One Night in Northern Norway: Narvik and the Northern Lights

After spending a day and a half in Kiruna, we extended our trip north of the arctic circle and went to Norway. We left Peter's car in Kiruna and took a train to Narvik, Norway. We didn't opt to drive because the road conditions can be pretty bad this far north in the winter. While this wasn't the case this year, the train was still a great way to travel and offered some amazing views of the mountains between Sweden and Norway. Narvik is located at 68°25′14″N, and is the farthest north we've ever been, barely edging out Paul's previous trip to Coldfoot, Alaska by about 1° latitude.

The train station in Kiruna.  David nearly wiped out here on the ice. Again.

The border between Sweden and Norway is very snowy and mountainous

First train station in Norway. Middle of nowhere! 

Our first view of Ofatfjord, the fjord next to Narvik.

The train wasn't crowded, so we could spread out and look out the windows. There was a snack car at the far rear of the train and lots of sleeper cars for those taking a longer voyage. The train was a really nice and affordable experience and we'd highly recommend travel by train in Sweden and Norway. After the 2.5 hour train ride we finally arrived in the city of Narvik and made our way to the hotel, which was just about a 15 minute walk from the station.

The train station in Narvik, Norway

Hehe. Full fart advertisement at the train station.

Here's the view from our hotel window.  Cute!

After a break at our hotel (the Breidablikk Gjestehus), we wandered through the city streets. Narvik is a very cute small town, full of Scandinavian charm. The city is nestled between the fjord and the mountains and offers some great winter scenery. It's probably one of the cutest cities we've visited in our travels and we'd highly recommend a day or two visit if you happen to be in the area. One thing to keep in mind while planning a trip to Narvik, and Scandinavia in general, is that food, alcohol and lodging are not cheap. The one meal we ate in Norway outside of our hotel was a dinner at a nearby bar/restaurant. The food was nice, but nothing special, and cost (including a few beers) nearly $300 for four people.  Ouch!

The roads in Narvik were treacherously icy

Unlike the time we spent in Sweden, Norway was actually kinda sunny!

Scandinavian housing

Fjord sunset

Narvik city proper

Go Ducks!

That night after dinner, we went for a walk to try to view the northern lights. The woman at the tourist desk in the train station gave us directions to a park by the water in a darker part of town, and told us we might be able to see the northern lights "if it was cold enough." We noticed that a lot of people in Sweden and Norway seemed to think the northern lights are somehow tied to temperature. In fact, they can happen at any time, it just has to be dark enough and clear enough to see them. After sitting for a while in the park (and freezing our butts off... and also drinking a bottle of wine) we started to see some faint glimmers on the horizon just as we were leaving. It wasn't very bright, but it was definitely the northern lights! Paul was able to take a couple of pictures using a 30 second exposure.

Ghost Peter will always be watching us

Northern Lights

It only lasted a short while, then we got some drinks at a bar before going back to the hotel. Just as we were going to bed, David happened to look out the window, and saw a brilliant display of light in the sky. The northern lights were suddenly very bright and colorful, with shifting patterns of green and purple dancing across the sky. We went up to the hotel's terrace and enjoyed watching them with the other hotel guests. We could see them clearly even over the city lights, but it was very difficult to take pictures. It's definitely a neat spectacle to behold, and a highlight of our trip to Scandinavia. Bucket list check!

More intense northern lights from our hotel

Watching from the hotel terrace

Narvik and the northern lights

The next day we started with an early breakfast and then hiked part way up a nearby mountain to a vista recommended by the tourist center.  The walk was pretty long and icy but we got some great views of the entire city and fjord. We hiked back down the hill and caught our train back to Kiruna. From Kiruna, Peter drove us back to Umeå where we were scheduled to take a flight to Stockholm for a few days to end our Scandinavian adventure!

Mountains around Narvik

Hiking up the icy roads to the viewpoint

Narvik from the viewpoint

Great views of the city, fjord, and mountains

Us at the viewpoint

Look!  We're Norwegian miners!