Chase the Northern Lights

Our first day is dedicated to arrivals. You’ll be met by your LHO Team Leader or a pre-arranged private transfer partner to bring you to our accommodation in Tromsø town center. Those of us arriving early will benefit from the opportunity to explore this vibrant Arctic town with its waterways, fishing ports, and market streets. Your LHO Team Leader will send a message with recommendations of places to visit closer to the time. Check-in is at 3 pm, but we can store our bags at the hotel until then. Our first event of the trip is a team welcome dinner hosted by your LHO Team Leader at a restaurant in Tromsø at 7:30 pm. This is your first opportunity to meet everyone, hear about all the details of our adventure ahead, and ask any questions you might have. A round of drinks is on us! The first night will be spent at our hotel near the city center.

Distance: 5.4 KM | Ascent: 172 M | Descent: 172 M

We’ll start our day after breakfast with a short walk to the ferry terminal to catch our boat ride to Finnsnes. The ride takes about 1 hour and a half and is spectacular as we exit the modern town of Tromsø and get our first glimpse of the wild Arctic fjords. We’ll be met by our local lead guide at Finnsnes ferry terminal and taken by car over the only bridge that accesses the island of Senja. The road trip to our accommodation takes about an hour. Upon arrival, we’ll check in to our accommodation, get a briefing about how everything works here during our stay, and sit together for lunch. After lunch, we’ll be heading out to Ånderdalen National Park, an iconic Northern Norwegian park for a full afternoon of snowshoeing. Our first day immediately on Senja gives us the opportunity to explore the island’s famous landscape. Senja is known as “Little Norway,” and this day justifies the title. The trek starts immediately across the road from our accommodation and passes through a forest before gradually climbing up to a hilltop where we can see as far as the mountains of western Senja and the Lyngen Alps just across the fjord. It’s a tradition to prepare a little fire at a designated location near the top where we’ll roast some marshmallows and enjoy the warmth of some hot chocolate. The descent is easy as we trace our steps down the hill, through the forest, and back to our accommodation. By this time, it usually starts getting dark, which means it’s the first opportunity to see the Northern Lights without any light pollution. Dinner will be back at our lodge followed by an explanation of the folklore around the northern lights and best practices for capturing them using our DSLR camera.

Kayak Distance: 10 KM | Dog Sledding Distance: 20 KM

This day is one of the most epic days on our calendar. Breakfast will be served at the cabins, followed by a briefing at the nearby boat house on how to use sea kayaks. We’ll be given dry suits with warm mitts so that we don’t get cold in the freezing Arctic waters, and then we’ll suit up and head to the seaside. Before heading out, we’ll perform a few safety demonstrations to make sure that everyone is able to manage the kayak in the open fjords. We’ll then commence our tour into the fjords to explore nearby islands and beaches. The experience takes about three hours and includes a stop on one of the beaches to enjoy our packed lunches. In some instances, we may be served a hot lunch at the cabins, depending on how far we choose to kayak. Once back, we’ll dry up in the cabins, get changed, and head out by car to a nearby dog kennel for an afternoon of dog sledding, hopefully under the Northern Lights. We’ll once again hear a safety briefing and learn about how to handle these incredible Arctic huskies. We’ll be paired in couples so that we each have a chance to drive and experience the thrill of it, but also to be driven and enjoy the spectacular scenery that we’ll be crossing. We’ll be dog sledding for about two hours before returning to the kennel for hot chocolate by the fire. We’ll then return to our cabins for dinner and potentially some Northern Lights chasing.

Distance: 4.4 KM | Ascent: 508 M | Descent: 508 M

Our third day on Senja will entail a complete shift in scenery as we head to the northwestern side of the island to experience the more dramatic mountain views. After breakfast, we’ll embark on a one-hour drive in our van to reach the trailhead. The specific trail we choose will be entirely dependent on weather conditions and snowpack. Our goal is to embark on a one-hour hike to reach a beautiful viewpoint overlooking the fjords and archipelagos of Senja. The great news is that Senja is replete with fjords and archipelago islands, ensuring stunning views regardless of the trail we select! We’ll enjoy a picnic lunch at the viewpoint before returning to the van to continue our exploration of this side of the island. Throughout the drive, we’ll make several photo stops at all the sights and viewpoints. Dinner will be served at a restaurant on the way back to our cabins.

Our last full day on Senja is one to remember. We’ll be heading out to fish our own food on a frozen lake! After breakfast, we’ll receive a briefing about how to ice fish in the Arctic. During this time of year, we are usually more fortunate with the thickness of the ice, but if the weather doesn’t permit, or the ice isn’t thick enough we may board a boat and try our hand at fishing in the fjords instead where the bays are shielded from the waves. The aim of the day is to fish our lunch and then head back to our cabins and participate in the cooking! The afternoon will be dedicated to relaxation in the hot tub underneath the Northern Lights. There’s hardly a better way to spend our last night together on Senja. That is until someone suggests jumping into the frozen sea like a true Viking. Then the party really gets started! Our last dinner on Senja will be at the cabins.

We’ll enjoy our last breakfast at the cabins and say our farewells to the beautiful family who’ve graciously hosted us and guided us throughout our time here. We’ll then catch our shuttle ride back to Finnsnes and board our ferry to Tromsø. We’ll grab a packed lunch for the road. Once we arrive, we’ll walk to our hotel and check-in. The afternoon is free to roam around Tromsø, buy souvenirs, and explore the many cafes and bars. Your LHO Team Leader will be available to provide recommendations and will also let you know where and when the farewell dinner will take place. The last drink of the trip is on us!

Our final day together is dedicated to airport transfers. Breakfast is included on this day. Please make sure to provide us with the correct departure details when filling out your Team Details Form before the adventure begins. If your itinerary has changed, please let your LHO Team Leader know as soon as possible for arrangements to be made.