Northern Lights: Tromsø in November?

LuckyBenski · 5 Oct 2019 at 20:37

Well, work have told me to use up my leave by Christmas again. I'm not very well travelled but last year I ended up going to Japan. I've decided I want to see the Northern Lights. Not too bothered about any other tourist stuff TBH, though I'm open to anything as an experience.

Looks like Tromsø is a reasonable bet and I figure about a week there mid-late November might be a good effort. Flights are surprisingly cheap!

Any recommendations, tips, warnings or better ideas?

Obviously going to prod @Raymond Lin for this one

Raymond Lin · 5 Oct 2019 at 20:45

LuckyBenski said:
Well, work have told me to use up my leave by Christmas again. I'm not very well travelled but last year I ended up going to Japan. I've decided I want to see the Northern Lights. Not too bothered about any other tourist stuff TBH, though I'm open to anything as an experience.

Looks like Tromsø is a reasonable bet and I figure about a week there mid-late November might be a good effort. Flights are surprisingly cheap!

Any recommendations, tips, warnings or better ideas?

Obviously going to prod @Raymond Lin for this one

I didn’t go! @Phate has been though. I went to Oslo instead.

jsmoke · 5 Oct 2019 at 20:54

Bit boring going on own no?

LuckyBenski · 5 Oct 2019 at 20:56

jsmoke said:
Bit boring going on own no?

Probably but it's also a bit liberating to be able to do whatever I want. Double edged sword. My girlfriend is self employed and basically overloaded between now and Christmas, so can't come. I've posted on Facebook to see if friends are interested!

In Japan I met someone on my first morning and we buddied up for 3 days, it was great TBF.

Throrik · 5 Oct 2019 at 21:01

jsmoke said:
Bit boring going on own no?

I prefer a thousand times traveling on my own to with others, you get to do whatever you want and not have to compromise to go to those silly places your travel partner ends up going.

Raymond Lin · 5 Oct 2019 at 21:09

jsmoke said:
Bit boring going on own no?

Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.

I met and hung out with some random girl in a Temple Kyoto and thought it was weird seeing a Chinese guy with an English accent.

But generally you are free, no “what do you want to eat later”, “oh I don’t eat seafood”, “can we go in this shop?”

Zenduri · 6 Oct 2019 at 01:21

Comically enough i suggested Tromso in another thread yesterday as im looking to go too. I have a friend who lives in Norway and hes in Vadso which is about the same longitude but hes far far east and this was the view from his garden last year.

Im thinking of going there some time soon and he recommends December but obv need to dress really well and warm as it can get insanely cold

mrk · 6 Oct 2019 at 01:35

What about Finland too? The Igloo Hotel (Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort) is pretty unique with log cabins, Husky rides, snow mobile riding and great atmosphere and food in the main building. After all these years I can still smell the log cabins from memory. Also get to see the northern lights.

Landing on a snow covered runway in a small prop plane is something of an experience too, as is the -32 degree temps and zero wind so your neck insides frost up with every inhale in the morning when you step out the cabin :cool:

loltim · 6 Oct 2019 at 03:43

LuckyBenski said:
Probably but it's also a bit liberating to be able to do whatever I want.

Raymond Lin said:
But generally you are free, no “what do you want to eat later”, “oh I don’t eat seafood”, “can we go in this shop?”

Go with like-minded people then? :confused:

Efour · 6 Oct 2019 at 06:27

Anywhere with an airport near article circle.
Kiruna in Sweden. Narvick in Norway been to both.
November will be bloody cold by UK standards.
Think for light pollution and get an app with solar wind activity. Tbh that far north it's probably visible nearly every night in the right conditions.
I use LPM for light pollution and Aurora map both on Android store.
Get a tripod if you want slow exposure photos.
Find a place with reliably low cloud cover too.

I'm lucky I can just look out my window usually lol. We had a kp6 magnetic storm last weekend but it was so foggy here I didn't see a bloody thing. Major disappointment.

Finland will be a lot cheaper than Norway. And Sweden too at 12kr to the pound right now.

Efour · 6 Oct 2019 at 06:32

Looks like tonight is nice if the weather holds clear

Phate · 7 Oct 2019 at 00:48

Sorry for the delay. I went to Tromsø & Oslo in Nov 2017 and got the Northern lights. The country itself is spectacular along with Tromsø being pretty surreal at that time of year.

Here are some photos from Tromsø itself.

Bassmansam · 7 Oct 2019 at 10:47

Went in Feb 16, a lovely place with stunning scenery especially as you venture out of the city. Saw the lights although wasn’t the strongest display.

LuckyBenski · 7 Oct 2019 at 22:56

Phate said:
Sorry for the delay. I went to Tromsø & Oslo in Nov 2017 and got the Northern lights. The country itself is spectacular along with Tromsø being pretty surreal at that time of year.

Here are some photos from Tromsø itself.

Oooooh those are stunning. Using this thread to convince my mate to come with me

ChrisD. · 17 Oct 2019 at 12:31

I've got 5 days leave to use up between now and Christmas and I'll be travelling alone, I'm trying to decide between a guided tour or Iceland with Intrepid Travel or just go to Tromsø. The pics in here look amazing so I may look at a solo trip to Tromsø. Any suggestions on where to stay and how long to go for? I don't want to end up being bored!

LuckyBenski · 14 Nov 2019 at 19:20

Well, flights leave Saturday morning. All this time I believed we were going Sunday until my mate corrected me yesterday. That was a small heart attack!

Have bought extra thermals, big boots, removable snow grips, and dug out my wool jumpers. A nice colleague lent me his coat to save me buying a better one

Also bought a tripod and I'll be packing loads of teabags and biscuits because well, I am British!

One question I'm wondering about is will we be able to just wander off into the area? We're staying a mile or so out of town and hoping to explore a lot on our own time.

Just need to learn how to set up long exposure shots!

Bassmansam · 14 Nov 2019 at 20:27

LuckyBenski said:
One question I'm wondering about is will we be able to just wander off into the area? We're staying a mile or so out of town and hoping to explore a lot on our own time.

Just need to learn how to set up long exposure shots!

You can go off on your own but its probably good to go with a tour guide, i went with these guys who gave us a brilliant trip including having dinner on a beach in the middle of nowhere under the stars. Then later on the lights appeared and we went to three different places to view them from.

Will have to go again one day.

https://explorethearctic.no/

The_Abyss · 14 Nov 2019 at 20:42

Awesome, well done. Glad you had some decent weather. The northern lights are simply amazing the first time that you see them really put on a show.

Efour · 14 Nov 2019 at 22:11

Hope you get clear skies, looks like a lot of snow forecast....

The_Abyss · 14 Nov 2019 at 22:53

LuckyBenski said:
Well, flights leave Saturday morning. All this time I believed we were going Sunday until my mate corrected me yesterday. That was a small heart attack!

Have bought extra thermals, big boots, removable snow grips, and dug out my wool jumpers. A nice colleague lent me his coat to save me buying a better one

Also bought a tripod and I'll be packing loads of teabags and biscuits because well, I am British!

One question I'm wondering about is will we be able to just wander off into the area? We're staying a mile or so out of town and hoping to explore a lot on our own time.

Just need to learn how to set up long exposure shots!

Get some heat packs to keep your lens warm.