Where to see the northern lights: the main countries compared

What the aurora needs: darkness, clear sky and an active sun

Wikipedia says auroras are most commonly observed in the auroral zone, a band about 6 degrees wide in latitude centred on 67 degrees north and south. The oval of aurora at a given moment is displaced by the solar wind, which pushes it away from the geomagnetic pole on the sunward side. The same article lists the places where the aurora borealis is visible: Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Scandinavia, Finland, Scotland and Russia.

The US Space Weather Prediction Center adds two details. Best viewing is at about 60 to 75 degrees latitude, where aurora appears on more than half of nights in a year, and viewing needs dark, clear skies, so the summer midnight sun blocks it at auroral latitudes. The Finnish observatory at Sodankylä makes a similar point from the ground: it says weather and light pollution affect viewing more than the aurora itself does.

Activity follows the sun. Wikipedia says an average solar cycle lasts about 11 years, that Solar Cycle 25 began in December 2019, and that a NOAA and NASA panel expected the maximum between 2023 and 2026. The aurora article says large geomagnetic storms are most common around the peak of the cycle and may occur more often in the months around the equinoxes, though it adds that this is not well understood. Visit Norway says we are in one of the most active periods of the sun's 11-year cycle, but adds that there is no guarantee the lights will appear.

Norway: Tromsø, Alta and the Lofoten coast

Visit Norway says you can see the northern lights from as early as late August until late March. It reports the highest activity in spring (March and April) and autumn (September and October), with sightings also possible from November through February. The page gives 11 PM to 2 AM as the time the lights are often seen.

The page names Tromsø as the main hub, with direct international flights, and notes that it gets very busy in winter. Alta is named among nearby alternatives to Tromsø, Lofoten is described as a popular spot for aurora visitors, and coastal cruises between Tromsø and Kirkenes are said to offer more secluded, less light-polluted viewing.

The midnight sun matters here too. Wikipedia says mainland cities above the Arctic Circle, such as Tromsø, see it from late May to mid-July, which is why the aurora season starts only once nights darken again. Apartment-style stays in the region are listed on the Tromsø page, including options with a kitchen on the Tromsø with kitchen page.

Finland and Sweden: Lapland and Abisko

Finland's evidence comes from two kinds of source. The Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory says the aurora season begins around late August as nights darken and ends around late April, when nights become too bright, and that the auroral oval is usually about 2,000 km from the north magnetic pole. A Lapland tour operator, Lapland North, gives a season of about September through April and says the lights can be seen on average up to 200 nights a year, whenever the sky is dark and clear. That is a tourism-industry figure, so treat it as approximate; clouds are the limit, not the number of nights.

Wikipedia says about a quarter of Finland lies north of the Arctic Circle and that at its northernmost point the sun does not set for 72 days in summer. The long winter nights are the other side of that coin.

For Sweden, the source we could verify is the Wikipedia entry for Abisko National Park, which says the park is about 195 km north of the Arctic Circle and that winter visitors may find its light-pollution-free location ideal for viewing the aurora borealis. The page does not give a season, so we do not either. Finland and Sweden have no country page on this site yet, so use the Norway and Iceland hubs as comparison.

Iceland: reading a forecast and a cloud map

The Icelandic Meteorological Office publishes an aurora forecast on a 0 to 9 scale for midnight, shown next to a cloud-cover map. Its own wording is that the spectacle of the aurora borealis requires dark and partly clear skies, which is the practical point: a strong forecast under thick cloud shows nothing.

Wikipedia says Iceland is known for its midnight sun, although most of the country lies slightly south of the Arctic Circle, with Grímsey as the exception. We did not find an official season on the pages we read, so we leave one out. The sensible rule is the one from NOAA: not in the bright months, and best in the dark half of the year, checked against the forecast the night before.

Our Reykjavík page lists apartment-style stays. If you are comparing seasons for the whole country, the guide to the best time to visit Iceland covers weather and daylight month by month, and Reykjavík long-stay options suit a longer winter trip.

Scotland and Canada: northern islands, and Yellowknife

VisitScotland says the best months are October to March, when nights are long and dark, with the most reliable viewing roughly 9pm to 2am. It names Shetland, which it calls the closest part of Scotland to the Arctic Circle, Orkney, the Outer Hebrides, and Caithness and the North Coast 500, which it says you can drive to without taking a ferry. It also names Galloway Forest Park, the UK's first Dark Sky Park, as the best option in southern Scotland. The page recommends AuroraWatch for alerts.

In Canada, Destination Canada's month-by-month guide for Yellowknife says the season opens in mid-August, runs through late September, then becomes unreliable from early October to mid-November because of heavy cloud, with a winter season from mid-November. Late February and March are suggested for first-timers, and the guide advises four to five nights so there is a backup night if the weather does not cooperate.

For a city stay in Scotland, see Edinburgh.

Side by side: seasons and places named by each source

The table lists what each source says, not our ranking. Seasons differ because tourism boards and observatories define them differently, and because a late-August night in Lapland is far darker than one in Scotland. Where a source did not state a season, the table says so rather than guessing.

Plan nights, not one night: how to give yourself more chances

Because cloud is the main limit, the most reliable tactic is time. Destination Canada recommends four to five nights in Yellowknife, and Visit Norway notes the lights depend on natural solar activity and are never guaranteed. A stay of a week gives you several attempts, which suits a base with a kitchen where you can cook an early dinner, wait for a forecast to clear and go out late.

Check the forecast the night before and again on the evening itself. The Icelandic and Scottish pages both point to forecast tools, and the Finnish observatory says viewing in Lapland is more about weather and light pollution than about the aurora itself. If you are visiting more than one winter destination, our best countries for skiing and best countries for hiking guides cover other cold-season trips.

Retired travellers who prefer a longer winter base can read winter long stays for retirees for practical advice on staying put for several weeks.

• Choose a month when nights are dark but days are not entirely short.
• Look for a base away from street lighting, with a clear northern horizon.
• Keep two or three nights spare in case of cloud.
• Pack warm layers; see the packing list guide for the apartment side of things.