Where is the best place to see the northern lights?

Tromsø is the only city in the world to be in the heart of the Aurora Oval, along the gulf stream, have a network of surrounding microclimates & be in the Aurora sweet spot, for these reasons, no other city compares to Tromsø if your goal is to see the Northern Lights. 

Tromsø is located in the heart of the Aurora Oval. The Aurora Oval is an oval-shaped belt that runs around the earth at both the top and the bottom. The belt is the area that can see activity depending on the KP. As Tromsø remains in the heart of the belt, it is possible to see the Northern Lights even at a KP 1 or less.  

Tromsø is 70 degrees north. This means that Tromsø is situated in the Aurora sweet spot; the nights are dark enough to see activity consistently from September until mid-April and far enough north that activity is visible even on a KP 1.  In regards to the KP, don’t worry too much about this. If there is any solar activity in the Northern hemisphere then we would see it here, assuming there are gaps in the clouds and it is dark. This is because Tromsø is located at 70 degrees north. 

Tromsø is located in a region with an exceptional number of microclimates. Each valley, fjord, mountain, and plateau can have significantly different conditions to the neighboring region, this means that even on very cloudy evenings it is possible to clear skies within a 2 – 3 hr drive. The environmental conditions here are very dynamic, conditions can change so fast that it is impossible to predict the cloud coverage pattern even within a few days. The reason the forecasts and apps are so unreliable here is that we have so many deep valleys, fjords, inland plateau, and the gulf stream. The forecasts and apps do not account for these other regions, nor is checking the conditions in Tromsø representative of the other regions. 

Tromsø is in the gulf stream, this island surrounded by ocean water that has traveled across the Atlantic and up the Norwegian coast. This beautiful ‘warm’ water is straight from the Caribbean, keeping Tromsø surprisingly warm even throughout winter. Expect that in the heart of winter that temperatures in the city will likely go between 1 and –6 with exceptionally cold days reaching –10 or colder. The coldest day on record was a brisk –18 degrees. As most travelers stay in Tromsø city, this means that the majority of their stay is comfortable and suitable for the whole family. However, don’t be fooled, just one hour inland into one of the deep valleys and away from the gulf stream, it is often a fresh –20 to –30 degrees. As tour companies often go inland on evening Aurora Hunts, most have age restrictions in order to protect those vulnerable to such temperatures and too small to regulate their body temperatures properly.