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Norway: Northern Lights (including budget)

So my girlfriend and I have finally decided to pull the trigger and start planning out a northern lights trip to Tromsø, Norway. We did a lot of research and our choices were always between Iceland, Abisko (Sweden), or Tromsø in Norway.

Iceland had many activities but lower chances of lights and higher chances of inclement weather. Abisko seemed to have much better showings but outside of the lights, it seemed like the only other things to do were some hiking around the national park. There might be dog sledding too?

After some much consideration, we chose Norway. Tromsø had constantly been described as a place where you have super high chances of seeing the lights, along with having many other things to see and do. We came up with a rough budget for our trip. About $5000-$6000 for 2 people for 5 days, 6 nights, anytime between mid September to mid December (we haven’t decided so definitely give out suggestions if you have any). Let us know if we need to be more realistic with our budget.

Our plane tickets will be about $1000 each, and we found a place called smart hostel and we can get a room for $76 or so a night. We were thinking $1000 for our 5 days, 6 nights, which offers $166.66 a day for 2 people. This means we would have a little under a $100 a day after hostel expenses. Should we try for more? Another $2000 will be put towards activities ($1000 for each of us for our tours). We wanted to do whale watching for orcas, dog sledding through the snow, Aurora light chasing, and seeing reindeer with the Sami. This is why we budgeted sorta high with the activities.

That brings our total to $5000. We could probably try and get it to $6000 if we really needed to but how does that $5000 look for two people? Any suggestions on which month we go, given our other activities? Any suggestions would be super appreciated and thank you!

Posted by
8383 posts

It sounds like you have been thinking this through. Your budget looks reasonable, but be aware that food can be quite expensive.

An alternative, for comparison’s sake is “14 day search for the Northern lights Cruise” roundtrip out of Southampton on Princess Cruises leaving on Sept 24. Cost for the two of you would be $4226 at today’s prices. The cruise includes stops at Trondheim,Tromso, Alta, Lofoten Islands, Gravdal, and Alesund. Room, board, entertainment, transport covered.

I took a similar itinerary as a “midnight sun” cruise last summer and really enjoyed seeing different parts of Norway, if only briefly.

Posted by
2244 posts

Sounds doable.

Tromso is a good starting point for somehow easy traveling.
I spent last summer 2 nights with my Mum at the Scandic Ishavshotel which has in higher room classes large windows to East with view to the sound and Fjellheisen. NL appear from East to West (earth turning). Room 406 and 408 if I remember right. Early booking plus the loyalty program will give you the best price. In best case you sit in a dark warm room infront of this huge window and enjoy a next "wave" of NL.

Period selection: I would check the clear-sky ratio if you find any information about that. I have never read a science based study that northern lights appear more or less often at one location.

At nights with high appearance likelihood Fjellheisen shall be a good place to be. At high wind speeds the cable car is closed.

A good coffee after long nights you will find at Kaffebønna.

btw: I experienced NL on Lofoten at beginning of September 2016. It is really worth every effort!

Posted by
1309 posts

“ We were thinking $1000 for our 5 days, 6 nights, which offers $166.66 a day for 2 people. This means we would have a little under a $100 a day after hostel expenses. Should we try for more? ”

If I understand correctly this $100 a day is meant for breakfast, lunch, dinner etc? So $50 per person per day for that? I just returned from Tromso a little over a week ago and I’m sorry to say but that is not realistic. Norway is a very expensive country, just a simple glass of beer or wine will cost you $8 to $12. A main course in a restaurant easily costs $25.

Tromso is well worth a visit though! We loved the city and the available activities and we were lucky enough to see the northern lights!
In terms of when to visit, you need to take the daylight hours into account. From the end of November until mid January, the sun doesn’t rise at all. This is great for the viewing of the northern lights, for which you need darkness, but not so great for activities like whale watching, dog sledding etc.

For the preparation of my trip, I found the TripAdvisor forum about Tromso to be very helpful. Several locals, including northern light guides, are active there and they provide up to date information.

Posted by
7 posts

Thanks you guys!

I showed my girlfriend the cruise idea but unfortunately we probably can’t get 2 weeks off to pull off such an adventure.

In terms of budgeting, yeah I guess the $1000 was sort of slim. If we shave off a day and add another $500, we can basically up our daily budget by $100 per day. Thank you for confirming that we probably needed to add more.

Also I love the idea of having a hotel facing the direction of the lights, and the room numbers were even more helpful. We will definitely weigh our options when booking.

Posted by
4574 posts

Have you looked at Havila or Hurtigruten ferry/cruise? They offer 7 and 12 day itineraries. I am heading there in late September (to coincide with early October darkest nights) for a 12 day trip to try and see the NL. Havila inside cabins are the cheapest. You engage a buzzer to call you when the NL are visible. The 7 day ends at Kirkense, so you would need to budget in the flight back to Oslo, or wherever.
However you plan it, try to be there in New Moon phase of the month.
Supposedly, grocery store food isn't as costly as tourist restaurants, so picnics can supplement your food budget. (Giving up booze for the time will also save a bundle 😉)

Posted by
6399 posts

Tromsø had constantly been described as a place where you have super
high chances of seeing the lights.

I do not agree that Tromsø is a place where you have super high chances of seeing the lights. It is a pretty bad place, low altitude, a lot of light pollution and a high risk of clouds. But there are certainly many options for Aurora tours, just be aware that they can drive very far, and hence get back very late to Tromsø. Although Tromsø has the advantage of being a proper town with more options for other things to do.

And you might want to rethink when you are planning this trip, mid September is very early for the the lights. It's not impossible to see them, but the chances could certainly be better.

A previous thread on the subject: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/how-to-see-the-northern-lights-a-short-guide