--- title: "Northern Lights by Sail — Private Yacht from Tromsø" description: "A four-night private northern lights sailing voyage from Tromsø, January–February 2027. Whole boat for six or eight guests, skipper and crew, all meals aboard." lang: en json-ld: | [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://boreal-yachting.com/#organization", "name": "Boreal Yachting", "url": "https://boreal-yachting.com", "logo": "https://boreal-yachting.com/logo.png", "image": "https://boreal-yachting.com/logo.png", "description": "Premium Arctic sailing in Northern Norway and Svalbard. Whole-boat expeditions and charters from Tromsø since 2003.", "foundingDate": "2003", "email": "post@boreal-yachting.com", "telephone": "+4777729200", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "addressLocality": "Tromsø", "addressCountry": "NO" }, "memberOf": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO)", "url": "https://www.aeco.no" }, "sameAs": [ "https://facebook.com/borealyachting", "https://youtube.com/@borealyachting" ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://boreal-yachting.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Experiences", "item": "https://boreal-yachting.com/experiences" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Northern Lights by Sail", "item": "https://boreal-yachting.com/experiences/northern-lights-sailing" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "TouristTrip", "name": "Northern Lights by Sail", "description": "Northern Lights by Sail is a four-night private sailing voyage from Tromsø, operated by Boreal Yachting. The whole yacht is yours, with a skipper and crew aboard, for groups of six or eight depending on the vessel. Four nights means four chances at the aurora, and the freedom to anchor where there is no light at all.", "url": "https://boreal-yachting.com/experiences/northern-lights-sailing", "image": "https://boreal-yachting.com/assets/northern-lights-hero-COBZlZ9x.jpg", "provider": { "@id": "https://boreal-yachting.com/#organization" }, "touristType": [ "Groups of friends", "Families", "Couples travelling together", "Northern lights travellers" ], "itinerary": { "@type": "ItemList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Tromsø, Norway", "address": "Tromsø, Norway" } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Place", "name": "Fjords and islands around Tromsø, Northern Norway" } } ] }, "offers": [ { "@type": "Offer", "name": "Hanse 458 — whole boat, up to six guests", "price": 125000, "priceCurrency": "NOK", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "url": "https://boreal-yachting.com/experiences/northern-lights-sailing" }, { "@type": "Offer", "name": "Dufour 48 — whole boat, up to eight guests", "price": 150000, "priceCurrency": "NOK", "availability": "https://schema.org/InStock", "url": "https://boreal-yachting.com/experiences/northern-lights-sailing" } ] }, { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "FAQPage", "mainEntity": [ { "@type": "Question", "name": "How likely are we to see the northern lights?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Nobody can promise the aurora: it depends on solar activity and on cloud. What we can say is that Tromsø sits beneath the auroral oval, where quiet activity is often enough, and that four nights give you four separate chances instead of one. We also move the boat to the clearest sky we can reach." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What happens in bad weather?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "The skipper plans each day around the forecast and chooses sheltered water when it blows. If conditions close a route, we sail a different one. The voyage runs in the weather it gets; only safety, never the itinerary, is fixed." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Do we need sailing experience?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "No. The skipper and crew sail the boat. You are welcome to take the helm, handle lines and learn as much as you want, or stay warm below and watch." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How cold is it?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Coastal Northern Norway is milder than its latitude suggests, and winter temperatures around Tromsø are usually a few degrees either side of freezing. On deck, wind matters more than the thermometer. Inside, the boat is heated day and night." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What should we bring?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Warm base layers, a thick mid-layer, hat, gloves, warm socks and sturdy footwear. Sailing suits are provided. Bring a camera with a tripod if you want aurora photographs, and any personal medication." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Can we book with fewer than six people?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes. The yacht is sold whole boat, so the price is for the vessel rather than per person. A group of four can charter the Hanse 458 at the same yacht price and simply have more space." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "Are children welcome?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Yes, and the spare cabin on either yacht means children can have their own. Tell us their ages when you enquire so we can talk honestly about whether a winter voyage suits them." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "How do we get to Tromsø?