I traveled beyond the Arctic Circle to see the Northern Lights. Here are 4 things to know before you go.

20.03.2024 - 17:25 / insider.com

In February, I finally checked off one of my top bucket list items — seeing the aurora borealis, better known as the northern lights.

The auroras occur when charged solar particles from the sun interact with the Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in an array of colorful lights beaming from the planet's poles. They occur year-round but can only be seen in winter months during the long polar nights.

I journeyed all the way to Finland's northernmost municipality, Utsjoki, about 280 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The trek required two plane rides from New York to Ivalo, Finland, via Helsinki, plus a two-hour drive deep into the snow-covered Lapland.

The secluded village is home to Aurora Holidays, the tour company I used for my trip. I paid about $2,000 total, which included guides, full room and board, a village tour, reindeer feeding, a king crab fishing trip in Norway, and dog sledding — though prices have increased since I booked. Flights on Finnair were another $1,000.

Aurora Holidays boasts a 100% success rate over five years of seeing the auroras thanks to a lack of light pollution in the northern location — and, fortunately, the streak continued on my trip.

Here are four things to know when planning a trip to see the aurora lights and why I recommend getting as far north as possible to maximize your chances — even if it means facing bone-chilling temperatures and relying on a little bit of luck.

While recent environmental phenomena have made the northern lights visible in places as far south as England and Denmark, the aurora borealis are best viewed within the Article Circle.

The far north is hard to reach, though, and popular viewing spots like Fairbanks, Alaska, Tromsø, Norway, and Canada's Northwest Territories sit below the 66° 34' N latitude that defines the region.

Plus, these often-crowded tourist destinations have light pollution that requires people to venture out of the city into darker areas to see the lights.

Utsjoki, however, is so remote that it offers complete darkness during the long polar nights. Even better, my accommodation was perfectly situated facing north across Lapland — meaning I could see the auroras from my cabin porch.

"A lot of people don't know that for the highest possibilities to see the lights, location matters," Aurora Holiday's owner, Tiina Salonen, told me during the tour. "The rule of thumb is that the further north you travel, the less [solar] activity you need to have lights in the sky."

Related stories

Other places within the Arctic Circle, like Abisko National Park in Sweden or Ilulissat, Greenland, are also good viewing spots.

During my trip, the temperature reached -8°F, which is even colder than what I experienced in Antarctica. Fortunately, my