Northern light hunt in Tromsø. WiFi included
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Tromso, Norway
- 5 to 7 hours (approx.)
- Mobile ticket
- Offered in: English
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Overview
Glimpsing the natural wonder that is the aurora borealis can be tricky. Maximize your chances with this northern lights safari from Tromsø. Benefit from your expert guide's experience in hunting the northern lights and learn about the science and culture of the phenomenon. Stop at several prime viewing locations for multiple opportunities to capture the show. Stay warm with hot drinks, snacks, and a bonfire during the tour.
- Enhance your chances of seeing the northern lights on a safari
- Learn about the science and mythology behind the lights from your guide
- Journey out of the city to the best aurora viewing spots
- Stay warm with included hot drinks, snacks, and a bonfire.
What's Included
- Coffee and/or Tea
- LunchYou will be able to choose between different flavors of soup (vegetarian, vegan, glutenfree and lactose free options).
- SnacksCookies
- Personal expenses
Meeting and Pickup
Meeting point
- Kaigata 4, 9008 Tromsø, Norway
Meet outside the Magic Ice bar. Look for a white Mercedes Sprinter
End point
This activity ends back at the meeting point.Operating hours.7:00 pm
Itinerary
Tromso (Pass By)
Additional Info
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Most travelers can participate
- If i you need thermosuit, please let me know and what size. (Free)
- Please bring your own hats and gloves
- Photos are included, but we will not be using a professional camera
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 19 travelers
Supplied by
Cancellation Policy
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
Traveler Photos
Featured review
Mark_W
Incredible experience as the sky was filled with Northern Lights! This was one of the best organized tours that I have been on. Everything was on schedule and ran smoothly. The organizers knew exactly where to take us for prime viewing of the Northern Lights! They also made sure we stayed warm and had access to restroom facilities. As an added bonus, we stopped at the Tromso Cathedral on the way home to take in the New Years firework show from a dramatic viewpoint! Thank you for a magical evening!
Reviews
4.5
based on 56 reviews
Leo_K, Mar 2026
Unfortunately we didn't catch a good glimpse of the lights as the weather wasn0t ideal but the guide made it so that we had the most comfortable and nice time!
Mark_W, May 2025
Incredible experience as the sky was filled with Northern Lights! This was one of the best organized tours that I have been on. Everything was on schedule and ran smoothly. The organizers knew exactly where to take us for prime viewing of the Northern Lights! They also made sure we stayed warm and had access to restroom facilities. As an added bonus, we stopped at the Tromso Cathedral on the way home to take in the New Years firework show from a dramatic viewpoint! Thank you for a magical evening!
Steve_O, Mar 2025
I decided to go for one of the cheaper Northern Lights hunts in Tromso. But my experience with Polar Travel wasn't the best. I've been on Northern Lights tours multiple times before in other countries and I was left disappointed by this one. First I'll say, yes we did see the Northern Lights briefly, on a night where the weather was bad and it was very cloudy. So the 3 star review isn't for lack of seeing them entirely, as you cannot predict the weather - so we were lucky to see them at all.
The problems were other factors.
1) The bus arrived a few minutes late, (the bus was just white and unmarked) and beforehand all the guests weren't sure they were in the right place and were asking other busses if it was their group we should be with.
2) I was travelling solo and when I got on board I discovered out of the group of 11 people, I was the only English speaker. Everyone else was Italian. So all the announcements were in Italian first, then English. But sometimes there wasn't an English version, or the English version was much shorter. I spoke to the guide and she said there were supposed to be four more Italians, but they cancelled. So my question is, why were there so many Italian groups going on this one tour, and why was it not advertised as an Italian tour? Also they knew that there was one English speaker on the tour, but still didn't let know before hand or swap me to another tour. It felt like I should have been on another tour with other English speakers, but they just wanted to keep my money.
3) Obviously the experience is a hunt, and it's never guaranteed to see the Aurora, especially in bad weather. After about 30 mins we stopped an we managed to see the lights through a break in the clouds for about 30 mins, which was good but we were still close to Tromso and there was a lot of light pollution still, so the sky wasn't very dark. I understand on a cloudy night you need to take what you are given, but that was the best we got all night. We then proceeded to drive around for the remainder of the tour with no real other success. But compared to the other Northern Lights hunts I'd been on before, it really just seemed like they didn't really know where they were going and were "heading for the coast" as it may have been clear skies over there, but it wasn't.
