Northern lights, not iceland advice please.

Northern lights, not iceland advice please.

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Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Tuesday 17th January 2017
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Hello, i am looking at booking a trip to see the Northern Lights next January or February. I would prefer costs to be less than £1000 per adult for getting there as will be paying for four as want to treat my parents.

Dont want to do Iceland as did this November 2016 ourselves, and need to bear in mind my parents are close to 70 so dont want anything too strenous, my Mum is just getting over a second bout of Cancer to give an idea of fitness.

Something similar to Iceland would be perfect and kind of wish we hadnt just been, but it is not somewhere we would go back to so soon as whilst it was fantastic due to size we feel like we've seen it. I guess a city where you can get out to see the lights is what were after and trip would be for 3-5 days.

Any help greatly appreciated, and thanks for taking the time to read.

Gareth1974

3,408 posts

138 months

Tuesday 17th January 2017
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You can get cheap flights to Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland from Gatwick.

Rovaniemi is where many of the pre-Christmas trips to see Santa etc go to, so there's infrastructure there for tourists, so log cabins, sleigh rides and ski mobile safaris etc are available.

I've seen the northern lights there myself a few times, usually after staggering out of Roy Club in the small hours.

It's not a particularly attractive city though, not many places are in Finland in my opinion!

There's a comfortable sleeper service from Rovaniemi to Helsinki, so you could fly home from there and see another city during your trip.

Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Thanks for the advice will take a look.

I was initially thinking Oslo but have read reports that this would then be quite a trek to stand a chance of seeing the lights, can anyone confirm if this is the case please?

GetCarter

29,358 posts

278 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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We are almost as far north as Oslo in N Scotland and they occur a couple of times a month through the winter - and then we only see them if there isn't cloud... so you'd be lucky to see them from near Oslo if you are staying such a short time.

From University of Tromso

How often can you see the Northern Lights? In Troms and Finnmark, we can see the Northern Lights every other clear night, if not even more frequently. From southern Norway, sightings would be only a few times a month while in central Europe hardly more than a few times a year and they have even been seen from the Mediterranean but only a few times each century. To the north of the auroral zone, on Spitzbergen, the Northern Lights are a common sight, although they don't appear as often as in northern Norway.

Edited by GetCarter on Wednesday 18th January 07:12

Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Might take a look at Tromso as well then as believe this to be a decent size place to wander for a day.

Planet Claire

3,316 posts

208 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Sheetmaself said:
Might take a look at Tromso as well then as believe this to be a decent size place to wander for a day.
We went to Tromso a couple of years ago, in November, and saw the lights on our first night (out of 6 nights there) and then only once again, but not very well.
Tromso it a lovely little city, the operative word being little as you can take a very leisurely walk around in a day, but there are some good museums to visit.
We stayed at the Clarion Collection Hotel With on the waterfront, very good as you got an evening buffet, which keeps the costs down. And all the hotels tend to put on waffles at about 3pm - a MUST! Any offers of 'free' food you take if you want to keep costs down.

I don't know what prices are like, but have you considered doing a cruise?

Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Never done a cruise before and not sure i fancy the idea of one as I'm not really a people person!
Im more leaning to Tromso now just need to research day trip type things to do as figured the city would be more of a town like Reykjavik where one day and you've seen it.

Thinking probably three to four days depending on flights/packags.

NordicCrankShaft

1,721 posts

114 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Definitely Tromsø. Practically guaranteed if you go the right time of year.

Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
quotequote all
Im reading that November to early march is the time to go, is there a best time within this time frame though? Hoping to go late January early feb if possible as likely to be in china and japan November December but i could change this to after if needed.

NordicCrankShaft

1,721 posts

114 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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I was up there the second week of February last year for work and it was quite active. I'm pretty sure you'll be good for it in January/February.

