Errors to Avoid During Tours of the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are one of the world’s most-visited and most-anticipated natural wonders, with thousands of guests booking tours and packages every winter to see the swirling magic of the Aurora Borealis up close and in person, in countries like Finland, Norway and Iceland.

As part of the experience our repeat guests expect, we offer a huge amount of advice and information, from recommending essentials to pack, suggesting packages where the chance of seeing the lights is greatest, and customising holidays to cater to younger kids or accessibility requirements.

In so many cases, we speak with visitors who’ve previously been let down or discovered that the Aurora unfortunately wasn’t visible during their last winter holiday to the heart of the Arctic, so we’ve collated some tips to ensure your next adventure is everything you’ve hoped for!

1. Expecting to See the Northern Lights in a Major City

Here at the Baltic Travel Company, we’d never expect a Northern Lights holiday to be based solely in a city. While there are some incredible city destinations that can make your escape all the more special, the view of the Aurora in a metropolitan area will be muted at best.

Although several cities within the Lappish, Arctic and Nordic region experience the lights from time to time, the reality is that artificial light from buildings and street lights dampens the impact. If you want an authentic experience, you’ll need to travel in the winter months and go Aurora hunting in areas a little more remote.

There are limitless options, and you could opt to:

• Stay in an ice hotel where the Aurora lights are at their brightest
• Reserve a wonderful glass igloo for Northern Lights viewing in style
• Head out on an evening safari in your choice of vehicle
• Pick dog sledding in the forests, arriving in the best locations to see the lights

We can, of course, recommend Northern lights adventure holidays or suggest luxury city breaks with evenings set aside to visit rural areas deep inside the Aurora zone.

2. Presuming That the Aurora Shows Up on a Reliable Schedule

Northern Lights holiday packages are specifically arranged during the winter season, because the midnight sun in the Arctic summer means that even when the solar flares are at their strongest, the bright 24-hour sunlight limits their visibility.

The lights seem impossibly beautiful, but they’re actually all down to solar activity that is easiest to see during the dark nights of the polar winter, when solar particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field. That is why Northern Lights tour packages are based in the frozen northern hemisphere close to the North Pole.

It’s impossible to predict with absolute certainty when the stunning displays caused by geomagnetic storms will occur, or to forecast the times when charged particles will enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

That also means patience is key, and you may need to be flexible, listening to the advice of your guided tour leader to reschedule other activities for days when cloud cover is expected to obscure Aurora activity.

3. Trying to See the Northern Lights Without a Guide

The best Northern Lights tours always include an experienced guide, who might escort you via jeep, snowshoe, husky sled or even on a reindeer sleigh or snowmobile into the countryside where the complete absence of light pollution makes the colours and shimmer of the lights all the more mystical.

There are numerous reasons we’d not suggest venturing into the wilderness to see this breathtaking natural phenomenon alone, not least the chance of getting lost or encountering a polar bear, but also because a guide ensures you experience the Northern Lights in hidden locations:

• Northern Lights guides know every corner of Swedish Lapland and Arctic Norway, and can recommend cliff tops, pistes or bays where the view is unbeatable.
• Our guides have in-depth knowledge of the landscape, routes and areas frequented by wildlife, and ensure guests respect the delicate Arctic ecosystem while staying safe.
• Guides offer educational insights and information about the local culture and way of life. They can even help you try lassoing a reindeer or steering a husky sled yourself – something you’d never get to experience independently!

Whether you’d love to visit remote landscapes like the beauty of Abisko National Park in Sweden, or have always wanted to see Þingvellir National Park, Iceland’s prime location for Aurora lights tours, you’ll want a friendly, English-speaking guide to make it possible.

4. Allocating Just One Evening to Watch the Aurora Borealis

Your visibility of the Aurora is dependent on several factors, from being away from city lights, having a clear night sky without dense clouds, and ensuring you’re close enough to the Earth’s magnetic poles to get the full view of the Northern Lights display.

It’s never worth giving yourself just a few hours to see the lights, because this often means you’ll get a limited or partial view or miss the Aurora show altogether.

Whenever our guests book an excursion during the Northern Lights season, we stay in touch. We can make last-minute adjustments to ensure you enjoy the winter wonderland, even if the lights aren’t due to appear, without missing any of the experiences you’ve chosen.

That might mean we move a tour on a husky sled forward a day, or shift a Blue Lagoon visit back a day or two, but it also ensures you have an amazing time while we take care of the logistics.

5. Disregarding the Importance of Aurora Alarms

One of the vital ingredients in tours of the Northern Lights is an Aurora alarm, a service that hotels, wilderness lodges and camps in Lapland and the Arctic Circle provide as a courtesy.

They rely on an accurate local weather forecast and expert guides to keep watch, and alert guests when the conditions are perfect and when there is an excellent chance that nature’s most famous light show will be easy to see in the dark skies overhead.

Our many Northern lights tours are always curated by hand, ensuring you have all the services, hospitality and exciting excursions you expect from a once-in-a-lifetime trip, including alarms to ensure you know when the Auroral zone is at its peak – and it’d be a brilliant idea to step outside!

To learn more about where and when to see the Aurora at its best, contact the Baltic Travel Company for guidance on Northern Lights tours.