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| It is important to stay warm during Aurora Borealis hunt in Tromso Norway in freezing Arctic weather |
- To read about hotels and my accommodation experiences, please visit: Project Aurora Borealis - Tromso Smarthotel and other Reasonable Hotels and Accommodations in Tromso Norway
- To read about overall budgeting and planning for chasing the Aurora Borealis in Tromso Norway, please visit: Project Aurora Borealis - Northern Light Chase in Tromso Norway: Cost, Preparation, Weather, and overall experience
- To read about food and restaurants in Tromso Norway, please visit: Project Aurora Borealis - Food and Cost in Tromso Norway
Since Tromso Norway is (nicknamed) "Paris of the North", travelers could get basic clothing needs to stay warm in the harsh Arctic weather. Modern shopping malls in downtown Tromso and near the "TOS" airport offer visitors good shopping opportunities to pick up essentials to that might have been forgotten. However, I recommend preparing for the essentials on Amazon or at your local stores prior to your trip due to the relatively expensive prices in Norway and other Scandinavian nations.
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| Nerstranda Senter is one of the modern shopping malls in downtown Tromso Norway |
CLOTHING FOR STAYING WARM
Being in the arctic circle, temperature in Tromso Norway in late Aurora viewing season in late March 2017 was still below freezing. Aside from a nice sturdy ski jack, ski pants, wool sweaters, and snow boots, Tromso tourism office pamphlet recommends wearing high quality inner layers in order to keep the body warm during long hours of light chase tours. The following is my recommendations and tips for staying warm in the freezing weather of the Arctic weather. The figures from Visit Tromso brochure give travelers great summary of what to wear for the harsh Arctic winter weather in Tromso Norway.
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| Recommended first and second layers of clothing from Tromso tourism pamphlet |
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| Recommended third and outer layer of clothing from Tromso tourism pamphelt |
- THERMAL SHIRTS AND PANTS
These inner wears are extremely important for staying warm in the harsh northern Norwegian weather. I was wearing 2 thermal shirts and 2 thermal pants before I put on additional layers. The amount of inner wear might make people perspire while staying in an heater/air conditioned environment such as the hotel room. In my opinion, the indoor sweating condition is actually the sign of bare minimum of protection needed for the harsh weather. I have found some of the "heattech" from UNIQLO clothing label to be quite effective in making me sweat and keeping myself warm during my Aurora Borealis tour experiences.
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| Heavyweight double-layer thermal shirt is essential for the harsh Arctic weather in Tromso Norway |
- WIND BREAKER
Insulation from the wind breaker is quite important for the windy weather during the Aurora Borealis chase tours in the outdoors. The wind chill factor outside of downtown Tromso has lead to perceived decreased temperature while staying in the outdoors during Aurora light chase tours. Having an insulation layer on top of the wool sweater could also protect travelers from the melted snow from seeping into the dry inner layers. Many local shops in Tromso Norway sell wool sweater and wind breaker jackets, but I recommend being well prepared prior to your arrival in Tromso Norway.
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| Windbreaker or down jacket is highly recommended for Tromso winter weather |
- TOUCH SCREEN GLOVES
Great invention of the touch screen gloves enables travelers to use smart phones, tablets, and cameras during the Aurora chase tours in the outdoors. Many of the special touch screen gloves are designed with special material in the thumb, index and middle finger tips for the convenience of using touch screen devices without removing the gloves in the cold arctic weather.
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| Touchscreen technology glove improves the comfort in the harsh Tromso weather in winter |
-SCARF, HEAD AND NECK WARMER
Needless to say that protecting the neck from the cold air is important to decrease the wind chill perception of the cold weather. I recommend wind proof neck warm and a wool scarf to keep the neck warm. I personally used a "Balaclava" that covered my nose, mouth, ears, neck and head to keep me warm during the light chase tours. Of course, I had additional head warmer and scarf on top of the balaclava for the extra protection.
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| Head, neck and ear warmer is essential to protect Northern Light hunters from the freezing weather in Tromso |
- WOOL SOCKS
Many travel guide books recommend socks made of wool. In addition, I found it important to have more than one layer of socks to protect the feet from walking in the snow. I also found that putting hand warmers inside of my shoes did not work very well.
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| Wool socks is likely to be superior than cotton for the harsh Arctic weather |
- SHOES
I had a pair of Timberland waterproof boots and it worked very well in walking in average depth of snow. Any sturdy waterproof snow boots should be adequate for the trip. Some Aurora Borealis chase tours lends snow shoes for their guests during the tours.