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Tromsø has direct flights from Oslo and seasonal connections from several European cities. Flights and transfers are not included. We will tell you when to arrive and where to meet the boat once the voyage is confirmed." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "When should we book?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "There are nine Saturdays in the 2027 season and each one is sold to a single group, so the choice of date narrows early. Once a voyage is confirmed we hold the yacht for your group alone." } }, { "@type": "Question", "name": "What if the whales do not appear?", "acceptedAnswer": { "@type": "Answer", "text": "Whales are wildlife, not an itinerary item. Orca and humpback typically follow herring into the fjords around Tromsø in January, and by February they have generally moved on. We sail where they have been seen, and we describe the season as it is rather than promising sightings." } } ] } ] --- [Skip to content](#main-content) [Boreal Yachting ](/) [Experiences](/experiences) [Destinations](/destinations) [Our Fleet](/fleet) [About Us](/about) [Journal](/journal) [For Partners](/partners) [Plan your journey](/plan-your-journey) 1. [Home](/) 2. / [Experiences](/experiences) 3. / Northern Lights Sailing ![Guests in sailing suits on the deck of a yacht, watching the northern lights over a fjord near Tromsø](/generated-images/northern-lights-hero-1920.webp) Northern Lights by Sail # Chase the northern lights. From your own yacht. Four nights aboard a private yacht from Tromsø. January–February 2027. Six or eight guests. [Enquire about this voyage](/plan-your-journey?experience=northern-lights-sailing&timing=January%E2%80%93February) From NOK 125,000 for the yacht · Whole boat, your group only Northern Lights by Sail is a four-night private sailing voyage from Tromsø, operated by Boreal Yachting. The whole yacht is yours, with a skipper and crew aboard, for groups of six or eight depending on the vessel. Four nights means four chances at the aurora, and the freedom to anchor where there is no light at all. ## At a glance Season January–February 2027 Duration 4 nights Base Tromsø, Norway (69.6°N) Group size 6 guests (Hanse 458) / 8 guests (Dufour 48) Sold as Whole boat only — your group, no one else Crew Skipper and crew aboard throughout Price 6 guests — NOK 125,000 / 8 guests — NOK 150,000 for the yacht What it suits Groups of friends, families and couples travelling together who want dark skies, winter sailing and a warm boat ## Not another northern lights tour. ### Four nights, not one evening. Most northern lights trips are a single outing. If the sky is closed that night, that was the trip. Four nights at sea is four separate chances, and a skipper reading the forecast between them. ### The boat moves to the weather. A road tour goes where the road goes. A yacht goes where the sky is clearest — around a headland, into a different fjord, away from cloud. ### Six guests. No one else. The yacht is yours. No coach, no group of strangers, no queue for the viewing spot. ## Where the dark is actually dark. Tromsø sits at 69.6°N, beneath the auroral oval. That is the reason people come here. But a town is a town: street lighting, harbour floodlights, headlights on the bridge and a glow on the cloud base that follows you for miles. A yacht can leave it behind. Within a few hours of sailing there are fjords with no road on either shore, no streetlight, no other vessel at anchor. The only light is the sky, and whatever is burning in the saloon behind you. The quiet is the part people remember. The engine is off at anchor. There is no traffic, no coach idling, no one else talking. You hear water against the hull, the anchor chain shifting, and wind in the rigging. When the aurora comes, you watch it from the deck of a boat that is already where you are sleeping. ![Boreal yacht anchored beneath the northern lights in a dark fjord near Tromsø](/__l5e/assets-v1/79870bb5-d4b1-4ca5-8341-d28047e80ac9/northern-lights-dark-anchorage.jpeg) ## One day, from dark to dark. Late morning, the blue light arrives. Coffee in the saloon, condensation on the windows, and the skipper with the forecast open on the chart table, talking through where the weather is sending you today and which fjord is likely to be clear tonight. Then sailing. Arctic winter on deck is bracing rather than brutal — you are in a sailing suit, gloves on, watching snow-covered mountains come past at walking pace. Nobody stays out for hours. You take a turn at the helm, you get cold, you go back inside, and the difference between the two is half the pleasure of it. Afternoons belong to whatever the day offers: sea eagles over the headland, a landing and a short walk ashore, whales in the fjord in January, or simply watching the light turn from blue to violet to nothing at all. By late afternoon the anchor goes down somewhere with no lights on shore. The boat settles. The heating runs. Wet gear goes forward and stays there. Dinner is cooked aboard by the skipper. That is not a compromise, it is the point: the person who read the weather and chose the anchorage is the same person who puts dinner on the table, which is why a small boat feels different from a crewed service operation. The menu is agreed with your group before departure — allergies, vegetarian and anything else is settled in advance, and the food is planned around what you actually eat. It is the clearest