Hunting the Northern Lights: Tromso and Alta (Norway)

[ADLhighflyer]

A few weeks ago, I got back from another amazing holiday – this time from the destinations of Tromso and Alta in Northern Norway. The aim of this trip: to try and view the Northern Lights again, whist enjoying the amazing scenery that Northern Norway has to offer!

Planning for this trip started way back in August/September of 2024 with a view to travelling with mum to Norway so she could view the lights and enjoy the scenery as much as I had done in my last visit there back in Nov 2022. She had seen my pictures from that trip and demanded (well, politely requested!) that she must go there to try and have the same northern light success.

The toughest part of the planning was to work out how long and where to stay to maximise the tours and other activities we wanted, and after a bit of searching, found and booked via a Travel Agent an awesome deal of Business Class Melbourne-Tromso return flying Singapore Airlines and Scandinavian Airlines. We ultimately decided on 6 nights in Tromso, followed by 4 nights in Alta, then another 2 in Tromso before flying home. Internal Norway flights were booked with Scandinavian Airlines direct.

Amazing Highlights of the trip included

• Various Northern Lights hunts in the hopes of spotting the lights
• Reindeer Feeding and Sledding
• Snowmobiling to the tri-country border where borders of Norway, Finland and Sweden all meet
• Viewing Tromso from the top Fjellheisen Mountain via Cable Car
• Scenic Tour of the islands of Senja and Kvaløya
• Snowshoeing to a Frozen Waterfall
• Quad biking, with the hope of seeing the lights enroute
• Day trip to the North Cape: the most northern point in continental Europe
• Snowshoeing and Ice Fishing with the (faint) hope of catching lunch
• Day Trip to see the Lyngen Alps

This trip had everything possible you could hope for, with memories to last a lifetime. Please sit back, grab a cuppa and enjoy the journey over the next few weeks

As a side note, like my previous trip report I’ll be keeping a Northern Lights Scorecard where I planned on going out light spotting. Will I see them, or not…. That is the question!

NB: Previous Northern Light Hunting Trip Reports from Iceland, Norway and Germany in Nov/Dec 2017 Here and Rovaniemi, Tromso and Iceland Nov 2022 Here

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE PLANNED ITINERARY

15/03 MEL-SIN-CPH (SQ), CPH-TOS (SK)

22/03 TOS-OSL-ALF (SK)

26/03 ALF-TOS (SK)

28/03 TOS-OSL-CPH (SK), CPH-SIN-MEL (SQ)

 

[VPS]

Following with excitement

 

[Gladstone Tim]

Following along. Interested in the cost of the SQ fare.

 

[Seat0B]

I’m also very interested in your TR

 

[burmans]

Following, we tried to see the Northern Lights in Tromso January last year but the weather didn’t oblige!

 

[Dmac59]

Following with interest.

 

[SydneySwan]

Planning a trip to Norway later this year so very keenly following.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Following with excitement

Following along. Interested in the cost of the SQ fare.

I’m also very interested in your TR

Following with interest.

Planning a trip to Norway later this year so very keenly following.

Looking forward to sharing this with you all!

Following, we tried to see the Northern Lights in Tromso January last year but the weather didn’t oblige!

Tromso weather can be very hit and miss - it certainly wasn't on the kind side for when we arrived!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE PLANNING

Planning of this trip took a little while to get sorted, as the hardest part was trying to figure out when to go, and also the dates to pick.

Given one of the key criteria was to hopefully see the Northen Lights, planning started around the equinox which was on March 20th, and from there trying to work out the best combination of dates for the trip that was ultimately booked.

