Tromsø and the Northern Lights

Norway | Tromso

Tromsø and the Northern Lights

Length: 3 Days

Transportation: This is walking/tour based trip.

Best Guide Book: Lonely Planet Norway

If the northern lights are on your bucket list there’s few better places to see them than Tromsø. To witness the best northern lights you need three things: 1) the right latitude, 2) dark skies, 3) clear skies. In Tromsø you can easily grab a tour which will drive you up into the mountains and away from the coastal weather meaning an excellent chance of seeing them. Another recommendation is to give yourself a couple of nights to improve your likelihood (check out https://www.norway-lights.com/tromso for an up-to date prediction). The final benefit of Tromsø is the town itself. While people travel to see the lights, you still need something to do during the day. Tromsø is the perfect town for that as it has plenty of diversions. It’s the largest town north of the arctic circle (70,000 people) and has a ton of winter outdoor activities, a nice downtown, and many restaurant and lodging options. Another advantage is you can book a cheap through flight on Norwegian Airlines (or SAS).

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Detailed Itinerary

Day 1

Arrive in Tromsø. Note that this far north, evening beginning in late October starts early; the sun comes late morning and down my early afternoon (think 10:30 – 14:30). By late November through mid January the sun does not some up at all and you’ll be exploring in twilight – pretty interesting in its own right. All of this dark is because Tromsø is 200 miles NORTH of the Arctic Circle. The airport is tiny. Grab the easy and (for Norway) cheap Flybus that goes right downtown. You can get tickets in advance or just get them on the bus.

Drop your bags at your lodgings. We recommend the Scandvic Ishavshotel. 

Now, if you’re arriving internationally you may arrive in the evening and have to adjust activities from day 1 to day 2. However, if you arrive mid-morning, proceed with this itinerary.

If so inclined (and the weather cooperates) head across the bridge via walking, busing, or cabbing to the Fjellstua cable car which goes up the mountain and gives spectacular views over the city (as well as a good restaurant and access to hikes). Either on the way there or back check out the Arctic cathedral.

In the afternoon you can visit on of Tromsø’s interesting museums. You have an option of the Arctic University Museum, Polar Museum, MS Polstjerna, or Botanical Gardens.

Grab a pre-dinner drink at Rorbua Pub.

For dinner, if you’re exhausted you can head to Roast, the restaurant attached to the hotel. It’s a fine and easy choice. For something more interesting check out De 4 Roser or Brasserie 69.

Tromso Harbor

Day 2

You’ll be waking up in the dark (so set an alarm) and head to breakfast at your hotel. The breakfast at our recommended hotel is amazing with a huge variety – Norwegian, European, English – you name it.

Depending on what you have planned (and reserved ahead) your northern lights tour will influence how you spend the day. A note about the northern lights – we found that predictions start to become reliable for both lights and weather (link above) about 4-5 days before arrival. Use Northern Soul adventures for your northern lights expedition –  they were great. But you may have to change the date of your viewing to yesterday or tomorrow depending on how visibility is supposed to be and change your itinerary accordingly. Since the whole point is to see the northern lights, flexibility is key.

If you are headed out tonight by 5 pm to see the northern lights you have a morning/early afternoon to play with. Of note, your adventure will go until 1am so it’s a long day. We recommend starting by wandering around Tromsø itself. Tromsø is a pleasant, prosperous Scandinavian town – and sort of reminded us of a mini Reykjavik. If the day before you didn’t do the cable car / arctic cathedral  you can do it today. Another option is to pick an additional outdoor activity. Because you’re in the far north choose between a dog sledding tour or venture to a Sami village and enjoy the reindeer. These pretty much start at 10am and are about 4 hours, leaving you time to grab lunch and a beer before you northern lights. 

Have lunch at Emmas Drommekjokken and a beer at Olhallen which offers tons of microbrews (closed on Sundays). 

Around 5pm, stroll a block to the pick up place. With Northern Soul adventures you will climb into the mini van and you’ll drive out of town in search of northern lights. We personally ended up heading to a frozen lake almost to Finland (a finger of Finland comes close to Tromsø near here). You’ll be served delicious soup and pastries, given seats near a little portable fire, and enjoy a fantastic viewing of the lights. Dress warmly – they supply exposure suites and camera tripods (and even some camera instruction), but you’ll want a warm hat, gloves, and clothing. To the naked eye the colors are far less vibrant than on camera (due to long exposure), but you will still see them dancing across the sky. It’s very cool. One warning – there are no bathrooms there. Meaning you will not have one between 5pm and 1am. Plan your afternoon before heading out (including beverage consumption and voiding) accordingly. You’ll be back to Tromsø by about 1 am.

The northern lights

Day 3

Enjoy another awesome breakfast and then set off for today’s adventure. Again, you have some options – pick between whale watching or the sled dogs and Sami/reindeer discussed in the itinerary yesterday. sledging. If you choose to do the whale watching today, as we recommend, you’ll enjoy getting out on the water and seeing the surrounding countryside. Unique to Tromsø whale watching is a large group of resident orcas to the north of Tromsø (they have humpbacks as well). You can take a bus and a shorter boat or a faster boat all the way from Tromsø. 

For dinner head to Fiskekompaniet on the waterfront. For after dinner drinks, check out Hildr Gastro Bar or Bardus.

Day 4

Bus to airport and depart. If you are lucky enough to have a later flight, there’s no shortage of things to do and see in Tromsø. You can ask at the TI for additional activity recommendations.

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