The Senior

Chasing the Northern Lights on the Great Trains of Europe

Great Trains of Europe is hosting a 'Chasing the Northern Lights Tour' in March 2023. Photo: Shutterstock.
Great Trains of Europe is hosting a 'Chasing the Northern Lights Tour' in March 2023. Photo: Shutterstock.

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What is the best month to see the Northern Lights? Great Trains of Europe Tours principal and tour director, Mr Stan Klan of Toowoomba, Queensland, says that his personal experience confirms the statistical evidence - September and March provide the best light shows that Nature provides.

Stan will lead a Chasing the Northern Lights Tour of Scandinavia by Rail, commencing in Copenhagen on March 1st 2023. Bookings are strong following a "roll over" of bookings from the postponed 2021 tour, but there are some seats still available.

"We travel in reserved First Class seats on the very best rail journeys of Scandinavia," Stan said.

Tour members ride Sweden's high speed X - 2000 train between the Scandinavian capitals. We cross the world's highest mountain plateau in Norway, and then take the rail journey that is always listed in everybody's Top Ten scenic rail journeys of the world - the Myrdal and Flam Railway, to the fjord-front village of Flam and our historic hotel.

Luggage is transported on ahead from hotel to hotel, so boarding and disembarking the trains is care-free. When we arrive at our new hotel, our luggage is in our rooms.

After our exploration of the Norwegian fjords on our coastal cruiser, we ride the signature Nordland train across the Arctic Circle, ever Northward.

"Unlike the whistle-stop coach tours which cover eleven countries in fourteen days, we spend three nights in each of the Scandinavian capitals," Stan explained.

Local expert guides are used, while Stan - the company owner - is the tour director. This provides a level of quality control that few companies can match.

When our reporter asked Stan his thoughts on the most beautiful country he had visited - of the 57 represented in his passport - he answered, without hesitation, "Norway."

"The fjords of Norway are visually the most stunning place on earth," he said. The Chasing the Northern Lights Tour spends almost a week in this part of the world - two nights in Flam, and two nights in Bergen before the coastal cruiser voyage, followed by visits to the historic capital of Trondheim, then Bodo.

During the Northern Lights season, we leave word at the hotel front desk that we wish to be awakened if there is a good display, and out we all rush! Away from the bigger cities with their bright lights, for example, in Flam or Bodo, we often see the lights from our rooms, or from the deck of the coastal cruiser. Hotels arrange evening excursions out into the darker countryside on cloudless nights.

A week's Northern Lights spotting in Iceland is offered as an add-on to this tour.

For full details of this First Class tour please visit https://www.greattrainsofeurope.com.au/tour-scandinavia-by-rail-escorted-2023.php or call contact Tour Director Stan on 0488 423 848 or greattrains@bigpond.com

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