Welcome back on my blog,

hope you and your loved ones are staying safe in this hard time. During this time it’s not easy to know when traveling will be safe again or even when it will be possible again. But when it will be safe again I want to give you an inspiration on some facts about traveling northern Norway on a budget. I want to tell you more about the places Lofoten, Senja and especially the area around Tromsø City because these were the places I´ve visited several times in the winter and because of the time of the year its mostly a guide about seeing the northern lights on a budget.

Most of you will travel to the airports of Tromsø, Bodø, Narvik because the northwestern part of Norway is more than 2000 kilometer away from Central Europe. If you’re searching for cheap flight prices the airport from Tromsø, which the biggest city of northern Norway, is the right one because you’ll pay around 150-300 € for a flight there from many places around Europe. If you’re traveling with a camper van than after a 1 day drive you’ll reach at first the Lofoten peninsula. Driving with a car or a camper van is cheaper than flying but the gasoline prices in Norway are quite expensive because of high taxes. I can only talk about the fly in version to northern Norway because I haven’t done a camper trip to these places so I don’t know the price structure about this whole trip. The highest prices during a trip to Tromsø is the flight, the car rental and the airbnb/hotel. Buying food isn’t that expensive and if you’re not going out often for dinner it also isn’t to pricy. For the flight you’ll pay around 220 €, a car 300, the airbnb 300 (2 pax), 100 € gasoline and for food 30 € per day if you’re staying in or around Tromsø town. If you’ll travel together with a friend or your partner the whole price per person will be at around 780-880 € for a whole week in expensive northern Norway which is quite cheap.

The city of Tromsø from the other side of the fjord

So let’s go on to the top places for seeing the Northern lights around the area of Tromsø. The following spots are all in a driving range from about 30 minutes to 2 hours one way which are short drives for the region in Northern Europe. First of all Tromsø is one of the best places on earth to see the northern lights from late September - early April because you can see them in 9/10 clear nights which is phenomenal. But because of the location near the arctic Atlantic Ocean the weather is changing very fast and there is also a lot of rain/snow all around the year. SO keep in mind that you need to be a little bit lucky to see them in the week which you’re staying there.

If you get a night with clear sky than you can decide where you want to go but I prefer to go to the seaside. The first place which is a 25 minutes drive away from the city which is named Ersfjordbotn. It’s a beautiful fjord where øu can also enjoy a chilly afternoon in the café but as I prefer I would stay there in the evening between 8 pm until 1 am which is also the best time to see the northern lights.

The next good place is located at the western tip from the area around Tromsø. Its name is Sommarøya island and directly before you drive to this place there is a big beach which is a secret place to watch the northern lights. The name is Sandviksletta and you must drive to a near parking lot and than you have to go down a small hill for about 5 minutes. On the right side there is a small mountain and in front of you is a wide fjord where you have a good view into many directions which creates a good possibility to see the aurora borealis in any direction.

The last spot which is also a beautiful spot to enjoy the northern lights is a 50 minutes drive away from the city centre to a more northern spot which is named Grøtfjord. The small town has a nice beach (Grøtfjord Beach) in front of it and there you can spend a few beautiful hours alone watching the lights dancing in the sky. During my last trips there I wasn’t lucky enough to the the aurora there but maybe you’ll get luckier than me.

And there is another place which you should know in case you have a cloudy or snow/rain. A place named Skibotn is a 1 and half hour drive away from the city but its worth it to search there for northern lights on a moody day because its one of the driest places in northern Norway and that helps a lot get a clearer sky to see the aurora borealis.

So I hope you enjoyed the blog post from today and you’ll take a little bit of your time to have a look at my print store on this website.

Luca

Seeing the Northern Lights in Norway on a budget 🇳🇴