4) The trip was advertised as having a stop and a camp fire and we can have some snacks/food. But they claimed the weather meant that we couldn't stop and have the fire. But even if there was cloud and you couldn't see the Northern Lights it wasn't snowing all night in every location, so I don't really think that was a good enough excuse. As we couldn't stop and have the fire they gave us some freeze-dried food to take away, and gave us a Mars Bar and hot chocolate.
5) The tour was advertised as 5-7 hours. But we were back in Tromso around 12:30am, so 5.5 hours, after a late start and dropping one of the guides off.
6) We stopped for a toilet break, but there was never any urgency to get going again. The guides never hurried us along - although this might have been partly down to other guests. But we spent over 30 mins in a grocery store, obviously this is not what you pay for...
Overall, I guess you get what you pay for! But considering the tour was still nearly $150pp it's not cheap - they made over $1000 collectively from the tour and it seemed like it was more about the money than the experience, especially the language issue.
The driver and the guide were friendly but also seemed a bit inexperienced. I hope they improve for other guests, so they have a better experience than me. Having said that, I did see the Aurora (even though I could have probably done the same if I had rented a car!) so I felt giving a 3 star rating was a fair reflection.
Khatija_J, Mar 2025
Great view of the northern lights! The guide gave us a scientific explanation and some history behind the northern lights. The ride there and back was a bit bumpy with extremely loud music on the way back which is the reason for 4 stars. Otherwise, great tour!
Karen_N, Mar 2025
The guides were lovely, and knowledgeable. If you're looking to get away without a large group, this is a great way to do it. It was quiet, the setting was beautiful, and the aurora was incredible.
Susanne_L, Feb 2025
We started the tour in Tromsö having rain and a cloudy sky and our expectations were quite low. Nevertheless after an one hour drive our guide Katrin and driver Tom took us to a great spot north of Tromsö, where we saw stars and some northern ligths. Accompanied by soup, hot chocolate/tea and cookies and a bonfire we had a wonderful start in Tromsö.
Gregory_W, Feb 2025
Pack warm clothes! Camera tripod equipment was provided! Guide was very knowledgeable and hospitable!
Hope_P, Feb 2025
Unfortunately the weather was not conducive to seeing the Northern Lights. We spent a lot of time driving and in the bus but did not see any lights. It would have been preferable for this to be cancelled which would have been understandable.
Response from Host, Feb 2025
Thank you for your review. Indeed, Sunday wasn’t a very good night. Unfortunately, the weather changes very fast in Tromsø so we can only do according to the last weather updates which were showing much better than it actually turned out to be. Nevertheless, we did see Northern lights. They were very faint because of the low solar activity, but several guests got pictures of it where they appear clearly. Some nights that’s all we get even with a perfectly clear sky, such are the Northern lights… Hopefully you get to see it stronger some other time!
Zoe_W, Jan 2025
We had an amazing time on our trip, the guide was knowledgeable about the lights and told us a lot of information about how they're formed and the history of them and Norway. We had a lovely experience on the beach with a campfire, hot drinks and soup that catered to lots of dietary requirements. Our group got lucky enough to see the lights and it really was a magical experience!
Christopher_G, Jan 2025
Wifi bus was amazing! Friendly guides! So glad I booked with a small company. Other big tour busses looked miserable. With small group we were able to to adjust quickly and move to spots w best lights!
Deborah_B, Jan 2025
Henrik was a great driver and very accomodating. Our ship parked at the northern port 3.5 miles away from the meeting point. He took us back to our ship.
Catherine was an excellent guide. She moved us around until we were able to see the most fabulous lights. We saw them dancin across the sky very fast. She was able to video the lights and air dropped pics and video for us. I would recommend this team again!!
Andrea_S, Jan 2025
We had a wonderful experience on this excursion. The day before we had done a big bus tour and enjoyed this one much more. They took us to better area with beautiful scenery and showed us what to look for to spot the Northern Lights. I also liked being with a smaller group. They offered plenty of hot drink options and soup. And of course seeing the Northern Lights was amazing!!
Anviti_B, Jan 2025
The tour was really lovely, as we all know the northern lights is temperamental but the guides really did everything and drove far and beyond and we got really lucky to see them dancing. The tour guide was really lovely and so was the driver, both very friendly and told us some great stories about Norway, folk tales and sami culture. The minivan was comfortable and you’ll be given hot drinks which is comforting in the cold. Absolutely recommend this :)
WeiQian_W, Jan 2025
Friendly and experienced tour guide. Able to see te myjestic Northern light beautifully under the sky. Food and hot drinks provided. They even bring us to the church after the tour for New Year fireworks!
