Details

Welcome to BorealisExpedition

​

I offer Northern lights Tours and Fjordtours 

​

BorealisExpedition is a local business providing guided tours in the Tromsø area.

​

I have been a northern light guide for 8 years for another local company in Tromsø.

​

I have a Mercedes Benz Vito which has room for 6 passengers (7)

​

I am located in Tromsø, about 350 km above the Arctic Circle.

​

If conditions allow, I will choose the best location for our trips.

​

I also offer payment by card terminal in the car.

​

​

Northern light tour

Period: 1 September  – 3 April 

Partcipant: 6 (7) 

Duration: 7-8 hours.

Level: Easy

Pick-up time 18:30 - outside Tourist Shop Tromsø  (Kirkegata 2) close to the harbour 

(please be at the pick-up location 10 minutes before departure)

​

Price: 1400,- nok

​

Included:

Guide

Transport

Hot chocolate * Coffee * Tea * Biscuit/Muffins * Hot soup

Termosuit and winter boots 

Tripod

Seat Pad

Photos of the tour, portrait 

​

What should you bring?

Warm clothes (at least two layers), gloves and hat, good winter boots.

Based on constantly updated weather and solar activity reports I will take you to where the chances to see the northern light are the best.

I will help you to capture the northern light on your camera and I will be happy to answer all questions you might have.

Once we’ve found clear sky, I will stop and help you set up your cameras.

I will take portraits of you under the northern lights and share them after the trip.

​

​

​

​

I recommend you dress up in three layers:
The Base layer is the most important one. I

t’s your main isolation that keeps you warm:
- underwear in merino wool
- wool bra for women
- wool socks
- long underpants
- long-sleeved shirts

 

Make sure your clothes consist of merino wool.

Wool fiber is naturally cooling or heating the body as needed.

It’s a four season fiber, so it works perfectly for summer as well.

Since it breathes and manages moisture better than any other fiber.

 

Mid layer
- wool sweater
- fleece jacket
- buff or scarf
- beanie or hat
- gloves or mittens

 

Top layer
- isolated and waterproofed pants for arctic nature trips (for the city a jeans or casual pants will be fine)
- soft shell jacket
- down jacket
- isolated and waterproofed winter boots
- spikes for your shoes (in case the streets are icy)
- water bottle or/and thermos

 

Many good isolated clothes will keep you warm and let you enjoy your polar adventure

​

​

Northernlights are the result of disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind. 

These disturbances are sometimes strong enough to alter the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma. 

These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere).

The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying color and complexity. 

The form of the aurora, occurring within bands around both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating particles. Precipitating protons generally produce optical emissions as incident hydrogen atoms after gaining electrons from the atmosphere. 

Proton auroras are usually observed at lower latitudes.

​

You need to know that there is no  bad or good month to see the northernlights.

Solar activity does not depend on our  calendar. There are no better or worse days,  northernlights is visible both on Monday and Wednesday :-)

And it could be visible from early evening to late night.

Many tourists make a huge mistake leaving at 10pm, just because they have read on the internet that the best northernlights will be visible at midnight. There are no rules, so as not to miss any spectacle in the sky, we will always recommend starting in the early evening, just after dark.

​

No application, the so-called Northernlight Apps won't help you find the aurora by itself and will often mislead you. The Northern Lights are a cosmic phenomenon, it's hard to predict what will happen in an hour, so don`t try to create a monthly forecast that app users enjoy. There are situations when the applications predict the intensity of KP5, e.g. on Sunday in 2 or 3 weeks. There is no northernlights intensity forecasting algorithm and people often misinterpret the KP index.

Never trust when an app says don't go or stay home. If you already use such applications, it is good to use those that show more data, especially in the form of graphs.

​

Artificial light disturbs or even makes it impossible to observe the northernlights.

Darkness helps to observe the northernlights with the naked eye, the colors are more intense then. 

​

CAN I SEE THE NORTHERN LIGHT WITH THE BARE EYE?

 

And now the naked truth about northernlights!

Probably no one will want to tell you that, but the truth is that you will never see such intense colors with the naked eye as in the photos. Not because we use magic tricks in Photoshop or Lightroom, but because of the structure of the human eye. As we wrote earlier, it takes time for man to adapt to the darkness. In the dark we see no colors, only contours. Therefore, when northernlights appears, the rods of our eye catch the emitted light and send information to the brain that something is flared.

This is why, at first, many people see the aurora as a white glow. Only with time, when our eye gets used to the darkness, we are able to see colors. However, you should not expect toxic green colors, rather it will be a delicate shade. Anyway, each of us has different eyes, better or weaker, so it is difficult to engage in any discussion about the perception of colors. There are guests who do not see (or do not want) green even in the strongest northernlights, and there are also those who rejoice at the sight of green, even when it is not there (because it was an ordinary cloud).

For a camera, things are easier. Due to the long exposure that we use when photographing northernlights, more light accumulates in the photos and therefore green is greener and pink is more pink.

 

So you can ask, what's the point to go and freeze when you can see more beautiful postcards? All northernlights guides are waiting for the climax, which is the dance of the northernlights. That`s something that camera can`t capture well and it`s certainly an unforgettable experience. Depending on the intensity of the lights, it can be gently undulating or crazily spinning / dancing, which cannot be described in words or properly captured with a camera.

​

THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE - BE PATIENT

​

This is a natural phenomena, there are no rules, and we are truly sad to notice that so many tourists are repeating myths they read somewhere on blogs. More than once we met with people who missed the most beautiful northernlights at 6pm because they read that the lights occurs between 9pm and 11pm. There are no time frames or rules, especially if it`s your lifetime chance, even if you spend over 2-3 nights above the Arctic Circle. As long as you have enough strength, it is worth looking at the sky (not sitting in the car) and you should not lose hope.

Another contradictory myth - northernlights appear only in the morning or miraculously disappear after 1am. You could say that this is entirely a matter of chance. We have watched northernlights at any time and there is really no rule for that.

In December, we were able to see it super early, at around 3pm. Sometimes northernlights  appears when we leave the house, sometimes we have to wait an hour, sometimes six. Nobody can guarantee how long the show will last. The show can last for 15 minutes, two hours or literally ... 30 seconds. Northernlights may appear once, maybe two, maybe a dozen or so during the night, and sometimes it is in the sky and does not want to disappear. Its intensity, color and length will be completely different each time. One thing is certain, the moment when you see her for the first time is unforgettable and it stays in you forever.

​

​

Pickup point is Kirkegata 2 Tromsø City center - Near the harbor

​

Email: borealisexpedition@gmail.com

​

+47 91 999 190