Northern lights

[Bananaandmarmite]

So, we have two big birthdays next year in our household and fancy going to see the Northern Lights.

Has anyone been? I’ve no idea where to start in terms of looking….

Where do we stay? How do we see them? Is there package deals? Is it better to do a cruise there or do a fly and hotel stay?

so many questions!

You do realise that you may not see them?

That is such a great idea for a big birthday trip (licks pencil, prepares to take notes).

Although they were visible in Derbyshire last month!

DH and I went to the Ice Hotel in Northern Sweden for my 50th. We had one night in an ice room and two in a warm room.

The place was stunning, lots of activities to do and Northern Lights pretty much every night (early Jan). I wore all my cold weather clothing and then we were given heavy duty ski suits on top of that!

It was organised through Stockholm Adventures and it's one of the few trips I've been on that exceeded my expectations.

I have seen them quite a lot at home in North East Scotland. But I would look to Iceland as a good chance destination.

Apparently you can take a boat trip out to sea where there is very little light pollution and this increases your chances. Plus in Iceland you can visit the volcanoes and hot springs.

You need some warm clothing though. 😁

Above the Arctic Circle in Norway or Finland is a reasonable bet in winter.

There are a number of different ways of doing it. The cheapest drives you all out to a kind of viewing chalet with big windows. You can watch indoors or out, and it’s pot luck whether there will be Aurora, or if it’s there but cloudy.

Next is the tour bus which will take you to around 3 different locations in the hopes of seeing them in those.

The more expensive ones are small minivans equipped with weather trackers and in contact with other similar vans sharing information about weather from valley to valley, and they will drive all over until about 4 in the morning chasing sightings. We were warned to take our passports with us in case we needed to cross the Norway/Finland border.

We went for the latter, because if you’re travelling all that way for Aurora, we wanted our very best chance of seeing them. Chatting with people at the hotel the next day, we were the only ones who had seen the lights that weekend.

While there, if you’ve picked Norway in particular, there are so many whale watching trips you could do in the day. Both humpbacks and orca are regular visitors.

The further north you go the better the chance of seeing them. Your best chance is probably to go to either Iceland, Finland or Norway. We went to Iceland and never saw a things until the last night when were were in Reykjavík. Having spent 3 nights in the middle of nowhere we had given up any chance, but were walking back from a restaurant to the hotel and they just appeared in the sky.

We've been to that part of the world twice. The first time to the Ice Hotel in Sweden for New Year which was a fabulous experience but we didn't see them. The second time to Levi, Lapland where we stayed in a cabin for a week and did all things Christmassy and a bit of skiing and managed to see them one evening. We were stood in the middle of a frozen lake near our cabin and it was such a spectacular show. Both were great trips and we weren't too bothered if we didn't see them as it wasn't the focus of the trip.

My son went to Iceland last December and never saw a thing. At home (NE Scotland) they're almost a nightly occurrence. He was gutted he wasted all that money when they were on his own doorstep!

We see it a lot in Northumberland (I'm in the dark skies park). But I've heard northern Scandinavia is a better all-round holiday than Iceland.

We saw them in Dec, in Iceland pre covid. There were well organised bus trips from Reykjavik. Reykjavik Excursions | Tours in Iceland | Iceland Tours

Some things I wasn't aware of though.

-You might see pics online/in shops which look absolutely bright and colourful- but these 'might' have been photoshopped though to add colour!

• To the naked eye, we saw some vague, green swirls and were disappointed. On the camera though, the pics were far brighter and defined.
• Take a camera stand/tripod to get non- blurry night images

We went on the Hurtigruten from Bergen to Kirkenes - went in December when travelling started again after Covid. Lots of snow when we got past the Arctic Circle . We saw the Northern Lights on the last night when we were in Kirkenes - not sure if they sail that far north now due to the proximity to the Russian border. Well worth the trip.

A relative spent thousands on a trip to Iceland a few years ago (pre-Covid) and was there for 2 weeks on a northern lights package and saw nothing. She was so disappointed. I think you need to be very open to the possibility that you might not see anything and plan to have a damn good time regardless with loads of nice excursions, pick a location with lots to do, nice hotel etc.

The displays seem to be really good this year which means they probably won't be next year. They are linked to sun spot activity which goes in cycles.

Saw them in Iceland one Christmas. Nothing is guaranteed, though. The Northern Lights night cruise we went on, we saw nothing. Then we accidentally missed the bus back from the Blue Lagoon to Reykjavik on Boxing Day evening and while at the bus station they suddenly came from nowhere and went mad. Easy to see with the naked eye and got some good photos with an iPhone.

I went to see them in Iceland in January 7yrs ago. Didn't see a single thing other than snow!

I hope it works out for you Op but it can be very random.

We went on an Aurora tour in Iceland. We were bussed put into the middle of nowhere with no light pollution and we stood and waited and waited. Red aurora were visible with cameras on long exposure. But were not bright enough to be detected by the human eye.

Another friend went to Iceland a fortnight later and got a brilliant display.

Making me nervous now. This is birthday and Xmas (joint as more than I'd usually spend) for my son for this year. We did bucket list trip to Iceland about 9 years ago. Fantastic display (and Iceland was amazing). Hubby is v much into astronomy so went March....apparently equinox (21 Sept and March approx) is best.

From my back garden few Weeks back....

Honestly, if that's the sole reason, I'd be more inclined to book somewhere north Scotland or the outer islands.

I'm SW Scotland and still see them strong, but I live in a dark sky area too.

@CombatBarbie Amazing pic!!! 100x better than what I saw in Iceland too.

There’s never a guarantee, but my recommendation would be arctic Finland and to have a fab time in the snow - you could also do dog sledding, or a reindeer safari, or snowmobiling, or ice fishing.
We’ve used Wild About Lapland for several
trips. Absolutely brilliant and particularly of its a special trip.
https://wildaboutlapland.com/northern-lights-wilderness-tour/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIgPP7qLj7gQMVSgOLCh3g9wKVEAAYASAAEgKmq_D_BwE

Saw them 2 nights out of 4 in Iceland.

Bit outting but the most amazing show was from the plane on the way back!

The pilots came over the tannoy to ask people to share photos as it was the best they had seen.

People don't realise that the best time to see them is the equinox.

Mid September or Mid March.

As close to either equinox you can get would be best.

They do - planning the Kirkenes to Tromsø. How was the boat? Any tips please?

Ship was lovely - very comfortable. It’s not a cruise ship but a postal ship going up and down the coast so stopping at numerous small ports - some you can get off for a short period. Definitely recommend a trip to North Cape. Almost total darkness all day when we were there .