Northern Lights tips

Chasing after the northern lights usually means booking a trip to far-flung destinations like Iceland or the tip of Norway.

They’re normally the holy grail of a winter holiday, but last night people living in more southern parts of Europe were left awestruck as the Northern Lights visited them at home.

My dad and I always try to take one unique trip a year. Last fall, we decided to go on the Seabourn Venture, a luxury expedition cruise ship operated by Seabourn Cruise Line.

In this series, Lonely Planet’s team of writers and editors answers your travel problems and provides tips and hacks to help you plan a hassle-free trip. We thought this question would be perfect for LP author Kerry Walker, who’s long been obsessed with cold, remote places, snow and northern lights.

The fascination with theNorthern Lights dates as far back as the beginning of civilization, with the dancing waves of coloured light depicted in French cave paintings as old as 30,000 BC. Typically, they’re only seen in the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere, near the Arctic Circle, on dark, clear autumn and winter nights. The lights are dependent on unpredictable solar flares ejecting charged particles that collide with gases in the atmosphere, so any trip to see the Northern Lights runs the risk of missing out on the spectacle altogether.

The season has barely started but already aurora hunters in Norway have been treated to some spectacular northern lights in the night sky. With the news that we’re at the peak of the sun activity cycle spreading fast, many travelers are planning a trip to Scandinavia this winter with the hope of seeing the aurora for themselves.

Those in prime locations throughout Canada and the northern U.S. may be in for a spectacular celestial show this week as a solar storm makes way for the most magical astrological phenomena there is: the northern lights.

The key to seeing any celestial phenomenon is pretty obvious: You must be in the right place at the right time. While the exact location and time changes with every astronomical event, the right place is undeniably somewhere far away from any light pollution. These days, unless you make your way to a dark sky park, finding a spot on land that’s far away enough from civilization isn’t easy, so why not take to the seas? In the middle of the ocean, chances of street lights ruining your stargazing experience are very thin, that’s why cruise lines are ramping up their astronomy at sea offerings, including northern lights cruises, solar eclipse cruises, and more.

A photography trip on every lens-lover’s bucket list, shooting the Northern Lights in Iceland really is as spectacular as it sounds. Rough Guides photographer Diana Jarvis went to chase the aurora borealis across the remote Icelandic countryside.

In our recent Reader Awards, we asked you to name the thing at the very top of your bucket list. The answer didn't surprise us one bit. It was, resoundingly, to witness the Northern Lights.

Witnessing the northern lights is one of the best things to do in Iceland. The viewing conditions are often favourable, and the mountain peaks, mythical basalt stacks, sparkling waterfalls, electric-blue glacial lagoons and wide-open skies make a great backdrop. We've rounded up some of the best places and times to see the northern lights in Iceland to help you experience this spectacular phenomenon.