Chase the arctic light.
Aurora chases, fjord cruises, husky camps and the long boat out to the orcas. What each one is really like, what it costs, and where to book.
Seven the north does best.
First trip or fifth, these carry a Tromso winter. The minibus that finds clear sky when the town is clouded in, a night in a Sami lavvu with the reindeer, the boat that noses in among feeding orcas.
Fjords and Sommarøy Islands Tour with Salmon Picnic
A 4.5-hour Tromsø fjords-and-Sommarøy tour with a wild salmon beach tasting and a chance to swim in Arctic waters.
From $112 per person
Read the review →
★ 4.7Safe betReindeer Camp and Sami Cultural Tour with LunchFrom $1413,326 reviews
★ 4.4Books out fastNorthern Lights Chase Minibus TourFrom $1722,687 reviews
★ 4.6Reader favouriteReindeer Sled, Dinner, and Chance of Northern LightsFrom $2192,651 reviews
★ 5.0Worth the coldTromso Aurora Hunt with Bonfire, Soup, Winter Gear & TransfersFrom $2262,290 reviews
★ 4.5Easy winArctic Fjord Cruise With Stop On Land At Fish RacksFrom $1252,268 reviews
★ 4.7Small-group pickNorthern Lights Chase with Free PhotosFrom $1812,097 reviews
One clear night is all it takes.
Meet the minibus at dusk, then drive wherever the sky is clearest: over the Kvaloya bridge, up a valley, across to the Finnish border if that is where the clouds break. A good guide reads the forecast so you do not have to. This is the night people plan whole trips around.
Which way do you chase the lights?
Everyone comes for the aurora; how you wait for it is the real choice. Three ways to spend the night, each already reviewed and priced. Pick the one that sounds like your kind of cold.
The chase
By minibus
from $181 · 4,206 reviews
Meet at dusk, then drive to wherever the forecast says the sky will clear, sometimes an hour out, sometimes to the border. Cameras on tripods, hot drinks in the van, a guide who has done this a hundred nights. Best odds on a cloudy town night.
See the aurora chases →
From the water
By boat
from $195 · 4,217 reviews
Slip out of the harbour into the dark fjord and let the town lights fall behind. No light pollution, the sky doubled in the water, a wide deck to watch from. Quieter than the road, and the ride is the point either way.
See the aurora cruises →
Around a fire
From a camp
4 hours · from $198 · 6,417 reviews
Skip the driving and settle in. A Sami lavvu, reindeer in the snow outside, dinner over the fire while you wait for the sky to open. For a slower night that is worth it even when the clouds win.
See the camp nights →
Come winter, the sun stays down.
From late November the sun never clears the mountains, and the town turns blue at midday. It sounds bleak. It is not: this is husky country, reindeer-sled country, the season the whole sky lights up green. Spend an evening out in it with someone who knows the ground.
The fjord is the front row.
The sound never fully freezes, so the boats run all winter. Aurora cruises after dark, orca and humpback safaris out toward Skjervoy, king crab and cod on a hand line. Dress warmer than you think.
Paws, runners and throttles.
A team of huskies pulling you through birch forest, your own snowmobile across a frozen plateau in the Lyngen Alps, snowshoes on a quiet trail while the light goes pink. Pick your pace and your noise level.
The islands are worth the drive.
Cross the bridge to Kvaloya, then keep going until the tarmac ends at Sommaroy, white sand and turquoise water that looks tropical until you touch it. Ersfjord under sheer peaks, red cabins on stilts, the odd sea eagle overhead. Half a day, and it changes the trip.
Pick your patch of the Arctic.
Tromso works in loops, and each one is a day out. Kvaloya and Sommaroy for the coast. The Lyngen Alps for the big snow. Ersfjord and the fjords for the road. Reindeer country for the quiet.
Already know the kind of day?
Twelve ways to spend a day above the Arctic Circle. Pick the one that sounds like you, and everything behind it is already reviewed and priced.
Out for the day, back for the lights.
The good stuff sits a fjord or two away. Islands, an alpine valley, a whale-watching harbour, all within a morning of town, and you are back before the aurora comes out.
Seventy-two hours in Tromso.
You can’t do the whole Arctic in one trip; you can do three good days. This is the order we’d give a friend landing at Langnes tomorrow.
Day 1
Find your feet in town
Ride the Fjellheisen cable car up Storsteinen for the whole island laid out below, walk the harbour and the Arctic Cathedral, then out on your first aurora chase once it is properly dark.
Plan day one →
Day 2
Out on the fjord
A daytime cruise down the sound past sea eagles and snow-lined shores, or a run out toward Skjervoy where the orcas and humpbacks feed. Warm up over a husky-camp dinner after dark.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Chase the coast
Drive out to Kvaloya and Sommaroy for white-sand beaches at the edge of the Arctic, or up into the Lyngen Alps on a snowmobile. Back in town in time for one last look at the sky.
Plan day three →
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