What a Northern Lights tour in Tromsø costs
About a hundred dollars buys you a seat on a big bus into the dark. Most small-group chases cost closer to a hundred and fifty, and a night with reindeer and dinner more than two hundred. The difference is less about the lights than about how many people share the ride and what is waiting for you out there.
The six tours on our comparison page
These are the "from" prices in the listings today, in US dollars, for the cheapest option of each tour. The operators price in Norwegian kroner, so the dollar figure moves with the exchange rate as well as with the date and the option. Treat them as a guide, not a price list.
| Tour | From | Length | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big bus with free repeats | ~$99 | About 6 h | Coach with toilet, live guide in English and Spanish, photos, free rejoin if no aurora photo |
| Electric boat cruise | ~$134 | 3.5 h | Heated lounges, vegan soup, guide; drinks extra |
| Most-reviewed chase | ~$138 | About 6 h | Minibus, thermal suit, hot chocolate, bonfire, portraits, hotel drop-off |
| Local family-run chase | ~$146 | About 6 h | Minibus up to 19, light meal, homemade cake, suits if needed, photos |
| Unlimited minibus chase | ~$168 | 5 h or 6–8 h | Up to 15 guests, suits, bonfire and hot dogs, portraits, tripods |
| Reindeer camp dinner | ~$203 | 4.5 h | Bus, reindeer feeding, Sami guides, three-course dinner, hot drinks |
The big bus for about a hundred dollars
The big bus from Jeshua Tours at ~$99 is the cheapest way out of the city lights, and it is not a bare-bones ride. A toilet on board, a live guide, an audio guide in eight more languages, photos and a campfire when the conditions allow. It costs less because many more people share the coach. The thermal suit is not included, you rent it, so add that to the price if you do not own serious winter clothes.
The bus also has the only written return guarantee of the six. If their camera does not catch a clear photo of you with the aurora, you can rejoin for free as often as your stay allows, or get 70 percent of the ticket back if you cannot. How the no-lights policies compare is in its own guide.
What the minibus premium buys
Three of the six are minibus chases between ~$138 and ~$168: the Arctic Breeze chase at ~$138, the family-run Arctic Glow tour at ~$146 and our pick, the unlimited chase from Snow Travels at ~$168. For the extra forty to seventy dollars over the bus you get a group of 15 to 19 instead of a coachload, thermal suits included, a guide who knows your name, and a vehicle that can turn down a side road when a gap opens in the clouds.
Our pick costs the most of the three because it puts no fixed limit on the chase on its six-to-eight-hour option and adds foot warmers, tripods and hot dogs by the fire. How much that matters depends on the night. On a clear evening, all three find the lights near town. On a cloudy one, the willingness to drive two or three hours to Finland is what you are paying for. Minibus, bus or camp explains the trade-offs.
Small group, suits and portraits included
Snow Travels runs our pick from ~$168 a head, with thermal suits and portraits in the price, and you can cancel for free until 24 hours before.
Why the reindeer camp costs the most
At ~$203, the reindeer camp dinner is the most expensive of the six, and the only one that feeds you properly. Three courses of salmon, reindeer stew and chocolate cake come with the bus, the herd, the Sami guides and a joik performance. Think of it as a dinner and culture evening with a chance of the lights, not as a chase. Cruise guests like it for exactly that reason, because it ends at 10:30 pm whatever the sky does.
Paying for warmth on the boat
The electric boat cruise at ~$134 costs about the same as a minibus chase but works differently. You wait in heated lounges and only step out on deck when the lights appear, and the trip takes three and a half hours from a pier in the center. Drinks from the cafe on board are extra. Travelers rate its value for money 4.0 out of 5, the lowest score of the six, mostly because the boat cannot escape coastal clouds. Boat or bus is compared in detail in our guide.
What is rarely in the price
- Winter boots. Suits come with most chases, boots almost never. The adults-only all-inclusive chase from Northern Horizon at ~$135 is one of the few that includes them.
- Getting into town from Breivika. If your ship docks at the outer quay, add the shuttle or a taxi to the center and back.
- Drinks on the boat. Only tap water and soup are included.
- Tips. Never required in Norway, but a few dollars for a guide who kept going until 2 am is always appreciated.
- Unwatermarked photos. Most photos are free, but some operators charge a small fee for full-resolution prints without a watermark.
Cheaper than the ship's excursion?
Often, but compare carefully. The big advantage of a tour sold by your cruise line is that the ship waits if the coach is late. A tour you book yourself is usually cheaper per person and runs in a smaller group, but if you miss all-aboard, that is your problem. Check the price the ship quotes against the six here, and read our cruise guide before you decide.