17 Can’t-Miss Places to See This Year’s Northern Lights

The northern lights have reached their peak, and they are not exactly being subtle about it. In November 2025, back-to-back geomagnetic storms pushed vivid reds and greens as far south as Florida, Alabama and New Mexico, lighting up suburbs, interstates and strip malls that have never seen so much as a faint glow before. Those storms were a visible reminder of where we are in Solar Cycle 25: the sun is at the height of an unusually strong 11-year maximum, with forecasters expecting elevated activity to continue well into 2026, likely rivaling the most intense cycles of the early aughts.

For the next two winters, the math favors the obsessives. The classic viewing window still runs from roughly September through April in the northern hemisphere, but the combination of a charged-up sun and long polar nights means more frequent, brighter and occasionally more southerly auroras than anything seen in the last decade-plus. The auroral oval, that ring around Earth’s magnetic pole where the lights appear most reliably on clear, dark nights, is effectively “turned up,” so destinations already under it are now punching above their usual weight.

What has changed just as dramatically is how you can experience it. The era of shivering in a roadside turnout at 2 a.m. is over. Dark-sky parks are building heated shelters and photography decks, Arctic lodges are pairing serious wine lists with wake-up calls, and coastal cruises can literally adjust course in real time to slip between cloud bands when the Kp index spikes. In other words, this is the rare natural phenomenon where conditions are improving while access is getting easier. Here are 17 destinations that combine strong odds under the auroral oval with setups that make the 2025–2026 season worth planning an entire trip around.

Wyoming, USA

Wyoming used to be a long shot for aurora hunters. Then the storms of November 2025 hit, pushing a G4 geomagnetic event across North America and turning skies over Jackson Hole, Dubois and the Tetons red enough to light the foreground for photographers. It was a preview of what Solar Cycle 25 can do for the lower 48 when the Kp index spikes high enough. Teton County became the world’s first certified International Dark Sky Community in 2025, with Jackson Hole Airport and Grand Teton’s surrounding valleys aggressively cutting light pollution, which means that when NOAA flags a severe storm, you’re starting from near-Arctic levels of darkness. Locals head for Antelope Flats, the National Elk Refuge pullouts, or high ground near Dubois, where 8,000-foot neighborhoods face almost zero skyglow. Nonprofits like Wyoming Stargazing run real-time alerts and late-night programs, pairing telescopes with space-weather briefings.

Faroe Islands

The Faroe Islands sit just outside the traditional auroral oval, but this solar maximum has pushed activity far enough south that the archipelago is now delivering some of its strongest Northern Lights seasons on record. What makes the Faroe Islands compelling is their microclimate. The North Atlantic’s volatile weather creates fast-moving cloud systems that often break open with little warning, giving viewers short but intense windows of visibility. New viewing platforms near Sornfelli, built in 2025 to accommodate the surge in winter visitors, offer high-elevation vantage points with minimal light pollution. In Tórshavn, the national observatory has expanded public programming around solar storm nights, combining forecasts with nighttime photography workshops. Winter travelers who base themselves in the smaller villages—Gjógv, Saksun or Tjørnuvík—gain front-row access to fjord reflections when the lights drop low on the horizon. 

Maine, USA

Maine has become one of the most reliable mid-latitude places to spot the aurora during this year’s solar maximum, thanks to a rare combination of dark-sky infrastructure, low humidity and broad stretches of protected coastline. The state’s biggest advantage is geographic: Once you pass Bangor, light pollution fades fast, and the long arc from Acadia National Park to Aroostook County sits directly beneath the path of many southward-pushing geomagnetic storms. Acadia’s Cadillac Mountain remains the most famous perch, but the real action has shifted farther north. Aroostook National Wildlife Refuge sees some of the darkest skies in the eastern U.S., with broad tundra-like clearings ideal for aurora photography. West toward Rangeley, Quill Hill’s 360-degree summit offers full-horizon viewing late into the season, and winter visitors score extra clarity thanks to the region’s frigid, ultra-dry air. Smaller observatories have responded to the surge in demand. Blueberry Pond Observatory near Pownal now runs aurora-focused programming and late-night sessions during forecasted storms, while lodging operators like Craignair Inn by the Sea along the mid-coast are building out stargazing kits and alert systems for guests. 

