Where is the best place to see the Northern Lights?
If you want to witness the otherworldly beauty of the northern lights, this winter is your best chance in half a century to do so. Claire Wrathall suggests some vantage points, plus four places to experience the nocturnal summer sun of the 'white nights'.
SVALBARD, NORWAY
Located in the Barents Sea between the Norwegian mainland and the North Pole, Svalbard is a large but sparsely populated archipelago, home to just 2,600 people as well as polar bears, reindeer, walruses and seals. There may not be roads in the conventional sense, but its capital, Longyearbyen, on the island of Spitsbergen, has a comfortable hotel called Basecamp Hotel (three-night stays from NOK3600, about £336), with slate floors, rustic wood and sealskins. Better yet, its lounge has a roof set with vast observatory windows through which to watch the northern lights without having to brave the literally Arctic temperatures outside. Other activities include snowmobile safaris and dog-sledding, notably a 70km husky trek across Spitsbergen to the Tempelfjord, where the Noordelicht, a restored schooner, is frozen into the landscape. (Think of Frank Hurley's mesmerising photographs of Shackleton's Endurance and you'll get the picture, but be comforted by the thought that warm snowmobile suits, shoes, goggles, helmets and facecovering caps are provided.) The ship has 10 cabins (with shared bathrooms), and it's forbidden to leave it without an armed guard because of the danger from polar bears, but it's an unforgettable place to stay. From there it's a further 150km to Isfjord Radio Adventure Hotel at Kapp Linné, a restored radio station with 23 rooms (doubles from about £167 with breakfast and dinner).
When to go The best chances of seeing the northern lights are likely to fall between November and March. Avoid the weeks around full moon.
How to get there Book through Basecamp Explorer (basecampexplorer.com).
Getty ImagesTromso, Norway
Tromsø and Norway's north cape by boat[/b] The most satisfying way to reach the North Cape and explore the fjords that define its rugged northern coast is by boat. For those on a budget, Hurtigruten (hurtigruten.co.uk) has six-day cruises from £578 per person, starting in Kirkenes high above the Arctic Circle and calling at 34 ports, among them Tromsø, the Lofoten Islands and Trondheim, with an optional excursion to breakfast at the North Cape. Accommodation is on the spartan side, though. For a more luxurious option, the excellent, Seattle-based luxury cruise operator Seabourn (seabourn.com) offers a range of summer cruises in this part of Europe on its outstandingly comfortable, 225-stateroom Sojourn. This beautifully specced vessel (the granite bathrooms with bath, separate shower and twin basins are a miracle of compact design) launched in 2010, is small enough to access fjords and ports off-limits to larger vessels. A 14-day cruise, departing 1st September 2018, starts in Copenhagen, Denmark, sails up the Norwegian coast as far as Honningsvag, returning via Alesund, Norway. At £4,799 per person, the price may seem steep, but it covers all food and drink (caviar and Champagne included), and the cuisine is outstanding.
When to go Hurtigruten cruises run all year (there are even northern-lights packages). Seabourn has four cruises in the North Atlantic and Baltic.
How to get there BMI flies direct to Bergen and Stavanger (flybmi.com) on the Norwegian coast, from which there are connecting flights to Kirkenes and other northerly ports on SAS (flysas.com).
Getty ImagesSnæfellsnes Peninsula, Iceland
This narrow spit of land that protrudes from Iceland's west coast on the 65th parallel has a landscape which encapsulates all that is most dramatic about the country, with a 1,446-metre-high volcano, lava fields and caves, glaciers, waterfalls and a rugged coast. Among the fishing villages that dot the coast, Budir has a snug, unpretentious hotel (hotelbudir.is; doubles from £194), and its isolated position makes it an excellent vantage point from which to see the northern lights. During the day you can snowmobile or explore the area by four-wheel-drive, for even in midwinter there is some daylight at this latitude, though by the time of the solstice the sun doesn't rise till 11.40am and is gone again by 3.15pm.
When to go November to March offers the best chance of seeing the aurora borealis. Or for something different, on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 April 2022, the tiny fishing village of Þingeyri to the north in the Westfjords will be hosting pop-up nightclub Detour Discotheque, the world's most remote discotheque, styled after legendary New York City nightclubs of the 1970s and 1980s. To find out more, head to detourdisco.com.
How to get there Discover the World (discover-the-world.co.uk) offers three-night self-drive breaks from £434 per person. Geo Travel (geotravel.is) offers daily Northern Lights tours from Myvatn from approx £123 per person.
Abisco National Park, Sweden
Thirty square miles of national park in Swedish Lapland, this is held to be one of the best places to see the northern lights, hence the existence of the Aurora Sky Station (auroraskystation.se), 250km north of the Arctic Circle and the highest point in the park. From the settlement of Abisko, it's a 20-minute ride by chairlift up to the station in the late afternoon. After a hearty dinner of stewed moose, you'll watch for the aurora borealis, but if it hasn't appeared before you turn in, they promise to wake you if it does.
When to go Weather permitting, the Sky Station is open on Friday nights from early December to late March.
