Advice on my winter Norway itinerary

Especially in the winter, I'm not sure what a 5-7 day Norway in a Nutshell tour would be like unless you hope to do something like cross-country skiing somewhere. The classic NiN trip is just one long day or two days with a break along the way. You end up at the very attractive city of Bergen--though I have no clue what the west coast of Norway is like in the winter. It gets a shocking amount of rain in the summer.

Wideroe Airlines (about which I know nothing) has non-stop flights from Bergen to Tromso. There are more flights from Oslo, it's true, but the fjords are closer to Bergen, so it costs extra train time to return to Oslo.

I hope someone with some knowledge about the Northern Lights will see this thread and provide input. I recall earlier comments that the west coast of Norway isn't the most reliable viewing area, because it is so often cloudy, but this is not something I've ever researched myself.

The Norway in a Nutshell tours were temporarily interrupted several days this fall when snowfall made completing the route impossible. Another consideration is that waterfalls on the walls of the fjords will be rare as much of the snow and ice creating the waterfalls will still be frozen during winter.
Scientific forecasts from observing sunspots and other signs that are precursors to the Northern Lights appearing, have the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ( NOAA) concluding that the Northern Lights will steadily increase during 2024 and peak during the fall. That means September through mid- December may be prime-time for seeing the Aurora Borealis. The word from NOAA is that 2024’s display might be the best seen in both the last 20 years and during the next 10 years.

In Norway, Tromso and Svalbard are two destinations popular for seeing the Northern Lghts.

I'm sure you already know that January in Norway is cold. From what the website I linked below says, it's also "often dry and sunny. You will need to wrap up warm with an average high-temperature of 28.8°F (-1.8°C) and an average low-temperature of 19.8°F (-6.8°C). Warm waterproof winter boots are a must plus some thermal underwear. And don’t forget the sunscreen.

So close to the Arctic circle, the nights are long and the days are very short. In January the sun is up from around 9am to around 3.30pm." But, the sun won't get very high on the horizon. The first time I was in Oslo was in November many years ago. I came out of the hostel, saw the sun and thought I was heading east. Nope! It was south.

Limited daylight will affect any plans you have for day trips. I found this website claiming that January is the best time to see the Northern Lights and trying to sell tours. I'm sure there are many others.

Be sure to eat some reindeer meat for me. On the RS Scandinavia tour in 2018 we ate one evening in Oslo at a pub that had a very tasty reindeer stew.

Unfortunately, the incredible Viking Ship House is closed until 2026/2927 when it will open as the Viking Age Museum, with a broader scope and around 8,000 other objects from the Viking Age. Apparently the Historical Museum is the best alternative if you're interested in Viking history.

Other possibilities in Oslo include the Munch Museum and the amazing Opera House which I only saw from afar in 2018. If I was back in Oslo, even if I didn’t go to a performance there, I'd try to take a tour of the building.

We got a lot of info info on Norway travel from the FB page, Norway: Tips for Travelers. They also have another page, Guide to Lofoten. There are a lot of posts about winter travel and northern lights.

So you have 10-12 days in total? That will certainly work, but January is still dark with the sun rising late an setting early. That is something you have to take into account when planning Norway in a Nutshell. You might also want to consider you plan to do it in 5-7 days. It is usually 1 or 2 day trip, some extend it to 3 or even 4. But 5-7 is a very long trip, especially in the winter. Where are you planning to stay along the way?

And if the main goal is to see the lights, Tromsø has has some drawbacks as mentioned. The Norwegian coast can be very cloudy, which is not what you want if you plan to see the lights. There are tours as you've discovered, but they can sometimes drive very long distances to find a spot that is cloud free. It's not unheard of them for drive for 3-4 hours to get to a place, and then there is 3-4 hours back to Tromsø. While you can sleep in the bus, how well do you sleep in a bus? If you plan to do a tour most nights, you might not get that much sleep so don't plan too much for the days. But also, be realistic about day trips in the area. Staying somewhere east of the mountains will improve the chance of seeing the lights where you are. Abisko is a very popular place, and for a reason.

In Norway, Tromso and Svalbard are two destinations popular for seeing
the Northern Lghts.

I've never heard that Svalbard is a popular place for seeing the northern lights. In fact, Svalbard is a bad place to see the lights.

I’m surprised you think Svalbard is not a good location for viewing the Northern Lights. Because Svalbard is in total darkness during four months of the year, which means there are more hours to see the Polar lights.
Svalbard is recommended by Hurtigruten Expeditions which states: “Above the Arctic Circle is the best place to go Aurora hunting which is why northern Norway and Svalbard are some of the best places on earth to see the Northern Lights.” In fact, the Kjell Henriksen Observatory on Svalbard was established to view the Northern Lights and study the scientific phenomena associated with them. The Norwegian government website for tourism also recommends Svalbard to view the Northern Lights. www.VisitNorway.com

I don't pretend to know anything about the northern lights, but:

Hurtigruten runs ferry cruises up the coast of Norway, and the Norwegian tourism website's reason for existence is to encourage tourists to go to Norway. It's perfectly reasonable for those entities to make strongly positive comments about seeing the northern lights in Norway and encourage people to go to the best places in Norway to see the lights.

Abisko is in Sweden.

Sorry to be blunt, but if you knew how the lights are formed, you'd not be surprised. The lights appear at a certain distance from the magnetic pole, that area is usually called the auroral oval. The stronger the aurora is, the further it will spread out from the oval, but it's always centered around the oval. In Europe the oval can be found roughly at around 65-70°N, or northern Scandinavia. Svalbard is simply too far north to be a good location. You might as well go to northern Scotland, it's about the same distance from the Auroral oval as Svalbard, and has fewer polar bears.

And no, advertising is not an impartial source. Hurtigruten is trying to sell you a cruise, so of course they are going to say that it's the most amazing way to see the lights. And the Norwegian government’s website for tourism is there to promote tourism to Norway, including Svalbard.

Alta is supposed to be one of the better places in Norway to see the 'Northern Lights'.

It is not one of the most exciting cities, just being factual (not unkind). It is a pretty modern, functional kind of place. Actually in the City centre itself the very modern Northern Lights Cathedral is really only the 'must see', but there are several other places just outside which are reachable- with planning and patience by local transit, and you should be able to find tours for day tripping bearing in mind the shortness of the days.

But to say it’s “impossible” to see them from Svalbard is just not a credible statement.

Putting the word impossible in quotes is naughty, as no one has used that word, just that it may not be the best place to see them, Badger lives in Scandinavia so is likely to have more idea than someone who has googled the answer.

The idea is to optimise the chances of seeing them. What is being said is that Svalbard may not be the optimal location.

A few weeks away the best places to see them in Europe were actually Shetland (Scotland) and Northumberland (England)- both of which had simply stunning displays for days (well, nights) on end. And, whatever Google throws up, that is factual from a large number of news and social media reports- in Shetland from members of the Church Presbytery.

But to say it’s “impossible” to see them from Svalbard is just not a
credible statement.

Correct, but as far as I can tell, nobody has made that statement. Please don't put words in my or anyone else's mouth.

It is perfectly possible to see the lights in Svalbard, but there are better places. As mentioned, the stronger the Aurora, the further from the oval it can be seen. A few weeks ago there was a very strong Aurora that could be seen as far south as Greece, that does not mean I'd suggest people that want to see the lights should go to Greece.

Thanks everyone for the tips. I'll visit the duration of the NiN tour - I was looking at one advertised for 5 days that had a couple of add on days that sounded good, but I'll look into that a little more closely given your feedback. I can't wait! :)

Where are those addon days and do you really need to book them through a tour company?