Fairbanks, Alaska

About an hour’s flight from Anchorage, Fairbanks still sits in the center of the conversation, literally and scientifically. The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute has spent decades studying auroras in the region; its real-time forecast maps and Aurora app are now used by half of North America to decide whether to stay up past midnight. Local operators have only gotten sharper. Chena Hot Springs continues to expand its geothermally heated viewing yurts and hilltop cabins, allowing you to alternate between hot-spring soaks and stargazing without ever feeling your eyelashes freeze. Cleary Summit remains the go-to ridge for photographers, with new tours offering small-group platforms and in-field coaching for first-timers fumbling with ISO settings. Newer twist for 2025-26: the Alaska Railroad’s Aurora Winter Train has leaned into solar-max demand with expanded late-season departures between Anchorage and Fairbanks, turning the eight-hour ride itself into a rolling stakeout for displays along the frozen Susitna and Nenana rivers.

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland

Kangerlussuaq’s past life as a U.S. Air Force base wasn’t an accident. The site was chosen partly because its inland valley experiences over 300 clear nights a year, an almost absurd gift in a region otherwise famous for its mood swings and marine fog. That “blue-sky bias” now makes this tiny outpost Greenland’s most reliable aurora hub. From town, it’s a straightforward drive onto the Greenland ice sheet, where light pollution drops to zero and the sky feels unnervingly big. Local guides have mapped specific high-points where katabatic winds regularly blow holes in the cloud deck, even when the coast is socked in. As Solar Cycle 25 hits its stride, operators are doubling down: several now offer multi-night “aurora basecamp” trips that combine ice-cap trekking with dedicated viewing shelters, while new expedition cruises launching from Kangerlussuaq in 2025 are marketing one-way voyages to Iceland timed for peak geomagnetic activity.

Arctic Circle Cruise, Norway

Static lodges cannot compete with a ship that can sprint toward clear skies. Norway’s coastal voyages have been doing this quietly for years, but the current solar maximum has pushed them into the spotlight. On the classic Bergen-to-Kirkenes coastal route from Hurtigruten, aurora detection systems feed directly to the bridge. When the data says “hole in the clouds over Vesterålen,” captains can adjust course or linger offshore to keep the sky in view. The line’s 12-day winter sailings still come with a “Northern Lights Promise,” which, as of the 2025–26 season, offers a complimentary future voyage if the lights don’t appear at all during your trip between late September and late March. Onboard, newer ships have leaned into the brief: outdoor hot tubs shielded from the wind, observation lounges with floor-to-ceiling windows, and lectures from onboard scientists decoding the Space Weather Prediction Center’s jargon in real-time.

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

For U.S. travelers who don’t have the budget or patience for the Arctic, Voyageurs has emerged from cult favorite to mainstream aurora option. The park earned International Dark Sky Park status in 2020 after systematically stripping out unnecessary lighting and preserving wide dark corridors above its lakes. Rangers now monitor solar activity as obsessively as moose populations. Programs like Stars Over Namakan boat tours and guided night hikes are scheduled around forecasted geomagnetic upticks, not just weekends. Park scientists spent the last few years documenting where, at this mid-latitude, the lights appear most vivid; that work produced three unofficial “aurora zones” along Rainy Lake, Ash River and Meadwood Road, which locals now treat like ski runs. For 2025–26, expect more winter access. Outfitters like Sky High Wilderness are expanding heated ice-fishing house rentals into aurora cabins, with clear north-facing windows and pre-drilled camera mounts.

Shetland, Scotland

Shetland has always sat just within aurora reach; the current solar maximum moves it from pleasant surprise to calculated bet. The islands’ latitude, combined with the Gulf Stream’s moderating influence, often yields clearer winter skies than mainland Scotland, which means more nights where the “Merrie Dancers” (local slang for the lights) actually show up. Community group Wild Skies Shetland has become one of Europe’s most interesting citizen-science outfits, correlating maritime weather patterns with solar data to refine local forecasts. Time a trip around Up Helly Aa in late January, when torchlit Viking fire festivals leave the night otherwise dark, and you get a rare combination: island-wide power of suggestion plus genuinely excellent viewing conditions. For those coming for skies as for puffins and ponies, check out unique croft stays and design-forward guesthouses like Belmont House in Unst. 

