What everyone is wondering
Frequently asked questions
It is all relative. The prices vary with the size of the group, the quality of the guides, and the comfort level of the transportation. We are not the most expensive tour company, and will never be the cheapest. We think that guests should pay a bit more for using nature and that the guides we use should have an income to live from. After all, you are traveling with well-educated local guides and in the most comfortable way possible. When writing this, we are just a few euros more expensive pp. than most tour groups going out with twice as many guests as we are. In comparison, you can go with 50 others and save 30 euros at the moment.
As a company with the most flexible cancellation conditions in Tromsø, and not going out every evening to be able to move tours in regards to the weather most days you get a lot back for your Northern Lights "investment".
You reach Tromsø easiest by plane. The airport “Langnes” (TOS) is located on the west side on the Tromsø island, a short 10-minute ride with bus or taxi from the city center.
The main airlines flying in and out of Tromsø is Scandinavian Airlines, Wideroe and Norwegian Airlines. There are direct flights during the winter from several cities in Europe. If you are traveling from outside Scandinavia the easiest way is often to connect in Oslo, but more and more airlines are connecting directly with Tromsø from the bigger cities in Europe. A good place to start would be the local tourist information visit Tromsø - www.visittromso.no
There are no trains north of Bodø (Narvik has a connection to Sweden).
Tromsø is a medium-sized city in Norway, but the biggest in the north. Tromsø is also among the largest cities above the arctic circle.
This means that the hotel capacity is reasonably good, and "all" hotels in Tromsø have a good standard. During the main winter months, it can however get crowded, so book your room as early as possible. A helpful hint is to try to get as close as possible to the Raddison BLU hotel, or the Scandic Ishavshotell as the main pickup point for most excursions is in this area.
To save some money on a place to stay there are also a lot of Airbnb apartments in Tromsø - about 800 at the moment (2022). The quality may vary a bit, so make sure you choose one with nice feedback. Since the Airbnb´s might be spread out all around the city also check that you don´t end up in the countryside (you might want that too - getting away from the city lights is a good idea during the winter).
The distances to get into the city center might be quite far, and the busses don´t run like in the big cities in Europe. If you rent a car that is of course no problem but check if there are parking spaces next to where you are staying - in the winter there are some challenges due to snow.
Dress in layers. 3-4 should be enough for an evening out north of the Arctic circle.
The layer against your skin should be wool. Silk and synthetic will also work, but Merino is our favorite. Avoid cotton - it will not dry if you get sweaty, and is not warm when dry. We use wool from producers Aclima or Devold. It is possible to do two inner layers on extra cold days, for example, mesh-wool and a normal wool sweater. The idea is to transport moisture from the skin before you get cold - this is especially important if moving, e.g. getting warm.
The mid-layer should be a thicker sweater or jacket made from for example wool or down - something that is warm enough to keep the heat in. We try to stay away from fleece - not because it is not warm, but because it is made from plastic. Fleece around the bonfire can be a bad idea.
The outer layer should be wind and waterproof. A gore-tex jacket and some insulated ski pants are normally enough. If you have a big down jacket that will fit over everything you will stay warm on even the coldest days.
What about gloves and mittens? It is a great idea to bring at least one pair, maybe even two pairs when staying outdoors in the north. It can be wet and windy, and it is hard to get your hands warm once they have gone ‘cold’. Knitted wool mittens is not only sustainable, but they also normally keep you warm the whole evening. Another possibility is to use hand-warmers, small bags with a chemical solution that gives heat to your hands and/or feet.
Footwear is also important, and we don´t recommend the cheap kind, even though you are only going to use them a couple of nights. The main things to look for are a good sole and that they are waterproof. Buy them a number or two bigger than your trainers to fit thicker socks, and remember that air also insulates. You can also buy spikes, a very cheap "life" insurance. They slip on the bottom of your boots so you do not slip and fall.
On your head, you put a wool hat. There is a lot to choose from - the hats and headbands from "Haddock" are local, warm, and a nice memory from Tromsø. You will get them in all the bigger sports stores. A good hat retains about 25% of body heat in an adult, up to 75% for a small child.
Remember that the coast of Northern Norway is normally not that cold, with an average temperature of about -5 degrees Celsius during the winter. The biggest challenge for many guests flying in is overdressing, and as we see it, being to warm is worse than being a bit cold.
A blog post on how to dress covers the essentials.
The average temperatures in Tromsø - with average precipitation and wind.
September: 9.6°C / 88 mm / 2.3 m/s October: 4.5 °C / 89 mm / 2.9 m/s November: 0.1°C / 30.3 mm / 3.8 m/s December: 0.5°C / 235.6 mm / 4.4 m/s January: -1.5°C / 166.2 mm / 4.9 m/s February: -2.9°C / 108 mm / 3.6 m/s March: -1.6°C / 148 mm / 3.7 m/s
The excursion pages found on our homepage will always be updated with the essentials that you have to bring with you. It is of course dependent on the weather, season and type of excursion.
Basically, always bring a bottle of water, proper clothing and something to change into if you get sweaty, good shoes and a weatherproof jacket.
