Embrance Nature On Land And Sea In Tromso, Norway

Head North of Tromso above the Arctic Circle for the exceptional snowy mountains, glassy frozen lakes and wild animals roaming through the countryside.

The autumn and winter months are the perfect time to head north above the Arctic Circle - 69 degrees north to be exact. There is no shortage of tour companies in Tromso, each offering a different take on the wildlife of Northern Norway. It helps to have an experienced guide who knows the roads and top locations when trying to embrace nature on land and sea.

Northern lights by sea

Tromso is surrounded by towering snow-covered mountains on one side and tge wide - open ocean on the other. One of nature's greatest phenomenon's is tge northern lights, the flashing streaks of green, orange, red and blue lights that falsh across the skies, but one of the biggest issues involved with searching for the lights on land is light pollution from street lamps and houses of Tromso City.

An alternative to the traditional land excursions, is to venture out into the darkness of the sea surrounding Tromso is to see it from the water. The excursion leaves Tromso habour at night when the skies are perfectly dark and lasts for around 4 hours, slowly sailing into the darkness and chilly winds, with nothing to see other than a blanket of stars overhead and hopefully the bright and colourful lights of the aurora.

Whilst waiting for the lights to appear, guests can sir inside the comfortable and warm cabin with hot drinks as guides talk about why the northern lights happen, how to spot and photograph them and the Sami and Viking legends relating to the lights. When the northern lights appear in the skies, the captain makes an announcement over the speakers and everyone rushes out onto the ice-coated decks of the boat, sets up their cameras and focuses on the skies, eagerly awaiting the flashes of colour.

Northern lights by land

If you don't have sea legs, then there are a number of companies in Tromso offering Northern lights hunts by land, with drives into the wilds of Northern Norway, leaving behind the street lights, paved roads and civilisation.

The best way to see the northern lights is to find somewhere with open skies and spectacular mountain scenery, hours from other people. Except guides from various tracking companies use apps on their phones and keep in contact with each other to track the movement of the lights through the skies, stopping off often to look out for faint flashes above. When the best site has been found, even if it means driving

across the border into Finland, the guide sets up a camp fire and sets up cameras pointed up at the dark sky.

Reindeer and semi culture

You simply can't visit Northern Norway without spending time with Reindeer and the indigenous Sami people and you can do so at a traditional Sami reindeer farm a few miles outside of the city.

Upon arrival, a Sami reindeer herder gives an introduction to the life of reindeer herders in the wilds of Norway inside a traditional lavvu (a Sami tent that herders dismantle and rebuild as they follow their herds through the wilderness) before letting guest loose into a field of hungry semi-wild reindeer with buckets of food. There are few places in the world where you can feed reindeer by hand surrounded by tall mountains and snow fields.