Is chasing the Northern Lights on your bucket list? Well you’re not alone, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t want to watch the natural phenomenon of green lights dancing across the sky, ticking it off their bucket list, I certainly did. Even now that I’ve seen the Northern Lights I want to see them again! But what causes them? Where is the best place to see them? What is a Northern Lights Tour actually like? Well, read on below to find out the answers to these questions. I was lucky enough to see the Northern Lights on a trip to Tromso in 2019, here I explain my experience of chasing the Northern Lights on a big bus tour!
What are the Northern Lights?
The Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon also known as the Aurora Borealis and they can only be seen in the Northern Hemisphere (hence the name ‘Northern’). They are created when charged particles from the sun enter earth’s magnetic field and collide with molecules in our atmosphere, emitting bursts of light. Despite them being natural, there are however some conditions that need to be satisfied in order to for there to be a chance to see the Northern Lights, these are:
1. Darkness
2. Clear Skies
3. Solar Activity
Tromso is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights due to its location and easy access. Being situated in Arctic Circle means that for several months Tromso is plunged into darkness, also known as polar night. It’s also in the middle of the northern lights oval, making it a hotspot for solar activity. There are also wide range of activities to do in Tromso, so it makes for an all encompassing arctic experience!
Despite all of this the Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and are completely unpredictable. So if you’re desperate to catch a glimpse, you can help maximise your chances by staying for several days.
How to see the Northern Lights in Tromso
I would recommend booking a Northern Lights tour in Tromso. There are many different types of tours you could book. Ranging from small group tours, big bus tours, tours that specialise in photography, boat cruises and even husky tours.
We took two big bus tours. The reason being, is that after a lot of research, I found that the big bus tours and smaller tours often ended up in the same place. So there was no major difference between the two, however the big bus tours are slightly cheaper than the smaller ones.
Many people look at the cost of a Northern Lights tour and think, wow that is a lot of money I can’t justify paying that. So they think about hiring a car and driving out of Tromso themselves, I personally wouldn’t recommend this for several reasons.
The first one being that these tours often last between 6-8 hours. We drove around 2 hours outside of Tromso and then waited for 3 hours in total. On one of our tours we ended up driving so far north and inland that we almost reached the Finnish border. Almost everyone fell asleep on the drive back to Tromso, something you definitely cannot do if you’re driving.
Another reason is the weather, bear in mind that these bus drivers have lots of experience driving on icy roads and so we were driving at the normal speed limit. I know back in UK whenever there’s a tiny bit of ice we drive much much slower as it’s not a regular thing for us. Remember it’s pitch black as well so it’s not an easy drive!
The tour guides also regularly keep in touch with each other, sharing their location and weather reports. If one group has good weather the other group will follow and meet them there. The big buses also have a toilet on board, and if you’re like me then nature will definitely take its course at least once during the tour. The buses also offer hot chocolate and biscuits, both of which are much needed after standing in the cold for hours. So after all these reasons, hopefully you’ll see that it is worth your money booking a tour!
We booked our first tour with NorthernShots. I chose this one as they gave student discount so my brother and I were able to get slightly cheaper tickets. The second tour we booked with Chasing Lights, because we booked on the day NorthernShots was sold out. However I’m glad we booked with a different tour provider as we were able to have a different experience. Chasing Lights also took photographs of us all night and we were able to download them for free. Whereas with NorthernShots we had to buy any photos we wanted to download after.
What to expect on a Northern Lights Big Bus Tour
If you’ve booked a big bus tour, you’ll make your way to the meeting point and board your coach. Once you’ve sat down, make sure to take off all of your layers. This is so that when you’re outside again they have an effect and make you feel warmer. The guides will welcome you on board, let you know the conditions for the night and where you’re heading to first. Then they’ll explain everything about the Northern Lights. Including what conditions are needed, the colours they can be and a bit about what to expect on the tour.
After you’ve arrived at your first location, it’s time to put all your layers back on. We then walked about 15 minutes to the spot where we waited with the guides. Now it really is a waiting game. We waited for about 1 hour 30 minutes here. Admiring the stars and waiting for the lights. Nothing can describe what it was like staring at a sky full of stars – it really was amazing!
Our guides then decided the best thing to do was change location. Back on the bus we went, stripping out of our layers. We drove for another 45mins towards the Finnish border. We’d arrived at our next stop and walked down to this beach. Where we waited for another 2 hours but still no sign of the Northern Lights.
It was about 11pm and it didn’t look anything was happening so we made our way back to the bus. Just as we got on and took our coats off, the guide ran back on saying “Guys I’m so sorry, but you’re going to have to come back out, the lights are here!”. We ran back out with our coats half on. Back down the steep hill to the beach. Looking up at the sky, we saw a faint glimmer of green across the sky, THE LIGHTS WERE HERE!!! After the lights disappeared, we made our way back to the bus. Huge smiles on our faces as we made our way back to Tromso.
One thing to note is that when you see the lights in real life they’re not as green as they appear on the camera so don’t be shocked if you can’t seem them strongly!
The second Northern Lights Chase, we booked with Chasing Lights. The tour itself was very similar to the above, the guides gave an intro a the beginning, then we drove to several different locations and waited very patiently. Unfortunately though we were unable to see the Lights due to the cloud cover.
The difference with this tour was that at our second location, since we were waiting there for a while, the guides made a campfire for us to stand round. We drank hot chocolate and shared stories round the campfire. This was a really nice touch. Even though we didn’t manage to see the lights the experience was really fun and the guides were so great! We were also able to get our photo taken several times throughout the tour. We could download these for free after as well!
This experience really does show how unpredictable the lights are. The day before, the weather was so horrendous. It was snowing, raining and there was so was much cloud all day. However the tours that went out did manage to see the lights and in fact it was an amazing display. If you had been out and about during the day you never would’ve believed it would’ve been possible.
If you’re thinking of heading to Tromso to see the Northern Lights, check out my 4 days in Tromso itinerary to see how you should plan your days and what other activities you could do.
Have you seen the Northern Lights? What was your experience like,?
