For centuries in Ancient Greece, reports trickled down from Scandinavia about heavenly curtains of colored light in the Arctic sky. Aristotle described them as “jumping goats” in Meteorologica before the Greek explorer Pytheas sailed to the Baltic around 325 BC to see them in person. In the early 1600s, Galileo named them aurora borealis, the northern dawn, for the Roman goddess. Wallace Stevens immortalized them in The Auroras of Autumn, his 1950 National Book Award–winning volume of poetry, while artists like Frederic Edwin Church of the Hudson River School have tried to put them on canvas.
From Pytheas to Stevens, all would admit that the real aurora—seen in person, in the clear night sky—cannot be captured with words, paint, or film. Luckily, NASA and the NOAA announced in June that the 24th solar cycle had reached its solar max: Auroras can now be more frequently seen than at any other point in about fourteen years. Here, we’ve rounded up the six most spectacular places to see the Northern Lights, from a rugged snowmobiling adventure on a remote Norwegian island to an actual ice palace in Sweden.
Photo: Courtesy of Joel Jonsson / @jojonsso1/6Svalbard, Norway
For the: Aurora Extremists
Less than 1,000 miles from the North Pole, the Svalbard archipelago lies between the Greenland and Barents seas, nearly three hours by plane from Oslo. The seventeenth-century whalers’ refuge turned Global Seed Vault is a prime spot for aurora watching, but only for the diehard—there are no roads between settlements, so visitors must travel by snowmobile. From November 14 through January 29, the sun never rises on Longyearbyen. Take the Spitsbergen polar night safari and snowmobile around the island, trackings reindeer and Arctic foxes and snacking on hot cider and biscuits beneath the Northern Lights.
Photo: Courtesy of Alex Baranda / @qu2rk2/6Fairbanks, Alaska
For the: Domestic Travelers
Stay three nights in Fairbanks for an 80 percent chance of seeing auroras, locals say, or a full week to increase those odds. At Chena Hot Springs Resort, Moose Lodge guests receive a special aurora wake-up call from staff (lights are most often visible from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.). Head to the aurorium, a heated log cabin on a high hill with large plate-glass windows, or dive into the mineral springs at the outdoor rock lake and see the lights from there. From December 1 through March 31, a nightly snow coach will drive you thirty minutes to a 2600-foot-high ridge, where a heated yurt awaits, stocked with hot chocolate, tea, and cider, and the best aurora-viewing seats in Fairbanks.
Photo: Courtesy of Lena Krumilur / @lenakrumilur3/6Jukkasjärvi, Sweden
For the: Kings of Winter
In the mining settlement of Kiruna, Sweden’s northernmost town, auroras are common. Come, instead, to Jukkasjärvi for the famous Icehotel, an annual art and design project–cum-lodge celebrating its 25th anniversary. Constructed each winter with snow and ice from the Torne river, this year’s edition will have 42 artists from eleven countries design twenty-some hand-carved art suites, inspired by Eastern European folk art, Baroque and Gothic architecture, and the printing process. The hotel will stay open from December 12 until mid-April, when the structure slowly melts back into the Torne. Book the Northern Lights room to sleep on a bed of reindeer skins beneath an artistic light installation, then head outside to see the real thing.
Photo: Courtesy of Chris Burkard / @chrisburkard4/6Faroe Islands, Denmark
For the: Hipster Foodies
Settled by Norsemen circa 800, the eighteen rugged islands of the Faroe archipelago are a forager’s dream. In the port city of Torshavn, the **Phillipe Starck–**revamped Hotel Føroyar has grass roofs and lawns packed with grazing Faroese sheep. (There are reportedly twice as many sheep as humans here.) Run to KOKS restaurant for what may be the next Noma: Avant-garde Faroese food, prepared by chef Poul Andrias Ziska. Produce is gathered from the island’s hills (rosehip flowers, angelica, tarragon) and seaweed forests, then smoked and salted in-house. Stuff yourself with wind-dried ræst fish topped with a poached egg and small potatoes cooked in seaweed and tallow from Faroese sheep, then hike down to the coast for the lights show.
Photo: Courtesy of Hjalti Sigmundsson / @hjaltisigmunds5/6Skagafjörður, Iceland
For the: Purists
The northern bay of Skagafjörður provides unhindered views of Iceland’s auroras, surrounded by rolling hills and dairy farms, jagged cliffs, and Arctic waters. Head to Hofstadir, an ancient Viking settlement, and stay at the family-owned, nineteenth-century-style old farmhouse. Originally built in 1906, the three grass-roofed stone cabins once hosted Princess Anne of England. At the nearby Heradsvotn river, sheep graze on yellow clover. The Northern Lights can be seen everywhere, but climb up Mount Tindastóll for a breathtaking view.
Photo: Courtesy of Andy Jenkins / @andydjenkins6/6Saariselkä, Finland
For the: Igloo Lovers
In the mountains of northern Finland, Saariselkä’s ski lodges and reindeer farms make for an extremely picturesque, Advent-appropriate setting for the aurora borealis. At the Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort, you can peer at the lights through the roof of your glass igloo from the comfort of your feather bed, rent a rough-hewn kelo-pine cabin with a fireplace and sauna, or sleep on a pile of sheepskins and a down sleeping bag in a snow igloo. In the blue light of polar twilight, step into a reindeer-pulled sleigh and chase the Northern Lights around the Lapland, past spectacular snow formations and icy lakes.
