Northern Lights Holidays

ladysadie

Hi

I've always really wanted to go see the Northern lights.
This year is meant to be the best year to see them, so I've been looking into going on a package holiday.
I think trying to organise everything myself from here and in advance would be an incredible amount of work.
I'm hoping someone could recommend a company to go with, that they've been to see the lights with.
Failing that, just some advice.
How far away from city/town light do you need to be to get a good view.
What are the ice hotels and husky rides like? Will I get a suitable view fo the lights??
Any information would be greatly appreciated!

mel.b

Tromoso in Norway is one the recommended spots to go to see the Northern lights. easy enough to get to - fly to Oslo with either SAS or Norwegian and then onto Tromoso. From what I have read there is lots to do in Tromoso. You would be able to book hotels online - try booking.com. Then google Northern Lights tours or get in contact with the tourism board in Tromoso or look at trip advisor for recommendations. It really isn't that hard to organise. Norway isn't cheap though.

Kiruna in Sweden is another recommendation destination, although there's not as much of a town there as there is for Tromoso. However the ice hotel is nearby for a different nights accommodation!

Rhys Essien

A trip here on this site to see the northern lights in Iceland.

http://www.explore.co.uk/holidays/details/northern-lights-adventure-tour?vid=19361&lang=eu

PS can you take me with ya.

Spindle

What type of budget do you have?

Something along the lines of a cruise with Hurtigruten would be an ideal way of seeing the northern lights. You start from Begren travel north up the coast making a good few stops on the way and then pass the Arctic circle before reaching the North Cape. They even have specific Northern lights voyages with Astronomers on board giving talks etc.

Hurtigruten are an excellent company to deal with.


http://www.hurtigruten.com/voyages/norway/short-voyages/astronomy-voyage-2013/

Of course there is no guarantee to see the Northern Lights, but at least being on a cruise in the Arctic it gives you more chance.

martinsvi

as a northern-soul myself I can only say that your plan to see northern lights is very ambitious. Coming from the country where auroras are frequent I've only seen them twice in my life. your biggest problem will be humidity building up from the Atlantic and creating a quite of cloud cover. If you think we got a lot of cloud/rain in Ireland, what do you think it's like up the coast in Norway?

anyway, I'd say your best bet is Finland - Rovaniemi or Kuusamo as there's always high pressure coming from north-east, keeping the clouds away (and also keeping the temperatures way below zero). Kiruna is not a bad tip as mountains on the border between Norway and Sweden keep Atlantic clouds away (only the high ones get pass)

even if your skies are clear there is no guarantee that there will be any solar activity at that time. I would recommend to plan your trip differently - plan a skii trip or a SPA visit etc. and IF you are blessed with clear skies - do look for auroras... in another words, concentrate on something different and only consider auroras as a lottery win-bonus

Narsil

Hi!

We went to Tromso last March.Flew SAS from Dublin-Oslo-Tromso and stayed at the City Living self catering in the town. It was the perfect place to stay! It cost us c. €550 for 4 nights, but that's very good value for Norway.

Norway is crazy expensive...........a medium pizza, glass of coke and glass of beer was €42!!! Shocking! That's why it's best to go self catering

We went dog sledding with this company: http://villmarkssenter.no/
They were brilliant and the dog sledding is a MUST! It was around €180 each though so again Norweigan prices:rolleyes:. I'd advise going on the first outing in the morning as the snow is fresh and the dogs are giddy. If you book to drive your own sled they literally give you a team of six dogs and show you how to manage them and away you go!!
Bear in mind that if it's cloudy at night you will miss the Aurora and won't be able to see anything around you or the dogs so I wouldn't recommend going on the night sledding tour. Our group was booked in for 8.30am, the whole sledding experience lasted around an hour or so, but they give you a light lunch after and you get to chat with the others on the group until around 1 when the bus takes you back to Tromso town.

We chased the lights with this company on their bus: http://www.arcticguideservice.com/
It was around €100 each, but they take you out for around 5 hours and they travel to where the Lights are strongest.

When we went out we saw nothing the first night. We then took a chance on our last night in Tromso and went out again. We were amazingly lucky and got a really strong view of the Lights with clear skies, standing in a snowfield in front of mountains! It was THE most incredible experience I've ever had. Worth every penny and one of those 'Bucket List' experiences that stayes with you forever.

Just remember:

- Don't go around a full moon or your viewing will be diminished
- Be ready for the prices of everything!
- Do the dog sledding
- Spend some time walking around Tromso, its a lovely place
- Go up the cable car on the mountain near the Arctic cathedral, the landscape up there and the view is breathtaking.

If you want any more info or some photos of our trip just PM me:)

aussie_mella

Iceland Air do great wee deals from Glasgow to Reykjavik.

I think I paid about £350 for 3 nights b&b, Golden Circle day tour which went to the Geysirs, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingvellir National Park and the night trip out to see the Northern Lights. Transfers to and from the hotel were extra also. This was March 2011 so will be a little more expensive now but still a great trip!
The Northern Lights weren't as clear as what I'd hoped as it was an overcast day but will definitely return, maybe even go further north to see them again!

Mel

orchidsrpretty

Went to see the Northern lights a few years ago on the cheap. Had a great time if you have 10-14 days to take and like travelling! We flew to Oslo with Ryanair for about 20e each and then booked advance overnight train to Bodo which cost about 30e pp.Think the tickets are called minipris. We then got on the Hurtigruten(100pp with cabin) up as far as Tromso. We stayed there for 5 days and went to the airport and rented a car and drove up to Hammerfest through Alta, where we were lucky enough to see the northern lights here. We left the car in Hammerfest got the Hurtigruten back to Tromso. Flew back to Oslo and them home! Phew that seems like a lot of travelling but it was all very enjoyable but if I was going to do it again I might leave out Hammerfest as there is'nt that much to see there.
As far I can remember the travelling part of the trip(incl car, boat,train petrol, planes was about 500pp). Spending money is going to be the biggest cost, everything is so expensive, but the supermarkets are pretty cheap.
There is a lot of planning but I find thats one of the fun parts of planning a holiday!