Best Places to See Northern Lights

The Northern Lights, as the name suggests, are bright lights that appear in the northern skies. They are a natural light display that happens near the Earth’s magnetic poles — the North Pole and the South Pole. These glowing lights are not just beautiful to look at; they also tell us something about how the Earth works. The Northern Lights are also called Aurora Borealis.The best places to see Northern Lights are mainly located close to the Arctic and Antarctica.
In this blog, you’ll learn why the Northern Lights happen, where they appear, and the best places to watch them.

What are the Northern Lights?

Norther lights are caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with gases in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. In simple terms, solar winds interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, creating a bright and colorful display of blue and green lights dancing across the sky.

The name “aurora borealis” forNorthern lights comes from ancient mythology-Aurora is the Roman goddess of dawn, and Boreas is the Greek god of the north wind. Together, they describe the magical dance of wind and light in the night sky. These lights sometimes dance, sometimes move; sometimes are barely visible, and sometimes are bright as stars.

How Aurora Borealis happen ?

Solar activities cause uproar in the sun and give rise to solar winds or flares. These winds travel to Earth along the magnetic field of the path of revolution and collide with the Earth’s atmosphere. The particles of the winds and the gases in the Earth’s atmosphere collide to produce tiny speckles of light. Billions of collisions cause a sequence of spectacular shows of lights we know as the Northern Lights. It occurs in the Northern Hemisphere, so it is called the Northern Lights.

When to see the Northern Lights?

• Best time to see the Northern Lights is during the winter months.
• Brightest auroras are usually between 11 PM and midnight, local time.
• Chances of seeing the Northern Lights increase the further north you go.
• The Northern Lights are best seen at night with a clear sky.
• The Northern Lights often won’t look as bright to the naked eye as they do in photos and video.

Places to see the Northern Lights

There isn’t a single, generally acknowledged spot to see the northern lights. The “auroral oval”—a rough circle that encircles the Earth’s magnetic northern pole and often occurs between 60 and 70 degrees of latitude—is where the brightest light displays, however, can be found. There are several places that typically lie within the oval most of the time, but the oval’s precise size fluctuates (some more southerly sites may fall under it when the aurora is especially powerful).

These locations consist of:

1. Alaska’s central and northern regions
2. Large portions of Canada’s Yukon, Northwest Territories, and northern Quebec.
3. Greenland’s southern region
4. Iceland
5. Finland, Sweden, and Norway in the far north

The Northern Lights are usually seen in high-latitude regions around the Arctic and Antarctic. So, it is a rare sight in India. You can get a glimpse of the Northern Lights from India if you are lucky. Northern Lights in India were observed in Ladakh within an observatory in 2023 and 2024.

1. Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks has been considered the best spot to watch these celestial lights on the earth because the place is located just under the auroral oval. It means that Fairbanks is sits around the Earth’s own magnetic North Pole. So, you can expect to get the most lively and excellent sightings at Fairbanks. You can book a resort too to watch the Northern Lights. The Chena Hot Spring Resort at Fairbanks allows a great excursion of the museum, the northern light watch, and hot spring relaxation.

2. Tromsø, Norway

Tromso is a small city located 220 miles from the Arctic Pole. The northern part of Norway does not see sunlight, and this darkness gives ample opportunities to see the Northern Lights. The city organizes a Northern Lights festival during the aurora season too. Arctic Circle Tours provides day tours too, while adventurers can already enjoy or trek around the Arctic scenery. There are a lot of museums, churches, and other spots to visit even when you are not looking forward to the Northern Lights, like the Arctic Cathedral.

3. Reykjavík, Iceland

There are a lot of parks and attractions in Iceland where you can watch Northern Lights, but the capital city of Reykjavík offers many options for accommodations, restaurants, tours, and other activities that make your Northern Lights sightings’ visit convenient and comfortable. The best aurora viewing in Reykjavík, away from the light pollution is at Öskjuhlið. This wooded and hilly area in Reykjavík is situated 200 feet above sea level and has walkways and paths where you can see the nighttime show.

4.   Rovaniemi/Luosto, Finland

These places in Finland lie within the Arctic Circle. They are located at the northern most part of Finland. Rovaniemi, the Santa’s Village is the home of Santa, the Sámi people, and some 200,000 reindeer. You can see Santa’s Hut and enjoy reindeer rides. Luosto is located 70 miles to the north of Santa’s Village. You can also enjoy reindeer rides in Luosto under the star-filled skies if you are not chasing the Northern Lights. Again, the magical evenings are complete with stories, hot beverages, and saunas. Jaakkola Reindeer Farm and the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel are the best spots where you enjoy these added benefits with aurora sightings.

5. Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

The flight options to Greenland are very limited, but you will be pleased if you can land here once. Kangerlussuaq, a former US military base, has an airport and is located on a fjord just on the Arctic Circle. The proximity to the Arctic Circle and the airport makes it a good and accessible spot to watch Northern Lights. Again, the clear skies and 300 dark nights give you a great time for watching the Northern Lights. Tour companies in Greenland offer 2-hour guided trips for these sightings, along with dog sledge expeditions and other day trips.  

6. Hebrides Islands, Scotland

These quiet untouched landscapes are a perfect getaway for watching Northern Lights in Scotland. This archipelago is secluded and away from light pollution. It also has breathtaking white beaches, blue water and beautiful resorts. You can visit the Isles of Lewis and Harris in Hebrides to enjoy watching the scenery of the islands and the Northern Lights altogether. 

7. The Murmansk Region, Russi

A lot of places in Russia offer a good sight of the Northern Lights, but the best among them is the Murmansk Region. There are a lot of places you can visit in this Region to get a good glimpse of the phenomenon like Kola Peninsula, Teriberka, Kirovsk. Russia is already close to the Arctic Circle, but this region is said to experience high frequency of Northern sightings among all places in Russia.