Arctic Norway Ice Hotel Experience

Tromso, Norway · Norway

Easy7 daysEurope~£3,500 est.

Save ✓ I did this

Overview

Tromsø sits at 69° north in the middle of the auroral oval, which is the practical reason Northern Lights hunting works here: guides with live forecast data drive you out from under the coastal cloud to wherever the sky is clear — sometimes all the way to the Finnish border — and on a strong night the display fills the whole sky. Days are for the rest of the Arctic repertoire: husky sledding on Kvaløya, reindeer sledding and joik songs with Sámi herders, snowshoeing through the blue polar twilight, and a night in an ice room at the Tromsø Ice Domes, or Alta's Sorrisniva igloo hotel if you add a leg east. The honest note: no operator can guarantee aurora, and in the December-January polar night the sun never rises at all — atmospheric, but cold, so dress for minus 15 with wind. Photographers want a tripod and a camera that handles ISO 3200. It is also seriously expensive: budget £3,500 for a week with activities, when even a beer runs to £9. December to March is the season; late February adds usable daylight to the same dark nights.