How to get there Discover the World (discover-the-world.co.uk) offers 3-4 night trips (from £1,330 per person, based on two sharing) to Tromsø, Abisko and the Icehotel at Kiruna.
Getty ImagesFinnmarku, Norway
The world's northernmost town, Alta in Finnmárku (aka Finnmark), the county that borders both Finland and Russia and contains the North Cape, is the site of the Northern Lights Observatory, which opened in 1899. You've therefore got a reasonably good chance of seeing them here. If not, there are plenty of other diversions, from snowmobiling and dogsledding to overnight stays in wilderness cabins, visits to indigenous Sami villages and - for adventurous qualified divers - fishing for king crabs on the sea bed. These immense (and delicious) crustaceans have thrived since the 1960s, when Soviet scientists introduced them into the Murmanskfjord in the hope that they would increase yields for neighbouring fisheries.
When to go February and March offer the best chance of seeing the aurora borealis.
How to get there Original Travel (originaltravel.co.uk) offers bespoke long weekends in Alta costing between £1,000 to £2,000 per person, including flights to Alta, via Oslo.
Getty ImagesVisby, Sweden
Once a major Hanseatic port and still the best preserved walled medieval city in Scandinavia, Visby is also Sweden's premier party destination, the Ibiza of the Baltic. From mid-June to mid-August, Stockholm's club scene moves 100 miles south of the capital to the island of Gotland. Beach club Kallis (kallisvisby.se) has resident DJs and live music from June 22nd onwards, though as the light begins to fade most revellers head into town to the Burmeister (burmeistervisby.se) and Gutekällaren (gutekallaren.com) bars (do note that Burmeister is only open from July 13th to July 29th this year). Other attractions include Bronze Age tumuli and cairns, as well as film director Ingmar Bergman's house on the satellite island of Fårö. But mostly it's nature that draws visitors - the melancholically beautiful landscape, rich bird life and deserted islands - and a microclimate that enables islanders to grow grapes that are actually used to make wine. It has to be said that Visby's hotels are not its best attribute, though the Hotel Stenugnen (stenugnen.nu; doubles from about £74) offers clean, modern minimalist rooms within the city walls. But the island has real allure, and you could always bookend your trip with a night or two in the newly unveiled superior suites (about £810) at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm (grandhotel.se).
When to go Late June to late August for the club scene; May to mid-June, if you prefer nature, peace and quiet.
How to get there SAS (flysas.com) flies from Heathrow via Stockholm.
Getty ImagesMuhu, Estonia
A half-hour ferry ride from Virtsu on the mainland, the island of Muhu extends over 212sq km, yet it is home to fewer than 2,000 people, along with wild boar, some moose and seals, aromatic juniper woods and 23 species of rare orchid. It also has a single hotel, Pädaste Manor (padaste.ee; doubles from €224), a Gothic mansion that was once home to the Russian Tsar's hunting-master. One could spend a few days here simply resting (breakfast isn't served till 9am, about five hours after sunrise at midsummer) and eating (it has one of the best restaurants in Estonia). Guests can wander the coast, swim in the peacock-blue if chilly Baltic, luxuriate in the outdoor hot tub, or enjoy hay baths and the wood-burning sauna in its small spa. But it would be a shame not to venture out, for there are enchanting villages to cycle between and excellent horse riding; it's also possible to reach other, deserted islands by canoe.
When to go It's idyllic throughout the summer, and worth checking Visit Estonia (visitestonia.com) for local events and festivals.
How to get there EasyJet (easyjet.com) and Estonian Air (estonian-air.ee) fly to Talinn, a two-hour drive away.
Getty ImagesSt. Petersburg, Russia
The sun dips below the horizon at about 11.30pm during June in St Petersburg, rising five hours later, so it never gets properly dark during high summer, hence the name Byeliye Nochi, or White Nights, given to this season. It is, in many ways, the perfect time to visit. Not only does the fabled Mariinsky Theatre host the internationally renowned Stars of the White Nights Festival (a showcase of Russian culture at its best), but the sun-sharpened watery light gives the stucco frontages of buildings such as The Winter Palace, an almost Mediterranean intensity - so the city is at its most beautiful. At this time of year the also possible to explore the network of canals and 101 islands by boat (anglotourismo.com runs tours guided in English). Or if you stay at Orient-Express's Grand Hotel Europe (grandhoteleurope.com; doubles from RUB16,000, about £192) on Nevsky Prospekt, you can hire its speedboat, Katarina - much the most glamorous way to travel to the imperial palace at Peterhof or explore the Gulf of Finland. Given the temptation to stay up late at this time of year, just be warned that between April and November, 13 of the 300-plus bridges are raised in the early hours to allow large ships access, which may make getting back to your hotel a challenge.
When to go The 2018 White Nights Festival runs from 26th May to 5th August (mariinsky.ru).
How to get there Exeter International (exeterinternational.com) is a first-rate specialist in organising trips to Russia. British Airways (ba.com) flies to St Petersburg.
This article was first published in the December 2011 issue of Condé Nast Traveller.
Read more about St Petersburg, Russia.
Follow us on a Norway Fjords road trip.
Discover the Kvarken Archipelago, Finland.