Norway

The best places to see the northern lights

Experiencing the unbelievable colours moving across the Arctic sky is on many travellers’ bucket list.
Few places on earth offer more ways to witness the aurora borealis than Norway.

It is often said that the northern parts of Norway is the best places in the world to see the northern light. If we are to be honest, that is only partially true, as the lights can be just as visible from destinations outside of Norway. But few countries can rival the vast selection of activities, tours, cruises, restaurants and hotels which all play an important part in this arctic experience.

On a very basic level the northern lights are quite simple to explain. The lights come at night when the sky is dark. It’s like a celestial ballet of light dancing across the night sky, with a colour palette (green, pink, violet) reminiscent of a really cool fashion show from the 1980s.

To the locals in Northern Norway, the northern lights are a part of life. In this area the aurora borealis has been, and still is, a fertile source for art, mythology and legends. To others, like celebrity scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson, the phenomenon is more of a unique example of just how beautiful science can be. “It’s a curious thing about the universe”, he says, “behind the most stunning sights to behold, lies some of the most challenging problems in physics”.

Experience the northern lights

Our bold claim is that Northern Norway is among the most comfortable and interesting places to see the lights, as hundreds of thousands of people live in this huge geographical area, offering a variety of hotels and activities to keep you busy.

Some media have reported that scientists expect the lights to fade and appear less frequently over the next ten years. This is not true for Northern Norway though as scientist Truls Lynne Hansen at the Northern Lights Observatory in Tromsø explains: “It is true that we are past the Northern Lights climax and that means that there will be fewer observations around Oslo and further south. But up here under the Northern Lights oval in Northern Norway we will not see any difference, though”.

Between late September and late March, it is dark between 6pm and 1am. This is your best chance of spotting the lights.

Install the NorwayLights app for Android and iPhone – a forecast that helps you find the best time and place to see the northern lights.

iPhone: Download Norway Lights for iOS
Android: Download Norway Lights for Android
Windows: Download Norway Lights for Windows