Northern Lights: This Is The Year (And North Norway's Got SO Much Else To Offer)

Ever since Joanna Lumley lay on the ground in Arctic Norway and wept over the green ribbons blazing across the sky, the Northern Lights have become a bucket list must-see.    

And with the sun at peak activity in its current 12-year cycle, this winter could be the best chance to see them in the next decade.

Going as far north as possible is key, says Sussex astronomer Dr. John Mason, who lectures aboard Hurtigruten, the Norwegian Coastal Steamer, every winter as it sails for six nights straight beneath the auroral ring, which circles the North Pole.   

This is where you want to be from now until early April while the sky is dark enough. And if it’s a clear night with a minimal moon you’ll have a good chance of seeing these electrically charged particles colliding with oxygen and nitrogen atoms as they hit the earth’s atmosphere.

Sightings are never guaranteed, but so high has been the 2014 hit rate, Hurtigruten is offering any passenger who books the full return journey from Bergen to Kirkenes on the Russian border a free return trip if the Lights don’t make an appearance.

More Than Light

But Northern Norway is not only about the Aurora Borealis. Its frontier towns have a rich history and offer exciting winter adventures worth stopping a night or two to make the most of.    

Hurtigruten is the best way to get from one remote port to another, and steamers arriving daily allow for flexible stays as well as fixed cruises with port excursions.

Tromso
You could spend days in Norway’s arctic capital, a real party town thanks to a large student population, with more pubs per head than anywhere else in the country.   

But outdoor activities are the great attraction of winter - spend a morning whale watching with Tormod Brox on Lofotfjord, and see killer whales and humpbacks leaping in pods within a few feet of the ship.   

Husky-sledding is available once snow starts falling (later and later in the season, thanks to the melting ice cap) and cable car rides give panoramic views of the town and coast.

For culture buffs there is the Northern Norway Art Museum, the fantastically futuristic Arctic Cathedral, where midnight concerts are a rare and magical treat.  At Polaria, a museum attached to the town’s polar research centre, visitors can see bearded seals and watch panoramic films showcasing the outer arctic region.

Trendy Tromso has a brand-new design hotel, The Edge, with a lively bar and restaurant, and is easily reached by low-cost flight from London via Oslo or Trondheim.

North Cape
Beautifully barren winterscapes distinguish this northernmost point of mainland Europe.

Leave a visit till late January onwards, when the total darkness of the polar night gives way to a few hours of exquisite twilight with every shade of blue, purple and gold lighting up the mid-morning sky; there’s a festival to celebrate the return of the sun.  It’s possible to stay both at the remote North Cape itself (visitnordkapp.net) or in the little harbour settlement of Honningsvag.

In the cosy but dramatic North Cape Hall an excellent film shows how the landscape is as stunning during the 10 midsummer weeks when the sun never sets as the velvety midwinter when it barely rises.   

An intimate cafe serving good coffee and cake makes a comforting place to overlook the windswept sculpture garden atop the massive cliff which marks the roof of the world.

Kirkenes
The end of the line for Hurtigruten is where Norway peters out in the far north, in a sliver of valley between the Russian and Finnish borders.  But this boom town, fuelled by a huge natural gas find, feels more like Canada, with its prosperous, colourful timber houses and snow-lined roads connecting frozen lakes with fjords and mountains rich in iron ore.

Come in the first quarter of 2015 to catch the Snow Hotel, which goes up in late December, and stay overnight to allow enough time for husky-sledding, snowmobiling and reindeer spotting in the sweeping, but far from bleak, interior, or take a fishing safari for giant, highly-prized king crab. 

This could be the last year to savour the town’s intimate small town atmosphere, as Kirkenes is busy pouring its massive, new-found wealth into housing for prospectors, a big hospital and a brand-new university.    Time visits where possible for the last Thursday of every month, when traders sell high-quality goods from across the border for bargain prices at a Russian market in the town centre.

Hammerfest

A tiny town with a huge heart, Hammerfest has suffered more than almost anywhere else on earth.   It’s hard to believe that between bouts of destruction by 19th century Brits, 20th century Nazis and natural disasters in between, this place was once the epitome of high-fashion living, the first in Europe to install electric street lighting in 1890.

To understand the amazing endurance of the people, head for the Reconstruction Museum which tells how those who had lost everything returned to a town burnt to the ground by the Nazis in 1944 and lived in barracks for years as they slowly rebuilt their lives.  

A contemporary church with beautiful stained glass stands overlooking the coast, across from a cemetery containing a chapel, which is the only building to have survived WWII.   Best bet for those who want to linger overnight is the Rica Hotel offering  harbour views, bar and a restaurant serving highly-rated arctic fare.

Vardo

Norway’s easternmost town, parallel vertically with Cairo, is a far-flung island connected to the mainland where Hurtigruten makes only a brief stop in darkness.   

Stay over in the one basic hotel, or the intriguingly-named Kiberg Bed & Boat eight miles south, to explore the activities on offer and Vardo’s rich and surprisingly multicultural history.

For centuries, locals traded their fish for luxury goods brought across the border by wealthy Russians needing seafood aplenty for their many feast days, a story told in the town’s Pomor Museum.  

Today’s Russian settlers have been joined by Sri Lankan and Thai immigrants, which explains the ready availability of Asian food and Singa beer.

Bird-watching, fishing trips and a friendly harbour pub with occasional live music are the best reasons for a stopover at what may be the most remote of all towns in Northern Norway, now its prosperous trading days are past.

Hurtigruten offer an Arctic Highlights package starting and finishing in Tromso with steamer to Kirkenes via all the ports mentioned above from £899.  This includes flights from London, two nights b&b in Tromso and three nights half-board in an inside cabin.  Note food and drink on board are pricey; even water must be paid for at lunch and dinner.

Northern Lights-hunters can take a special Astronomy Voyage on February 9 including the 12-day round trip from Bergen to Kirkenes on full board with daily lectures and a visit to the Tromso Northern Lights Planetarium from £1399.  

Those who book any 12-day voyage by December 31 for departures up to March 31, 2015 will be offered a free seven-day voyage if the Lights do not make an appearance.