The Long Haul Flights in some ways were easier, given the variety of options from Melbourne (or from elsewhere in Australia if required to pre-position) – Europe. I vaguely remembered SAS offered flights, codesharing on Singapore Airlines (this was before the change from Star Alliance to SkyTeam). Believe it or not, we eventually were able to lock in flights MEL-SIN-CPH-TOS, and TOS-OSL-CPH-SIN-MEL with the MEL-SIN-CPH legs booked with Singapore Airlines (SK Flight Numbers) for $6000 each return – all confirmed in Business Class (SQ Legs) and SAS Plus (SK Legs) and is well worth considering for any trip up into Scandinavia. For us, this was a bargain! Stopovers in Singapore were approx. 3hrs each way, with Copenhagen only 1hr on the way over, and 90mins on the return.

Also to add into the mix, was that various tours in both Tromso and Alta were filling up and the price of accommodation was going upwards 6 months out (we think due to an event in Tromso), and the famous Finnmark Race (Europe’s longest Dog Sled Race) that finished in Alta that day we arrived.

Long story short, we ultimately booked accommodation at the following as these best worked with out plans in terms of availability, cost and space:

• 2 bedroom apartment at Skaret by Vander in Tromso
• Scandic Alta
• Comfort Hotel Xpress in Tromso

Furthermore, dates were chosen around specific tours that were considered “must do” as some of these didn’t run everyday (Snowmobiling, North Cape), and also had to allow time at the end of the trip for anything that had to change mid trip as a backup.

Internal Flights were another problem that was worked around. Flights from Tromso – Alta are direct, but generally either run in the late afternoon on a Dash 8 (Wideroe), or very late (9pm/10pm or so) on SAS/Norwegian. Instead, we booked a 6am flight Tromso – Oslo with a connecting flight to Alta that would arrive around 12pm in SAS’s Premium Economy “SAS Plus” that would give us lounge access. Return flight was easier to book Alta-Tromso direct as that left at 0730 and arrived in Tromso some 40mins later leaving the entire day to do whatever we pleased. Given the short flight, the cheapest fare was booked.

Of course, nothing ever runs smoothly and just after booking the Tromso-Alta flight SAS sent us a schedule change which meant out flights from Tromso-Oslo-Alta (0615-1210) would ultimately change to 1040-1855 with a 4 hour layover in Oslo. Thankfully had the lounge access, so it wasn’t all bad – at least we were getting there on the day we had planned on (a later flight ex Tromso was offered, but chose to take the earlier one in case of delays).

So in the end, we managed to book a holiday which ensured the following:

• Business Class return flights to Tromso and back
• Maximised Day Trip availability for what we wanted
• Maximised opportunities to see the lights
• Booked accommodation at very reasonable rates
• Worked internal flights around the busy schedule
• And somehow left time spare as a backup

Exhausted reading this? I am already – and this trip hasn’t even started yet!


Now to let the real fun begin!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

THE TRIP COMMENCES!

Finally, the day of the trip has arrived!

Woke up early and made final preparations, before heading to the airport. As would be expected with going away for a bit, that momentary thought bubble appeared out of no-where 5mins after leaving home to remind myself I had left a bottle of opened milk in the fridge. One quick diversion back home to empty it, and it was back on the road back to the airport!

Dropped off the car, and headed into complete Check-In (slight 20min wait for it to open, but was happy to just be there ontime). Nil issues experienced, and it was through the Duty Free Maze to pay for a few things (to be picked up upon return) and headed to the Air New Zealand Lounge to sit out for a bit. Very airy and spacious and mostly empty following the earlier departures to NZ, we made the use of the buffet. After an hour, thought we’d go and try the Singapore Airlines Lounge just to see what it was like – but didn’t realise it was a fair bit smaller. Following another hour, it was time to board!

SQ228 MEL-SIN 1640-2120



Boarded and took off ontime, and within an hour or so (I wasn’t exactly keeping track of time!) was served dinner.

For Appetiser, was served Panzanella Salad with Prawns, and this was accompanied with a side of garlic bread (whilst trying to watch the recent Movie ‘Conclave’ for the first time)



For Main Course, I chose the Braised Lamb Neck with Pickled Carrot and Korean Chilli Oil.



And most importantly for dessert, couldn’t go past the Almond Meringue Succes with Raspberry Gel.



