We were waiting with a few other people in front of the Roald Amundsens Plass with his statue staring right at us, approving of our expedition that we were about to embark on. The atmosphere was different right from the beginning. All of us waiting had the same goal, the same dream. To see the Aurora Borealis. Everybody was very excited and eager to finally start the tour. Finally, a white minibus came around the corner heading towards us. Everybody knew it was our bus and formed an odd and unorganized queue. The bus stopped and the guide jumped out, checked us in and showed us inside the bus.
The guide gave us an introduction to the tour and the basics for a Northern Lights hunt. He explained to us his plan, our plan, and gave us also his reasoning to it, so everybody could understand what’s going on and why. And of course, the guide didn’t forget his camera. The minibus was equipped with everything you could need on an Aurora chase – very warm thermal suits, thermal boots, tripods for your camera, plenty of firewood and enough sausages, cookies, hot chocolate and tea to keep us warm and happy throughout the night.
After this point every tour is different. You will be taken where you are most likely to see the Northern Lights. Every day has different conditions. On Monday it will be enough to go just 45 minutes behind a mountain and around a fjord. On Tuesday it might be necessary to drive 2,5 hours to Finland. Nevertheless, both will be an amazing adventure.
The goal of the tour is to find the perfect spot – beautiful surrounding landscape, no other tours getting in our way, no light pollution and clear skies to see the Northern Lights – and to have a great time around the campfire. Having a campfire in deep snow somewhere in the nowhere, roasting reindeer/vegetarian sausages and sipping on hot chocolate sounds like a weird combination, but it’s so incredibly unique, that just that by itself is already worth the drive.
The Northern Lights. It can involve a lot of waiting, depending on in what mood nature is. They can appear right away or after hours, just for 5 minutes or 50 minutes, very faint or strong. When they do appear, you will forget about your sausage and toss your tea in the snow. It doesn’t matter how strong the activity is. The lights will take away your breath either way. The northern lights have boggled the minds of man for centuries and were subject to many myths and legends. And you will understand why. It’s for a reason on everybody’s bucket list.
Tromsø is the best city in the world to chase the Aurora and most of you are most likely here because of that very reason. Therefore, the selection of tour operators in this field is huge, which made it difficult for us to find the right one. But Northern Horizon has it all. It’s a small company run by a group of friends, who go out just with minibuses and no big buses where you feel like cattle in a trailer. The team is working hard to make every night a special one for their guests. The guides have their soul and heart in this job. For them it’s a hobby to hunt this phenomenon down and are happy that you want to join them. If they are not on tour with you, they are hunting them by themselves to get that one perfect shot. Which is great news for you, because the photos they take of you are otherworldly good.
What makes this company sticking out of the dozens of others is that they go the extra mile, literally. They are known in the guiding community as the ones who never give up and push far out of the normal radius of operation. They are not limited by distance, if it is approved by the guests. It’s a friendly small company run by friends, with a fully equipped minibus for Northern Lights chasing and guides that are professional photographers, experts on the northern lights and experienced hunters who know the best spots. This is a must when in Tromsø!
