Northern Lights trip next February

Hi all

I'm just starting to look into the possibility of taking a trip to Iceland, or one of the Scandinavian countries, to hopefully see the Northen Lights, probably next February 2017. The trip will be around 5-7 days and we will fly from Manchester. The destinations that I've given serious consideration to so far are Reykjavik, Tromso and Rovainiemi.To help me make my decision, I have some questions. I apprecaite that these questions are rather broad, but I'm just trying to get some preliminary ideas, so I'd appreciate any help that can be provided.

1) I know this is a very difficult question but is there any one country where we would have a better chance of seeing the Aurora than the others? My preference would probably be to go to Iceland, but I have been told by a friend that he has visited Iceland a number of times and not yet managed to see the Aurora. I've also read that the further North you are, the better your chances are, which would possibly make me err towards Tromso.

2) If possible, we'd also like to do a couple of days of skiing. I know that Iceland is certainly the least attractive destination for skiers, but is there somewhere in either Norway or Finland that has good skiing (downhill, not cross-country) as well as good opportunities for seeing the Aurora? Other activities like dog-sledding and snowmobiling would also be appealing so if there's somewhere that has lots of good activities like this, then I'd be keen to hear about it!

Thanks in advance

Peter

I'm from Rovaniemi so I'm used to see Northern lights there. I think they are quite common but as a local I don't really see or watch them. I just know they are there usually during the nights when you walk back from a bar.

I've been in Tromsø only on summer but I think it's harder to catch Northern Lights there since it's on the coast and there are often clouds.

The same thing happens with Iceland if you are somewhere right by the sea.

I've been twice in Iceland. Both times there were amazing Northern lights, mainly because there are no trees so you can see the whole sky and not just part of it. I'm not used to that in Rovaniemi. Also both times in Iceland there were maybe 2 weeks of fully cloudy sky so no auroras at all during cloudy weeks. (My Australian friends were quite disappointed at that point).

Skiing:
My favorite at the moment is skiing hill in Akureyri, Iceland. It beats everything in Northern Finland without doubt. If you like after ski and party, Akureyri is not the place for that but the slopes there are sooo nice, long and challenging too.

Rovaniemi: probably easiest place to see the lights. there is a new route from Norwegian so they should be flying London-Rovaniemi soon. Boring if you wanna ski (unless you are beginner). Better skiing and after ski in Levi or at some other ski destination in Lapland.

Akureyri: Great for skiing, not much to see in town itself. Myvatn is nearby and there should be easier to see the Northern Lights since it's not on the coast. Myvatn has hot springs, lava, waterfalls and all those Icelandic things.

Both Myvatn and Rovaniemi has dog-sledding and snow mobiles etc.

I don't know enough about Reykjavik or Tromsø but hopefully this helps a bit!

I can only tell you that I saw northern lights at lake Myvatn in northern Iceland in April 2007. It was amazing and lasted for about 30 minutes. http://www.pbase.com/cile/iceland
I went outside multiple times most nights, but only saw them that once. I don't know if it was a particularly active year... or how likely the aurora are in February... If I were you I'd ask in each separate country forum as well.

Maybe Reykjavik has too much light pollution to see any. You'd probably need to get far out of the city.

There are smartphone apps that help predict northern lights activity, I've never tried one of those apps.

Good luck! It's a true miracle and I found it very moving. My reaction was pretty close to Joanna Lumley's emotional reaction.... from about 4:30 onwards: https://youtu.be/GZ8xd6xnZ9U

Oh - and I loved the whole area around Myvatn as well. Like Distantisland said, it's got weird lava fields, semi craters, bubbling mud geysers, fuming steam pits, and a nice hot nature bath, bright blue but small and not as touristy as the Blue Lagoon. I can only imagine how wonderful it must be to lie outdoors in that nature bath and stare up at the stars, and who nows, see northern lights from that bath even. (I was only bathing there during daylight as far as I can remember.)

You are most likely to see auroral activity in the "auroral oval", which is centered on the magnetic pole. Here is a map of it: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/wp-content/uploads/Auroral_Zones_l.jpg

And here is the longer article that comes from: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/celestial-objects-to-watch/an-aurora-watchers-guide/

Iceland is pretty much in the auroral oval. So is extreme northern Scandanavia, northern Canada and parts of Alaska.

It's just luck if there will be an aurora visible on any one night. To maximize your chances, go when the moon is close to new so the sky will be dark, and get away from city lights, so you will have maximum contrast between the aurora and a dark sky background. There are websites that give short-range aurora predictions, but nothing far enough in advance to plan a trip around.

My experience with astronomy travel is that you want to have enough other interesting things to do at your destination that if you are totally clouded out you can still have a worthwhile trip, so be sure to research what else you want to see while you are in Iceland.

Most people who want to see the Northern Lights in Finland go further north than Rovaniemi, as R is a bit far south for best opportunities. Places like Inari / Ivalo and Kittila are more usual.

Iceland is horribly cloudy. The north is a bit less cloudy. Inland may give you a better chance but will require an expensive organised tour. Remember to allow plenty of time - several days - to give yourself a decent chance. It is very naughty of Iceland to advertise itself as a prime northern lights destination. Go to Iceland because you want to go to Iceland, there are exciting winter tourism possibilities there, but treat the northern lights as a bonus.

Tromso is horribly cloudy. People are taken on long coach tours inland to get behind some mountains to have fewer clouds and a better chance of seeing them.

Feb is in general a pretty good time for the northern lights in general, especially later in the month and into March, though if you check cloudiness levels at the excellent weather statistics site https://weatherspark.com/averages/stations you'll find that in some northern places Feb is a cloudy month, whereas in other northern places it is a not-so-cloudy month.

A friend of mine went to far northern Finland for a winter activities holiday one Feb a few years ago, and saw the lights twice in a week. That was at a time when the auroral activity was near the maximum of the 11 year cycle, though the current auroral cycle has been a bit of a damp squib. It is now approaching the bottom of that 11 year cycle.

This is the best summary I know of to inform yourself on everything you need to know about northern lights trips and photography.

http://www.natalia-robba.com/myblog/travel/the-aurora-borealis-the-northern-lights-everything-you-need-to-know/

Thank you, that helps a lot! I especially appreciate the advice about Akureyri and Myvatn, as those weren't places that I was familiar with before. Thanks also for the advice about Norwegian Airines flying to Rovainemi as before knowing that, I wasn't able to find anything from Manchester that didn't include a 12 hour layover in Helsinki!

Thanks for your advice, I loved the image gallery as well, you've got some fantastic photos! My idea was to mainly use Reykjavik as a base and then take trips outside of the city, but based on what you and Diistantisland have said, it may be worth basing myself soemwhere like Myvatn to give myself a better chance of seeing the Aurora.

Thanks for the advice and all the useful links, I'll be sure to read the articles throughly. I also appreciate the final point about having enough other interesting things to do in your destination. This is one of the reasons why I was interested in doing things like skiing and snowmobiling, visiting geysers etc as if we do all these things and don't see the Aurora, at least the holiday won't have been wasted.

And also the bit about going when the Moon is close to new, that's very useful advice. Thanks!

Thank you iviehoff, I am also saving this topic for any future trips if I want to see northern lights.

Indeed, seeing them in Iceland felt like being lucky and not something that is normal / easy. Although April was quite late so it felt extra lucky.

Thanks for your advice. Nobody has really said anything supportive about Tromso so far so I reckon I'll probably remove that from the list of possible destinations. That article also looks really useful so I'll study it and try to further inform my decision!

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