Aurora Adventure Tour with Creative Vacations

Posted By : Trek50247160224
It was an amazing experience! I could not imagine that I could see the aurora in person at my first trial! They are experienced a lot and know the right and perfect spot to observe the aurora. Thanks to them, I could see the aurora and fjord in the calm, peaceful, and even beautiful space. I enjoyed the time we had in front of the wonderful nature. Additionally, He knows a lot not only about the aurora but also traditions and history of Norway. I also enjoyed the story that he told. Thank you so much :)
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Posted On : 2024-04-09

Posted By : 755megl
Let me preface this by saying that I think our experience was particularly poor and that I doubt that Vidar and Sylvia had any bad intentions in making this such a terrible time. It ranks among the worst tours I've ever experienced in my life. However, I feel the need to post this because I want to set the expectation that this could happen to you. I did tours with 2 other companies and learned quite a bit about aurora hunting so knowing what I know now, I don't think my tour should have gone this way, but also, I am so upset by what happened that I feel very compelled to share my experience. Our tour started at 5:30PM and we were back at our hotel at 4:25AM. That's almost 11 hours. First of all, the website states that the tour should end at 3:00AM. And you can imagine how tired we were at the end. Dumb idea on my part, considering we had a 10AM flight the next morning. We piled into the van and per the website we were to drive to their studio which took about 45 minutes (yes, we timed this). Since we weren't briefed on the plan for the evening, we asked where we were planning on going given that it was going to be cloudy pretty much everywhere within a 2 hour drive. Our driver told us we were likely going to end up driving to Finland. Once we were at the studio, we spent about an hour taking a bathroom break and then introducing ourselves, getting cameras set up, and getting sized for thermal suits. This was odd to me because other companies didn't waste any time - they simply asked for our sizes, loaded them into the vehicle, and started chasing right away. This was in the itinerary so I wasn't surprised, but bear that there is a 1.5-2 hour period of time where you're not doing any chasing. In any case, because we were going to Finland for the night, we had already been with the group for almost 2 hours. We passed BACK into Tromsø -- near our starting point -- at 7:15 which put us back at square one. As you can probably imagine, sitting in a cramped van with thermal suits on is not very comfortable, and definitely not for 3.5 hours into Finland. We literally drove to Saarikoski. I have the google map history for this. Saarikoski is 2.5 hours from Tromsø, but 3 hours from their studio. We did stop once for a bathroom break. Meanwhile, we kept asking our driver for more details on the plan. At one point, we asked her how much more driving there would be, and she said about 30 minutes. It ended up being over an hour. By the time we got to the spot where we were going to wait and get the fire set up, it was 10:15PM Tromsø time. Anyway, it was much colder inland, but the skies did end up clearing up over the course of the evening. Too bad though, the Bz value stayed stubbornly high, so there was basically no auroral activity to be seen. We did have nice chicken curry to eat and cookies, but honestly, after so many hours of being cold and tired and frustrated, I was just not in the highest spirits. We left at 1:00AM -- Tromsø time. Even when we got back to Tromsø, they dropped us off in the most bizarre order. We dropped off people in Tromsø, then went past downtown to drop off someone else, then back into downtown again to drop us off which added 20 minutes. We could've walked 5 minutes to our hotel instead, so this made absolutely no sense, given that their studio was already in the direction of the 3rd dropoff. To their credit, I'm sure they were tired too. Looking back, I should've noticed all the red flags. We were told that we should shoot at 8000 ISO, which in my experience and from advice elsewhere will yield an extremely noisy exposure. I don't want a dot matrix for a photo. Second, you cannot possibly focus your camera without something to focus on. I was asked to "prefocus" at the studio and then tape down my focus ring. That's not how you focus for night photos. Yes, you can't be 100% exact because even in the field there is focus drift and whatnot. Third, THE SKIES WERE CLEAR AT TROMSØ when we returned, AND we saw an aurora FROM THE CAR on the way back. WHY didn't we just stay close by? The worst part that this followed the ICON-EU cloud forecast for the evening. WHY weren't they checking that throughout the evening? MAYBE we could have simply started driving back earlier and stopping somewhere instead of wasting our entire evening. We believe that both Vidar and Sylvia have good intentions and know what they’re doing, and while I’m sure that other outings from Creative Vacations have gone better, I can unfortunately only review the experience that I was given.
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Posted On : 2024-02-26

