Make Your Next Trip Extraordinary

Theresa Sandoval and family viewing the Northern Lights at Bjørnfell Mountain Lodge in Norway.

Caption: Three generations viewing the Northern Lights at Bjørnfell Mountain Lodge.

We had the BEST time in Norway!! Torunn’s team, Thea and Danny, left us in good hands throughout our journey to Alta to see the Northern Lights! They made everything about the planning process as easy as possible—which was a stretch because we were juggling the needs and desires of three generations spanning from 12 to 81. We were all on different flights on different days…we were a lot to handle. But we had the most fun on this trip. It was well worth the journey north, even for my reluctant traveler husband.

We started with snowmobiling to an overlook down to a river, then had a homey lunch at an inn, followed by an afternoon exploring the ice hotel on our hotel’s property. That night, we were pulled by reindeer to a Sami hut to hear stories of their culture and sample some delicacies. The next day, dogsledding was the event of the day! It was the most fun we had together! From harnessing the dogs to mushing through the pristine scenery, it could not have been better. We had a fantastic dinner that night at the farm where the dog sledding took place. It was delicious, and the atmosphere was exactly what you’d hope to find on a cold snowy night in the middle of nowhere. Cozy, warm, filled with locally sourced food that pleased everyone at the table.

The next day, we transferred to another hotel with a different vibe from the first. I can see why they recommended that we try both. This one was on a mountainside where the family has a small herd of sheep and runs a ski-in, ski-out inn next to the area’s only slope. From here, the good food continued, and we went snow shoeing, ice fishing, spa-ing, tubing, and skiing. It was a blast!
And I haven’t even mentioned the Northern Lights! We were lucky enough to view them 4/6 nights that we were there, from both hotels. My parents even saw them from their plane! They varied in intensity and movement, yet they were always breathtaking. Thank you, Thea and Danny for planning and helping us execute this memorable trip!!!

Patrick Woerner holding a crab on a boat in Varanger Fjord, Norway.

Traveler Patrick Woerner catching crabs in the Varanger Fjord.

We just returned from Norway on a trip arranged by our local experts. We had a wonderful trip seeing the arctic landscape, the northern lights, dog mushing, crab fishing, ice fishing and snowmobiling.

It was refreshing to travel somewhere where all of the resort/hotel staffs were so accommodating and helpful. We found Norway to be a service-oriented destination.

We try to seek out travel that is bespoke, personal as well as efficient use of time while traveling.

I believe that our team put together a multi-faceted experience for us that was certainly enjoyable, however, we would have liked a more tailored customized itinerary.

We did enjoy the dog mushing (perhaps it was not my wife’s favorite) and the facility was very nice with a helpful thoughtful staff. Perhaps it is a great place to dog mush because it is so big and can accommodate so many people but we found this part to be fairly touristy. The place is well run and seems to handle the full slate of tourists efficiently. We would have preferred a more private experience should there have been one available.
We first went to Alta and stayed at the Bjørnfjell Mountain Lodge. Again the staff was fantastic. The cabins are clean albeit rustic. I think we may have been placed here because I like to ski. The skiing here is very limited and I would not stay here for the skiing experience as I am sure there must be better skiing in Norway.

We traveled from Alta to Vadso. I understand the flights are somewhat limited. On the day we left Alta, we had to be out of our room early. We were picked up for the ice fishing and then dropped off at Sorrisniva Resort for the rest of the afternoon. We had dinner then flew to Vadso. That makes for a very long day, checking out first thing and then hanging around at a hotel for most of the day and not flying onto the next destination until 10pm at night

The ice fishing was interesting but we did not have much luck.

We stayed at the Varanger Lodge. Edgar is an amazing host, cook and fisherman. We loved staying with Edgar, he is an all-star! However it was not explained to us that we would be spending one night in a wilderness camp with no electricity. It’s not even on our itinerary. Our itinerary says wilderness safari but no mention of an overnight move to another camp. Had we known about that we could have planned for it.

The return trip from Vadso to Oslo was an all-day affair. I’m not sure what could be done to avoid all day travel days, but would have appreciated an alternate route that would not have been so rigorous. We were only in the Varanger Lodge for three nights, the first night was a late arrival from the airport. The last morning was an early flight that had multiple stops before Oslo.

In summary, the planners provided a very Norwegian experience to some remote parts of Norway. They are professional and friendly.

Katherine LeClair holding a bbig fish on a boat in Henningsvaer, Norway.

Katherine LeClair lands the big one during a day at sea with a local Henningsvaer fishing guide.

You know it is a magical life changing vacation when you’ve made friends with the locals! Everyone in Norway was so friendly and kind. The balance of city and wilderness experiences was amazing.

We were centrally located in Oslo, so happy with the accommodations, near the bus and walking everywhere was a breeze! A flight to northern Norway, a ferry ride, and we were transported to the Arctic Circle! My number one bucket list experience was to see the Northern Lights, and our time at Manshausen delivered!

We were a family of 5, kids are 28, 27, 24 years old. The trip had something for everyone. Of course the northern lights, city walking/food tour, sea kayaking, a moutain hike to a cave, cod fishing, sauna/hot tub time. Time together as a family stood still as we ate meals together and played a lot of card games.