Paula_P, Dec 2024
We had great time on this tour. The guides were friendly and knowledgeable. We went on New Year's Eve and they even stopped at a place for us to watch the fireworks.
Meixi_T, Dec 2024
The tour was cancelled last minute. An earlier notice would have been appreciated. We were not able to book another tour.
Response from Host, Mar 2025
Hi Meixi,
As pointed in the email we sent you, we had to cancel the tour because of the very dangerous meteorological conditions. The gusts of wind were exceeding 115 km/h that night and several accidents had been reported the night before already and we don’t play with people’s lives. That same day, 4 people died in Lofoten. Most companies cancelled that night which is why you couldn’t book another tour, not because we cancelled last minute as this is not the case. Also, it was Christmas days so all companies were fully booked and no one likes to cancel in these conditions. We cancelled at noon when companies generally cancel between 15:00 and 17:00 because they wait for the latest forecast update as the weather in Tromsø changes extremely fast. We knew it was going to be really bad conditions so we cancelled earlier. We also called you but your phone number wasn’t registered but it’s the client’s responsibility to give correct information to be contacted in due time. We also reported this lack of proper contact details to Viator.
Eduardo_A, Oct 2025
It was very good and we saw the aurora even though we were changed Enterprise due to driver and guide illness and placed in a group that was on bus with more people
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Silvia_A, Mar 2025
Tolle Tour in kleiner Gruppe. Ausreichend Zeit vor Ort. Guide hat auf Wunsch auch Fotos mit Gästen im Hintergrund mit Nordlichtern gemacht. Auf jeden Fall empfehlenswert.
Bernard_B, Feb 2025
Je ne sais pas. Il faisait peut-être un peu trop chaud dans le véhicule, très confortable par ailleurs.
Julia_R, Feb 2025
Había poca probabilidad de ver las auroras porque estaba muy tapado, pero conducimos 2 horas y pudimos verlas perfectamente. Nos ofrecieron galletas, cafe y te, sopa y marshmellows y la guía nos hizo fotos chulísimas. Muy recomendable
Aida_E, Feb 2025
Plusieurs points négatifs :
- Guide non locale (française) chose qui n’était pas mentionné dans la description
- La guide n’était pas expérimentée, et ne faisait que suivre les bus des autres guides qui étaient toujours en avance pour voir les aurores
- Dîner non servi
- Sortie prévue de 19h à 1h max. Pourtant on a pris le chemin de retour à 23h sans voir les aurores boréales
Response from Host, Feb 2025
We’re sorry you didn’t have a nice time with us! To answer your remarks: very few guides in Tromsø are locals, in particular for Northern lights, it’s the same in every company. Nevertheless, our guides are very well trained. On Sunday night, we did see Northern lights with you, they were very faint because of the solar activity being low, but many other tours didn’t see any. The weather then became very bad with a lot of wind so we couldn’t set the table and food outside but the guide offered to serve it inside the bus. Then we left as it became impossible to see Northern lights anymore in these conditions and there was a chance the bridge to Tromsø would be closing due to the wind, that was communicated by the team. We were back at midnight which is 5 hours from the beginning of the trip (our trips last from 5 to 7 hours as announced). It’s always a disappointment when the weather is bad but unfortunately we have no control over it, we hope you get to see the Northern lights stronger some other time!
Mercedes_F, Jan 2025
Los guías han sido muy amables, haciendo que sea una experiencia maravillosa . Muchas gracias por todo.
Pablo_C, Jan 2025
Fue una experiencia inolvidable. Valió la pena.
Puntualidad, transporte y lo mejor las auroras boreales.
marinacathy_p, Dec 2024
Magnifique!! Et on a vu les aurores boréales malgré un ciel tout couvert à Tromso car ils ont choisi un endroit où il y a pas mal de vent exprès pour avoir plus de chance de voir quelque chose. La guide était sympa et interessante. Peut-être juste le retour où on a eu un peu peur en voiture car ça conduisait vite et les routes étaient gelées mais on voit aussi qu’ils ont l’habitude de la neige et de la glace
From $186.08
per personup to 24 hours before the experience starts (local time)
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Northern light hunt in Tromsø. WiFi included
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