Posted By : 146laviniai
Thanks to our guides for this wonderful and unique experience. Very professional, friendly and well prepared. Our guides provided us with warm clothing and a hot meal and drinks, as well as tripods for our photo equipment. They chose the perfect spot to wait for the aurora and it wasn’t long until we got to see the beautiful colors in the night sky. I totally recomment the aurora experience with them! It was perfect!
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Posted On : 2024-02-26

Posted By : 329chenk
Amazing experience. The guide is very professional and he managed to help us find the aurora in very snowy day. He has lots of experiences of photography and he helped me to set up my camera for me to capture the aurora. He also prepared multiple high-quality tripods for us to use. The experience of having a picnic and setting up a campfire on a frozen river is unforgettable. Highly recommend this tour.
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Posted On : 2023-12-19

Posted By : I3969SPpriscillap
Working with Creative Vacations was a smooth process from the beginning. Silvia was always very helpful and responsive. Our guide, Vidar was amazing. He made the tour fun, and worked very hard until the last minute to make sure we got to see the northern lights. It was an experience my family will never forget.
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Posted On : 2023-11-24

Posted By : Curiosity57889025222
We had an absolutely incredible experience with Creative Vacations. Our fantastic guide, Vidar, picked us up in a well-equipped, comfortable van and transported us deep into the picturesque hills, leading us to a chilly yet stunning beach location. Fortunately, Vidar provided us with warm thermal suits and boots, making the cold more bearable. Under the starry night sky, we witnessed the breathtaking Northern Lights, intertwined with the splendor of the Milky Way, casting a mesmerizing glow over the ocean. It was truly a remarkable sight. Vidar's photography assistance and valuable tips enhanced our experience, and he captured stunning photos of us beneath the enchanting Northern Lights. Vidar also created a cozy bonfire on the beach, offering us hot soup, beverages, and cookies, all served with genuine warmth and friendliness. The evening was pure magic, leaving us with cherished memories that will last a lifetime. We look forward to returning to Norway in the future and will undoubtedly choose Creative Vacations again for their exceptional service.
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Posted On : 2023-11-02

Posted By : AdriennePereira
First off, Vidar is a highly compassionate and kind person. My Husband and I are Senior, and the care he took of us was exemplary; making sure we did not slip and fall on wet, big, beach stones; even down to helping us get into his thermal suits; which was not the easiest thing to do, I must say. We went with Vidar on two trips out to hunt the Northern Lights. One trip was to a frosty, windy, beach far from Tromso. While the terrain of rocks and stones was very challenging, the view of the Lights was fantastic. Fast shifting, it was quite unbelievable to watch. Vidar's camera captured these for us. The second night's predictions were not too good, but Vidar found us some lights! Vidar's persistance in searching for Lights is so good. We happily returned to our Hotel with some very good memories. Thank you Vidar, and thank you, Silvia!
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Posted On : 2023-10-23

Posted By : Sightseer38203324457
We were very lucky to witness a strong aurora and have clear skies. Vidar took us to a great location to see them, a beach surrounded by mountains, very photogenic. We also went to a second location at the top of a mountain - the stars were stunning. He was a photographer himself and helped with tips on photographing the lights - he also takes lots of photos of the lights for you to keep if you don’t do photography yourself. Bonfire, food, tea/coffee, head torch, tripods and warm snowsuits provided. It was also nice to be a small group - 7 in the minibus. Just wish we could have stayed out longer, the northern lights were still so bright and active all the way back to Tromsø!
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Posted On : 2023-10-15

Posted By : FellowTraveler787007
Had a pleasant and enjoyable trip last night with Vidar ! At first the sky was all covered by thick clouds and we thought we ran out of luck. Fortunately Vidar drove us to the border between Norway and Finland and we get to enjoy Aurora under a clear sky ! The storytelling next to the campfire is an exceptional experience for us ! Looking forward to receive the protrait photos Vidar taken for us during the trip! Thank you Creative Vacation !
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Posted On : 2023-10-13

Posted By : G1644EApeterw
Vidar was great and very focus to hunt down the northern light for us. Nothing fancy Vidar deliver what it stated on their website. It’s all about chasing the northern light. Good equipments we’re provided like tripod, super warm overalls, snow boots to get you going. Vidar is the one man band to drive, entertain customers, hunt down the lights, find clear sky, find high kp, run away from clouds, set up the camp fire, do the food and hot beverages. Definitely the hero for the entire evening. Hats off to Vidar. The van is a bit underdog but that’s a family business. The photo taken by Vidar took a couple of days to get to us since they are too busy.
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Posted On : 2023-04-07