For most visitors the right tour is the Small-Group Guided Northern Lights Tour from Alta Adventure: four hours, up to 13 guests, pickup in Alta, warm suits and boots to borrow, and a guide who drives to wherever the sky is clearest. It was $258 per person for 4 November 2026 and is rated 4.6 from 152 reviews, more reviews than any other aurora tour from Alta on GetYourGuide. Pay less for a bus, more for a snowmobile, and look elsewhere if you want photos included or are traveling with children under 12. Our review →
Small-group aurora chase, up to 13
Our pick for each kind of traveler
- A first aurora trip: the Small-Group Guided Northern Lights Tour, $258.
- The smallest group: Icecube of Aurora’s Northern Lights Tour, up to eight guests, $260.
- The lowest price: the Northern Lights Adventure Tour with Fire & Free Photos, $129, which also includes photos.
- Photos on a smaller bus: Luuso Travel’s Northern Lights Tour with Guide and Photos, $193.
- Driving something yourself: the Northern Lights Night Adventure by Snowmobile, $346, from 23 November.
- A dinner evening for two: the Sleigh ride under the northern lights, $333.
- Children under 10: the Luuso tour, which lists no lower age limit.
Chase or set route
Six of the ten tours below are chases. The guide has no fixed destination and drives wherever the cloud is thinnest, close to Alta on some nights and much further out on others. The other four are evening activities with a place of their own: a snowmobile trail, an ATV route on the coast, a farm with a sleigh, a husky kennel. If the sky clears where they are, you see the lights, and if it does not, the evening goes ahead in the same place. If the aurora is the reason you came, book a chase first and keep the activity for another night.
Ten evening tours side by side
Prices are per person for the earliest date we could book when we checked on 3 November 2026, not the “from” figure at the top of a listing. Ratings and review counts are each listing’s live GetYourGuide figures and will drift.
| Tour | Price | Length | Group | Rating | Photos | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small-Group Guided Northern Lights Tour | $258 (4 Nov) | 4 h | Up to 13 | 4.6 (152) | Not included | Most first-time visitors |
| Northern Lights Tour (Icecube of Aurora) | $260 (4 Nov) | 3 h | Up to 8 | 4.4 (8) | Not included | A very small group |
| Northern Lights Hunt and Arctic Animals | $268 (5 Nov) | 4 h | Up to 8 per car | 4.3 (7) | Help with your own shots | Animals first, then the chase |
| Adventure Tour with Fire & Free Photos | $129 (13 Nov) | Up to 6 h | Not stated, large | 4.8 (41) | Professional photos | The lowest price |
| The Northern Lights Bus | $149 (4 Nov) | 3.5 h | Not stated (bus) | 4.4 (56) | Not included | A shorter evening |
| Northern Lights Tour with Guide and Photos | $193 (6 Nov) | 5 h | Up to 25 | 5.0 (6) | Photos of your evening | Families, cruise guests |
| Night Adventure by Snowmobile | $346 (23 Nov) | 4 h | Up to 17 | 4.7 (76) | Not included | Driving a snowmobile |
| Northern Lights Hunt by ATV | $235 (5 Nov) | 5 h | Up to 16 | 4.7 (32) | Not included | An ATV ride on the coast |
| Sleigh ride under the northern lights | $333 (4 Nov) | 3.5 h | Up to 12 | 4.8 (25) | Not included | Couples, a dinner evening |
| Husky, Dinner & Aurora Borealis | $235 (4 Nov) | 4 h | Not stated | 4.7 (3) | Not included | Meeting sled dogs, no sledding |
The first six are chases. The snowmobile, ATV, sleigh and husky evenings follow a largely set route.
Pick by what matters most
The smallest group
Icecube of Aurora’s Northern Lights Tour takes two to eight guests, picks you up at a location you specify in Alta and starts after 20:00. At $260 on 4 November it costs about the same as the 13-guest small-group tour, but it has only 8 reviews and is shorter at three hours. Finnmark Adventure’s Northern Lights Hunt and Arctic Animals Adventure also caps each car at eight and starts with llamas, alpacas, woolly pigs and horses before the chase. The small-group tours page compares all three.
The lowest price
The Northern Lights Adventure Tour with Fire & Free Photos was $129 for its first date, 13 November, which is about half the small-group price, and it includes professional photos, two guides, a campfire with marshmallows and hot drinks. The trade-off is the size of the group. The listing gives no cap, and one reviewer counted around 60 people at two small fires. The evening can also run up to six hours. The Northern Lights Bus at $149 is shorter, at three and a half hours, with an aurora presentation on board, but it lists no photo help, food or thermal suits. See bus tours for the details. Our fire-and-photos review →
Photos included
Two tours photograph you for you. The fire-and-photos tour above gives every guest professional pictures under the aurora. Luuso Travel’s Northern Lights Tour with Guide and Photos, $193 for 6 November, runs from 19:00 to midnight on a bus of up to 25 with a toilet on board, lends thermal clothing and includes photography of your evening. It has only six reviews so far, all five-star. On the other tours you take your own pictures, and a tripod helps. The photography tours page has more. Our Luuso review →
Cruise passengers
Ships berth at Terminalkaia in Alta Havn, about 4 km from the town center, and the Hurtigruten coastal route does not call here. Many winter calls leave in the afternoon, so an evening tour only fits a call that stays into the evening or overnight. Three listings name the port: the small-group tour asks cruise guests to choose Alta Havn, where the guide waits by the blue building; the Luuso tour picks up at the Alta Cruise Dock; and the ATV hunt collects from the harbor. Finnmark Adventure’s bus and its animals tour carry a back-to-ship promise for cruise guests. Whichever you pick, check your all-aboard time against the start time on the booking page. More on tours from Alta cruise port.
