7 Alternatives to Tromsø for the Northern Lights (Without the Crowds or the Price Tag)
Tromsø is booked out again, or too expensive & crowded? Here's where else to go for the aurora this winter.
On our third trip to Iceland, we were welcomed with this on the first evening!
We've spent winters all over the Arctic: Alta, Senja, Tromsø & Lofoten in Norway, Swedish & Finnish Lapland, Iceland and Greenland. So when people write to ask where else to go because Tromsø is booked out, we've usually just come back from one of those alternatives ourselves.
We've even recommended Tromsø before, as a calmer, less commercial answer to Rovaniemi in our Magical Alternatives to Rovaniemi guide. The trouble is, the same thing that made Rovaniemi worth escaping has started catching up with Tromsø: sold-out hotel, tour buses queued at the same handful of viewpoints, and prices that climb every winter the city gets more popular. Here are the alternatives to Tromsø we’d recommend for the northern lights, and what you'd be trading to go there.
🛌 Where to stay:
• Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, Alta — an ice hotel and a genuine bucket-list stay if you want the closest alternative to Tromsø.
• Mefjord Brygge, Senja — a fishing-village resort, we've stayed in the fjord-facing timber houses ourselves.
• Eliassen Rorbuer, Lofoten — the classic red rorbuer-over-the-water shot, right in Hamnøy.
• ICEHOTEL, Kiruna — the original, rebuilt fresh every winter from ice carved out of the Torne River.
• Aurora Igloo South, Hella — transparent dome pods with heated beds and 360° views, about 100km from Reykjavík.
• Cabin Jomsborg, Ilulissat — a cabin right by the ice, this is the one we've stayed in ourselves with icebergs drifting past.
🇳🇴🇸🇪🇫🇮🇮🇸🇬🇱 Top experiences:
• Dog sledding with Holmen Husky, Alta — our favorite thing to do there, lights or not.
• Guided mountain hike, Senja — Segla and Hesten without figuring out the route yourself.
• Northern lights minivan tour from Svolvær, Lofoten — gets you away from the villages' own light pollution.
• Dog sledding northern lights tour, Kiruna — mushing is our favorite thing to do there too, lights or not.
• Husky sled and northern lights in Saariselkä — the animals are the guaranteed part, the aurora is the bonus
• Northern lights tour from Reykjavík — if you don't have a car, this is the move. Local guides track the forecast in real time and most offer a free return if the lights don't show
• Greenland tours — icefjord boat trips, whale watching, hiking, and dedicated aurora excursions out of Nuuk and Ilulissat.
🚗 Car rental for Northern Norway — worth it the moment you're chasing clear skies outside a city center.
Jump to: Alta · Senja · Lofoten · Kiruna & Swedish Lapland · Finnish Lapland · Iceland · Greenland · FAQ
Alternatives to Tromsø: quick answer
If you want the smallest possible change from a Tromsø trip, go to Alta: not too far, airport & city access, similar landscape, noticeably fewer crowds. If solitude and dramatic scenery matter more than convenience, go to Senja or Lofoten. If you're open to a different country entirely for a lower price and a different kind of Arctic, Kiruna and Swedish Lapland deliver that, and Finnish Lapland outside Rovaniemi gets you a third country and wilderness. If you'd rather skip Scandinavia altogether, Iceland in winter is quieter than you’ d think, and Greenland is the furthest thing from a Tromsø crowd you'll find in the Arctic, though that distance comes at a price in both money and logistics. More on all these alternatives below.
| Destination | Country | Change from Tromsø | Crowds | Prices | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alta | Norway | Smallest, same region | Lower | Lower | Easiest full swap |
| Senja | Norway | A few hours by car | Much lower | Similar | Hiking & solitude |
| Lofoten | Norway | Extra flight, then drive | Lower | Similar | Dramatic scenery |
| Kiruna & Swedish Lapland | Sweden | Different country | Much lower | Lower | Budget & ICEHOTEL |
| Finnish Lapland | Finland | Different country | Lowest | Lower | Solitude & Sámi culture |
| Iceland | Iceland | Separate flight | Lower in winter | Lower in winter | Infrastructure & variety |
| Greenland | Greenland | Separate flight, most planning | Lowest | Higher | Icebergs & exclusivity |
Alta, Norway
We saw this amazing aurora in October in Alta, right in front of our apartment. The lights on the right are from the airport!
