Northern Lights in Norway – Photography Tour

Norway is pretty epic. And there are few places in the world better to capture the Aurora Borealis than the northern part of Norway. In early 2028, I’m going to be leading a group of photographers searching for really cool locations to photograph both the northern lights and some epic landscapes.

Yes, this is a “northern lights photo tour”. But it’s so much more than that. We’re going to find some incredible seascapes, some picturesque villages, and some stunning winter landscapes.

The beauty of a trip to this region? Even if we’re unlucky with the northern lights activity, we’ll have plenty of unreal photographs to make regardless of day or night.

Costs / Info

  • Dates: March 3-13, 2028
    Optional Lofoten Extension = March 13-19, 2028
  • Start City: Tromsø, Norway
  • End City: Tromsø, Norway
  • Days: 11
  • Maximum Group Size: 10
  • Trip Style: Classic
  • Fitness Level: Moderate. Some walking. No hiking.
  • Price: €5300 (€900 deposit)
    • Optional Single Supplement: €2,000

Book Here

To book a space on this photography tour, please pay a deposit below.

The final payments for this trip will be due 180 days prior to the tour’s start date. All deposits are refundable up to 120 days before the tour’s start date with a 10% cancellation fee.

Cancellation policy can be found here.

What’s Included

  • Transport within Tour Dates
  • Accommodation within Tour Dates
  • Breakfast on tour dates
  • Park Entrance Fees
  • Photography Instruction by Brendan van Son

What’s Not Included

  • Transport to/from Tromsø
  • Airport transfers (can be arranged)
  • Visas for Norway (if needed)
  • Lunch and Dinner
  • Snacks and beverages

Itinerary

In my experience, for northern lights tours I really think it’s best to try to have flexibility with the itinerary. There’s nothing more frustrating on a photography tour to chase northern lights where you’re somewhere that’s cloudy, when there’s a place nearby that has really good clear sky conditions. With that said, I think it’s very important to stay flexible. We have goals for this trip, and those goals are based on photographing incredible things. So there’s a chance we’ll stray from the below itinerary to chase better conditions elsewhere – if needed.

Day 1 – Arrival in Tromsø
Day 2 – Full day exploring area around Tromsø such as Ersfjordbotn and Fjellheisen Cable Car.
Day 3 – Exploring around Sommarøy archipelego
Day 4 – Heading north to Skibotn where we’ll photograph fishing huts and landscapes.
Day 5 – We’ll drive north to Alta. This is home to The Cathedral of the Northern Lights.
Day 6 – Our journey continues to Honningsvåg where we’ll base for a couple days.
Day 7 – Weather permitting, we’ll try to get to Nordkapp – the northernmost part of Norway.
Day 8 – We’ll continue to explore this northern region. Stopping at Skarsvåg – the world’s northernmost fishing village.
Day 9 – We’ll start our journey back to Tromsø. Obviously, with photography locations along the way.
Day 10 – We’ll return to Tromsø in the evening.
Day 11 – The tour ends after breakfast.

The Lofoten Extension

I understand that though I’ve been across the Lofoten Islands about 10 times, there are people who haven’t. As such, I wanted to create a quick add-on extension for those wishing to continue their road trips a bit to head to what is one of the most photogenic places on earth.

The extension itinerary is:

Day 11 – After breakfast, we’ll drive south to Narvik area.
Day 12 – We’ll cross into the Lofoten Islands and photograph the mid-section of the islands.
Day 13 – A full day up in the central section to photograph Unstad, Nusfjord, Myrland and Skagsanden beach.
Day 14 – We’ll push south towards the famous Hamnøy Bridge.
Day 15 – We’ll have a full day to photograph the southern section of the islands including Reine, Hamnøy and more.
Day 16 – We’ll catch a ferry across to the city of Bodø.
Day 17 – The tour ends after breakfast.

The cost for the add-on is 3,000 euros and has the same inclusions as the main trip.

Book Now

If you’re interested in joining, you’ll need to pay a deposit below. That deposit is refundable with a 10% fee up to 120 days prior to the tour’s start date. If you’d like to book the Lofoten Add-on, information on that trip will follow via email.

FAQs For the Norway Photography Tour

What’s a Single Supplement?

If you’re booking solo, you’ll be paired up with a roommate of the same gender as the pricing is based on double occupancy. However, if you’d like your own private single accommodation you can pay the single supplement.

How Fit Do I Need to Be for this Trip?

In theory, almost anyone could do this trip. That said, to get the most out of it you’ll want to join for some shorter walks, and be comfortable enough to walk on snow and ice.

What Does and Average Day Look Like?

With long days in May and June, not all the days will look the same. But, for the most part, days will look like this:
9-10am: Breakfast
11-3pm: Location scouting / daytime photography / driving
3pm: Late Lunch
4pm: Arrival at hotel.
5:30pm: Sunset Photography
7pm: Dinner Time
9pm-12am: Northern Lights Photography
1am: Bedtime
Obviously, if we have an epic northern lights session we might stay out later, or if it’s a bust, we might turn in early.

If I do the Lofoten Add-On, where do I fly?

For the Lofoten Add-on, you’ll fly into Tromsø and fly out of Bodø. The airport in Bodø is fairly major and there are plenty of direct flights to Copenhagen. You could also fly out of Leknes on day 16 if you can find flights. However, flights out of Leknes are very limited.

Other questions?

Feel free to shoot me an email to brendanvanson at gmail dot com if you have any other questions about the trip.

Can’t Join this One?

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At the moment we have trips to places like New Zealand and Jordan – among many other amazing photography destinations. We’d love for you to join us out in the world.

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