I have had the honor to check off one of the number one things on everyone’s bucket lists, seeing the northern lights! Back in November of 2023, I went out on a limb and decided to book a last minute trip to Norway. I was looking through Google Flights and found discounted tickets during the stretch I had off from work, and I could not pass it up. I walked up to my parents and told them my plan. I was going to go see the Northern Lights in only a short span of 5 days! My mom decided to be spontaneous with me, and an hour later we were booking $500 tickets to Oslo, Norway in the middle of November!
Now I know what you might be thinking, Oslo is not above the Arctic Circle. So we had to make a plan to head North, where the sun sets at 2:45pm every day. Tromso, Norway was calling our name and we made sure to answer! After spending less than 24 hours in Oslo, we were boarding another plane above the arctic circle! We made sure to book our northern lights tour the first night during our three day stay in case we had to go out the second night as well. While getting dinner and walking around the little downtown, the weather did not look to be in our favor as the sky was covered in dark gray clouds, not a star to be seen. But we boarded our tour bus with hope that we would be able to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis, even if it was only for a few minutes.
As we sat in our warm bus and trusted our tour guide, one to two hours later we were pulling over in an area south of Tromso. A gap in the clouds started to form and we all turned our heads up to the sky and waited together. That’s when the show began, and the Aurora Borealis danced and showed her true colors! We all stared up at the sky and took what photos we could as we tried to figure out which ones were pink and which were green. The show went on for about an hour and the sky cleared up completely. It was magnificent, breathtaking, and an experience all should get to have at least once in their life. We owe it all to the tour guides, because without them my mom and I would not have been able to catch the northern lights as we did that night.
How To Chase:
Now there are a few ways you can chase the northern lights! But if you are a beginner like me, I suggest working with a tour group! However, if you do not want to pay the extra money and want to go on the path less traveled, there is a way you can do it alone!
- Using an App:
- If you have a rental car and can brave driving in the snow after dark all night then you can take the road less traveled! The most important part is that you almost always HAVE to be north of the Arctic Circle. We decided to go to Tromso, Norway, but there are plenty of other towns like Alta, Lapland, and many other places in Canada and Iceland. It will increase your likelihood dramatically to see the Northern Lights.
- Another important factor is time of year, specifically between October and April. When we went in November, we were told that the Aurora Borealis is normally the strongest between December and February making it more likely to see it multiple times during the week. Not to mention during this time of year the colors might be even more vibrant.
- You also want to give yourself ample time in those towns North of the Arctic Circle! One of the biggest mistakes people make when trying to see the Northern Lights is not staying long enough, and they often miss them by a day or two. I took a chance and only spent two nights in Tromso due to my time constraint with work, and I got very lucky! Guides and locals recommended spending at least a week above the Arctic Circle so you can see them at least one night if not more. Sometimes the aurora borealis only comes out once during the week, and if more, the weather is not predictable enough to ensure the sky won’t be cloudy, especially in the winter!
- Without having any of those tools and machines that can predict the aurora borealis forecast, there are apps out there that can tell you where to go to get the best chance of seeing them! The one I downloaded and found highly recommended was My Aurora Forecast & Alerts. It gives you a map with the percentage likely chance that if you look up you will see the northern lights dancing. It also gives you a KP Index that measures the strength of geomagnetic activity. When the kp index is 5 or higher, the more likely geomagnetic disturbances will occur and the more likely for the northern lights to put on a show. On top of that, the app gives you the best locations around the globe to see them, with live webcams at popular destinations to get an idea if you can see them or not. It also includes live sightings reported by fellow app users, which can help you in determining where to go, to best increase your chances of seeing the lights!
- Tour Groups:
- Going with a tour group is the way I would suggest going about seeing the Northern Lights 100%. Most of the guides do this for a living and go out every night! They have the equipment and the staff to travel all around the country to report where the best sightings are likely to be. They have a ton of knowledge that is often needed to have a successful night in spotting the Aurora Borealis!
- Now there are plenty of tour groups out there! We went with Arctic Breeze AS, and I only have good things to say! We started off the night in a 12 seater van getting nice and warm. The driver/tour guide gave us a run down of what to expect and along the drive he would get calls from coworkers instructing him on where there are potential sightings. Once we pulled over the company offered us warm hot cocoa, cookies, and most importantly thermal snowsuits which were warmer than our own clothes.
- The guide also showed us the correct settings on how to take photos of the Northern Lights with our phones, and the different types of cameras people brought with them. One of the best parts of this tour was the photos the tour guide took. He made sure we each had a chance to take a photo with the northern lights in the background and also shared the plenty he took without people. The quality was absolutely amazing and 100 times better than what our iPhones captured.
- The excitement from the guide made the experience even more enjoyable. The night that my mom and I went out, there was some sort of geomagnetic storm that scientists had not seen in years, and because of it we saw some brighter colors and more dancing. Our guide was running around trying to capture as many photos as he could all while exclaiming how he couldn’t believe how beautiful the night turned out!
Overall the Northern Lights are a must if you are in the right place at the right time! Some of the most important aspects of being able to chase them includes being above the arctic circle, going at the right time of year, and giving yourself enough time to have the opportunity to see them! For your best bet and likelihood of seeing them, I highly recommend going with a tour guide! However, it is feasible to do it alone, it just might be a little harder! I wish you luck in your chase!