Alta is the closest alternative on this list, both geographically and in spirit, and it's the one we usually recommend first. We've written a full Tromsø vs. Alta comparison covering this in depth, but the short version is that Alta trades Tromsø's city buzz for something quieter and, in our experience, more reliable for seeing the lights themselves: clearer skies on average, far fewer tour buses at the viewpoints, and a town small enough that escaping what little light pollution exists takes minutes rather than a planned drive. We stayed in an apartment a short walk from the town center, enjoyed three aurora displays in a week right from there (and probably more if not for the clouds), and ended up chatting with locals at the pub. A version of Northern Norway that felt considerably less packaged than what we've experienced in Tromsø on a busy winter weekend. Read our guide to Seeing the Northern Lights in Alta for more.
Alta highlights
The Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, an ice hotel for the experience plus warmer options like Thon Hotel Alta if you'd rather not sleep on ice.
Year-round dog sledding with Holmen Husky, and smaller, more personal northern lights tours than Tromsø's larger operators.
The UNESCO-listed Alta Rock Carvings and the hike up to the historic Haldde Observatory (outside of winter), both cultural and outdoor draws beyond the aurora.
Perfect for: travelers who want the lights to be the main event, with less competition for good viewing spots, and who don't mind trading some of Tromsø's restaurants and nightlife for a smaller, but endearing town.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Alta
Resources if you’re going to Alta
Things to Do:
Why Alta, Norway Is the Most Underrated Arctic Town & Things to Do
Alta in Winter
Outdoor Adventures in Alta
Where to Stay:
Alta Best Hotels
Best Hotels with Sauna in Alta
Northern Lights:
Northern Lights Tours in Alta, Norway
How to See the Northern Lights in Alta
Practical:
Do You Need a Car in Alta?
Best Trips from Alta
Senja, Norway
Besides the northern lights, Senja offers world-class hiking possibilities — Here hiking Hesten with a view on iconic Segla
Senja is Norway's second-largest island and sits close enough to Tromsø that some visitors do it as a day trip, but basing yourself there instead is a completely different trip: jagged peaks like Segla and Hesten rising straight out of the fjords, fishing villages with a fraction of Tromsø's (or even Lofoten’s) visitor numbers, and some properly dark, remote corners for aurora viewing. We've stayed at a few different properties across the island ourselves. Mefjord Brygge is nestled in a picturesque fisherman’s village, and Yttersia Base sits right at the trailhead for Husfjellet (you can hike it with snowshoes/skis in winter). If you want somewhere well off the beaten path, Senja Moments Tranøya, a car-free island a kilometer across with zero light pollution, is about as remote as it gets.
Senja highlights
Some of the best hiking in Northern Norway right from your accommodation, and as spectacular as Lofoten in our opinion. We go deeper on the specific trails in our Best Hikes in Senja guide.
A wide spread of properties from resort-style (Mefjord Brygge) to properly remote (Senja Moments Tranøya), all covered in our Best Hotels in Senja guide.
Close enough to Tromsø that a rental car gets you there in a few hours, so it's a realistic swap rather than a whole separate trip to plan.
Perfect for: hikers and photographers who want dramatic scenery and genuine solitude, and who are comfortable renting a car and driving themselves between villages.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Senja
Resources if you’re going to Senja
Where to Stay:
Best Hotels and Cabins in Senja
Yttersia Base Hotel & Nordisk Bris Restaurant
Mefjord Brygge
Tranøya Island with Senja Moments
Things to Do:
Things to Do in Senja
Hiking in Senja: Best Trails, Including Hesten & Segla
Senja Tour from Tromsø
Sommarøy Travel Guide
Lofoten, Norway
We had to drive to the other side of the island for clear skies, but what a show at Haukland Beach!
