GuideGunnar Tromsø — Local services in Tromsø

I did 3 aurora tours in Tromsø. If you are considering booking the "GG Partners Aurora Chase" or "GG Partner Aurora Chase," only book them as a last resort. There are dozens of aurora chasing tour companies in the area and the good ones will communicate with you and give you updates on what they are doing. They have an informal network of tour operators on a WhatsApp chat group who coordinate and share photos of what they're seeing in the skies and whether or not they match the weather.

The GG Partners tour did none of this. From my perspective they seemed to have a set destination with no course correction in case of weather change (it seemed like he had a couple phone calls, maybe to double check the route or end point), and no ongoing communication of what or where we were headed. There was no interaction with any of the guests, no talk of culture/aurora science, etc. The other 2 tours made bonfires, conversed with us, and offered us thermal suits (especially necessary if we were going somewhere particular cold).

Basically, if you want a silent tour with barely any interaction whatsoever except to offer you some cold juice or a lefse, then choose this one. Otherwise, go with a company that is better regarded like Arctic Photo Guide or Wandering Owls. They will be more likely to actually take you to clear skies, course correct when needed, and well, you. know, do something other than chauffeur you somewhere.

Maybe this is obvious based on my negative review, but we did not see anything but clouds on our tour, and we drove about 3 hours one way inland with 1 pit stop at a gas station. Which means we left at 7, arrived at the parking spot at about 10:30, waited around for about an hour, and got back at about 2:30.

It was a total waste of time and money and I don't want anyone else making the same mistake. You're better off checking meteologix cloud cover forecasts yourself and deciding if it's worth spending nearly half your evening getting driven around...

Your copy/paste responses to one star reviews are disappointing, I wish I had seen this before booking. You take no responsibility for people's poor experiences when they are entirely your fault and to top it all off you are extremely rude!

Edit post guide gunnar response: While I appreciate the response from guide gunnar I now would like to add a few points to my review. I was aware that this was the partner chase that I had booked but I decided to do it anyway given the description on the website and guide gunnar reputation. I thought I would be able to trust the reputation you have built and that you would not risk your business by putting your name to a chase so subpar. While yes it is your partners chase, I still booked through your website, with your name and trusting your business. I can understand that you are trying to grow but it is clear from your response to me that I am not the first to bring this to your attention yet you still took my money and limited time. To this point, while I appreciate the invite to book again with guide gunnar this was really more of a once in a lifetime opportunity for me. Coming from Australia it is a difficult and expensive trip that I have dreamt of for a long time. I imagine that Tromso is a once in a lifetime destination for many of guide gunnars guests.

I booked a northern lights chase with the partner and was left extremely disappointed with the service. We actually got really lucky and saw some really great aurora's. However, having been on other tours I would suggest saving your money and just go with someone else.

I can see consistency amongst the poorly rated reviews which are the same issues I have had. Tour operator was late, unenthusiastic, little to no communication, no photos...

Gunnar is an experienced guide with a determination for seeking out the Northern Lights no matter what it takes or how far he must travel.

Before we depart from his office, we are given an update on the weather, Gunnar's planned route, all shown on a map of Norway and surrounding countries.

Gunnar constantly monitors the Space weather station and other highly technical websites that show systems and activity.He also retains communications with other tour guides who may or may not be in the immediate vicinity.

If Gunnar sets out with a preferred location in mind, he remains totally flexible and will change direction in an effort to chase, and catch the Aurora Borealis.

We began at 19:30 or 7:30pm and arrived home at 03:30 the following morning. There had been activity all day in Tromso. The evening and night was fraught with showers, thunderstorms and clouds. We ended up travelling to the Norway/Finland border . All of a sudden, the Northern Lights began to sparkle.

Gunnar made us a lovely fire, served us fabulous Norwegian pastries and hot blackcurrant juice.

Please bear in mind that Gunnar cannot determine Mother Nature's wrath. He will, however, do anything and everything in his power to ensure his groups see the Lady Aurora.

The groups are small and friendly. The bus is large and very comfortable. Gunnar makes regular comfort breaks.

There were 7 of us on my trip this past Saturday, from Denmark and Taiwan.

Definitely recommend this tour... Many...