Northern Norway with HX Expeditions

The mountains rise straight out of black water. Fishing villages sit under snow with their lights glowing against the dark. Daylight is brief, the nights are long, and somewhere above all of it there is the possibility that the sky might suddenly turn green.

HX Expeditions’ Ultimate Norway – Arctic Expedition under the Northern Lights takes you through that landscape on an eight-day round-trip journey from Tromsø aboard MS Spitsbergen, moving through the Lyngen Alps, Senja, the Lofoten Islands and Vesterålen.

And because this is expedition cruising, the Arctic gets a say in what happens next.

There is no obsession with being alongside a particular pier at 8.03am regardless of what the weather is doing. The route is flexible, with the Expedition Team adjusting plans around sea conditions, snow, wildlife and whatever looks most worthwhile that day. That might mean kayaking beneath snow-covered peaks, heading ashore by Zodiac, snowshoeing through Arctic forest or hiking above the Arctic Circle.

It is cruising with a little less clipboard and a little more “let’s see what the weather is doing”.

HX Expeditions, Northern Norway

HX has been exploring Norway’s coast in one form or another since 1896, and that background matters here. The experience is less about simply passing through the landscape and more about understanding it. Naturalists, historians and guides travel with you, leading shore activities, talks and science sessions, so by the end of the voyage you have a much better sense of why these communities exist where they do, how the wildlife survives up here and why people have been living along this coast for centuries.

That sense of scale carries onto MS Spitsbergen too. MS Spitsbergen carries just 150 guests, which immediately makes the experience feel more intimate. She is small enough to slip into fjords and landing areas that larger ships cannot easily reach, but comfortable enough that this still feels like a holiday rather than a test of character. The ship was extensively refurbished in 2025 and feels distinctly Scandinavian: clean, simple, lots of glass, and very deliberately designed so that the landscape remains the main attraction.

There is an Explorer Lounge for the parts of the day when sitting with a drink and staring out the window is really the only sensible thing to do, a Science Centre for lectures and workshops, and a panoramic sauna positioned high on the ship.

There are also two outdoor hot tubs which means there is a very real possibility that, at some point on this trip, you will be sitting in warm water while snow falls around you, Arctic mountains disappear into darkness and the Northern Lights start moving overhead.

That is the sort of moment the brochure never quite prepares you for.

Dining onboard is relaxed rather than formal, with meals included at the main restaurant and lighter food available at Brygga Bistro. Wine, beer, spirits, soft drinks, tea and coffee are included too, along with Wi-Fi, gratuities and use of the sauna, hot tubs and fitness room.

Then the journey starts to unfold properly.

From Tromsø, you move into the Lyngen region, where glacier-capped mountains rise sharply over deep fjords. Depending on conditions, you may hike, snowshoe, kayak or head ashore by Zodiac, while keeping an eye out for otters, humpbacks and orcas.

One of the included HX experiences takes the Norwegian idea of friluftsliv, or outdoor life, very seriously: gathering around a bonfire on a beach as darkness settles, with hot drinks, food from the onboard chefs and, if the sky decides to cooperate, the aurora above you. It is hard to imagine a more Norwegian evening.

From there, MS Spitsbergen moves through Senja and into the Lofoten Islands, where the scenery starts to become almost ridiculous. Jagged mountains rise directly from the sea. Small fishing settlements sit beneath them. White-tailed sea eagles circle overhead. The whole place looks as though someone turned the contrast up too far.

In Svolvær, the programme looks at the fishing traditions that have sustained these communities for generations before moving on to another particularly Norwegian experience: sauna first, then straight into the icy waters of Vestfjord.

The sauna part sounds excellent… We will let you decide how strongly you feel about the second half.

Later, the expedition continues through Vesterålen. If conditions allow, the ship may venture towards Trollfjord or through Raftsundet, where the mountains close in dramatically on either side and the ship suddenly feels very small. There is also an exclusive evening at the Hurtigruten Museum in Stokmarknes, with the preserved 1956 coastal ship MS Finnmarken opened after hours for the group.

And all the while, the Northern Lights are sitting somewhere in the background.

The entire voyage stays above the Arctic Circle during the darker months, where the long nights and limited light pollution give you some of the best possible conditions for seeing the aurora. Cabins and suites have a Northern Lights alert system, so if the crew spots activity while you are asleep, they can let you know.

You can turn it off, although we are not entirely sure why you would.

HX is confident enough in the experience to back it with a Northern Lights Promise on eligible voyages. If the aurora is not recorded from the ship during your expedition, you receive a future cruise credit under the programme’s terms. It is not a guarantee that nature will behave, but it does give you a little more comfort when you are travelling this far north for something that remains unpredictable.

And if the lights do appear, the setting can be extraordinary.

No streetlights. No buildings. Just black water, snow-covered mountains and a ship moving quietly through the Arctic with green light starting to ripple above it. The Northern Lights still require clear skies, solar activity and luck. They do not care that you have flown to Norway, booked an expedition cruise or stayed awake past midnight.

But that unpredictability is part of what makes seeing them feel so special. And crucially, this voyage does not fall apart if the aurora refuses to cooperate. You are still kayaking beneath Arctic peaks, landing in snowy villages, watching for whales, travelling through Lofoten, learning about life above the Arctic Circle and warming up in a sauna after a day outside.

The Northern Lights are not the whole trip. They are the part you cannot plan.

Above the Arctic Circle

You can choose the ship, the route, the season and the experiences. You can head north, stay out late and put yourself in the best possible position.

The rest is up to the sky. And when it does decide to show off, you are exactly where you want to be.