(In the nearby town of Sodanklya, the Northern Lights Research Center relays the signal to the hotel.) Experiencing the magical northern lights is at the top of many travellers’ bucket list, and for quite a number it remains a dream. The largest urban area in northern Norway is 217 miles north of the Arctic Circle, but thanks to the Gulf Stream the coastline has surprisingly moderate temperatures. Our wide selection is elegible for free shipping and free returns. Auroras are caused when plasma particles carried by the solar wind strike the earth’s atmosphere. Clouds partially obscure an aurora above an iceberg in northeastern Greenland. Those lucky enough to witness Mother Nature’s light show are in for a uniquely breathtaking experience. It also has beautiful scenery, magnificent fjords, and the Lyngen Alps. Areas around pristine Lake Superior in Ontario and Northern Canada’s tundra backcountry are prime viewing spots. Photograph by Richard McManus, Getty Images. For the best seats to this celestial scene, consider anywhere with a magnetic latitude above 55° and low light pollution. The northern town of Tromsø teems with aurora borealis activity when those extended summer days are long gone. The southern lights illuminate the sky in Tasmania, Australia. The further south you are, the better. For 14 days experience untouched wilderness, the home of Santa Claus and tour Oslo and Bergen. It may be cold, but that’s the point – you’ll get to see all the glaciers, geysers and black-sand beaches you can handle. In Finland’s Lapland region, Rovaniemi serves as a gateway town to nearby national parks—where in winter you can spot frozen snow-covered trees called Tykky sculptures along with the northern lights. Why was the ancient city of Cahokia abandoned? PLAN YOUR TRIP: Visit Fodor’s Finland Travel Guide, Best Viewing Locations: Þingvellir National Park, most of the country. The Northern Lights or “Aurora Borealis” is a phenomenon that draws travellers to the windswept wilds of the some of the northernmost places on the planet. Copyright © 1996-2015 National Geographic SocietyCopyright © 2015-2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC. The northern lights—also called the aurora borealis, meaning “north wind of the dawn"—brighten the night in an ethereal display of color. Long winter nights are good but not necessarily the best time. The northern lights are spectacular and Iceland is the ideal place to search for this natural phenomenon. Head to the town of Whitehorse within the Yukon Territory to best see the swirling lights. Sightings are most likely in the evening hours from September to March. A fjord reflects the glowing green light of an aurora near Tromsø, Norway. Like its Northern Hemisphere counterpart (Aurora Borealis), the Southern Lights (Aurora Australis) illuminate the night sky with flickering shades of green, blue, purple and red. However, a good coastline road around the country lets you chase clear skies. Unlike other countries where you can see aurora borealis, in Iceland, you can spot them from almost anywhere in the countryas long as you’re outside Reykjavik. In Fairbanks, Alaska, the sky glows with the aurora borealis. Best Viewing Locations: All islands within the Faroe Islands archipelago. Saadjärv. And while scientists predicted that December 2013 would be the peak of the current solar cycle, and thus the best time to see the northern lights, recent celestial activity suggests that this winter will offer plenty of viewing opportunities as well, with earlier-than-expected sightings in August as far south as the United Kingdom. You can see the northern lights from most parts of the country, similar to Iceland. 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