Chasing the Northern Lights with Northern Horizon – Tromsø, Norway 

February 2024

Chasing the Northern Lights with Northern Horizon – Tromsø, Norway 

One of the premier experiences and primary reason for tourists coming to Tromso is the chance to see the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights. One of the seven natural wonders of the world, the lights have been sought after for many years and only more recently have been understood. In short, the sun has solar flares that send electrically charged ions through space and are carried further away from the sun towards earth by solar wind – the stronger the solar wind, the higher the number of ions that can make it to Earth. Once those ions reach Earth they collide with the magnetic poles and either go up to the north magnetic pole or down to the south magnetic pole. Then those charged ions create an interaction with the gas particles in Earth’s atmosphere and thus create the lights. 

What makes Tromso an ideal destination for seeing the Northern Lights is that this part of the Arctic Circle is at one of the two magnetic poles on earth. In addition to the long winter nights, this makes the probability of seeing this natural phenomenon higher than in other destinations. If there is a clear sky, it is not uncommon to see the lights every night. 

There are many tour companies to choose from – who will you put your luck in, your potentially one shot of seeing the Northern Lights on your trip – the stakes are kind of high. Who you pick is really important to your success. Due to the increase in demand, particularly recently due to social media coverage and the headlines indicating that 2024 is “the” year to see the Northern Lights to to increased sun activity, there are many companies that have popped up touting their ability to navigate the complicated factors in getting you to see the Northern Lights. 

After lots of research, I picked Northern Horizons for our trip as they are a very well rated and established company that also offers the use of thermal suits and boots. And it wasn’t just the number of 5 star ratings but the reviews themselves that spoke to how amazing the guides are that mattered. Your guide is the reason you will have success but they can only do so much. Despite belief, the Northern Lights are not guaranteed to appear every night and are in fact, much more complex. Your guide is essential to making sure you have the best chance possible but like all things in nature, it is not promised even if you have the best guide in Tromso. Expectation setting is essential. 

This experience really reminded us of storm chasing. There are many factors that go into a storm making a tornado. The guide’s job is to analyze those factors and find the location that has the highest probability of getting a super cell that has a chance of producing a tornado. Similarly, the Northern Lights guides and analyzes solar activity, solar winds, cloud coverage, direction of the charged ions going north or south, and more to see where in one night has the best chances. These tours last anywhere from six to nine hours long and some tours even end up in another country (Finland especially), to get guests to the best conditions. We heard from travelers earlier in the trip that they did not return to Tromso until 3AM. But even with the clearest sky, if there is no solar activity or strong wind, the lights may not appear. 

For our lights night, we quickly ate Bubba’s food truck fish and chips before going to the meeting point. I highly encourage you to eat a full meal before getting on this bus and also use the bathroom as close to your departure as possible. There were over fifty people waiting for this tour – I could not even imagine how many chasing vans are out and about looking for these lights every night. I remembered reading online that the max number of people on any tour was 15. At pick up time, three large passenger vans appeared and the guides called out names to fill them out. We were in the third van with our guide, Harry, who was accompanied by a driver. I figured the three vans would work in tandem but was surprised to learn that they do operate independently so it really does give a more personalized experience. 

We could not have asked for a better guide and in our opinion, Harry emulated the perfect guide. He exuded passion for the Northern Lights and made the science understandable in a way that the entire van followed. He encouraged questions which got everyone involved and invested in the experience. Leading into this, the cloud coverage forecast looked bleak but Harry was optimistic that we were going to find a break in them somewhere. There was also a full moon which meant the sky would be much brighter than the desired pitch black. Again, Harry commented that if the Aurora is strong enough, the moon light will not make a difference in it being visible. He reviewed his plans – there were five in total – and explained all the different factors he uses to pinpoint his spot. He is also an avid astrophotographer and was insanely helpful in explaining camera settings for us so we could have the best results possible. The photos he took throughout the night were also going to be provided to all guests the next day so even better that you can get professional photographs of the potential auroras seen throughout the tour. 

Watching Harry work was fascinating and gave us such an appreciation for navigating all the factors that could make this night successful. In addition to the sun’s activity, solar wind, cloud coverage radars, and more – Harry has a network of other guides that are all crowdsourcing the on the ground updates. What became stressful for Harry is the prediction models he had going into this night were not matching what he was actually seeing in the sky. He kept us close, within a 30 minute radius of a Circle K gas station so we could pivot – and pivot we did. We changed directions three times before he finally committed to Skibotn. He shared that there was a solar storm reported an hour ago which means we had an hour to get to Skibotn, and an hour’s drive is exactly what we had to Skibotn. 

The hour drive to Skibotn was a bit exhilarating, and Harry displayed a bit of excitement and nerves as he continued to check texts, apps, and the time. We arrived in Skibotn at 9:55PM and everyone flew out of the van. The sky indeed had a break among the clouds – though not a clear night, the clouds had plenty of break in the to see the Northern Lights if they so appeared. And at 10PM – five minutes after our arrival – appeared they did. 

Over the next hour, the lights played in the sky. First starting as small whisps, gray in color to the eye and light green on the camera with night sight, then increasing intensity and vibrancy that became green to our eyes. We all cheered as we watched the lighted extend into the sky, arch practically across the entire sky visualizing the magnetic bands of the Earth. 

Enjoy this photo gallery of our Northern Lights:

And these photos from Harry at Northern Horizon:

We were all in such amazement at the display we witnessed. It was hard to focus on anything else! Several times Harry tried to rally the group for food and we just ignored him as the lights continued to come back, pulsing in and out of the sky. But eventually, the show did conclude. 

A campfire was set up with chairs around for everyone to sit. We had three different hot beverage options to choose from – christmas tea, hot chocolate, and coffee – all of which had as many refills as we wanted. The cups used were styled in the traditional Sami cup kuksa which was a nice touch and actually very fun to drink out of. For dinner, it was reindeer sausages heated up over the fire and wrapped in a potato wrap. These were absolutely delicious and everyone enjoyed them, many having multiple rounds of reindeer dogs. While we ate, Harry told us some legends of the Aurora lights, how many people interpreted them throughout history, and more information as questions from the group arose.  Harry also spotted tracks from mouse, lynx and even wolverine in this area. Dessert was a Finnish biscuit and chocolate cookie which were simple, delicious, and addictive.

It was after midnight by the time we packed up the camp and returned to the van. The group thanked Harry over and over again for his expertise and trusting his gut that got us the ultimate reward of the Aurora Borealis. He learned that many other groups were unsuccessful that night due to cloud coverage so it sounded like we were one of very few groups out for the night that got to see them. We arrived back in Tromso at 2AM, still excited that we were so lucky. 

I could not recommend Northern Horizon more. I am not sure you can request Harry personally but if you can, 100% try. I am sure his fellow guides are equally trained and amazing but I can say that of the 3 vans that left on behalf of Northern Horizon, Harry’s was the only van that saw the lights. That being said, there was an insanely high probability that we would not see them as well due to the weather and also due to mis-match timing of the solar activity and when we were out searching. I hope that you understand the complexity of just how difficult it really is to nail down seeing the Northern Lights, especially if you only have one night to do so (Read What to Expect: Chasing the Northern Lights). That being said, there is certainly no better place in the world to attempt to see them than in Tromso. 

Continue reading about our trip to the Arctic Circle here!

Read all blog posts for Tromsø, Norway here!

See our complete itinerary here!

Planning your own trip? Read the Perfect Itinerary for Tromsø here!

Our complete packing list to the Arctic here!