Utqiaġvik (Barrow), Alaska

At 71 degrees north, Utqiaġvik sits so deep inside the auroral oval that the lights often arc to the south of town, scrambling first-time visitors’ instincts about where to point a camera. The viewing season runs roughly from late August to April, with the lights even appearing during civil twilight at the heart of winter. The Top of the World Hotel remains the default base, and its north-facing rooms are still configured with blackout curtains and minimal interior reflections so your window doesn’t become a mirror at the worst possible moment. Daily year-round flights from Anchorage, operated by Alaska Airlines, keep logistics surprisingly simple compared to other high-Arctic settlements. What makes Utqiaġvik especially compelling is its cultural layer. The Iñupiat Heritage Center continues to interpret auroras through Indigenous knowledge, from stories linking them to animal migrations to practical guidance on navigating in light-washed snow. 

Yellowknife, Canada

Yellowknife is where statistics start to sound made up. Under normal conditions, visitors who stay three nights in peak season have about a 98 percent chance of seeing the aurora at least once, thanks to the city’s position under a stable section of the auroral oval and generally clear winter skies. Layer a strong solar maximum on top of that, and the odds skew even further in your favor. Indigenous-owned Aurora Village, about 20 minutes outside the city, has turned viewing into a kind of cold-weather theater. Heated teepees, arranged based on decades of local observation, point openings toward statistically prime segments of sky, while 360-degree swivel chairs let you track arcs without doing your neck in. Winters now come with expanded Dene cultural programming: storytelling around open fires, traditional drum dances and workshops on reading the lights as sky omens rather than social media content. New on the scene are smaller cabin outfits along the Ingraham Trail and near the new Thaidene Nëné National Park Reserve, catering to travelers who want dark skies, wood stoves and no one else around when the lights erupt.

Svalbard, Norway

Most aurora trips hinge on long winter nights. Here, from mid-November to late January, the sun doesn’t rise at all. The polar night turns every hour into potential aurora time, whether you’re riding a snowmobile past reindeer or walking to dinner in Longyearbyen. Operators like Snowfox Travel and other local outfitters have capitalized on the solar maximum by offering more small-group “aurora chase” safaris in heated snowcats and tracked vehicles, heading away from town to fjords and glacier fronts where light pollution is minimal and the only illumination is the occasional headlamp. Cruise lines are also increasing shoulder-season calls, timing October and March itineraries to catch both the lingering daylight for wildlife excursions and the long, dark nights offshore. Given Svalbard’s fragile ecosystem and strict environmental rules, most of the “new” here is in interpretation: better field guides, more data-driven forecasting, and a growing emphasis on climate context as you watch the upper atmosphere go neon.

Churchill, Manitoba

Churchill’s branding as the polar bear capital of the world sometimes overshadows the fact that it also sits under one of the planet’s most reliable aurora ovals, with lights visible up to 300 nights a year in the surrounding region. The sweet spot for combining both is still February and March, when the bears are mostly offshore but the skies are cold, dry and dark. Operator Frontiers North has been refining its Tundra Buggy concept for years; the current solar maximum has nudged them further. Their Dan’s Diner experience now runs a broader slate of dates, parking custom-built, glass-heavy buggies on the frozen Churchill River for tasting menus followed by hours of sky-watching in relative warmth. They’re also piloting more electric-assist vehicles on certain routes, a small but symbolic nod toward not wrecking the thing you came to admire. Come in September instead, and you get a different kind of two-for-one: beluga whales in the Churchill River estuary by day, early-season aurora by night, especially potent in a solar-max era.

