After a trip to the Lofoten I was totally stoked by the northern lights. So I was going back to Tromso in hope to meet Aurora Borealis again. But this time I wasn’t that lucky to see some. So I learned some basic rules you should check out before you’re heading out to see the northern lights.
Here it is. The ultimative guide to avoid northern lights.
Do not visit a Scandinavian country in winter. Although lately you could see them even in the middle of Austria. – Actually it’s the only time they appear.
If you are in Norway make sure to visit Skibotn. It is told to be the driest region of the Norway with mostly clear sky and a high chance to see northern lights. I’ve been there twice and encounter the worst snowstorm during my whole trip. – I just really had bad luck with the weather there.
Book a guided tour. They do a tremendous effort to drive you through the night in search for a clear sky and northern lights. I was sitting more than six hours in a minivan driving all the way from Tromso to Finnland and didn’t see any. – Nevertheless I really enjoyed the Tour with Arctic Explorers. Our guide was very relaxed and I learned a lot about the northern lights and met some really nice people.
Sleep in a tent. Once crawled in your sleeping bag, you will not get up again till morning. – It’s quite an effort to muddle your way out of an already warm and cozy sleeping bag so most of the time you will shift your “check the sky” to later or the next day.
Follow the paths of others who have encountered them the days before. – You don’t choose the place to see it. The northern lights choose you!
If you’re stuck in bad weather move on. Weather doesn’t change too often, especially if you are close to the coastline. – The only night I have seen some, was also one with very terrible weather. A very unpleasant snowstorm followed a clear sky, northern lights and went back to snowstorm and all that in just 60minutes.
At the end Aurora Borealis was merciful with me and honored my effort to catch them and so they appeared in my last night before I had to leave.
