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Recommendations needed for a tour that does Northern Lights
With peak solar activity coming up in 2025, we would like to check Northern Lights off our bucket list. Does anyone have a tour company recommendation? We want to go with something along the lines of a Tauck tour with everything included. We've been to Iceland and would go again but would also like to go to Scandanavia.
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Sorry, no recommendation. I just want to make sure you know that the northern lights are best in winter - very cold and dark. Brrr!
That is correct and that’s the reason I’m going to Finland in a couple of weeks.
We have yet to see the Northern Lights and have been studying this question since 2019. Our Iceland trip got postponed twice during the pandemic, and then on departure day in 2022 we developed an acute respiratory illness in a Northern European city and were too ill to travel.
I don’t claim to be an expert but I’ve done a fair amount of research on this, and first I want to say that it is really a shame that Tauck does not offer a trip like this, but I can understand the many reasons why they don’t. The company we were going to use the first time was a travel agency called 50 Degrees North. They had put together a private tour package for us with another couple to Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon for 5 nights. It included nightly “Aurora chasing” tours. When we were about to go again, we decided to use a company that I had found on my own called Nordic Visitor. It was interesting that when I called them, the agent from 50 Degrees North answered the phone, which led me to believe that all tour companies in Iceland (and maybe Scandinavia) might be related to each other and likely use the same people on the ground. I would not hesitate to choose Nordic Visitor again as their customer service is superb. And you can plan any kind of trip you want to multiple places (including Scandinavia) such as group tours, small group tours, private tours, and self-driving tours (which I would not do in the winter, but they make all the arrangements, supply maps etc.)
Other options include a cruise (Hurtigruten being the most well-known company) or you could simply ask a travel agent about other American companies that do group tours there. Expect Nordic hotels in the smaller towns to be clean and comfortable, but basic. The Nordic Visitor tour we had signed up for was 16 people in a Mercedes bus, a circle land tour of the island staying at a different hotel each night followed by a couple of days at the Blue Lagoon. I was never sure if anyone on that trip got to see the Northern Lights.
The thought process for a trip like this involves asking yourself a number of questions such as: Is your main goal to see the Northern Lights, or is your main goal to visit the country? What time of year do you want to go, and do you want to do anything else when you get there? Do you want to, for example, stay in a full -service city and take “Aurora chasing” trips at night? Or do you want to park yourself in one spot away from city lights and just relax in hopes that you will get to see it? A friend went to Iceland in March and sent back a stunning photo of the Aurora, but some bad weather limited his ability to enjoy many of the geologic features.
In the end, my husband and I have yet to reschedule Iceland (seems to be jinxed for us), but maybe we will get there one day, possibly in the summer when we can enjoy it more. As far as the Northern Lights we have decided to park ourselves at a nice all-inclusive resort in Canada next year, and we will keep our fingers crossed!!
I look forward to hearing about any other experiences, and OurTravels34 please report back.
I am going with A&K. I’ve talked with them a number of times and it is as some of you know a high-end company as much as Tauck is. You are absolutely spot on that Tauck should and could offer a trip like this as well as exploring the South Pacific (just my opinion). At times like this, other companies are the only option. Just saying.
Ken from Vegas: We are well aware! We just did the Manitoba Polar Bear trip and it was mighty cold and dark, but an amazing unforgettable experience. I’d rather be cold than hot lol.
OurTravels34: I will check out what A&K has to offer and would love to hear from you about the trip when you return. I Joe you have success viewing the lights. A friends daughter when to Finland this past December and had amazing photos of them.
Wan: Thanks for the extensive input. We sent to Iceland independently 5 yrs ago, and did Aurora chasing trips on two nights but no luck. The lights were out the night before we arrived and then on the night after we left!
This is my first time on the forum, Can anyone advise how to change my moniker to something other than my full name? When I go to profile it says I’m not authorized to change it??
Try contacting Tauck IT at esupport@tauck.com for help on changing your moniker.
I don't think there would be enough interest in such a tour. You can't go when the weather is hospitable (summer) because there's not enough darkness.
I saw the northern lights in Maine, where I spent a summer in the mid 80s.
Here's a good site where they post info and pics of the northern lights:
https://www.spaceweather.com/
There are a couple of great films of the Northern lights out there. One of the ones we saw was In Anchorage at a special theatre there and it was excellent.
We have looked a little at trips to the Svalbard area which seems to be the next hot tourist spot. That could be a good place.
I witnessed magnificent aurorae in both Svalbard and Tromsø (Norway).
It’s not just the Northern lights per se, it’s the entire experience and doing something unique and different while having a good time. it’s seeing a reindeer ranch or going on a long dog sled ride. It’s also snowshoeing and/or donning up in an ice-suit and floating in Arctic waters. It’s going to somewhere I’ve never been.