off outside. We felt way more excited (knowing what to expect), we were more awake, and the lights we saw that night were amazing! After a lot of waiting and a few cups of hot chocolate the lights started to appear.

This time the lights appeared that beautiful green color and even did a little dance which made my heart skip a beat. When the lights “danced” they turned this light purple color that absolutely blew me away. It was an amazing experience not being on my phone or having a camera taking pictures because I was really able to savor that moment which lasted one a few short seconds. Everything we had gone through was totally worth those beautiful few seconds. A huge thank you to Sebastian for being a dedicated tour guide and driving us all the way to Finland in order to see the lights. To enhance your experience when seeing the northern lights, you need to be patient and have gotten a good night’s sleep. Seeing the northern lights can be such an incredible experience as long as you know what to expect!

If you’re interested in visiting and want some more tips, please feel free to leave a comment below or direct message me on Instagram @smilesmilesaway . Also check out my Amazon Storefront where I share all of my Amazon favorites: My Amazon Storefront . If you’ve already visited Norway, please comment below one of your favorite memories. Can’t wait to read your comments!

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