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Tromsø, NORWAY – If you’ve ever wanted to see the Northern Lights, go to Tromsø, a municipality in northern Norway. It’s amazing.
The main part of Tromsø is on an island. The area has about 78,000 inhabitants. There are many tourists, all trying to see the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights.
When I visited with my family last month, the highlight was seeing the Northern Lights from our small cabin around 13 miles (21km) outside the city center.
We’d just made our way back from dinner when we saw it. It was quite hard to see with the naked eye, but with the help of our phones and cameras, we got a better look at the Aurora Borealis
It was so beautiful to see it dancing around in the sky.
There are many different excursions you can pay for, such as Northern Light hunting in small groups with a guide, husky dog sledding, and an Arctic reindeer experience.
We chose the Arctic reindeer.
We were bussed to a small area where the excursion occurred. We went into a large traditional Sámi tent.
Guides told us that we would start by feeding the reindeer in the open field behind the camp. After we fed the reindeer, there was an opportunity to be able to try reindeer lassoing, which, for safety reasons, was done on targets.
After around two hours, we had a meal – reindeer stew or vegetarian stew. The stew was amazing. It had large pieces of reindeer, potatoes, and cream. The experience finished with a talk about the oppression of the Sámi community.
In the photos above. At left: everyone gets together, ready to hear from the guides. At right, the delicious reindeer stew. (Noah Haynes/YJI)
We couldn’t ride the reindeer in sleds due to the weather.
The experience costs from 1,590 NOK or about $140 USD.
I also really enjoyed going up the Arctic Cable Car called Fjellheisen. The cable car is a two-car system that takes you 1,381 ft (421m) up a mountain just outside of the city center.
It costs 545 NOK or around $50 for a return trip on the cable car. There was a limited café, so bring your food.
You can hike around the area at the top and there are also paragliding opportunities. There is a shuttle bus for an extra 100 NOK, or around $9.
It’s a good idea to keep an eye out if there are tolls on bridges or tunnels, as it can add up.
Other than that, just explore and drive. There are many different places to explore and a lot of nature to see.
Noah Haynes is a Senior Reporter with Youth Journalism International.
