7 Unique Ways to See the Northern Lights in Tromsø

Beautiful ribbons of green dancing in a starry night sky against a backdrop of fjords and frozen landscapes: this is what you can expect when you come to see the Northern lights in Tromsø.

 But Tromsø offers so much more than just the chance to see the famous aurora borealis: it’s a vibrant, buzzy city of more than 80,000 people, with so many unique activities you can enjoy, from dog sledding with Alaskan huskies to visiting Sámi reindeer farms to whale watching.

Tromsø is a place of incredible beauty and culture, especially in winter. By day, you can walk around the picture-perfect city center and shop on Nerstranda, the city’s main pedestrian street chock-full of excellent boutiques and clothing shops.

By night, you can catch the man-made lights of the Arctic Cathedral or up the mountain via the Fjellheisen cable car, hoping for a glimpse of the Northern lights over the city.

But the reality is that seeing the Northern lights in Tromsø’s city center is far from a guarantee.

Luckily, there are so many more ways to see the Northern lights than just hoping for a glimpse over the city sky… some of them extremely unique and fun, like from a hot tub on the fjord or while visiting a Sámi reindeer camp!

In this post, I’ll go into all the day trips (well, night trips technically) that I recommend as activities leaving from Tromsø.

My Personal Tromsø Northern Lights Experience

Part of the reason why I love blogging is because I get to share my actual travel experiences with you and give you the pros and cons from someone who has been there, done that.

I’ve visited Tromsø twice: once in 2020 and once in 2024 to refresh my content because Covid changed the travel landscape drastically and many tours changed or went out of business. Unfortunately, the 2023-2024 aurora season was less stellar than anticipated: I saw the lights fewer times in three weeks than I did in a one week trip.

I’ve listed 7 unique Northern lights tours below, and I’ve done several of the exact tours listed, or I have done a variation of the same tour just at a different time.

Personally, I’ve done the Northern lights catamaran cruise, the small group Northern lights chase minibus tour, and the husky farm Northern lights tour. All were excellent and I’ll give more detailed information below.

For some others, like the reindeer farm, I’ve visited during the day and had the exact same itinerary, just without the chance of seeing the Northern lights, so I can speak to a portion of those experiences. 

There are a few things I didn’t get to experience in Tromsø that I experienced elsewhere, like Svalbard Northern lights snowmobiling, so I feel comfortable recommending those experiences, too as it would be quite similar.

I hope my firsthand experiences and suggestions help you narrow down your search and find the perfect Northern lights tour (or tours, if you are Northern lights obsessed like I am) for you… and good luck aurora hunting!

7 Unique Northern Lights Tours in Tromsø

Rather than regurgitate a long list of minibus tours, I’m writing this post to suggest my top recommendation of a minibus tour in Tromsø and keeping that as the only bus tour chasing the lights.

The other options all incorporate other activities — fjord sailing, snowmobiling, visiting huskies and reindeer, enjoying a jacuzzi on a cruise — where the Northern lights are a possibility, not the focus.

I highly recommend starting your Northern lights trip with a minibus tour to try to see the lights. If you are satisfied with the aurora you saw that night, I would plan other activities that aren’t just Northern lights chasing, but have it as a bonus if they show up.

Small Group Minibus Tour 

This was the best Northern lights tour I’ve taken on any of my trips to Tromsø. I’ve taken several Northern lights tours in differnet countries, and this was the Northern lights tour that delivered the most in terms of pure determination of seeing the aurora.

For the top chance of seeing the Northern lights, a dedicated minibus aurora chase tour is the best Northern lights tours you can do: they’ll monitor weather and aurora activity and bring you to the best spots. While you are not guaranteed to see the lights, it’s as close to a guarantee as you’ll have.

On this particular tour I took, my guides were absolute legends. Since there was a snowstorm covering much of Northern Norway, they literally drove all the way to the Finnish border and beyond to ensure we all got to see the Northern lights. 