All meals were extremely nice and filling, however slightly forgot that Korean Chilli Oil was slightly hot (insert laughing parent here).

Closer to Singapore, a Refreshment meal was served and I chose the Seared Beef Cubes on Brown Rice, with Green Goddess Dressing. This was very light, and perfect to have something a little refreshing that wasn’t heavy.



Landed at T2 approx. 40mins early at Gate 60, which I swear was the furthest gate given all the walking that had to be done! With a roughly 3 hour layover, we explored Terminal 2 at Changi and then caught the SkyTrain to Terminal 3 via Jewel. Given the reflections inside the Train, not much could be seen outside unfortunately. Oh well maybe next time.

Found out where the SilverKris Lounge was, and parked ourselves there for the remaining time until it was time to board flight #2.

SQ352 SIN-CPH 0025-0710

Left the lounge at around 2340 and headed down to Gate A8 with the flight pushing back a few mins early – a great sign given our tight connection in Copenhagen.

Given the time of the flight, Supper was served quickly.

I started with the Appetiser of Seared Tuna Loin and Garlic Bread



Which was followed by the Main Course of Soya Sauce Chicken Noodles



And Dessert of Crème Brulee



Given it was now about 5am Melbourne Time after being awake nearly 24hrs, it was time to get some rest. Slept on and off before being served Breakfast about 2hrs from Copenhagen where I went for the Belgian Waffles for something a little sweeter (no picture sorry).

We arrived in Copenhagen approx. 30mins early, which due to our short transfer was a welcome relief. Tried to enter the lounge to get our boarding passes for the next flight, but were re-directed to the SAS Transfer Counter which was sorted within a few mins. Back to the SAS Lounge again (entry this time being successful) for a quick stop and essential coffee and it was time to head to flight #3 to Tromso!

SK4452 CPH-TOS 0805-1040

Boarding the flight ontime, we noticed the chilly air in the airbridge was a brisk 2 degrees – a sign on things to come! Seated in seats 2A/B, and fellow party was also assigned 2C/D/E/F. This was despite the rest of the Business Cabin (approx. 8-10 rows) remaining empty from what I could see, which I felt was unusual. Push back was delayed 15-20mins due to airport congestion (Copenhagen has a wave of departures around 8am).

Once in the air, we were promptly served Breakfast Snack Box which consisted of a Roll, Ham, Cheese, Yoghurt and Orange Juice.



Once the tray was cleared, I was able to enjoy the views heading North up the Norwegian Coast!






Following landing in Tromso, we were kept on the Tarmac for about 30mins due to the airport being overflowing with aircraft. This was courtesy of a huge snowstorm the night before we arrived, which caused multiple flight diversions. I’ve never seen the airport so busy, with people everywhere! Waiting for the gate to become available gave me time to watch the local airport crews clean up the snow from the night before.





Eventually arrived at the Gate approximately 1hr later than scheduled and made it inside the Terminal, collected our bags (which we were very glad to see again) and made our way onto the Airport Bus which would take us into Tromso!

Then it was time to explore!

 

[ellen10]

Sounds like a great start to your wonderful trip. Eagerly following along!

 

[craven morehead]

THE PLANNED ITINERARY

15/03 MEL-SIN-CPH (SQ), CPH-TOS (SK)

22/03 TOS-OSL-ALF (SK)

26/03 ALF-TOS (SK)

28/03 TOS-OSL-CPH (SK), CPH-SIN-MEL (SQ)

View attachment 439312

Looks good!

 

[I love to travel]

Looking forward to reading about lounge availability from CPH to SIN as I am doing this flight soon

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Following the trip on the Airport Bus, we got dropped off in the city centre and made our way to the chosen hotel for the next 6 days: Skaret by Vander. This is an apartment style hotel, but you are left to your own devices with no (or extremely minimal) staff onsite.

Arriving shortly after 1pm, we expected not to be able to check-in however some fellow guests who were waiting said to have a go completing check-in via the automated check-in stations. 2mins later, and we had keycards in hand and on the way to offload our bags for the next few days.