Adventure: snowmobile or ATV
The Northern Lights Night Adventure by Snowmobile rides in convoy along the old postal road to the Beskades mountains at the edge of the Finnmark plateau. About two of its four hours are on the snowmobile, two people share each machine, and thermal suits, shoes, gloves and helmets are included. To drive you need a valid driver’s license (category B), and passengers must be at least 12. The first date is 23 November, at $346, and snowmobile trails depend on snow. The Northern Lights Hunt by ATV runs earlier in the season, from 5 November at $235: a 30-minute drive to Kviby, then a ride along the coast, two guests per ATV, with a car license needed to drive. Snowmobile tours compares them. Our snowmobile review →
Couples
Flatmoen’s Sleigh ride under the northern lights collects you from Alta for a ride behind a Norwegian Fjord horse through the forest and along the Alta River, then a three-course dinner by the fire in a shelter. It was $333 for 4 November, for up to 12 guests, and if there is no snow the farm uses a carriage instead. The listing says the aurora cannot be guaranteed. Sleigh rides has the other Flatmoen evenings. Our sleigh ride review →
Families and age limits
Age limits vary more than anything else on these listings:
- No lower limit stated: Northern Lights Tour with Guide and Photos (with a child price) and the fire-and-photos tour.
- 8 and over: Husky, Dinner & Aurora Borealis.
- 9 and over: Northern Lights Hunt by ATV.
- 10 and over: The Northern Lights Bus and Icecube’s Northern Lights Tour.
- 12 and over: the Small-Group Guided Northern Lights Tour, and snowmobile passengers on the snowmobile night.
Most of these evenings end around midnight, so with young children a shorter tour or the husky evening at Gargia Lodge may suit you better. That evening is a kennel visit with more than 40 dogs and an Arctic stew in a Sámi-style gamme, and the listing is clear that it includes no dog sledding. Husky experiences covers the sledding options.
If the lights do not appear
None of these tours refunds you because the aurora stayed away. The small-group tour says the trip is arranged regardless of the weather and is only cancelled for dangerous weather or driving conditions, with a full refund in that case. Icecube’s Northern Lights Tour may postpone or cancel a few hours beforehand and issues a full refund if it cancels. The others say plainly that the lights are not guaranteed. Book your first night and leave a spare evening or two.
Know before you book
- Free cancellation ends 24 hours before the start., before anyone knows the night’s sky.
- The small-group tour recommends eating dinner before you go. Most tours serve snacks and hot drinks, not a meal; the sleigh ride and the husky evening include dinner.
- Pickup points differ. The fire-and-photos tour uses two fixed points in town, Løkkeveien 55 and Havneveien 32, while others collect from hotels or the address you give. Check the point when you pick a date.
- Thermal suits come with the small-group, snowmobile, ATV and Luuso tours. The two bus tours list none, so dress for long spells standing still at −8 to −10 °C or colder.
- Camera pictures often show the aurora brighter and greener than it looks to the eye, as the small-group tour’s own listing warns.
- Season start dates differ: most of these tours run from 4 November, the fire-and-photos tour from 13 November and the snowmobile from 23 November. The aurora season runs to early April.
Frequently asked questions
Which Alta northern lights tour is best for a first visit?
The Small-Group Guided Northern Lights Tour suits most first-time visitors: up to 13 guests, pickup, warm suits to borrow and a guide who chases clear skies. It was $258 for 4 November 2026 and has 152 reviews, averaging 4.6.
Which tour has the smallest group?
Icecube of Aurora’s Northern Lights Tour and the Northern Lights Hunt and Arctic Animals Adventure both cap groups at eight. Both have fewer than ten reviews so far.
Is a bus tour much worse than a small group?
The bus tours also move with the weather. What you give up is space and the guide’s attention, in exchange for about half the price.
Do I get a refund if we don’t see the northern lights?
No tour on this page refunds a night without an aurora. You can cancel free up to 24 hours before, and the small-group and Icecube tours refund in full if the operator cancels.
Can children join?
Luuso’s Northern Lights Tour with Guide and Photos lists no lower age limit and has a child price. Most other chases take children from 10 or 12.
Which tours pick up at the cruise port?
The small-group tour (choose Alta Havn), the Luuso tour (Alta Cruise Dock) and the ATV hunt (harbor). Only an evening or overnight call leaves time, so check your all-aboard time against the tour’s start time.
Pick your night in Alta
Choose a date to see the real price and start time. Free cancellation up to 24 hours before, if the forecast turns.
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