The best places to see the Northern Lights around the world
Stunning (Picture: Giphy)
The Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis.
The bright pretty colours up in the air.


Whatever you call the Northern Lights, you probably want to witness them at some point, if you haven’t already.
For most of us seeing the Northern Lights is high up there on that bucket list, but unless you live in the depths of Scandinavia (or even the depths of Scotland) it means catching a plane to do so, which isn’t really a bad thing at all.
With the Northern Lights burning bright long into April, there’s still time to see them this year.
The tricky part is deciding which place to go…

Svalbard, Norway

There’s a reason Svalbard tops a lot of lists for seeing the Northern Lights and that’s because you can’t get much further north that this place.
Found between the 74th and 81st parallel, this group of Norwegian islands are deep in the Arctic Circle and the perfect place for seeing the Northern Lights.
You’re always pretty much guaranteed to see them here.

Kakslauttanen, Finland

Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort wins the award for the most picturesque place for watching the Northern Lights.
You know that place with the futuristic looking igloos? The ones where you can lie in bed with the green lights dancing over your head?
Yeah, that’s here. Nothing sparks that wanderlust more than this place.

Iceland

Iceland is one of the most popular places to watch the Northern Lights (partly because it’s the most affordable and accessible to visit).
The capital of Reykjavik gives off quite a lot of light pollution but as soon as you head out the city then it’s easy to catch the lights.
There’s even the spectacular Ion Hotel with low-light and wrap around windows so you can watch the aurora snuggled up warm inside with a drink in your hand. Bliss.

Greenland

With a population of only 56,000 people (making it the least densely populated country on Earth), it doesn’t matter where you go in Greenland, there’s hardly any light pollution.
This means that you can see the Northern Lights clearly wherever you are, even when you’re walking around places like the capital city of Nuuk!

Lapland, Finland

A place that’s famous for Father Christmas, Lapland is also an amazing place to watch the Northern Lights too.
Located in northern Finland, Lapland is a great place to base yourself, hop onto a skidoo and venture into the Finnish countryside in search for the Aurora.

Yukon, Canada

The Northern Lights go on until mid-April in Canada and the Yukon is one of the most powerful places to watch them.
Canada is renowned for its vast wilderness and apart from the little town of Whitehorse there’s not much in the Yukon making it a great place to hop on a dog sledge and ride under the bright lights.

Scotland

You don’t always have to catch a plane to catch the Northern Lights.
If you hop in your car and drive as far north as you can you’ve got as good a chance as anywhere in the world of seeing them.
(Metro, Uk)