Winter Tour Essentials

The general perception is that the north of Norway is freezing. After all, you are traveling to one of the northernmost cities in the world. Even though we get cold days, the average temperature along the coast outside Tromsø is around 0 degrees Celsius during the winter. That said, the temperatures in some valleys surrounding Tromsø can get colder on some days. During the 2023/24 northern lights season we experienced temperatures down to -25 degrees Celsius. On the same evening, it can be raining in the city, and snowing half an hour inland - making it a bit difficult to dress. This is why Gore-Tex is a popular fabric in the north. If you want a quick go-through on how to dress, read our blog post on the topic. In general you will find a lot of useful and updated information in out blog section at thearcticmoments.com/blog.

 

​Our main product during the winter season are Northern Lights tours or tours where we might have an opportunity to see the Northern Lights - for example, snowshoe hiking. Most of the tours we do involve driving outside the city of Tromsø to get away from the city lights. The length of the drive varies a lot, but on most tours, we go between 45 min and an hour and a half. Worst case we have to go to our neighboring country Finland, but this is rare. In general, several factors are deciding where we go and how long a tour will be (within limits of course), and we rarely go to the same place two days in a row. We have made a more detailed explanation of our excursion safety philosophy and a little bit about what we expect from you.

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We will do our best to find the lights, and we love taking pictures as well. On some nights it is however difficult. This can be due to driving- or weather conditions - or low northern lights activity. We are also dependent on the forecasts to be somewhat correct and as our guests we get disappointed when we go out on what was supposed to be a super clear night only to find snowshowers around every corner. This is just life in the north, and an experience to embrace. Last season we saw lights 8 out of 10 nights - this includes the evenings when we had to cancel due to weather. We have gathered some statistics for you, but it is a lot like stocks - historical values do not necessarily reflect future skies. That said, October and November last year were very nice months.

 

Photography is an important part of every tour with us, and with professional equipment and experience, we deliver at least a few nice photos after every tour. The standard resolution photos are always going to be included in the price. If you want to be better prepared to do your own photos you can read more about it in our "How to do Northern Lights photos" post. We are also there help or to give you a few hints if needed. The photos are ready to be downloaded no later than 48 hours after the tour. Usually, they are ready the next morning.

 

If everything points to low chances of seeing the lights we will let you know a day or two before departure by mail, and you will be part of the decision-making. The lights and weather are a bit funny up here. There is (almost) always a chance, and some of our best evenings have been during that 20-minute opening in the sky on an otherwise hopeless night. Let us know if you plan to cancel due to rumors and forecasts - we will give you an honest assessment based on experience and local knowledge. You will find our cancellation policy in the "terms & conditions section", and we are not very strict.

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We wish to welcome you on tour with us - and again, should there be any questions please ask. You can also follow our Facebook and/or Instagram page for information and the chance to chat with expert and fellow travelers.

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Best regards,

Reidar & The Arctic Moments Team