I was beyond impressed with our guides, who were true experts with years of experience. They’d consult different solar activity apps and teach us about all the scientific factors that they were monitoring and what that meant for the chances of seeing the lights. They were optimistic but honest with us about our chances.

Once we arrived at our spot, a few miles over the Finnish border, they set up a little aurora camp: reindeer pelts atop snow “benches” (which were surprisingly warm to sit on, as reindeer hide is an incredible insulator) as well as a fire we could all get toasty around.

We roasted all-you-can-eat sausages — reindeer, pork, and vegan options — with tunnbröd or “polar bread”, a flat, tortilla-like bread. We had copious cups of coffee and hot chocolate around the fire, while our guide shouted for us every time the aurora made its flighty, fickle appearance. 

Our expert guide would snap professional-grade photos for us, one by one, so we’d all have at least one aurora selfie to take home with us. He also helped us with photographing the aurora independently, assisting with the tripod set up, and identifying the correct manual camera settings to best capture the lights.

All in all, I absolutely adored this tour. The only con is that it was a lot of driving, and we got home very late — well past 2 AM, maybe closer to 3 AM — but it was well worth it for the amount of lights we were able to see despite some really awful conditions in Tromso proper.

If it’s your first time trying to see the Northern lights, this is the way to go. They’ll travel long distances in search of clear nights and the perfection location to have a good chance to seeing the Northern lights.

I felt they gave us plenty of time to enjoy the aurora once we finally found one of the right place to see the aurora. We were never rushed, which was very generous of them.

I feel especially certain that this is the best Tromso Northern lights tour, because I spoke with other travelers in Tromsø who went with less dedicated guides and unfortunately didn’t get to see the aurora at all.

Book your own Northern Lights minibus tour online here!

Northern Lights Luxury Catamaran Cruise

This luxury catamaran cruise was the first Northern Lights tour I did on my trip to Tromsø and it was a great introduction to the beautiful fjords around Tromsø. We had a quick safety and tour briefing and got into our warm suits and boots! Then we walked a short walk to the marina where the sailboat was docked.

Once we disembarked, we set sail through the fjord, watching the city lights of Tromsø twinkle magically as we got further and further away from the city. We all clustered outside hoping to find a glimpse of the Northern lights, and we did… albeit briefly. 

However, I didn’t have my tripod set up yet, so I wasn’t able to capture a better shot, and then the lights faded for the night and hid behind the clouds for the rest of the excursion.

The disappointment of not seeing the lights in their full glory was quickly assuaged by a delicious meal of chowder served with Norwegian bread and butter and some coffee and chocolate for dessert.

All in all, I absolutely loved the sailing experience and while I wouldn’t say it’s the most reliable way of seeing the Northern lights, I loved getting to do a luxury catamaran cruise around Tromsø at night. Enjoying the fish soup with a view of the city sparkling around us was magical and it was one of the best tours I did!

Book your Northern lights luxury catamaran tour here!

Snowmobile Aurora Tour at Camp Tamok

I’ve done a Northern lights snowmobile in Svalbard this past winter, and it was a lot of fun (even though we ended up not able to see the lights)!

While I haven’t done this tour in Tromsø yet, I would absolutely opt for an aurora snowmobile tour in the future. It’s a great way to enjoy an active evening activity that combines a little bit of adrenaline and enough mobility and ground covered that you have a pretty good shot at spotting the Northern lights!

Snowmobiling Northern lights tours are a perfect activity if you’ve already done a minibus tour. Crucially, you can move around in a very agile manner to find clear patch of sky in the middle of nowhere that (hopefully) will allow for perfect aurora spotting!

Plus, you have more freedom to visit wild landscapes than you would if you were in a car, because you aren’t limited to roads only.

This particular tour takes you to Camp Tamok about 1.5 hours outside the city where you’re guaranteed to have virtually no light pollution (I visited this area back when the Tromsø Ice Domes were still operational and can vouch that the landscape is incredible!

Book your Northern lights snowmobile tour online here!

