Humpbacks and Huskies Under the Aurora in Norway

We were so lucky with the weather, the group was amazing, all the tour leaders were lovely and had loads of knowledge, and it was absolutely stunning seeing the northern lights. Highlights for me were the huskies- great way to end the trip with incredible views! Will be going on more tours for sure!

My one piece of advice for anyone doing this trip is…learn where the PUKKA travels office is! You’ll be going there daily to ask about the meet up time and place for every activity!

That being said, the activities were amazing once we were on them. We were so lucky with the lights, the whales, the huskies, the guides, the other people in the group…it was honestly all so good.

Tromsø and the surrounding areas are beautiful. I definitely have some wonderful memories from my visit and I’ll 100% be going back again! We need to spot those reindeer!!

What an absolutely incredible few days! We were so lucky with the weather and our fabulous group and guides. I can’t describe how wonderful the activities were … definitely exceeded my expectations and as soon as I thought I found a favourite, we did something else! The sky danced for us in all her incredible colours and Bruno in particular, made sure we didn’t miss out.

It did however, become clear quite quickly that MBA ‘sub contract’ this tour out to another travel company (PUKKA travel) which is absolutely fine… but some details got lost in translation. We did not have clear meeting details / times so had to chase for these and whilst everyone was more than helpful, it felt that we (as a MBA group) were not always expected. This in itself was not a huge issue, but none of the group realised we were not actually meeting MBA out there!

Overall, I would definitely recommend and plan to return to Tromsø to continue the adventure in the future…

Absolutely incredible trip! All of the crew were fabulous, they were all super knowledgeable and accomodating. The trip packs alot into a few days. So we left super satisfied that we didn't miss out on anything.

We were lucky enough to see northern lights on both the boat and bus trip. Both guides helped make sure we got some great photos.

We saw Orcas and sperm whales in the boat trip. It does take you a little while to get out to where they hangout ... But it's so worth it and there's some incredible scenery along the way.

Kayaking was an incredible experience ... Sadly no seals but we did see a sea eagle. Our guide was really chilled out and calming to make sure no one got flustered and to ensure we all enjoyed the experience.

It was such a high to finish with the husky sledding. We got to meet the huskies, had a great timing sledding and then had time to warm up/ ask questions.

Hotel was in a great location and served a fab breakfast every morning. Meeting points for tours were only a stones throw away from the hotel and super easy to find.

Communication throughout was great .... Couldn't ask for more!

Excellent trip! The night cruise under the Aurora and the husky sledding were absolute highlights. Would recommend this trip.

The best way imaginable to spend four days ! Every day we thought the next activity couldn’t top the previous and every time it somehow managed it! We were super lucky with the weather so saw spectacular dancing northern lights on day one out on the catamaran. Tromsø is stunning- beautiful lights make it look magical even in polar darkness. The guides were all fantastic and our group were great. I want to do it all again.

This was a spectacular trip, something I've dreamt of for a long time and it was incredible. The guides were fantastic, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and kind, and the experiences lived up to high expectations. We saw stunning northern lights, sperm whales, otters, eagles and had the best time husky sledging. I know these things can't all be guaranteed, so we feel very lucky.

A fantastic trip which we'd highly recommend. Sustainability conscious and we created memories which will last a lifetime.

Outstanding but overpriced

Overall I had a wonderful experience visiting Tromso, what an outstanding part of the world and am sure to return in the future.

Very lucky to have landed a great bunch of fellow travellers making up our group of 12 All guides we met along the journey were very knowledgeable and professional and a pleasure to meet cannot fault that in any way.

Having not experienced a 'planned group trip' up till now I wasn't sure of what to expect but I did think there'd have been more of an overall guide figure/ focal point during our time in Tromso.

The hotel was very central and close to all meeting points however as a 4 star hotel I did expect more as this is essentially increasing the overall package cost.

As this is a new tour to MBA definitely feel there are aspects that have room to improve. Including flights this is an expensive experience for 4 days and feel you could have had an equally good experience for cheaper booking the activities and accommodation separately.

