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Alta has a lot to offer. It is best to get a hire car so that you can drive around the local area, and along the stunning coastal road. In winter there is the Sorrisniva Ice Hotel (always worth a visit each year as the theme changes). Also worth a visit is the Alta Cathedral, Alta Museum (which also has a great coffee shop and gift store). We enjoyed driving West to Kåfjord where there is a beautiful little church, and by the Kåfjord bridge, there is a bomb crater from a Tallboy bomb dropped in WWII that missed hitting the Turpitz battleship. A few kilometres further around the coastline you come to a quaint village of Talvik that also has a quaint church (which interestingly, is fastened to the ground by a long cable as a previous church was blown into the harbour many years ago!). Also heading south towards Kautokeino, takes you up through Alta gorge - a truely spectacular drive through a twisty road between icicle clad mountainsides - absolutely breathtaking. Opposite the Alta River Camping, is the Sami cultural centre. There are lots of winter activities available in Alta from dog sledding and reindeer sledding to skidoos and snow shoe walking. Lastly, if you are wanting aurora, Alta is by far my preferred location, as it has clearer skies on average than other locations that are further around the west coast of Northern Norway - if you have cloud, you won't see the aurora. I have been to Iceland, Sweden, Finland and other parts of Norway, and Alta definitely comes out on top for seeing the Northern Lights. There are plenty of locations that you can pull up your car to safely view the Northern Lights, with the beautiful mountains of Alta all around - just perfect!

We chose Alta, the City of Northern Lights, to "Hunt the Aurora Borealis". We were NOT disappointed. It was a magical experience. Lots of beautiful northern lights shows. We did a number of activities: night time horse drawn sleigh ride and dinner; king crab fishing experience; tour of the Ice Hotel at Sorrisniva; dog sled ride at Holmen Husky. We stayed at a canvas dome in GLOD, with the most amazing guide to see the Northern Lights. We stayed in a forest suite at Holmen Husky. The place was incredible and the way they treat the dogs will completely change your thoughts on the sport of dog sledding. They were the sweetest and happiest dogs I've ever seen. We stayed at Flatmoen Natur Lodge, which is a family owned and ran farm. Each lodge has their own private, outdoor jacuzzi so you can sit outside while the snow is falling or hope to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.

Lovely cute place which is not too commercial. Great place to do a northern light run, Go for a smaller tour size of 7-8 ppl instead of 50 sized. First its very safe even if you are going solo and also you have a more personal discussion with the group and also much more personalized attention to see the stars and the northern lights.

I came for the museums and some quiet relaxation, and got plenty of that! Lovely town with good food and lovely people. The weather in June was grand... nice during the day, cooler at night. A fan was all I needed to be cool enough to sleep. The local taxi company got me around town with ease, though their is a bus I never tried out. I sadly do not speak any Norwegian, and I was able to get around with ease.

Alta is a town that is difficult to reach in winter, so it is good to make reservations as late as possible to get a refund without penalty. Accommodation owners and tour operators will take your money and not refund you even if you prove that you didn't arrive in Alta due to weather (cancelled planes or planes that were unable to land).

Alta is beautiful!!! Planning our next trip already. We went to Holmen Husky Lodge and Sorrisniva Igloo Hotel, we would go here again. Saw the northern lights and the Husky race Finnmarksløpet - great experience