Lofoten is the postcard version of Arctic Norway: red rorbuer cabins on stilts over the water, sheer peaks dropping straight into the sea, and some of the most photogenic aurora backdrops we've seen anywhere. It does get very busy in summer, but it’s a lot more quieter in winter. It takes more effort to reach than Tromsø: most people fly into Harstad/Narvik or Leknes and then drive, but for travelers willing to put in the effort, the reward is a landscape Tromsø doesn't have. We've covered where to base yourself for the aurora specifically in our Best Northern Lights Hotels in Lofoten guide, and the wider picture in our Northern Lights in Lofoten guide.
Lofoten highlights
Rorbuer and cabins built right over the fjord, several with incredible aurora-viewing potential from the property itself, with no driving required on a clear night.
A landscape that works for photography and hiking even when the aurora doesn’t show up. Consider the northern lights as a bonus.
Smaller villages spread across the archipelago mean it rarely feels as concentrated or crowded as central Tromsø on a peak winter weekend.
Perfect for: travelers who want the most dramatic scenery on this list and are willing to trade some convenience and an extra travel day for it.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Lofoten
Resources if you’re going to Lofoten
Lofoten Hiking Guide
Lofoten Hotels & Rorbuer
Things to Do in Lofoten
Best Time to Visit Lofoten
Northern Lights in Lofoten
Lofoten in Winter
Where to Stay in Lofoten by Area
Kiruna and Swedish Lapland
On a frozen lake near Luleå. Nowhere to put the camera but my tiny tripod!
Kiruna is in a different country, with a different landscape: forest and tundra instead of fjords and mountains, and in our experience a noticeably lower price tag and a lot less people. It's home to the original ICEHOTEL, rebuilt from scratch every winter, and dog sledding there has been our favorite thing to do in the Arctic, lights or not. We've written about why the town has stayed one of our happy places in our Why We Love Kiruna guide, and the specifics on the aurora itself in our Northern Lights in Kiruna guide.
Kiruna highlights
A night at the ICEHOTEL itself, or the more budget-friendly Camp Ripan, both covered in our Best Hotels in Kiruna guide.
A small mining town rather than a city, which in our experience means getting away from what little light pollution exists takes minutes, and a more authentic vibe. One of the most affordable base of this list.
Near Abisko, famous for its Blue Hole (a patch of clear skies for northern lights). Many aurora tours from Kiruna to Abisko.
Perfect for: travelers open to a different country and currency in exchange for a different landscape lower prices, and fewer crowds than anywhere else on this list except Greenland.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Kiruna
Resources if you’re going to Kiruna
Kiruna:
Best Hotels in Kiruna
ICEHOTEL Sweden
Things to Do in Kiruna & Swedish Lapland Year Round
Things to Do in Kiruna in Winter
Northern Lights in Kiruna
Northern Lights Tours in Kiruna
Car Rental in Kiruna
Abisko:
Abisko Northern Lights Tours
Best Hotels in Abisko
How to Get to Abisko from Kiruna
Swedish Lapland in general:
Best Hotels in Swedish Lapland
Northern Lights Tours in Sweden
Best Time to Visit Lapland
Northern Lights in Lapland
One Lapland Trip, Three Countries
Our Ultimate Arctic Travel Guide
Northern Lights for Dummies
Finnish Lapland, beyond Rovaniemi
This happened in February, roughly an hour from Rovaniemi
Most people who think of Finnish Lapland think of Rovaniemi, and we've written plenty about the crowds that come with that. We actually have an entire guide about Alternatives to Rovaniemi for Christmas Magic! But the region stretches much further north than Santa's “official” hometown, and up around Inari and Utsjoki it turns into some of the quietest, least touristed place we've ever been to. We've written about this stretch in our Finnish Lapland Beyond Rovaniemi guide: a 5-hour hike through the Muotkatunturi wilderness without seeing another person, the northern lights reflected on Kemijärvi lake, and Inari's standing as the heart of Sámi culture in Finland, with the Siida Sámi Museum as one of the better cultural stops we've found in the Arctic.
Finnish Lapland highlights
Inari, the cultural and spiritual center of Finland's Sámi communities, a completely different focus from Rovaniemi's Santa-first identity.
Muotkatunturi's unmarked wilderness trails, about as far from a Tromsø tour bus as this entire list gets.
Tykky (snow-coveed, eerie trees)
Reachable by the same overnight train route from Helsinki that gets you to Rovaniemi and several flights to Rovaniemi, Ivalo or Kittilä, so it's not a logistics nightmare to add on.
