Alta or Tromsø: better aurora odds in a small inland town, or a city with every tour and a direct flight.

Weather: the case for Alta

The numbers are the argument. Tromsø's coastal position brings around 15 or 16 wet days and 100 to 110 mm of precipitation per winter month, much of it as sleet or rain at sea level. Alta, sheltered at the head of its fjord and backed by the plateau, records 31 to 39 mm per month from November to January and colder, drier air. More clear nights means fewer wasted evenings, and the snow that falls stays as snow.

The price of that is cold: Alta's January average low is about −10 °C in town and lower on the plateau, against roughly −5 °C in Tromsø. Both towns lose the sun for about seven weeks, with nearly identical polar-night dates.

Tours and choice: the case for Tromsø

Tromsø has more aurora operators than any other Nordic city, several whale-watching boats, and dozens of husky, reindeer, boat and cable-car products leaving from the harbour every day. If one tour sells out or cancels, another exists. Alta has a shorter list: a few guided aurora evenings, the aurora bus, snowmobile trips, three or four kennels, a reindeer visit and, in the whale months, one or two boats on the Altafjord. Groups are smaller and pickups are at the hotel door, but capacity in Christmas week is thin.

Alta has two things Tromsø cannot copy: the igloo hotel rebuilt every winter at Sorrisniva, and the Finnmark plateau starting a few kilometres up the valley, which is where the long dog-sled trips and the Finnmarksløpet race live.

Flights, transfers and combining the two

Tromsø has direct flights from Oslo and from several European cities all winter. Alta has Oslo with Norwegian and SAS, Widerøe across Finnmark and to Tromsø, and in recent winters seasonal direct flights from Helsinki and Frankfurt; confirm those for your dates before building a trip around them. Both airports are minutes from the centre by bus.

Combining the two is straightforward with five or more nights. Drive the E6 through Kvænangen in about five hours in good conditions, take the long-distance bus, or fly Widerøe in under an hour. Fly into one town and out of the other so the road is only driven once.

• Three or four nights: pick one town; Alta for aurora odds, Tromsø for choice.
• Five to seven nights: Tromsø first for whales and city, then Alta for plateau and igloo, or the reverse.
• Self-drivers: check road status daily; the E6 passes close in storms.

Prices and families

Hotel rates in both towns peak at Christmas and New Year and in the February school holidays. Alta's chain hotels are usually a little cheaper than Tromsø's harbour hotels, and its lodges are priced like Tromsø's dark-sky lodges. Tour prices are similar per person; Alta's smaller groups can cost slightly more for the guided evening but include hotel pickup.

For families, Tromsø has more indoor fallbacks: museums, the aquarium, the cable car and restaurants within a short walk. Alta answers with the pool at Scandic Alta, the museum and rock-art centre, the reindeer visit and shorter drives to the snow; teenagers who want to drive a sled or ride a snowmobile get more of it in Alta.