Northern Lights in October? Where to go?

alchal · 30 Jan 2021 at 16:18

kaiowas said:
Where did she suggest?

I got it.
Lolz.

Northern Norway is supposedly the best, we were looking at even maybe doing a cruise up that way.

SexyGreyFox · 30 Jan 2021 at 19:22

Eldest daughter has been to Iceland twice and not a sniff of them.

Luke · 30 Jan 2021 at 19:28

Iceland is an amazing country to visit and explore, but in 5 days there in the height of Northern Lights season, this was the best I came away with:

Faint aurora borealis by sackospuds, on Flickr

tlrBeta · 30 Jan 2021 at 19:29

Anyone done Norway in October?

For me Iceland isn't worth the additional risk, rather just pay more and go to Norway

dirtychinchilla · 30 Jan 2021 at 19:34

We stood outside for hours in Iceland. Definitely no guarantee and the trip didn’t even go ahead the first night

opstrat · 30 Jan 2021 at 21:16

im part of a facebook group from orkney that post regular shots of the lights. this one was 4 days ago from outside their back door. the plan is to go up there at some point.

Yaayuh! · 30 Jan 2021 at 22:42

Svalbard

edit: sorry just noticed it’s a necro thread.

Efour · 31 Jan 2021 at 04:45

I'll post some next time I can be bothered.

It's very cloudy now though.

tlrBeta · 31 Jan 2021 at 09:25

Yaayuh! said:
Svalbard

edit: sorry just noticed it’s a necro thread.

No it isnt

I was thinking Tromso, i doubt i can get to Svalbard!

Ultimately i would just like to know if its a good time to go say vs February. I appreciate the lights are not guranteed, i would just like a suitable chance based on weather etc.

Efour · 1 Feb 2021 at 05:25

Download a solar forecast app and if you can leave with 2 weeks warning you'll have a better chance. Of you're very serious.

Then for local weather, cross your fingers.

jsmoke · 1 Feb 2021 at 05:58

Bassmansam said:
I’ve been to Iceland and Norway(Tromso). Iceland is a lovely place but it was too cloudy everyday to see the lights.

Saw them 3 times in 5 days in Tromso so i would go there again given the choice.

a truely magical experience. It is expensive though, i think a pint was around £8-10 although a few bars do happy hours which we made good use of. We also did reindeer sledding in the middle of nowhere which was surreal.
On the night where we did a specific northern lights hunt we stopped off on a beach and had a campfire dinner which was amazing but the lights didn’t show that early.

How did you get to Tromso?

tlrBeta · 1 Feb 2021 at 07:43

Efour said:
Download a solar forecast app and if you can leave with 2 weeks warning you'll have a better chance. Of you're very serious.

Then for local weather, cross your fingers.

I will be coming from the UK so this isnt possible

jsmoke said:
How did you get to Tromso?

Flights from the UK are pretty easy, change in Oslo

Bassmansam · 1 Feb 2021 at 08:07

jsmoke said:
How did you get to Tromso?

Gatwick to Oslo then change. Our flight hoke was delayed 24 hours due to a blizzard but the airline put us up in a hotel and gave us a free meal and drinks which was a nice touch.

HoneyBadger · 14 Feb 2021 at 18:45

Viewing the AB with my own eyes is very much top of my bucket list.

Graetzbridge · 14 Feb 2021 at 19:48

Guru said:
Hi all,

It's my 40th in October and one thing I've always wanted to do is see the Northern Lights...

I've booked holiday off work at the middle of October with the intention of trying to go somewhere I can see the northern lights.

Has anyone done this before? What's a good way to do it? I'm considering just the Mrs and I, but maybe take our three kids too if it's not prohibitively expensive.

Where is the best place to go and is October even a viable time to potentially see this phenomenon?

Cheers,

G

Quote:
"Best months to see the Northern Lights
October. November. December – the shortest day is 21 December so there are more hours of darkness at this time of year."

I seen this a few times in Scotland.

Graetzbridge · 14 Feb 2021 at 20:30

Best places to see the Northern Lights in Scotland
So where can you see the Northern Lights in Scotland? In theory, the Northern Lights can be seen anywhere within the UK if geomagnetic conditions are very active.

Usually, it’s the north of the UK which gives you the best chance of seeing the “mirrie dancers”. This is why Scotland’s Highlands and Islands are such a great place to stay to see the Northern Lights. Spending your holiday as far north as you can, could increase your chances too.