If you need appropriate mittens and socks you can get something sustainable and supporte local businesses by letting us know a bit ahead of time. My mother is knitting like a machine and is selling traditional wool products. We'll get you in touch with her.
Also check out our blogpost on how to dress.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to get in contact with us at contact@naturguiden.no or on Facebook.
The short answer is yes - children are allowed on the excursions.
Depending a bit on what tour we are doing we can accommodate children as young as 5 years old. Please give us a heads up if you are bringing children younger that 12 years old as we sometimes would like to make adjustments. Northern Lights tours are in general not recommended for children younger than 8, but this is mostly due to the possible longer waits, the climate and the general interest younger children have in green stuff in the sky.
Our experience is however that children down to 8 years old are just as eager to do hikes as adults - they stay active so that they don´t get cold and the are able to enjoy the view just as well as adults.
We don´t recommend bringing infants on our main excursions, but booking as a group we have several suggestions that will be suitable also for parents with children younger than 5 years old.
Keep in touch, and we'll let you know what is possible on that particular day and excursion.
It depends a bit on the excursion.
For the shorter excursions, we bring snacks. This can be everything from biscuits and chocolate to a local stew or soup.
On longer excursions, we bring a meal and snacks. If time/length, the excursion type and weather permit it, we also bring firewood for a bonfire.
On all excursions we bring the proper safety- and season gear, and a camera for pictures that we share with you after the trip. Something hot to drink is included on all our hikes and northern lights tours.
On our homepage, you will always find updated information on what is included in the different types of excursions by navigating between the excursions that we offer.
We normally do NOT bring extra clothing on our excursions. In our experience that is also not necessary. For private tours it is possible to reserve extra thermal suits.
Everyone have terms and conditions - we have just a few.
Please go to our Terms & Conditions page to read our updated terms & conditions for our excursions. Get in touch at contact@naturguiden.no if you have any further questions.
This is also where you will find our cancellation policy.
The Northern lights or Aurora Borealis brings thousand of guests to Tromsø each year. As one of the best places in the world to see this spectacle, we are fortunate to have both an international size airport, an ice free harbor, and a lot of roads. Right now we can´t seem to have enough places for the guests to sleep - even though most don´t (sleep).
The northern lights originate in a complicated interplay between the so-called solar wind and the earth`s magnetic field - processes we still don´t know everything about. A number of solar wind particles are trapped in the earth`s magnetic field and, together with particles which originate in the earth`s atmosphere, end up in the tail of the magnetic field on the night side of the earth. The spectral lines reflect which gases are found up in the atmosphere - oxygen and nitrogen.
Since the northern lights happen far above cloud cover, and is dependent on solar activity, it is difficult to predict when and where it will appear. During the winter time we normally get to see auroras every other day on average, but climate change is making the arctic climate both more wet and milder - witch means more clouds.
Mobile phone applications like "Space Weather Live" "AuroraNow" and "Aurora Fcst" can be helpful tools when you know how to use them. Just don´t take the Kp index to serious when you are visiting Tromsø as we are straight under the oval, and only need a Kp of between 1-2 to have nice lights. Experienced guides use a lot more information than the kP alone.
Read more about the northern lights at http://geo.phys.uit.no/articl/theaurora.html or in our blog.
The Northern Lights appear in the ‘Aurora Zone’ or ‘Aurora Oval” which is a belt centered around the magnetic North Pole. The ‘zone’ includes Northern Scandinavia, and in Tromsø we are luckily located in the middle of the Aurora zone, which gives us a high chance to see the lights.
More scientific the Northern Lights appear anywhere with a magnetic latitude above 55° and the lower the light pollution the better. For the best chance consider a spot within 65° to 75° north - Tromsø is situated at 69°.
The Kp index found in most northern lights forecast applications indicates the width of the oval, meaning that on high Kp´s the lights are theoretically visible both far north and south of the "sweet spot".
There are stories telling travelers that you can´t see the lights on the lower side of an 11-year cycle. This is simply not true! Even though the northern lights activity is closely connected to the activity on the sun, it is not possible to turn it off. We have been guiding Northern Lights tours through the whole last 11-year cycle from bottom to top, and to be honest it is very difficult to tell the difference from year to year.
The northern lights season traditionally lasts from September 1st to April 10th. On some occasions it is also possible to see the lights from the 20th of August and all the way to the 20th of April if the activity is strong. The aurora and the sunset together are a really wonderful spectacle if you are lucky.
The best time during the day is from about 19:00 (7pm) to 23:00 (11pm). This is however not exact, and dependent on the strength of the lights. On some days from as early as 17:00 (5pm) already, and all the way into late nights at 03:00 (3am). Patience is the word of the day - bring warm clothes, something to sit on and coffee.
The excursion pages found on our homepage will always be updated with the essentials that you have to bring with you. It is of course dependent on the weather, season and type of excursion.
Basically always bring a bottle of water, proper clothing and something to change into if you get sweaty, good shoes and a weather proof jacket.
If you need appropriate mittens and socks you can get something sustainable and supporte local businesses - my mother is one of the local suppliers of wool products. I can guarantee the quality is good.
Also check out our blogpost on how to dress.
If you have any questions do not hesitate to get in contact with us at contact@naturguiden.no or on Facebook.