Northern Lights

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Wanting a holiday to try and maximise chances of seeing the above. Anyone who has been and did see them (and loved the holiday), can you give me an idea of where you went and with which holiday company?

Disclaimer: yes I know sometimes you can see them from the U.K. and I know they are a natural phenomenon etc.

Particularly interested in Nordic.

Thanks!

Tromso has pretty good odds. The trick is to plan your trip not around a full moon (full moon is too bright to see them properly) and to be away from artificial light sources.

We went to Karesuando with Transun. It is in Finland and Sweden as it straddles a river.

I can honestly say that it was the holiday of a lifetime. The hotel wasn't luxurious, the food wasn't great (and terrible for vegetarians), but we weren't there for the food. The highlights were driving huskies over a frozen lake and seeing the Northern Lights. The best time to see them is when there is no moon, and we just happened to be lucky that it was a moonless night.

Thank you, both of you. That’s really useful! I will check Transun out, it wasn’t one we had considered.

@TapasForTwo - glad you had a great holiday but looking at their Tripadvisor reviews I’m not touching them with a barge pole!

Wow. I have just read some of the negative reviews on TripAdvisor. Our trip was nothing like that. I know someone who did the same holiday as us earlier this year, and she had as fantastic a time as we did.

We went to Tromso and we stayed in a lavu out in the countryside. No lights at all and we had a spectacular show

Iceland. Early February. Two nights in a row.
Booked independently, and finished our holiday with an amazing stay at the Blue Lagoo.

Iceland in Vik saw them when it was the Spring Equinox. Iceland is amazing the only disappointment was the Blue Lagoon.

Iceland, just a few days before Christmas, had the app but it was too cloudy, stayed here, excellent apartments, lived off pizza and the local bakes, soup and coffee in a car is £20 each!
www.bluemountainapartments.is
If I was going again I would go to Norway, we have been to both but Norway was cheaper and not as desolate, but they are both very different, Oh didn't see them in either place!

I saw the Northern Lights in Tromso last January, it was incredible! I booked with a really good company called Best Served Scandinavia, they organised the whole trip for me and included the Northern Lights Tour.

Following.

What's the odds of seeing the lights mid October?

Friends special birthday so planning a girly trip.

Good luck! We've been to Tromso, Svalbard, Iceland and Greenland all in the winter and haven't managed to see them yet. Ironically the last time we went to see them they were visible from near where we lived and we missed them.

We're going to try again this winter so perhaps I should tell you the dates so you can avoid them as we're always unlucky with the Northern Lights.

We went to Iceland a couple of weeks ago for a week and saw them 4 nights running, 2 of the nights were very good and the others quite faint showings. This was late August/ beginning September, there was a coronal hole mass ejection, solar wind or something, its on Spaceweather.com, a couple of days before though which makes the lights more likely and we were blessed with fairly clear skies, Iceland can be cloudy and also avoid the full moon times.

Saw them in Iceland just booked flights and hotel then booked a tour then we got there. You can stay in glass bubbles and watch them from bed if your lucky. Or some hotels out of the capital will wake you if they see them .

I had the most fabulous holiday with Discover the World to Sweden to see the Northern Lights

Three nights at the Ice Hotel (one in the actual ice room), evening snow mobile “safari” out into the wilderness to see the lights away from any light pollution. Also dog sledding and native lunch out. Fabulous, so memorable - but no lights seen

Next stop was abisko sky station and the long journey up the mountain in the ski lift. What an experience! Had amazing dinner at the top. Great evening - but due to cloud cover, no lights could be seen.

It’s just one of those things. Can’t be guaranteed to see the lights. But highly recommend Discover the world. Sweden was stunning place to visit.

I’m about to give it another try with a “cheap” and cheerful trip to Iceland with two excursions planned to see the lights. Fingers crossed!!

We went out two nights in a row in Iceland and saw them both nights. Booked tours from Reykjavik. Just be aware that unless you have an incredibly fancy camera, what you see won't change your life.
The second night was amazing to watch but on the way back we were given the links to the guide's photos and what she had picked up was unbelievable compared to what we saw by eye.

We didn't see them in Finland when we drove hours out into the countryside but we instead saw the most wonderful star showing. They looked like they were so close you could touch them - way better than what we saw of the northern lights. It was so awe inspiring that I cried .

Murmansk or Yellowknife NWT. I see them regularly where I live, and I’m far south of Yellowknife.

I also saw them in Iceland. No tour company, we drove right round the whole country on the main ring road. Stunning country and we saw them a few times, best to drive out of any towns to get the best view. Don't stay in Reykjavik, you'll get light pollution.

I saw them in Iceland... January...

We picked Iceland as lots to do if we didn’t see them.

We went out on a boat to see them . Amazing holiday booked through Expedia.

Iceland air are fabulous planes

We took a cruise up the coast of Norway, right up to the North Cape. It was one February.
No light pollution at sea, so we were able to see the lights most nights past Tromsø. The scenery by day was spectacular. But it was sooo cold! The decks were sheets of ice, and we kept getting frozen in to ports.

Iceland but time of year is key. Late January and early February maximise chances. We didn’t use a company but flew easyJet, stayed in an apartment and hired a car.