'It’s incredible how many people have told us about their ‘bucket list’ including a trip to see the northern lights, yet getting started isn’t always easy and for some, the dream doesn’t become a reality'.
We’ve experienced and heard stories of week-long trips and fortnight-long cruises seeing absolutely nothing.
1. The first step is identifying where is most accessible - for the northern hemisphere, your choices are:
Iceland
Finland
Sweden
Norway
Russia
Greenland
Canada
USA (Alaska)
Don’t rule out the Faroe Islands or Scotland either - although conditions need to be good for the aurora to be viewed at these latitudes. The further north you travel, the increased potential of seeing the aurora.
But as there aren’t many flights to Svalbard as things stand and if being armed against curious polar bears doesn't sound like your thing, Iceland is the location with the most regular direct flights from the U.K., accessible via a number of regional airports too, particularly over the winter (despite Iceland's summer months attracting the most visitors).
In making your decision, go to a location on the assumption that you won’t see the northern lights, because it is entirely possible. We’ve had three such experiences over the last decade - a week in Finland, five days in Iceland and a four day trip to Finland where we didn’t see a thing or were thwarted by adverse weather conditions, like the cloud cover below:
Do some research into what you’ll be getting up to in the day - visiting geysirs, waterfalls, geothermal pools, ice lagoons, snowmobiling, glacier hikes, caving… or husky sledding, reindeer safaris and so on. There’s plenty to do, just don’t tire yourself out with the cold fresh air, warm clothing and active adventures as you may need to stay up for a bit in the evenings to hopefully see the aurora!
2. The second step is to get the timing of your visit right. The aurora season is typically late august to early April in higher latitudes. This is due to the the amount of darkness over the winter and the long, light days over summer. There is also some suggestion that periods around the equinox can be good times to travel - September and March.
For the best viewings, being away from intense light pollution is Important, as is having a clear night sky, which makes a big difference to your photos (but isn't such a big issue for your viewing experience):
3. Choosing the right location to stay is important - ideally, you want to be away from city lights and we’ve learned some lessons about where to stay, particularly as it’s easy to be drawn towards city accommodation for convenience.
Find somewhere rural to stay if you can, especially if you can find a place that is nearer to some of the destinations you’d like to visit. Going on an organised aurora hunting tour or getting out in your rental car is great fun (even when you are wearing your snow gear), but not as much fun as stepping outside with your tea/coffee/hot chocolate/wine/beer in your slippers and pyjamas (or, shorts and t-shirt if you wish) at your convenience to check the night skies!
4. ‘Hey, what time do the lights come on?’
We’ll never know if this was a genuine question, but it’s one we’ve heard in Iceland before!
Another important consideration is timing. We’ve heard mentions that between 11pm - 2am is when most viewings occur. Our experience supports this - particularly the 11pm part, yet in a recent visit to Iceland the aurora was already visible on camera at dusk, with an outstanding display from 18.30 local time that lasted for hours.
There’s also a wider consideration about what can increase your chances too - there’s an approximate 11-year solar cycle, characterised by a solar maximum and solar minimum. The next solar maximum is forecasted to be 2025, so now is the time to go aurora hunting as conditions are on the increase!
5. The final consideration is one of expectations. If you’ve ever seen a mind-blowing video of a sped-up aurora recording or time-lapse, what you’ll see isn’t going to be like that.
It usually starts as a hazy band on the northern horizon that you may not be able to see with the naked eye - your camera, however, will be able to pick out more detail and colour. The wonderful thing is that with a bit of practice and no light pollution (including your mobile phone affecting your eyes) it's possible to identify when the aurora is starting to build. We had a brilliant time with our nieces who clearly benefitted from their youthful eyesight helping them to spot the early signs of aurora!
There are two distinct types of aurora:
Low intensity bands that are not a lot more than a haze on the horizon and can develop into a more vivid green ‘rainbow’:
Don't turn your back on these as they can quickly intensify and be the start of a very different looking display...
These are in comparison to much more intense and active displays that include different colours, ribbons, uprights and occasionally coronas that explode with colour - these are the ones that will completely blow you away!
Having big expectations may be the cause of disappointment. And there's also the issue, as pointed out to me by an Icelandic local - that it can become a bit addictive, because - in his words - you can always see a better display than the ones you've already seen.
What we love about aurora hunting is that no matter how spectacular the display, you can still capture some wonderful photos of the night sky when the intensity dies down (including the Milky Way, the moon's corona and some glorious starlit skies), like the image below captured in Iceland at the tail-end of one of the most spectacular displays we've seen...
6. Did we mention luck? The aurora that you see is the culmination of activity that occurred on the sun around 18 hours before it is visible at the poles of the earth, requiring just the right level of solar activity, the right weather conditions and you happening to be in the right place at the right time.
The rule of thumb? If you can see stars, your are in with an opportunity. During our very first visit to Iceland, the KP level was zero (read more about that here), we were told not to head out and we saw a couple of hours of the most incredible aurora.
During a recent trip to Iceland, we were checking outside looking north and the display was so intense it was behind us on the southern horizon. If it wasn't for one of our eagle-eyed nephews, we could have easily missed a short but incredible display.
Coincidentally, the more we visit, the more we learn and the more we see... hence why we are sharing our experiences 🙂
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