Where to Chase the Northern Lights (and Why We Chose Finland)

Of all the vacations I have booked for people this last year, you know which one is the most popular and comes up the most?

Finland!

I think it’s because the sun cycles every 11 years and last year and this year are solar maximums. This period of heightened Northern Lights activity is supposed to continue through 2026 into 2027, and then gradually taper- but don’t write off a trip if you’re reading this later. Aurora activity doesn’t fall off a cliff after solar max. The declining years still produce great displays, and some of the most intense storms in history have actually happened in the years after peak. I’m guessing all my clients know this because everyone has been inquiring about Finland, Iceland, and Norway.

If you are researching where to go for Northern Lights, let me break it down for you. There are some very popular places you can go- the Nordics which I mentioned above, Yellowknife Canada, and Fairbanks Alaska. These are all great options and you can’t go wrong with any of these. I’ll break down for you some key similarities and differences, and then what made me choose Finland, and I suspect why Finland has been most popular with my clients who are also chasing the lights!

Fairbanks, Alaska

For my clientele (US-based), Alaska would be the easiest. The closest, no passports needed, no long flights through European hubs, same US currency and everyone speaks English. Easy. And Fairbanks Alaska is far far north, just south of the arctic circle.

Fairbanks is known for ice sculpture museum, Chena hot springs, dog sledding and reindeers! There is a lovely farm called Running Reindeers that allows you to walk with reindeers and pet them. The most famous of the camps, which did not exist when we went 9 years ago, is Borealis Basecamp. They have cubes with large windows and also rounded igloos- I know which one I would choose! While you can hire a driver or use Uber/Lyft, most activities on Fairbanks require you to have a car and drive yourself. Fairbanks is also a larger city so there are pros and cons. Pro: You can easily book a large chain hotel in town if you don’t want to pay the prices of the more boutique resorts, and easy flight in and out. Con: You’ll need to drive out to more remote viewing sites to get away from city lights.

Yellowknife, Canada

Yellowknife is another popular spot and in fact William and Kate made famous the lodge I have had saved for forever: Blachford Lodge. Yellowknife is remote which is great for northern lights- no light pollution. However, getting there is a task which involves matching the lodge schedule (charter flights go in and out on certain days to match their package dates). Also, it’s a bit more log cabin rustic/simple. There are a couple other lodges out there but similarly difficult to get to and similar level of accommodation. Yellowknife is so remote that most of your activities will be packaged with your stay so you can’t shop around for vendors or deals as much- you kind of just take the package.

Iceland

Iceland is super popular for Northern Lights and you get dramatic scenery- glaciers, waterfalls. It’s an easy flight to Reykjavik from Seattle or Boston, and Icelandair lets you do a free stopover of up to 7 days en route to Europe- a way to tack a lights chance onto a Europe trip without a second ticket. However, it’s an island and cloud cover and unpredictability of weather becomes an issue… so you’re either super lucky and seeing the most amazing scenery with Northern lights, or you’re SOL. One upside - Iceland is one of the best places to rent a car and chase the aurora yourself, and the Icelandic Met Office’s free forecast at vedur.is is the go-to tool for checking conditions.

Norway

Norway- Tromso and the Lofoten Islands are probably the most popular for Northern Lights. You have dramatic glacier and fjords and very remote islands that look like they come out of a Christmas fairytale. And if I’m honest, Lofoten Islands is probably my top bucket list currently for seeing lights now that we have been to Finland. Norway is one of the best locations with most consistent lights but also like Iceland it is coastal and subject to unpredictable cloud cover that can rapidly move in. Another thing that people who go to Norway can do is sign up for a Northern Lights cruise! Same cloud cover issue but a very cool way to see it for sure.

Finland

Finally, Finland. Finland is reliable. It’s flat and inland and less prone to clouds. It has all the popular winter activities- snowmobiling, ice castles, dog sledding, reindeer farms, ice fishing… and a couple extra like taking an icebreaker cruise and floating in ice, or visiting frozen waterfalls. It’s also the home of Santa Claus which makes it super popular for Christmas break travelers. Finland also has an infrastructure for tourists and so many lodges package activities, or activities will pick up at your lodge. It’s a great combination of having developed infrastructure while still being remote, and having more predictable weather.

A lot of the activities in all the Arctic circle locations are the same. And lights are pretty readily available November to March in all these locations, some would even say October to April but I’m not a gambler. For me, probability of cloud cover and number of activity vendors at each location were probably my driving forces on choosing Finland, but I wholeheartedly believe any of these locations would be amazing, and would love to send clients to any and all of these places.

I’ve sent clients to Iceland and Norway, and more to Finland than anywhere else this year. Do I have any takers for Fairbanks or Yellowknife to be my first? I would love to pick your brain for personal input if you do let me send you! I’m always learning from my clients to share with everyone else!

My top tips for Northern Lights trips

1. February and March are peak in all these locations. Some kids have “ski week” and you can use that to your advantage, but if you’re like my family and saving that week to actually ski, then I would choose Christmas break as your second option. Realize that Christmas is the most popular time (even though peak for lights is Feb/March) so you really want to book this as soon as possible, especially if you want one of the glass igloos.

2. Book the glass igloo/cube. It is amazing to be in a warm bed waiting for lights, and then decide if you want to layer up and go out or not. It’s cliche and it’s expensive but it’s worth it.

3. Wherever you go, I recommend having 4-5 days at a minimum to try to offset unpredictability of weather.

4. Plan day time activities so it’s not ONLY the Northern Lights in case Mother Nature chooses not to cooperate.

5. Bring a real camera and learn how to use it. iPhones actually do a pretty decent job too. Realize that your phone captures the greens and the pinks of Northern Lights better than your eyes. This is not because your phone is using fake filters. It’s just limitation of our eyes at night to color differentiate. The camera is right; your eyes are wrong. But when the lights are strong and intense, you will see those greens and pinks even if they’re not as strong as through the camera lens.

6. Layers, layers, and layers. And good snow boots. And handwarmers. It’s cold.

Read my next post to hear about our specific Finland trip to inspire yours!