Perfect for: travelers who want winter wonderland without adding much complexity, and who value solitude enough to trade some of the polish and infrastructure Tromsø and Rovaniemi both offer.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Finnish Lapland
🐧 Explore tours in Finnish Lapland
Resources if you’re going to Rovaniemi
Rovaniemi:
Best Hotels in Rovaniemi
Winter Activities in Rovaniemi
Christmas in Rovaniemi
Best Time to Visit Rovaniemi & Finnish Lapland
How to See the Northern Lights in Rovaniemi
Magical Alternatives to Rovaniemi
Our Northern Lights Tour in Rovaniemi
How to Get to Rovaniemi
Northern Lights in Lapland:
Best Glass Igloos in Finland
Aurora Tours in Finnish Lapland
Northern Lights in Lapland
Best Aurora Hotels in Finland
Northern Lights Hub
Lapland in General:
Finnish Lapland in Fall
One Lapland Trip, Three Countries
Kiruna vs. Rovaniemi
Lapland on a Budget
Sauna and Ice Dip
Arctic Food Guide
Iceland
At Hali Country Hotel, near Jökulsárlón, in February
Iceland gets treated as a summer destination by a lot of travelers: puffins, whale watching, green landscapes, and the interior highland roads opening up. And that's part of why we think winter there is underrated. As we put it on our Iceland in Winter Travel Guide, winter is "quieter, wilder, and often cheaper than summer, fewer crowds, cheaper hotels, and the magic of the northern lights dancing above empty landscapes." That's an advantage over Tromsø in peak season. You lose the fjord-and-mountain look of Northern Norway, but you gain waterfalls, black sand beaches, hot springs (amazing to wait for the aurora) and glacier lagoons as a backdrop for the aurora instead.
Iceland highlights
Properties built specifically with aurora viewing in mind. We cover our favorites in our Best Northern Lights Hotels in Iceland guide, including our favorite offbeat retreat with a private sauna and hot tub to wait out a forecast in comfort.
A more developed tourism infrastructure than any other alternative here, easier for first-timers and non-drivers, more flights, more backup plans if weather doesn't cooperate one night.
We go deeper on realistic expectations, since the aurora isn't guaranteed anywhere, in our Northern Lights in Iceland: Is It Worth It guide and our Best Time to See the Northern Lights in Iceland guide.
Perfect for: travelers who want more built-out infrastructure and a wider variety of landscapes alongside the aurora, without competing with Tromsø's winter crowds.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Iceland
Resources if you’re going to Iceland
Northern Lights & Winter:
Best Northern Lights Hotels in Iceland
Things to Do in Iceland in Winter
Northern Lights in Iceland: Is It Worth It?
Best Time for Northern Lights in Iceland
Ring Road & Practical Planning:
Iceland Road Trip: South Ring Road Self-Drive
Where to Stay on Iceland's Ring Road
How to Travel Iceland on a Budget
Travel Insurance for Iceland
Best Time to Visit Iceland & Things to Do
Things to Do & Experiences:
Things to Do in Iceland in Summer
Free and Cheap Things to Do in Reykjavík
Iceland Without the Crowds
Horseback Riding in Iceland
Lava Show in Reykjavík
Silfra Snorkeling in Þingvellir
Glacier Hike & Ice Cave in Iceland
Stays & Hot Springs:
Brekka Retreat, Hvalfjörður
Hvammsvík Hot Springs, Hvalfjörður
Aurora Igloo South, Hella
Hotel Keflavik & Spa, near KEF Airport & Blue Lagoon
Greenland
Surrounded by ice fields and icebergs in Isfjord, near Ilulissat. Can you imagine with northern lights?
Greenland is the outlier on this list, and we'd be doing you a disservice if we sold it as an easy Tromsø swap. Getting there takes more planning, more time, and more budget than any other option in this article, but it also gets you further from any kind of crowd than anywhere else in the Arctic we've been. We've covered the details in our Northern Lights in Greenland guide: Ilulissat sits far enough north that the lights can show up on a clear night even during weaker geomagnetic activity, while Nuuk generally needs a bit more activity to put on a show. Either way, cloud cover, not the aurora forecast, tends to be the limiting factor, same as everywhere else.
