Northern Norway: Chasing the Northern Lights

Experiencing the unbelievable colours moving across the Arctic sky is on many travellers’ bucket lists.

It is often said that northern Norway is one of the best places in the world to see the northern lights. To be honest, that is only partially true, as the lights can also be visible from other destinations. But few countries can rival Norway’s vast selection of activities, tours, cruises, restaurants, and hotels that all play an important part in this Arctic experience. Most importantly, the sun is reaching its peak—known as the solar maximum—of its 11-year cycle. This makes Northern Lights trips in 2024 and 2025 the best period for the next decade!

On a basic level, the northern lights are quite simple to explain. They come at night when the sky is dark. It’s like a celestial ballet of light dancing across the night sky, with a colour palette of green, pink, and violet reminiscent of a really cool 1980s fashion show.

To locals in Northern Norway, the northern lights are a part of life. Here, the aurora borealis has been—and still is—a fertile source for art, mythology, and legends. To others, like celebrity scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the phenomenon is a unique example of just how beautiful science can be. “It’s a curious thing about the universe,” he says, “behind the most stunning sights to behold, lies some of the most challenging problems in physics.”

The Science and Myths Behind the Northern Lights

The science behind the northern lights is often explained by physics specialized in magnetohydrodynamics—concepts far smarter than most of us. But here’s what we do understand: We have the sun to thank for everything, including the auroras. During large solar explosions and flares, huge quantities of particles are thrown out of the sun into deep space.

When these particles meet Earth’s magnetic shield, they are guided toward a circle around the magnetic North Pole, where they interact with the upper atmosphere. The energy released during this interaction creates the northern lights. All this occurs roughly 100 kilometres above our heads.

Unsurprisingly, the northern lights have inspired many legends. Symbols linked to the lights are found on the Sami shamanistic drum. The phenomenon has several names in Sami, including Guovssahas, meaning “the light which can be heard.” Quite poetic, isn’t it?

During the Viking Age, the northern lights were believed to be the armour of the Valkyrie warrior virgins, shedding a strange flickering light. Oh, the Vikings and their warrior virgins…

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