The Northern Lights draw travelers in pursuit. Is it worth it?
I flew all the way to Svalbard (north of Norway), an international Arctic territory, to learn that I was likely too far north and the weather often too cloudy to have any reasonable shot at seeing them. I had already booked two nights of activities where I stumbled around in the dark.
That seems common. Whenever I have been that I might see them, and local tourism bureaux and tour agencies don’t hold back in marketing, once I am there I hear a bunch of reasons why it ain’t gonna happen that night.
There is an oval whey there are most prevalent, and Tromsø, Norway, where I had an overnight connection in squarely there. Despite being very tired I booked a last-minute evening tour, missed dinner due to late flight and found myself standing in the cold dark hoping for something to happen. We got very little.
This is what my pocket camera got, much worse than what guide Geir got with his professional camera, yet still much more than I saw with my eyes.
Here are my lessons learned:
- Don’t pin a trip’s success on seeing the Northern Lights.
- Go with an expert. I wrongly thought you would just look at your window and see them. You need someone who knows where to look and how to look. I booked with Aurora Photo Guide. Geir stood in the cold with eyes peeled to the sky for hours while I huddled in the van with hot chocolate and biscuits.
- If really determined, some providers offer plans to allow multi-day retries in case not successful the first night.
- The pictures, those HDR shots, look much better than the reality.
With all the reputation, I wouldn’t have skipped an attempt to see them, however I think even if they had been a great night, it would have been underwhelming to my expectations. I would have preferred dinner and a bit of rest before my onward flight.
Readers, what are your Northern Lights experiences?
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13 Comments on "Is Chasing the Northern Lights Worth It?"
Nice honest review, I sorry the trip was not all you expected or wanted.
What no photos of the hot chocolate and biscuits. ;).,.. A little private joke.
Yep, Svalbard is definitely too far north too chase northern lights. Got lucky last year where we caught a glimpse the same evening after a total solar eclipse, but it was a particularly active solar season.
My recommendation is to skip Iceland for Aurora as well, as it’s more often than not overcast, and go straight to Alaska. Boring but reliable.
Did you do any snowmobile tours in Svalbard? I’m doing Barentsburg in a couple weeks and was wondering if you had any tips on not paying the obscene rack rate on that.
@Forrest – all the operators in Svalbard seem to be in a formal or informal cartel, everything is expensive and each about the same price, essentially all that exists is listed on the official tourism site calendar, not to be confused with the separate selection on a more polished site sent out by some of the hotels.
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They look much better in photos; they are very faint (only a squiggle to the naked eye) and only appear prominent after letting in tons of light with a long exposure. Avoid taking tours with a large group – others in the group inevitably leave their camera’s flash on and will ruin your long-exposure attempts!
I saw them in Yukon, Canada… beautiful!
why go all the way to Norway when you do better in Alaska?
@Shannon – I was I Norway and Svalbard to see those places, I got suckered by the marketing to try to add Northern Lights.
You’d have better luck to see them in Iceland. And the cost is generally cheaper than going to Norway.