Greenland highlights
Aurora over calving icebergs, a backdrop nothing else on this list can match, and we can vouch for this from a cabin right by the ice in Ilulissat.
Hotel Hans Egede and Hotel SØMA in Nuuk, or Hotel Hvide Falk and Cabin Jomsborg in Ilulissat, all covered along with the wider trip planning in our Greenland Travel Guide.
Minimal light pollution and, realistically, the smallest number of other tourists you'll be sharing a viewing spot with anywhere on this list.
Perfect for: travelers who want to go all the way in the other direction from Tromsø's crowds and tour buses, and who have the time and budget to make the trip worthwhile.
🐧 Explore hotels, cabins and apartments in Greenland
Resources if you’re going to Greenland
Nuuk:
Nuuk Travel Guide
Best Tours in Nuuk
Best Hotels in Nuuk
Ilulissat:
Ilulissat Travel Guide
Ilulissat Best Tours
Best Hotels in Ilulissat
Greenland in general:
Greenland Travel Guide
Best Time to Visit Greenland (Month-by-Month Guide)
Nuuk vs. Ilulissat (Where to Stay)
Packing for Greenland
Northern Lights in Greenland
Greenland by Ferry: Slow Travel from Ilulissat to Nuuk
How to choose an alternative to Tromsø for northern lights
We'd pick Alta for the smallest change from a Tromsø trip with a big mprovement in your odds against crowds. We'd pick Senja or Lofoten for the most dramatic scenery, Senja if solitude matters most, Lofoten if you want the classic postcard shot. We'd pick Kiruna for the lowest prices, authenticity and a different landscape in a different country. We'd pick Finnish Lapland outside Rovaniemi for a third country and the quietest wilderness on this list. We'd pick Iceland if you want more infrastructure and variety alongside the lights. And we'd pick Greenland if avoiding crowds matters more to you than convenience or budget. If you'd rather match a destination to how you like to travel, rather than by comparison to Tromsø specifically, our Northern Lights Trips by Travel Style guide comes at the same question from that angle.
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FAQ: Tromsø alternatives
Is Tromsø, Rovaniemi, or Kiruna better for the northern lights?
All three sit well inside the aurora zone with similar odds on a clear, dark night. None has an edge, it comes down to weather and getting away from city lights, which is quickest in Kiruna simply because it's the smallest of the three.
Is Tromsø or Rovaniemi better for a family trip?
Rovaniemi, especially if Santa Claus Village and the Arctic Circle crossing are part of the appeal. Just expect serious crowds and higher prices if you're going in December.
How do you get from Tromsø to Rovaniemi?
By direct flight with Finnair in about 1 hour 20 minutes, by the seasonal Arctic Route bus in 9 to 10.5 hours depending on the time of year, or by driving, which takes roughly the same time as the bus.
Is there a direct flight between Tromsø and Rovaniemi?
Yes, Finnair currently flies it directly in about 1 hour 20 minutes, a few times a week. Check the current schedule before booking since routes like this change.
Should I visit Kiruna instead of Tromsø or Rovaniemi?
Worth considering if you want something wilder, less touristy, and generally more affordable than either. It's the least convenient to fly into directly or connect with the rest of the Nordics, so factor that into how it fits your route.
Tromsø earned its popularity fair and square, and we absolutely love it, but much better off season. With fjords, whales, mountains, and a pretty large city with a big cultural scene to come back to, none of these seven alternatives replace all of that at once. What they do is take the specific pain points, the sold-out hotels, the packed tour buses, the prices that climb every winter, and remove them, each in a different way. Pick the trade-off that matches what you came to our beloved Arctic for (besides the aurora, that is)!
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Northern Lights Hub
Northern Lights Trips by Travel Style
One Lapland Trip, Three Countries
Our Ultimate Arctic Travel Guide
Our Norway Travel Guide
Comparisons:
Tromsø vs. Alta, Norway
Magical Alternatives to Rovaniemi
Tromsø
Alta
Senja
Lofoten
Kiruna & Swedish Lapland
Finnish Lapland
Iceland
Greenland
