If you are heading up to Tromso, Norway, in the Arctic Circle to try and see the northern lights, we highly encourage you to take a tour that is designed to chase the aurora.
The word “chase” is key here because, while the aurora oval will likely be above you at night while in the Arctic Circle, a chase is often required because you also need clear skies to see the aurora at all!
Tromso, unfortunately, has a highly variable microclimate that often includes fast-moving clouds, frequent snow, wind, and yes, even rain at times in the winter months (sadly). So when we say you need to go on a Tromso aurora borealis tour to chase the northern lights, it is actually more appropriate to say that you’re going on a tour to chase clear skies.
To put it bluntly- you’re likely not going to get much clear sky staying in one spot, especially inside the city limits (which has very low odds of seeing the lights on any given night), and a chase tour is designed to get you to the clearest skies nearby in order to increase your odds of seeing the aurora borealis significantly.
Now, if you are on board with hitting the road to go see the northern lights, the next item you have to consider is simply this- will you book a bus tour or a van tour? While both of these have the same end game of getting you to a place with clear skies, there are pros and cons to each.
After trying both during our visit to Tromso for the northern lights, we thought we’d break down the differences in this one!
