2025 – 9 & 10 – Germany, Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden

Seeing the Northern Lights from above the Arctic Circle has been on our bucket list for a long time. For some reason, we never ventured North very much during the times we lived in Europe. A while back one of us read where the Northern Lights were supposed to be especially strong this season (Late Sept 2025-March 2026) so we decided it was time to go. Since we have moved to Australia we have made it a point to maximize our flights to get to Europe or the Americas because they are both extremely long and quite expensive. So, when we fly, we make the most of our destination.

We decided late September was perfect because it is right in the center of the German wine festival season, the weather was still pleasant, all the kids are back in school, and all the Moms and Dads have finished their summer vacations and are back at work. Mostly just us older folks left. We made a plan to fly to Germany, spend some time there looking up long time German friends and enjoying the fall wine season, booked a flight to Tromso Norway which is reputed to be one of the best places to observe the northern lights, then fly back to Germany, regroup, and fly back to Oz.

The first place we went was to Germany. Here’s the plan:

After an eight hour flight to Singapore from Brisbane, a three hour layover in Singapore, a thirteen hour flight to from Singapore to Frankfurt, we finally made it to Germany and set out along the Rhine River where some of the best German wines are made. We turned back south in Koblenz following the Mosel where more great German wines are made. Then froom BernKaste-Keuz we drove to Kaiserslautern to visit friends, then on to Saint Marins where our favorite winery is at. From there, we drove North to Denmark. More about that later. Here are some of my photos from the trip up the Rhine and down the Mosel, and at Saint Martins.

We spent a couple days in the area we lived in once, met friends, visited favorite places. Decided to take a few days and drive to Denmark. Why? Why, because we have never been there! What better reason to go. It is merely a 840 Kilometer drive. So we did. Took two days to get there. Hit some really bad traffic along the way. Germany is overloaded with cars and trucks. Hundreds of trucks pass from the eastern europe countries to the west coast to ship stuff out of the big western ports. There was also a great deal of construction so it was an interesting drive. None the less we made it to Kolding Denmark and checked into our hotel. Our plan was to drive west the next day to the west coast of Denmark and visit the North Sea villages along the coast. We did that and it was a fun day. Here’s some photos:

We drove back to Germany and checked in for one night at the airport hotel. Tomorrow we are flying to Tromso Norway to see if we can catch the Northern lights. The trip back from Denmark was better. Nancy found a less complicated route. Took two days, we had not seen much of Northern Germany so all good. We like staying at the airport cuz it has a lot of interesting stores and restaurants. Here’s a few shots of the airport then Tromso.

Here’s our flight plan for Norway. See a little of Tromso, drive across Norway to Finland, across Finland to Sweden … Only a 350 Kilometer round trip. Same route both ways, they don’t have many highways up there. Tromso is located about 350 Kilometers north of the Arctic circle (for you navigator types it is right around 70 degrees north). It’s a beautiful little city with a great deal of activity. We spent four nights there. Toured the city and local area the first day, drove to Finland and Sweden the next, hung out one day that was windy and rainy, and left the next. We saw the northern lights three of the four nights, one night from our hotel room. Great experience. Awesome photos follow.

Here’s some pictures of the incredible mountains, Fjords, and places in Norway, Finland, and Sweden.

Here’s some local shots in Tromso:

Okay … The finally. These are pictures of the Northern Lights that we saw during our stay. You can see them with the naked eye but more color appears when you take a picture of them. Some of the pictures are a bit fuzzy but I was just using my phone and trying not to move while it recorded. The white spots on some of the pictures are stars. Enjoy:

We flew back to Frankfurt. Used the day to have lunch with some very good friends, then repack our three weeks of dirty clothes and flew home. Great trip. Hope you liked it.