The Dog Sledding was by far my highlight of the trip, exceeding expectations. A good 90 minutes both driving and passenger alternating with your buddy, fantastic views of the fjords and mountains, and of course the fluffies! 115 Alaskan Huskies whats not to love. Warmed up after our ride in the Sami Luvvu with coffee & cake and a great overview from Helga the owner of Arctic Adventures, so passionate about her business and experiences shared

Both aurora chases on the catamaran and bus were great, unfortunately saw nothing on the catamaran but clearly that's outwith human control the mini bus chase however blew expectations out of the water what a show we got. Linda our guide was great took the time with everyone to set phones/cameras up to capture the lights, also taking her own pictures which she later shared with the group.

Whale and Orca watching on day 2, as much as it was a fantastic experience it wasn't as personable as a group dimanic as expected. Brim explorer hybrid-electric vessel was impressive but very busy, 90 pax and for such a long day it did feel very cramped and when it came to observing the whales and orcas you were fighting for a viewing spot. Speaking with the vessel reps Sam and Aline they had advised the ribs and smaller vessels we were seeing left from a harbour 3 hours drive from Tromso and the experience of being that much closer to the water and less crowded was much more what I'd expected of this expedition.

Great morning Kayaking in the fjords about 30 minutes drive from Tromso, two man kayaks which was fine for me not having much experience but do think there were some who would have preferred single seats. Both instructors were great very chatty and informative about the area.

Overall had a great time but would definitely do research on overall cost of these packages before booking another in the futute

Overall enjoyed the trip and all the guides were fantastic. With flights this was a £2000 trip for me and on the whole feel underwhelmed with the service from MBA. If had known what the tour would have been like I wouldn't have booked the trip with MBA.

I was expecting a group tour but we were given the meeting place and times for each day so no pick up and drop off at the hotel which would have been preferred.

I feel it needs to be much clearer in the holiday description that the whale watching boat tour, although should never take it for granted to see these, is on a boat with 90 other people resulting in standing behind multiple people to get a view when the whales appeared. The boat is extremely comfortable though and the crew were very entertaining and enthusiastic about marine wildlife. On checking into this tour we were asked for tickets and the crew were unaware of the group from MBA and only on showing the joining instructions email we were then let on, this was a little frustrating.

Hotel is in a great location but is a very average 4* hotel. I'm aware hotels in NO are expensive but with the number of hotels/Airbnb within the city centre I do feel there would be cheaper alternative which is to the same standard.

The meals advertised isn't what you get, we got no lunch on the day stated we would and the evening meals are more snacks so lunch and evening meals needs to be factored into the cost of the holiday.

To stress that the activities were great, the guides were all great it's just the overall cost of the holiday was too much when can book it individually and pay a lot cheaper as there's not much advantage to booking this as a group tour.

Definitely worth the money.

Wow - where to begin. I wasn't really sure what I was expecting from this adventure but it exceeded anything I was imagining. Tromso itself is an extraordinary beautiful place. The whale watching was beyond amazing, the scenery along the fjords to reach the whales is breathtaking, and we were so lucky with the whales we saw. The kayaking and Northern light chasing were organised by incredibly friendly and welcoming hosts who try to inject as much fun as possible. Watching the northern lights from a frozen wonderland and eating marshmallows around the campfire was magical. But my highlight was the dog sledding - it was just extraordinary. Sledding along the beautiful mountain with a pack of beautiful dogs is something I won't forget in a hurry. I would recommend this trip to anyone and we were so incredibly lucky to have a great group of people to share it with.

Overall, this was a really good trip. We managed to pack in a lot in the few days and there was strong aurora activity every day so all of the Northern Lights activities were really successful. It was good having the local providers base and they provided us with all the cold weather equipment we needed. The kayaking was probably a highlight for me as at that time of year, it is essentially a permanent sunrise/sunset during the few hours of daylight so the views of the orange sky and snow-capped mountains were incredible. The Northern Lights minibus chase also includes photography which is great as you can be in the moment and not worry about trying to capture it yourself. In terms of improvements, the communication of the details such as meeting places could have been better- we had to request this and then the email with those details was sent instead to our emergency contacts by mistake so we all had to contact our ICE contacts to get the information forwarded on. I also think that maybe the activities need to get moved around a bit as going out sailing until 1am on the first night and then needing to be on a boat at around 7:30am the next day is a pretty intense start.