sign that eight people are being cooked for, not eighty. A dedicated chef can be added if you would rather have one aboard. \[TO CONFIRM: typical dishes and whether local produce is a feature worth naming\] Afterwards someone puts a jacket on and goes up to check the sky. If it is there, everyone comes up. If it is not, you are warm, fed and already somewhere worth being. ![Boreal yacht sailing through winter twilight near Tromsø](/__l5e/assets-v1/4d3fcddd-981b-496e-9252-8bd08d7063f7/northern-lights-day-sailing.jpg)![Dinner prepared aboard a Boreal yacht](/__l5e/assets-v1/46bd7570-bf78-4d26-990e-704f12feb140/northern-lights-dinner.jpg) ![Orca surfacing in a fjord near Tromsø in winter](/generated-images/freediving-orca-1500.webp) ## Whales, in the same water. Orca and humpback follow herring into the fjords around Tromsø in winter, and in the short daylight hours they are a large part of what you are sailing through. From a yacht you come across them while you are going somewhere, engine down, rather than arriving with a boatload of people to look at them. Whales are a January feature. The January departures are the ones where they are part of the picture; by February the herring, and the whales with them, have generally moved on. That is a real reason to choose one month over the other, and it is more useful to say so than to pretend the two are the same. Wildlife is never guaranteed. This is what the season typically brings, not a scheduled item. We keep our distance, we do not chase, and we let the animals decide how close the encounter gets. ## January and February are two different voyages. Nine Saturdays, four nights each. The light changes considerably across the season, so the date you choose changes the voyage you get. 2 and 9 January ### The tail of the polar night The sun stays below the horizon and the day runs on a long blue twilight. The darkest skies of the season, and whales in the fjords. 16, 23 and 30 January ### The sun comes back The sun returns to Tromsø in the second half of the month, and the return is traditionally marked January 21st. Light comes back quickly, and the whales are still here. 6, 13, 20 and 27 February ### Daylight on the mountains Real daylight on the peaks and longer sailing days, with nights still long enough for the aurora. The whales have generally moved on by now. ### The nine departures - Saturday 2 January 2027 January voyage - Saturday 9 January 2027 January voyage - Saturday 16 January 2027 January voyage - Saturday 23 January 2027 January voyage - Saturday 30 January 2027 January voyage - Saturday 6 February 2027 February voyage - Saturday 13 February 2027 February voyage - Saturday 20 February 2027 February voyage - Saturday 27 February 2027 February voyage ## The yacht, and the people sailing it. Arctic-prepared, in winter, means a diesel heater running day and night, an insulated hull, a cockpit you can shelter in and somewhere dry for wet gear. When it is −10°C on deck, the saloon is warm enough to sit in a jumper with the condensation wiped off the window and the anchor light on above you. Yachts on this voyage are winter-prepared to the same standard. The crew are Arctic skippers who sail these fjords all year. They read the weather, choose the anchorage and cook the dinner. [See the fleet](/fleet)[Meet the crew](/about/crew) ![A Boreal yacht under way among snow-covered mountains in Northern Norway](/generated-images/expedition-wintercruise-hero-1824.webp) ## What is included. ### Included - — The yacht, chartered whole boat for your group - — Skipper and crew - — All meals prepared on board - — Bed linen and towels - — Sailing suits - — Non-alcoholic drinks A dedicated chef can be added to any departure as an upgrade. ### Not included - — Flights and travel to Tromsø - — Transfers to and from the harbour - — Alcoholic drinks - — Travel insurance - — Personal equipment ## What if the lights don’t come? They might not. The aurora depends on solar activity and on cloud, and neither can be promised by us or by anyone selling a northern lights trip. We would rather say that now than after you have paid. What we can say is that four nights at sea improves your odds materially compared with a single evening, because you get four separate skies and a skipper moving the boat towards the clear one. And if the sky never opens, the voyage is still four nights sailing Arctic fjords in winter: whales in the water in January, mountains coming out of the dark, an anchorage with no light on shore, a warm boat and food cooked aboard. That is the trip you booked. The aurora is what the sky adds to it. ## What it costs. Six guests ### Hanse 458 Four cabins · six guests NOK 125,000 for the yacht Suits a family, two or three couples, or a group of friends who want the smaller, quieter boat. [See the Hanse 458](/fleet/arctic-njord) Eight guests ### Dufour 48 Five cabins · eight guests NOK 150,000 for the yacht Suits a larger group of friends or two families travelling together. [See the Dufour 48](/fleet) Both yachts carry more cabins than the guest number requires. At six on the Hanse and eight on the Dufour there is a spare cabin either way, so nobody has to share with someone they would rather not share with — which matters to groups of friends where not everyone is travelling as a couple, and to families who want the children in their own cabin. Choose by group size, not by price. The two boats are equivalent in standard, both are winter-prepared, both