Westfjords, Iceland

If Reykjavik is the crowded lobby bar, the Westfjords are the private back room. This sparsely populated peninsula near the Arctic Circle sees fewer tour buses and darker skies than southern Iceland, yet benefits from the same regular brushes with geomagnetic storms. The star here is Bolafjall, a 2,086-foot mountain above the town of Bolungarvík with a dramatic cliff-edge viewing platform built as a skywalk over the sea. It’s open seasonally in summer, but the road and plateau remain go-tos for local aurora chasers whenever conditions allow in the shoulder seasons, thanks to essentially zero light pollution and a clean northern horizon. New multi-day touring routes, marketed as the Westfjords Way, are giving independent travelers clearer road maps for stringing together Ísafjörður, tiny fishing villages and geothermal pools. Guesthouses like Holt Inn and small design-forward stays are increasingly adding aurora wake-up calls and red-light outdoor viewing areas, acknowledging that, in a solar-max winter, the lights are as big a draw as the waterfalls.

Swedish Lapland

The mythology around Abisko National Park isn’t hype. Its location in the rain-shadow of surrounding mountains creates a persistent “blue hole” in the cloud cover, giving it a disproportionate number of clear winter nights compared to nearby regions. That’s why the Aurora Sky Station, perched high above the park, has long been a pilgrimage site for aurora scientists and casual sky-watchers. During the current solar peak, the station’s chairlift nights, guided sky tours and astrophotography workshops are in even higher demand. But the interesting shifts are happening beyond Abisko. In Jukkasjärvi, the latest iterations of the Icehotel now include suites angled specifically for sky views through carefully placed windows and skylights. Further east, the village of Porjus continues to refine its hyperlocal aurora alert system, blending weather and solar data and texting guests in participating cabins only when the odds are excellent. Small operators like Wild Sweden are adding more multi-day expeditions into places such as Sarek National Park, where the combination of mountain shelter and wide open valleys is tailor-made for the high-energy storms we’re seeing this cycle.

Upper Peninsula, Michigan

If you want auroras without a passport and own a car, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is having a moment. The newly certified Keweenaw Dark Sky Park near Copper Harbor gives the region its first official dark-sky designation, confirming what locals already knew about the area’s low light pollution and big horizons over Lake Superior. At its center, the historic Keweenaw Mountain Lodge has reinvented itself as a north-woods base camp for sky-obsessed guests. Lodging packages now come paired with red-light headlamps, tripod rentals and workshops on capturing auroras from mid-latitudes, where displays often appear as subtle arcs or pillars rather than full-sky curtains. Elsewhere across the U.P., towns like Marquette and Munising are taking cues from the dark-sky movement, dimming shoreline lighting and promoting winter “lights festivals” that are as much about what’s overhead as what’s strung across Main Street. 

Tromsø, Norway

Most advice about auroras tells you to run from cities. Tromsø, at 69 degrees north, is the exception that refuses to apologize. The city sits directly under a robust chunk of the auroral oval, so when the lights fire up, they often blaze right over the harbor, bright enough to punch through urban glow. Urban planners and tourism officials have quietly embraced this. The Fjellheisen cable car up to Mount Storsteinen now features improved north-facing viewing platforms and heated indoor lounges, effectively turning the mountaintop into a tiered sky stadium. New waterfront hotels are orienting rooms and rooftop bars for sightlines as much as sunsets. Of course, classic chase tours still leave the city nightly, fanning out into fjords and valleys based on a lethal mix of local intuition and university-backed forecasts from Tromsø’s physicists.

Finnish Lapland

If anywhere has industrialized watching the northern lights, it’s Finnish Lapland. The region sees around 200 aurora nights a year, and over the last decade, locals have turned that certainty into an ever-evolving catalog of viewing structures. The original Kakslauttanen glass igloos still exist, but newer concepts such as the Arctic TreeHouse Hotel in Rovaniemi have refined the idea with better insulation, anti-fog glass and elevated, nest-like suites that frame the northern sky like a movie screen. Private wilderness retreat Octola remains the insider’s move: staff there monitor multiple forecast systems and only wake guests when displays are strong enough to be truly memorable, a useful filter in an era when minor geomagnetic blips are constantly trending online. Look for more hybrid stays like the new Wilderness Hotel Saariselkä that combine serious wellness (saunas, cold plunges, forest therapy) with aurora viewing, acknowledging that people now come as much to reset as to refresh their camera roll.