Hunting for the Auroras in Arctic Norway
My sister and I arrived late on a Sunday in mid-March. We caught a bus from the airport to Tromso centre, and left the city’s island across the long, high bridge, south-east onto the mainland. A clear, chilly night with snow and ice on the ground, the lights of the city shone brightly on the fjord below.
The Arctic Cathedral, an impressive piece of construction, greeted us as we walked. It’s easy to think it was built recently, judging by the stacked triangular design, but it was built in 1965! Its design, inspired by arctic nature, is easy to see: it looks like broken shards of ice floating in the sea.
As we navigated around the structure, I looked up, and there above us was our first glimpse of green streaks in the dark sky. We’d only been in the country for barely an hour, and before we even started hunting for them, there they were, teasing us to stay awake into the early hours. After we found our apartment we headed back out and enjoyed an amazing 30-minute display of the dancing auroras. We were elated to have seen the natural phenomenon on the first night.
Viewing Tromso from above is an essential experience, and there’s no better way than via the Fjellstua cable car. It takes you from 50m to 421m above sea-level. The views from the top are incredible. You can see the whole of Tromso, from the Arctic Cathedral, across to the airport on the far side of the island, and beyond to the backdrop of snow covered mountains.
We hiked to a peak 1.8km away, up an increasingly steep gradient with our boots frequently sinking into the deep snow. We were passed by a runner making her way to the summit in spiked trainers! The Norwegians live for the outdoors. This was the epitonmy of their saying "Friluftsliv" (open-air living).
After an hour we reached the peak at 650masl with a sense of triumph, nevermind that it took the Norwegian 10 minutes in her gym gear! Vistas from the summit were amazing, with continuous white mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.
On our way back down, the sun shone on to the Tromso valley, making the vistas even better. Returning to the cable car station, we enjoyed a window view in the cafe and replenished our calories from our mountain mission with a very expensive hot chocolate and almond cake.
That evening, with clear skies once again, we ventured out into the country with our rental car and found a dark spot to maximise our aurora hunting chances. We didn’t need to wait long. Within five minutes we saw a dark streak across the sky. We thought at first it was cloud, or even a star constellation. But then it morphed into dark then light green and even a little purple, and soon the whole sky was filled with the auroras right over our heads. The spectrum was so bright. It was stunning. We were very blessed.
The next day we drove south down the E8, one of the most picturesque roads in Europe. We were headed for the Lofoten Islands, but to break up the 500km journey, we overnighted in Narvik.
Narvik is an industrial town with ice-free, deep waters making it suitable for shipping. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, it’s another picturesque setting. We found a good lookout point high above the city to get a better perspective. It has a certain rustic charm about it even if it’s not a masterpiece.
On a drizzly day, we headed south-west towards the Lofoten Islands. Regardless, the scenery along the E10 remained awesome. Our first stop was the fishing village of Henningsvaer approximately halfway to the islands. This town is famous for having an extraordinary location for a football pitch. The settlement is built on flat land which juts out into the Norwegian Sea. It has a natural harbour which makes it perfect for fishing boats. Continuing further out to sea, there is a larger piece of flat land where they have built the pitch. It’s best appreciated from the air, and is a sight you don’t expect to see this far north of the Arctic Circle.
The town has one of the most unique gift shops. You can see the potter and glass maker applying their skills here at the Engelskmannsbrygga. These women display their finely crafted glasswork and ceramics in the tastefully designed minimalist shop. The quality and the story behind handmade local goods is unrivalled and justifies the price tags.
We drove further west along the archipelago, the scenery becoming more dramatic as we went. Snow covered mountains with near vertical drops. Bridges stretching across the water connecting the rocky islands. Beaches with white sand. Crazy winter surfers riding the waves as they rolled in from the Norwegian Sea.
We made it to our cabin (hytta), in the hamlet of Hamnoy. A collection of these cabins were set on the limited amount of flat terrain, with some hanging over the waters’ edge on stilts (as was ours), all at the foot of another dramatic mountain range dominating the scene and making everything else seem miniature.
The next day brought strong winds and showers, but interspersed with sunny spells giving opportunities to hike and shoot pictures. We hiked a few kilometres up to a waterfall, and we drove to the end of the road at a place (I kid you not) called A. We had a good day exploring and taking in the scenery.
What makes the Lofoten Islands so picturesque is obviously the dramatic mountains and clear sea, and the old fishing boats and little wooden cabins clinging on to the rocks. It’s this combination of nature and the traditional way of living that gives it so much character and makes it so captivating. Even with the harsh weather it was stunning, but perhaps I’ll need to return in summer to further my experience of this amazing, and relatively unknown, slice of Northern Norway.
To see the Northern Lights, visit Arctic Norway from September to March. Give yourself at least four nights to maximise your opportunity of a clear night. You can go on an organised tour, or rent a car and drive yourself. But don’t bank all your expectations on seeing them. If you do, it’s a bonus, there’s plenty more to see and do, like hiking, dog sledding, and snow mobiling. Tromso town itself has quite a good night-time vibe at the weekends with plenty of restaurants to choose from.