Shaoxter

4,048 posts

123 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Definitely Tromso, Norwegian usually do cheap flights too.
If you feel adventurous you can rent a car and drive to Abisko in Sweden, we saw the most incredible lights display there.

Just bear in mind if you go to Norway and are on a budget, you might want to pack some of your own food (instant noodles etc.) and buy booze at the airport!


Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Lovely photos best we got from Iceland was this,


We didn't see this with our eyes only the camera and didn't even realise we had this until we were back home!

Will take a look at what would suit us best between doing it ourselves and renting a car or some form of structured tour.

Thanks for all the help so far.

Googie

1,071 posts

125 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Bizarre as it sounds but apparently they can been seen in Donegal in Ireland which surprised me when this came up in conversation with some German folk earlier in the week

Fastpedeller

3,848 posts

145 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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Could also be seen last Summer from parts of Wales and Norfolk.

towser44

3,472 posts

114 months

Wednesday 18th January 2017
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These were taken in Macclesfield last March, in a park 5 minutes walk away from our house. We went to Skye the same month and saw nothing. Luck of the draw!

http://www.macclesfield-express.co.uk/news/maccles...

silobass

1,176 posts

101 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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Ice Hotel in Sweden is amazing. Got married there in March 2002 and saw the Northern Lights every night. Obviously that's not guaranteed!

Edited by silobass on Thursday 19th January 09:44

rcspeirs

178 posts

213 months

Thursday 19th January 2017
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You can never be sure of a sighting. It depends on solar activity, clear skies, and no artificial lights. The aurora is often visible in Scotland (I've managed to see it only once)which is as far north as many parts of Scandinavia - but there is never a guarantee.

NRS

22,079 posts

200 months

Friday 20th January 2017
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Sheetmaself said:
Im reading that November to early march is the time to go, is there a best time within this time frame though? Hoping to go late January early feb if possible as likely to be in china and japan November December but i could change this to after if needed.
I live around 100km south of Tromsø. In the last few years it seems to have been before Christmas is the best time to see it. It's also been possible to see in August, but that requires strong displays to do so - I wouldn't base a holiday around it then!

However be aware you should probably base the holiday on northern lights plus something else. With just 3-4 days there is a quite strong possibility you won't see anything. You can get a week or more with strong displays, or several weeks with almost nothing. Between December to January there's around 1 month of no sun. November and Jan-Feb there are humpback whales, orcas and finn whales that you can see pretty much guaranteed from Tromsø. It's quite expensive - maybe £100-200 per person, but very cool to see. The light when the sun comes back in January is absolutely stunning btw - as long as it's not cloudy it's awesome.

Before approximately mid-december the snow can be a bit coming and going, so if you want to be sure of snow it would be better in January or later.

One thing you can do (but it makes it more expensive) is when there is a good display then book last minute flights for around 6 days after. My experience is often it will be back around 7 days later (I think it's to do with the sun's rotation and where the storm creating the particles is facing). Since it's last minute it might be a little more expensive, but you would be a lot more likely to see them. Also be aware if it's a weak display they were generally sit there for a long time (several hours) and not do much. If it's a strong display they can go from nothing to an crazy display to nothing again in less than 1 minute in some cases. So you need warm clothes to sit out and wait for them.

This is what a very strong display looks like in real time (click on video in link). You will almost certainly not see it like this, as it's not common, but it is what the strongest displays look like in person. Even the locals stand outside and watch when it is like this, biggrin

https://www.nrk.no/nordland/marius-tok-denne-fanta...

If you do go to Tromsø send me a PM when you're coming and mention your phone number. I can call/text you if I saw any in the period you were here to let you know to look up. Done this a lot when friends have visitors, as it's really cool if you are able to see it! Some hotels will also offer this service if you ask.

Sheetmaself

Original Poster:

5,663 posts

197 months

Saturday 21st January 2017
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Thanks for that it's definitely looking like Tromso is the best option will definitely take into account all the advice and will contact you closer to the time.