Tsz Kam Yeung

Hello, I am Tsz Kam Yeung, an MSc Events Marketing student from Hong Kong. The Northern Lights is one of the things on my bucket list, I did a lot of research on this and became particularly interested in Tromsø, Norway as you have a greater chance of seeing the Green Lady and most of the blogs recommend that you see this.  I decided to go to Tromsø on my birthday in January this year.

Accessibility

I  compared the price of the flight ticket on skyscanner.com because it showed the schedule and prices of different airlines, however, there were not many airlines flying to Tromsø, the options were Norwegian airlines with a direct flight from Gatwick airport to Tromsø which was more expensive or a transfer flight from Gatwick Airport to Oslo then Oslo to Tromsø. The second one was cheaper but involved a longer waiting time at the airport.

Tromsø is a small city, from Tromsø airport to the city centre it is around 10-15 mins, there are two ways for you to get into the city, airport express coach or bus. Both of the tickets are cheaper if you buy in advance and you can buy the ticket from the tourism centre.

A place to stay

After booking the flight ticket, I decided to book my accommodation. Convenience and safety are the core elements I look for when I choose accommodation. I prefer to use Booking.com because it has more choices and if you are a genius member of booking.com you can get a 10% discount for some of the hotels.

Language barriers

Don’t worry if you don’t know any Norwegian, the sign at the airport, bus driver, tour guide and the people in Tromsø, they all spoke or were written in English so language won’t be a problem for anyone.

The Northern Lights

I recommend joining the local tour to see the northern lights, because the tour guide will drive you away from the city centre to an area with less light pollution, so you will have a better chance to see the Northern lights. There are a lot of local tours in Tromsø and I joined two different companies in two days, the first company was called Arctic Guide Service, it is a big tour which is cheaper and offers a student discount. I didn’t pre-book for this one because I wasn’t sure if my flight would be delayed or not. You can also call the company to see if they still have space or not when you arrive.

The second one was Enjoy the Arctic, a small tour with a maximum of eight people and it provided a thermal suit which kept us warm and the pick-up/drop-off point is in front of your hotel, so it is very convenient.  If you don’t have a professional camera but still want to learn how to take a photo of the northern lights, you can rent a camera from the tour guide and he will teach you how to take a good photo, they then send you all your photos after the tour.

There was one common thing with both companies which was the tour guides both introduced how the Northern Lights are formed and they also provide you with a traditional Norwegian snack and a hot drink.

Here are my main expenses for 2 nights and 3 days in Tromsø, Norway. I hope my experience has given you an idea of how to visit the Northern Lights and given you some idea on how much this cost if you are interested.

Tsz Kam Yeung, Hong Kong, MSc Events Marketing, 2017/18.