Travellers have always been lured by their radiance – but there’s far more to experience up here beyond these heavenly lights.

For thousands of years, ancient peoples have watched for the northern lights high above the freezing reaches of Europe. Today, the twisting ribbons of pink and green can be conjured in a moment in the mind’s eye. But grasping the right moment to see them, in reality, is another thing entirely.

Luckily, there are ways to up the odds of realising your long-awaited dream of seeing the lights up close – like going on an adventure that builds in multiple opportunities to spot them.

Travelling with Hurtigruten

The journey for the aurora borealis starts with Hurtigruten. With more than 130 years travelling the Arctic coast and beyond, the company knows how to find the lights in the landscape. Its new Signature collection pulls from that history, giving guests the choice of four all-inclusive itineraries across the wider Nordics. And Hurtigruten’s Northern Lights Promise offers another coastal voyage for free if the lights aren’t spotted.

The Savour the Northern Lights itinerary is the big one: a 19-day journey from Copenhagen, up the Norwegian coast and then overland through Finnish Lapland to Helsinki, in search of the elusive aurora.

Journey by sea

Mountains rise straight from icy waters as MS Trollfjord – your home on the ocean portion of Savour the Northern Lights – threads between Norway’s islands and fishing settlements. Above, massive havørn (white-tailed eagles) circle the cliffs, while on shore, prettily painted wooden buildings of the UNESCO-listed Bryggen district line the old waterfront, and Ålesund’s Art Nouveau façades spread across islands beneath the Sunnmøre Alps.

Working harbours have their beauty too. In Lofoten, granite peaks loom above the port of Svolvær, where fishing boats come and go, among the smell of salt and drying tørrfisk cod. Later, on Finland’s frozen Bothnian Bay, the Arktis Icebreaker forces through groaning, cracking sea ice. Here, underneath the same Arctic sky that is haunted by the rippling lights at night, you can descend into the water, cold and sharp as a knife, buoyed by a waterproof survival suit.

…And land

After disembarking from the MS Trollfjord in Tromsø, the road passes through the Lyngen Alps and along Lyngenfjord before crossing into Finnish Lapland, where snow muffles sound across Arctic wilderness. It’s time to head deep into the darkness to search for the aurora.

To the south, nights in Levi are spent buried deep beneath your blankets in a glass igloo, watching the night sky and, hopefully, undulating strands of green and pink. If the lights don’t find you here, go looking for them again on an Aurora Hunting safari, before the train south leaves Lapland’s quiet behind, through forests and lakes towards the city lights of Helsinki.

Signature dining

Even onboard the MS Trollfjord, flavours of the coast seep into the ship, with each of the three restaurants showcasing its different taste.

In Flora, each evening’s menu changes according to that day’s port. At Sámi-inspired Brasserie Árran, try reindeer as part of a bidos stew or smoked in slices, a taste sharpened with tart lingonberry aioli. Tastes at fine-dining Røst come from under the waters, with its air-dried Arctic cod, sea urchins and Arctic pearl roe.

Unforgettable winter activities

On land, it’s not all about the lights. Here, huskies pant out clouds of steam into the cold, running in front of your sleds, which set off through the boreal forests. You can take turns driving each two-person sled along the five-kilometre trail, runners skimming and hissing as the dogs gather speed between pine and spruce, branches heavy with snow.

At Kilpisjärvi, a guided snowmobile or sleigh journey cuts some 30 kilometres through snowy birch forest to Koltavuoma. There, a yellow cairn marks the meeting point of Finland, Sweden and Norway. Cold air, speed and open ice fill the daylight hours. Then night falls, everything stills, and your attention returns to the sky.

Dedicated guides

Thanks to your head travellers, even the seemingly smallest details of the north are unveiled. At sea, the Expedition Team shares its knowledge on deck, ashore and in talks. On land, a local tour manager takes over. Between them is experience gained not only through formal Arctic nature-guide training, but through years spent living and working here, walking its mountains and foraging for edible berries and mushrooms.

The geology that shaped a fjord. Viking practices that used the waterways. The plants that have been gathered for generations. All of this and more will piece together the epic landscape day by day. And when the night returns, photography tips from the guides will come into play. Lenses turn towards the phenomenon everyone hopes to catch. After learning to notice the almost-invisible things of the north, from wild berries to weather shifts, you’ll be more than ready to gaze at the heavens.

Start planning the Northern Lights trip you’ve always dreamed of at hutigruten.com.