Hotel baby-sitters in Tromso?

Hei,

I don't think Tromso has any baby-sitting services. Most people just use family members around here. But you could trying ringing the bigger hotels (the Rica or Thon) and asking if they have any babysitting service, a receptionist or cleaner (who are work part-time and are students) might be willing to babysit for a night. You're probably not the first people to ask so they probably do have someone who would do it.

I'm a British student here who works part time in a nursery school so if you can't find anyone before you come you can send me a private message and if I'm free that night I might be able to do it.

:)

The plan includes an evening/night excursion

One can make such plans, but a large expanse of unbroken cloud would make it pointless, and an honest tour operator would cancel in such conditions.

There is a large risk of disappointment going to Tromso for a short break with main aim of seeing the Northern Lights. Best to go for some other main reason and if you catch the northern lights, that's a bonus on top.

Joanna Lumley presented a TV program visiting Tromso and seeing the Northern Lights near there. She ended up with a long wait for suitable conditions. The program did not make it clear quite how long she waited. My guess is that she hung around a couple of days, saw that the weather wasn't improving any time soon, so left and then flew back at short notice when the weather forecast indicated local conditions would be suitable.

As some kind of an indication of your chances, a friend of mine went to northern Finland for a week in Feb (18 months ago). He saw the Northern Lights twice in the week. Northern Finland is rather less cloudy than Tromso.

How nice to hear you are planning a visit to Tromsø in February. This is a good month for both the Northern Lights and for some fun-filled snow dependent activities. Unfortunately, none of the hotels offer baby sitteing service, but do let them know that you might need such a service and I am sure they will try and help you to find someone suitable. You are also welcome to get in touch with the Tourist Information office before you arrive and they can help find someone as well. Some of the Northern Lights excursion providers do take babies along and even provide baby seats. It depends a lot on how comfortable you feel about bringing your baby along, especially since some of the tours can take up tp six or eight hours.

As for the Northern Lights in Tromsø there is always about a 30% chance of seeing the Northern Lights in the city centre. By going on tours, either organised tours or on your own you immediately increase your chances of seeing the lights because it gets darker away from the city centre and you can move towards the best possible place to see the Northern lights in terms of the weather. There are also differences in the weahter from the coast to the inland, meaning that within short distances you have many good locations to go for the Northern Lights.Some of the Northern Lights guides give you up to a 90% chance of seeing the Northern Lights Tromsø has a typical coastal climate with more rain/snow than the drier inland areas, but it also comes with quick changes in the weather pattern as well as some really great scenery of mounatins, fjords and valleys - which makes for a great bakc-drop for the Northern Lights or the day light activities. Add to this a avereage winter temeprature of about -4 (which few of the other NOrthern Lights destination can match) and the fact that February isone of the driest Northern Lights months ( which spans from Septemer until the end of March) giving you even better chances of seeing the famous Aurora.

When it comes to the successful program with Joanna Lumle, she did not wait long before she found the Northern Lights. It was after she had contacted local Northern Lights experts in Tromsø.That was also the reason why BBC chose northern Norway and Tromsø in terms of a good and suitable film location after several months of reconnaissance in the Nordic countries (including Finland). The dramatic nature, the winter light, and good chance to experience the northern lights,made the area a perfect location in their opinion. If anything can be called a delay when it comes to Joanna Lumley looking for the Northern Lights from Tromso, it must have been the time it took to drive to the beautiful location that the Northern Lights guide selected for the evening. How the evening ended, millions of enthusiastic television viewers will be able to tell you.

Happy hunting and welcome to Tromso

Reprinted with permission from Kjetil Skogli, guide / photographer and Joanna personal guide (www.auroraphoto.no )