It really is a small world! Turns out our Oslo city walking/food tour guide is a friend of my college girlfriend that lives in Oslo. We were on tour when I mentioned we were having dinner with a college friend and her husband that night. I hadn’t seen my friend since college graduation 37 years ago. I couldn’t even believe it when the guide said they all know each other and she grew up with my friend’s husband!

Torunn and her team added so much value! Everything was outlined in an app, we could message them if we had questions. I was nervous about the language but no worries it all turned out wonderfully, I felt that they gave us the local read on everything. We left our trip with pictures of the Northern Lights, true local connections, and Norwegian sweaters from the sheep farm!

I had a health setback three years ago, and it was at that time my husband said, plan your number one bucket list trip, we will do it. This trip was it. I’m on cutting edge meds and have an excellent heart failure team of doctors. This trip was a celebration of life. Don’t wait for medical side step to prompt you to get out there and travel your bucket list trip. Fill out Wendy’s form, start planning today!

Jerry and Carol Huller in Alta, Norway, in front of Aurora Borealis.

Travelers Jerry and Carol Huller in Alta, Norway, in front of the much-anticipated Aurora Borealis.

A bucket list trip of mine has been to travel to see the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). I visited Iceland a year ago, but only saw the Aurora for a few minutes on 2 nights of a 4-night trip; they were not very prominent. I learned that seeing the Aurora is somewhat a matter of luck. You need dark skies, mostly clear skies, and solar activity causing favorable Aurora viewing conditions as measured by the Kp Index (measure of global geomagnetic disturbance), HPI or Hemispheric Power Index (total energy of the Aurora), and Bz (solar magnetic direction).

In Wendy Perrin’s newsletter, I have read about successful trips to Tromsø and Alta, Norway, to see the Aurora. So I decided to travel about 400 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle to Alta, which is less commercialized and less crowded than Tromsø. I chose to visit in the winter around a new moon for darker skies. I knew it would be cold in northern Norway, so I said to myself, “I’d like to see the Aurora from a hot tub!” I knew I would need mostly clear skies which is not always guaranteed, so I decided on a 5-night visit to enhance my chances of success. I knew I would need someone with specialized knowledge about the area, so I contacted Wendy’s WOW List planner, Torunn, to arrange my trip.

Thanks possibly to an intervention by Torunn with the Norse gods, I was lucky to see the Aurora on 2 of the 5 nights, including from hot tubs at two different locations in the Alta area—the Björnfjell Mountain Lodge and the Onga Boutique Hotel. So all my expectations were met! We were even surprised with some gifts of champagne and chocolate at our lodges and hotels by Torunn’s team.

Torunn and her staff (including Danny and Thea) listened carefully to what my wife and I were interested in doing, tailored the trip accordingly, and then made adjustments based upon our feedback. They even suggested staying at a second location in Alta, the newly opened Onga Boutique Hotel, which was a definite winner to me. They arranged for all ground transportation, meals, hot tub visits at Björnfjell and a cabin at Onga with a private outdoor hot tub (and sauna). We decided not to do dog mushing, but enjoyed a snowshoe hike with a local insider, lunch in a lavvu, a bonfire dinner (but no stargazing because of the cloudy skies), a tour of the Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel with a drink at the Ice Bar, a reindeer sled ride, and stories by a Sami (indigenous person) around a fire. We had to skip a frozen river walk due to a pulled muscle I suffered. Torunn also arranged for an Aurora Dome for us at the Onga—it’s basically a geodesic glass igloo with a wood pellet stove for warmth for observing the Aurora; you could sleep there if you wanted. To me, there was too much light reflection from the stove for stargazing or observing the Aurora. At the Onga, the staff did have daily Aurora walks, weather permitting; one night was cancelled due to cloudy weather; the other night we saw the Aurora prominently in the night sky.
The meals at the hotels, including one meal at the Maku restaurant at the Sorrisniva Artic Wilderness Lodge, were excellent. At the different hotels, we savored reindeer stew, reindeer steak, moose steak, halibut, and cod. We had a choice of dinner meals at the Björnfjell and a gourmet chef at the Onga.

Torunn and her staff also arranged for us a nice hotel, the Amerikalinjen, in Oslo, Norway, on our stopover flights back to the US.

I would definitely recommend Torunn and Up Norway to others. She and her staff did an excellent job with planning the trip to meet our desires.

Aurora tips: bring a tripod if you’re interested in getting time-lapse videos of the Northern Lights. Wear a glove liner that will work with your camera or smartphone; it’s cold in the winter. Locals told me the best Aurora viewing is when the temperature is -10 to -20 degrees Celsius or colder; there tend to be few clouds in such conditions. The best viewing we experienced of the Northern Lights was at the Sorrisniva (we saw the Lights from horizon to horizon) and at the Onga (in a valley, but great views). My wife and I got good photos with the Night Mode on our smartphones (iPhones), which are 2 and 3 versions old. I got some good time-lapse videos using the tripod and the NightCap app for my iPhone. Find and use a good Aurora app or Internet website, or check with your hotel or lodge staff; I used https://northernlightsmap.com and https://Aurorasaurus.org.

The WOW List: Best Local Travel Fixers Worldwide

by Wendy Perrin | March 25, 2025

How to Get an Extraordinary Trip: Wendy’s WOW Way

by Wendy Perrin | January 1, 2023

Wendy Wants To Amp Up Your Trip!

by WendyPerrin.com | January 1, 2023

Our Latest Newsletters