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| Walking in white powdery snow was tiring and requires decent snow shoes |
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| Waterproof boots were essential for Aurora Borealis chase tours |
- SHOE SPIKES
I did not bring shoe spikes to Norway Tromso with me but I saw many shops in Tromso carrying them for sale. This gadget is quite useful for the icy roads in the arctic world to prevent people from slip and fall.
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| Wrap-on shoe spikes were a good add on for walking on ice in downtown Tromso |
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| There could be ice on the ground in Tromso as the weather is very unpredictable in the Arctic circle |
OTHER GADGETS TO ENHANCE AURORA BOREALIS CHASE EXPERIENCE
There were a few more gadgets that were useful during the trip to Tromso Norway. Even though most of the Northern Light chasers did not bring all of my recommended useful gadgets, I believe my recommended gadgets would make your tour experiences more pleasant.
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| These hand warmers were life-saving during Aurora Borealis chase tours |
- HAND WARMER PACKS OR RECHARGEABLE ELECTRIC USB WARMER
One of the most helpful gadget I brought was the Hand Warmer I bought from local market. Each of these Hand Warmers would last up to 6 to 9 hours, perfect for the duration of the Aurora Borealis light chase tours. Since I brought plenty of hand warmers for my 5-day trip, I was placing many of them in my shirt and gloves during the Aurora Borealis tours. Electric USB warmer is an alternative reusable option to keep the body warm and to charge electronic devices.
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| Rechargeable USB hand warmer battery charger was a high tech gadget to keep warm in the cold |
- HEADLAMP WITH RED COLOR LIGHT AND ADJUSTABLE ANGLE
During Northern Light Chase tours, it is very important to have headlamp to improve safety while walking in the snow in the dark. Adjusting the light angle to point the light to the ground is essential to minimize risk of falling and to avoid shining the white light at other travelers. Having red color light is less likely to ruin Aurora Borealis photographs when compared with bright white light. I also noticed that red color light is less likely to annoy and interfere other traveler's Aurora viewing experiences.
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| Shining white light to your peers could be very annoying during Aurora Borealis chase tours |
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| Pointing red color light on the ground is less likely to ruin Northern Lights photographs |
- PORTABLE PHONE CHARGER BATTERY
While I recommend not to waste precious Northern Lights chase tour time staring at the phone or tablet screen, many people experience anxiety and worrisome feeling when their phone battery is running low. Needless to say that having extra battery power for your phone allows people to charge their phone when there is no available power outlets. Having a working phone could allow light chasers to kill time while waiting for the elusive Aurorea Borealis to appear in the sky.
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| Portable rechargeable USB battery could be life saving when phone battery is running low in the Arctics |
- INSULATED TRAVEL MUG OR THERMAL WATER BOTTLE
I found this to be common among many travelers from Asia and our light chase tour guides. Having some hot water, coffee or perhaps ginger tea will warm up everyone's soul and body while standing in the freezing arctic weather.
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| Warm water, coffee, or ginger tea could warm up one person's soul in harsh winter weather in Tromso |
Regardless of traveler's country of origin, I will always recommend bringing a portable universal power adapter. Different countries in Europe, including Norway, have different power outlet systems. Having a few universal travel power plug adapters allow travelers to charge multiple devices efficiently. Fully charge your phone, camera batteries and tablets before you head out for Aurora chase tours is essential.
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| Universal travel power adapter is essential for traveling in Europe, including Norway |
- FEMALE URINATION DEVICE/FUNNEL
The idea of carrying female urination funnel might be odd to many readers but I highly recommend female travelers to carry this type of devices during Aurora Borealis light chase tours. During 4 to 7 hours of Northern Lights chase tours, tour guides would almost always take guests to somewhere without any light pollution and without any civilized bathrooms. Imaging wearing the provided thermal suit on top of layers of arctic weather clothing, using the bathroom for urination becomes especially challenging female Northern Lights chasers.
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| Female urination funnel could add to your convenience during Aurroa Borealis chase tours |
ALSO KNOWN AS
Tromsø; Tromso; 特羅姆瑟; トロムソ; ทรุมเซอ; 트롬쇠
Nordlys, Polarlys, Aurora Borealis, Northern Light, Polar Light, 極光, Aurore Polaire, Polarlicht, 오로라, Poollicht, オーロラ, Zorza Polarna, Полярное сияние, ध्रुवीय ज्योति, شفق قطبی, Aurore polaire, aurore boréale
Norway, ノルウェー, Norge, 挪威, 노르웨이, ประเทศนอร์เวย์, Norvegia, Norvège, Noruega, Norwegen, Norwegia, Noorwegen
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