Scan Magazine | Special Theme | The Best Winter Experiences in Norway
A unique date with the dancing northern lights Northern Norway is renowned as one of the best places in the world to get a glimpse of the magic green and violet northern lights. In the north, it is dark outside from early afternoon until morning, from September to April. The dark sky makes these months the perfect time to experience the unique aurora borealis dancing in the sky. By Åsa Hedvig Aaberge | Photos: Dan Steinbakk
“I do anything in my power to find the lights,” says Dan Steinbakk. He goes by the nickname ‘Dan the aurora man’ and is the guide and owner of Arctic Experience, a company giving people from all over the world an opportunity to experience the northern lights in Tromsø. Steinbakk is a northern Norway native of Sami heritage and has had a lifelong fascination with the northern lights. “When I realised that I could make a living off sharing this alluring phenomenon, it was an easy choice to start a business. Ever since I started the company back in 2013, I have had the pleasure of guiding thousands of delighted guests in the pursuit of finding the lights,” he says.
The tours are intimate, with a maximum of eight guests on each tour. Steinbakk offers professional and authentic guiding based on local knowledge, while showing guests a rare view of Mother Earth’s art. Arctic Experience offers guided tours every other day between September and April. “By planning tours every other day, I have the flexibility to move a tour if
the weather is bad. People don’t pay me to see clouds,” smiles Steinbakk. The winter months can be freezing in Norway, so appropriate clothing, homemade soup and freshly baked carrot cake, a hot drink, and a cosy bonfire guarantee the comfort of the guests on every tour. After the trip, the guests get high-resolution images from the tour featuring the northern lights and themselves, to bring a piece of the aurora borealis back home. Web: www.arcticx.no Facebook: ArcticEx Instagram: @arcticexperience
December 2021 | Issue 137 | 87