carry a spare cabin at the stated numbers, and the price follows the boat. The only real question is how many of you there are. For context, and once only: that is approximately NOK 20,800 each at six, or NOK 18,750 each at eight, for four nights including the yacht, the crew and all meals on board — which replaces accommodation, meals and guided outings across the same four days. ### Payment - 50% on confirmation, due within 7 days. - The remaining 50% is due 14 days before departure. ### Cancellation refunds More than 90 days before departure 80% refunded 90–45 days before departure 50% refunded 45–30 days before departure 30% refunded Less than 30 days before departure 20% refunded The yacht is held for your group alone from the moment the voyage is confirmed, and the date cannot be resold as individual places. ## Questions guests ask. How likely are we to see the northern lights? Nobody can promise the aurora: it depends on solar activity and on cloud. What we can say is that Tromsø sits beneath the auroral oval, where quiet activity is often enough, and that four nights give you four separate chances instead of one. We also move the boat to the clearest sky we can reach. What happens in bad weather? The skipper plans each day around the forecast and chooses sheltered water when it blows. If conditions close a route, we sail a different one. The voyage runs in the weather it gets; only safety, never the itinerary, is fixed. Do we need sailing experience? No. The skipper and crew sail the boat. You are welcome to take the helm, handle lines and learn as much as you want, or stay warm below and watch. How cold is it? Coastal Northern Norway is milder than its latitude suggests, and winter temperatures around Tromsø are usually a few degrees either side of freezing. On deck, wind matters more than the thermometer. Inside, the boat is heated day and night. What should we bring? Warm base layers, a thick mid-layer, hat, gloves, warm socks and sturdy footwear. Sailing suits are provided. Bring a camera with a tripod if you want aurora photographs, and any personal medication. Can we book with fewer than six people? Yes. The yacht is sold whole boat, so the price is for the vessel rather than per person. A group of four can charter the Hanse 458 at the same yacht price and simply have more space. Are children welcome? Yes, and the spare cabin on either yacht means children can have their own. Tell us their ages when you enquire so we can talk honestly about whether a winter voyage suits them. How do we get to Tromsø? Tromsø has direct flights from Oslo and seasonal connections from several European cities. Flights and transfers are not included. We will tell you when to arrive and where to meet the boat once the voyage is confirmed. When should we book? There are nine Saturdays in the 2027 season and each one is sold to a single group, so the choice of date narrows early. Once a voyage is confirmed we hold the yacht for your group alone. What if the whales do not appear? Whales are wildlife, not an itinerary item. Orca and humpback typically follow herring into the fjords around Tromsø in January, and by February they have generally moved on. We sail where they have been seen, and we describe the season as it is rather than promising sightings. ![](/generated-images/hero-sailing-1824.webp) ## Ask us about this voyage. Tell us which Saturday you have in mind and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the boat that fits, what the light is doing that week, and anything else you want to know before you decide. [Enquire about this voyage](/plan-your-journey?experience=northern-lights-sailing&timing=January%E2%80%93February) A real person answers, usually within two working days. An enquiry is a conversation, not a booking. Boreal Yachting Premium Arctic sailing in Northern Norway and Svalbard. Sailing these waters since 2003. [![AECO member — Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators](/assets/aeco-member-Crcpxqbv.svg)](https://www.aeco.no)[![Eco-Lighthouse certified — Miljøfyrtårn programme](/assets/eco-lighthouse-CNcwtWaN.png)](https://www.miljofyrtarn.no/en/) ## Experiences - [Ski & Sail Norway](/experiences/ski-and-sail-norway) - [Ski & Sail Svalbard](/experiences/ski-and-sail-svalbard) - [Svalbard Expeditions](/experiences/svalbard-expeditions) - [Private charter](/experiences/private-charter) - [Group charter](/experiences/group-charter) - [Bareboat charter](/experiences/bareboat-charter) ## Destinations - [Tromsø](/destinations/tromso) - [Lyngen Alps](/destinations/lyngen-alps) - [Lofoten](/destinations/lofoten) - [Svalbard](/destinations/svalbard) - [Senja](/destinations/senja) - [Vesterålen](/destinations/vesteralen) ## Company - [About us](/about) - [Our crew](/about/crew) - [Safety](/about/safety) - [Sustainability](/about/sustainability) - [Company facts](/about/facts) - [Journal](/journal) - [For partners](/partners) - [Contact](/contact) Boreal Yachting AS · Tromsø, Norway · [post@boreal-yachting.com](mailto:post@boreal-yachting.com) · [+47 77 72 92 00](tel:+4777729200) - [Facebook](https://facebook.com/borealyachting) - [YouTube](https://youtube.com/@borealyachting) - [Instagram](https://instagram.com/borealyachting) © 2026 Boreal Yachting AS - [Privacy](/privacy) - [Terms](/terms) - [Booking conditions](/booking-conditions) Cookies on this site We use essential cookies to run the site. 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