Husky Visit and Aurora Borealis Tour

Aurora chasing at a husky farm was another one of the many Northern lights tours I took on my first trip to Tromsø.

While I didn’t get lucky enough to see the lights that night, it was still one of my favorite tours… because hello, I got to go dog sledding under the stars, how much more magical does it get?

Sadly, I don’t see the same exact tour that I took offered anymore, but this tour is similar, only you visit the huskies rather than take a dog sledding trip.

This is a great option for kids because it keeps them entertained in case the Northern lights don’t show up!

Just note though: this does not include dog sledding, just visiting the husky farm.

Book your husky farm tour with a chance of Northern lights here!

Overnight Aurora Camp and Snowshoe Hike

This unique overnight aurora experience has you heading to the beautiful Green Gold Villa, located in the Lyngen Alps. Here, you’ll enjoy a photography workshop to prep you on how to photograph the Northern lights, as well as a group dinner.

You’ll then get to watch the aurora from the villa, and you’ll get to enjoy an overnight stay in one of the six Crystal lavvos which offer an incredible glamping experience, as well as a snowshoe hike in the area.

The Crystal lavvos are made of wood frames with a glass-paneled roof so you can watch the Northern lights dance overhead through the ceiling, like those glass igloos you may have seen in Finland!

The overnight Northern lights tour culminates with breakfast and a transfer back to Tromso city center the next day.

Book your crystal lavvu camping experience online here!

Reindeer Sledding with Sami Guide and Northern Lights Tour

This is a tour I did during the daytime, but the same company I went with also offers night tours which follow basically the same itinerary, but with a shot at getting to spot the brilliant lights!

The tour consists of visiting a reindeer farm, where you can either feed and interact with the reindeer or go reindeer sledding.

One of the things I liked most about my tour to the Sámi reindeer camp was the chance to learn from my young Sámi guide, who was an incredible storyteller. He spoke with passion and emotion about the history of the treatment of the Sámi people as we gathered around a fire in a lavvu, a traditional Sami tent.

I was so, so glad I went and had the chance to learn from a young Sámi storyteller, someone who is so deeply passionate about preserving his people’s identity but also with sharing that identity, with all its pride and challenges from historical mistreatment, with tourists.

If you’re looking for chance to spot the Northern lights in Tromsø that also touches on culture, history, and cute animals — this is a great activity to choose. 

This Sámi reindeer camp and Northern lights tour is with the same company I did my daytime trip with, and I can’t imagine why the nighttime tour would be any less magical!

While I didn’t get the chance to do the night version of this tour, I still feel very confident recommending it as the itinerary is the same, just at night and inclusive of dinner, making it a better value considering the hefty price of dinner at Tromsø restaurants.

Book your reindeer camp and Northern lights excursion here!

Jacuzzi and Sauna Northern Lights Cruise

If you’re looking for a unique and romantic way to see the Northern lights in Abisko — perhaps for a special anniversary or proposal — this Northern lights cruise is a super luxurious way to spot the Northern lights on a reasonable budget!

Imagine cruising the fjords of Tromsø while staring out at the beautiful city lights as you exit the port of Tromsø and give way to the still waters surrounding the fjords…. while in a delightful hot tub!

This tour combines a laid-back jacuzzi experience with all the pleasure of chasing the aurora borealis… Plus, it keeps you warm and relaxed while lights-hunting on this beautiful Northern lights tour from Tromso.

Book this jacuzzi Northern lights cruise online here!

Allison Green

Allison Green is a former teacher who has been travel blogging since 2016, visiting 75+ countries in total. She has a Masters in Teaching and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing. As a former educator, she merges her writing and educational experience to encourage ethical, sustainable travel. She has been a speaker at the World Travel Writers Conference and TBEX. Her writing, photography, and podcasting work has appeared in National Geographic, CNN Arabic, CBC Canada, and Forbes, amongst others. When she’s not on the road, she lives in Bangkok, Thailand.