Views from the room overlooked the water, offered an amazing view of the local area! Well worth paying extra for (when you could actually see outside the window anyway!)



We decided to have a quick wander around town to see what was around and grab an early dinner (a basic baguette from 7-11), as in a few hours – we had our first Northern Lights Tour (yes, right after a 30+ hr trip from Australia!). Temperature at this time was a cold -2 degrees, but bearable given nil windchill. Being a Sunday, very few shops were open. Snowplow’s were out in full force trying to move the snow that had fallen the previous night with street paths being very icy, so had to be very careful where and how far to step at all times!







A quick nap later to try and keep the jet lag away, and it was off to our first Northern Lights Hunting Tour! We were told to meet at the Magic Ice Bar at 7pm, but given a few tour companies all left from the same spot – things were a little disorganised, but we soon found our minibus.

What followed was a lot of driving, many stops, but due to the weather – we unfortunately didn’t get to see anything. The tour company for the night was able to start a campfire and offered us biscuits, hot chocolate and dinner – which consisted of a camping freeze dried meal to take our minds off the fact the visibility wasn’t much and the snow kept on falling.

Not a great night to start off, but given this was only day 1 in Tromso – there was still plenty of time to see the lights! Hope wasn’t lost yet.

Back into the hotel at 1am feeling very, very tired.

Northern Lights Scorecard: 0/1

 

[Seat0B]

Wow that’s stamina @ADLhighflyer!
I have my fingers crossed for a good Aurora sighting.

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Wow that’s stamina @ADLhighflyer!
I have my fingers crossed for a good Aurora sighting.

It was sure a struggle staying awake - kept going on adrenalin thinking we'd see something. Next time!

 

[ADLhighflyer]

Follow last nights disappointment of not seeing the lights, only a minor sleep-in was had as today was the first of the day trips over the next few days.

Thankfully, I’d done some research prior to leaving home and knew of a couple of places for a reasonable ‘cheap’ breakfast (by Norwegian standards anyway) to at least get something to eat. Today’s choice was Backstube, which was found at the entrance to the main shopping throughfare in Tromso. Grabbed a coffee (not like Melbourne standards, but it’ll do for now) and some croissants, and headed off to get checked in for todays daytrip: Reindeer Sledding, Feeding and Sami Story Telling! Snow was still falling quite a lot, so had to be very careful to avoid being the one to fall over!






We had booked the longer Reindeer Sledding, so upon checkin at the Bus Terminal were given yellow wristbands to indicate this – a system that ran perfectly. Then it was about a 25min journey out to where the Reindeer were.

We arrived and after being given a very quick rundown of the days plan, went on the first group of reindeer sledding. It was great to see the scenery around us and slow down for – well 30mins, as we took in the fresh arctic air.







Following the sledding, it was time to feed the reindeer. Imagine a scene were tourists arrive daily, and reindeer wanting food – it’s like a match made in heaven, where ultimately the reindeer win and get their feed whilst the tourists try to avoid getting hurt by antlers appearing out of nowhere!





Following the feeding, we were able to get some shelter in one of the nearby Sami huts and have a nice warm hot chocolate before lunch was served of Reindeer Stew which was very nice. Following lunch, we listened to a talk on the Sami Culture before heading on the busses back into Tromso.

It was at this time heading home, that we received an email to advise that due to the weather that tonights Northern Lights Hunt had been cancelled

This later proved invaluable as for unknown reasons, I became quite unwell suddenly and needed the full night to recover. Had the Northern Lights Hunt proceeded, I was in no fit state to attend, so was very lucky on this occasion and end up having a very early night in.

Northern Lights Scorecard: Still 0/1

 

[jase05]

Following along as we were in Norway early last year and Tromso was probably my favourite stop on the trip.
If you like great pubs head to Macks, had a fantastic time albeit too short stay there

 

[Seat0B]

Hope you soon feel better @ADLhighflyer