Key goal - see the Northern Lights

Norway | Oct 11 - Oct 25, 2024

Key goal - see the Northern Lights, unfortunately we didn't see them as we had hoped with swirling shapes of color and only saw a weak light through our camera lens on 21 Oct 2024. Seems that we missed a great light show on the day we arrived in Tromso, 19 Oct but we didn't have anything scheduled that night. The rest of the trip had cloudy nights with poor sightings. Even though our goal had been the Northern Lights, Norway and it's people definitely made up for it with the country's beauty and the people's hospitality

The following are snapshot reviews by category to help future travelers, especially seniors like us

City Tours -
Private tours are very helpful to adjust endurance as needed. Our guide Lena in Oslo did that because the weather wasn't good for walking and we bought tram tickets to a location where she was able to show us non-touristy areas which is what we requested. There was some confusion with our guide in Bergen, itinerary listed Synnove and when I texted her to confirm, she said she wasn't scheduled but she did get back with us and told us Thomas would be our guide. He met us at our apt but was puzzled as to why we would start our 2 hr walking tour in the outskirts of town when he usually started them in city center. We ended up having to buy tram tickets to get to the city center where Thomas started the tour which of course was less than the two hours but Thomas was very good and actually stayed a little longer. If outskirt accommodations are scheduled, notify travelers and guide to have a plan for transportation and sights prior to starting the tour. Private city tour in Tromso was ample time

Scheduled Tours -
Nutshell Tour - our favorite. Due to the length of time to do it in one day, staying overnight in Flam was a great idea and we think you should recommend it to all travelers. As for the luggage transfer to the hotel in Bergen, the luggage transfer did work but the problem was it not being delivered on time at the Bergen Apt due to logistics issues.

Fjordsafari - 2 hr 15 min was too long for us, very cold and windy, would have preferred a one hour tour
Aegir Viking dinner - too bad we didn't catch it in time but neither of us drink beer, so the 5-course beer tasting with the sampler dinner could have been switched to just a traditional dinner but the atmoshpere made up for it

We had requested a longer stay at Voss but once we arrived we were too tired and found out that an earlier train could be taken by requesting it to the conductor on the earlier train. This would be a good note to advise travelers, that based on availability, they could move up their scheduled time

Hardangerford Express in Bergen - enjoyable relaxing cruise, limited eating and shopping locations during off season
Coastal Scenery Safari in Tromso - conflicting notes on where to meet, Radisson or "from Oct @ Bus Terminal Prostneset but this was resolved by checking with KimKim
Northern Lights Expedition in Tromso - 21 Oct, due to rain sat in mini van for over an hour before getting out to go to down to the fire and wait for the lights that didn't happen. The walk down the wet, slippery embankment was a challenge for these seniors but thanks to two wonderful helpful passengers, we were able to go down and back up to the mini van.

Aurora Husky Visit - still no Northern Lights, excellent staff and our favorite meal on the trip. Tour was listed as "Small Group" but it was actually a full bus with about 40 passengers

Private Transfers - all excellent and very helpful to these seniors

Hotels -
Oslo - Hotel Bondeheimen, good location for walking to key sites and public transportation
Flam - Flamsbrygga Hotel - good location
Bergen - Bjorvika Apartments - good accommodations but logistics to receive keys and not in city center was an issue
Tromso - Specialty Stay-Standard Apts - comfortable accommodations but hike up the hill from the reception area was another challenge to these seniors but we made it. Very friendly staff that helped us at check in with out luggage and offered great waffles between 5-7 pm
Alta - Glod Aurora Domes - interesting change to a typical hotel but not in city center and had to order dinner to be delivered from a restaurant because we arrived too late for their dinner. Our disappointment again was no Northern Lights but we felt this area had too many lights from the office area, to the adjoining buildings making it not very dark
to see the lights even without lights in our dome. We found out later that they offered off site Northern Light Expeditions, so maybe notify passengers of this option

Our disappointment of no Northern Lights continued after we left Norway and stopped off in Iceland for 7 days.....hard to believe, but again no Aurora Borealis..... maybe next time. Thanks to all the staff at KimKim for making this a wonderful trip and we'll certainly contact KimKim again once we decide where we want to go on our next adventure

Alicia & Gloria