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4.54 (309 reviews)
19
Group Tours
19
City Explorer
6
Private Tours
When do you want to go?
2026
I'm flexible
Passengers
Adults (18+)
Children (0 - 17)
Northern lights tours head for the auroral oval, a ring of activity centred on the magnetic pole. It passes over Iceland, northern Scandinavia, Alaska and northern Canada. Inside the oval, the aurora is active on many dark nights. Further south, you usually need a strong solar storm to see it.
The aurora happens all year, but you can only see it in real darkness. In the Arctic that means roughly September to late March, because the midnight sun hides it in summer. Displays often peak between about 10pm and 2am local time. A moonless week makes faint activity easier to spot.
Cloud decides more nights than solar activity does, so the weather forecast matters as much as the aurora forecast. Your odds rise with every extra night you spend under the auroral oval. [[VERIFY: The current solar cycle peaked around 2024 and 2025]], and activity usually stays high for a few years afterwards.
Most northern lights tours base you in one or two places and head out after dark. Guides drive to wherever the sky looks clearest, which beats waiting in one spot. Some trips use glass-roofed rooms or lodges with open views of the sky, so you can watch without travelling far.
Expect late nights, deep cold and some waiting. Faint displays can look grey to the naked eye, while a camera picks up the green. Strong displays move fast and can fill the whole sky within minutes. Dress in layers, wear warm boots and keep a spare battery in an inside pocket.
The destinations most travellers plan a northern lights trip around, each with its own viewing areas and trip styles.
Northern lights tours split by what fills your days. Lapland trips pair the aurora with glass igloos, huskies and reindeer. Iceland and Norway combine it with waterfalls, glaciers and fjords. Alaska and the Yukon add hot springs and wilderness lodges. The table below gives an idea of the many variations of northern light trips available to you.
From £540
7 toursA one to four-day trip fits the aurora into a long weekend. Most are Iceland breaks near Reykjavik, plus a few Lapland express stays with a glass igloo. You get one to three nights of hunting, which is enough for a first attempt. The risk is weather, as one cloudy spell can take most of your chances. These trips suit travellers already visiting the region. Longer trips are the safer choice if the lights are your main goal.
From £675
24 toursFive or six days is the most common length and the best balance for most travellers. It gives you three to five nights under the oval. That adds glass igloo stays and husky safaris in Lapland, or the south coast and glacier lagoons in Iceland. Tromsø trips at this length add Sami culture, reindeer and island villages such as Sommarøy. The Alaska trip also runs six days, with three dedicated aurora nights.
From £1,010
13 toursA week or more turns the trip into a full Arctic journey. In Iceland, 8 to 12-day tours reach the Westfjords or circle the whole island. Norway's longer trips link Lofoten, the North Cape and Lapland. In Finland and Sweden, an eight-day wilderness week adds skiing, snowshoeing and an off-grid expedition. More nights also give you the best odds of clear skies. These trips suit travellers who want the Arctic itself as the focus, not just the aurora.
Northern lights tours tend to fall into five groups. Short breaks fit the aurora into a few nights away. Igloo and cabin stays let you watch from bed. Snow adventure trips add huskies, reindeer and snowmobiles. Sightseeing tours pair the lights with glaciers and fjords. Festive departures bring Christmas and New Year to the Arctic.
1 to 4 days
Short breaks
Iceland short breaks based around Reykjavik, from a single 4x4 aurora night to four days. They suit a long weekend or a first taste of the Arctic.
You can fit an aurora hunt into a long weekend without using much annual leave.
Fewer nights mean fewer chances, so one cloudy spell can cost you the lights.
Fly into Keflavík airport, about 50 km from Reykjavik, a transfer of around 45 minutes.
3 to 5 days
Igloo stays
Lapland stays in glass igloos, glass-ceiling rooms, panorama huts and the Arctic Bath. You watch the sky from a warm room instead of standing in the cold.
On a clear night you can watch for the aurora from bed, under a glass roof.
Cloud blocks the view from bed too, so a glass roof adds comfort, not better odds.
Fly into Rovaniemi, Kittilä or Ivalo airport. Transfers to most lodges take under two hours by road.
4 to 8 days
Snow adventures
Lapland, Alaska and Yukon trips that fill the days with dog sledding, reindeer safaris, snowshoeing and snowmobiles. Aurora hunts run at night, often by a campfire.
Active days in deep snow keep the trip rewarding, even on nights when the clouds win.
A few trips, including Alaska and the Finnish and Swedish wilderness weeks, are rated moderate.
Most Lapland trips start in Rovaniemi or Luleå, Alaska starts in Fairbanks and the Yukon in Whitehorse.
5 to 12 days
Sightseeing tours
Iceland and Norway trips that pair nightly aurora hunts with glacier lagoons, the Westfjords, Tromsø and Lofoten. They suit travellers who want full days as well as late nights.
Daylight goes on waterfalls, glaciers and fjords, so no day feels wasted waiting for night.
Longer drives between stops can mean late finishes after an aurora hunt.
Iceland trips start in Reykjavik. Many Norway trips start in Tromsø, 320 km north of the Arctic Circle.
5 to 7 days
Festive trips
Festive departures in Iceland and Finnish Lapland, including Santa Claus Village near Rovaniemi. They fall in the darkest weeks of the year, when nights are longest.
Long December nights give you more dark hours than any other month for aurora hunting.
Festive dates sell out early.
Iceland departures start in Reykjavik. Finland departures usually start in Rovaniemi but may begin elsewhere, depending on the trip.
4.54 (309 reviews)
Enjoyed Thorsmork the most since we had the most time allotted and were able to do a nice hike and out in nature, and Gullfoss. Nice surprises - Lava show in Vik, and geothermal greenhouse at Fridheimar. Enjoyed our guide Rosa and the group we traveled with.
Our guide Sophia and driver, Mark were fun, informative and enthusiastic about their country. My mother uses a walker and wheelchair and they were both incredibly accommodating. On the Go had done research on each stop in our tour so that we knew what activities would be accessible for my mother.
ElizabethHard to decide, but I think I would have to say the highlight for me was the demonstration of making geothermal rye bread and sampling it. Absolutely fascinating.
DianeHal was a perfect guide! We all loved him so much and he was a great driver/parker. But our favorite part was of course the eclipse and the whales beforehand! Every activity was so well planned and perfectly executed by Hal.
MeredithOur guide Sophia
SusanOur guide was fabulous. I was pleasantly surprised that our eclipse boat was also a whale watching boat and was thrilled to see humpbacks, minke whales, puffins, harbor dolphins.
BarbaraOur guide, Sophia, was wonderful! She was funny and really informative!! My favorite spot on the trip was Church Falls...beautiful. Of course, I was disappointed in not seeing the eclipse, but guess I'll just have to see it next time.
DarleneGossfall was pretty special - I would have welcomed more time there as we didn't get enough time to walk down to the lower path to the falls. On the Golden Tour we spent the least time here and the most time at the ice cream stop (where there was nothing else to do). So that felt a bit imbalanced.
AmandaGroup tours share a guide, a vehicle and a set itinerary with other travellers. Private tours follow a set route too, but only your party travels together.
From £1,380 · 19 tours
Shared aurora hunts
Guides take the group out after dark and drive to wherever the skies look clearest that night.
Most trips to choose from
Most of the range is group departures, including every festive trip in Iceland and Lapland.
Company on cold nights
Waiting for the lights is easier with others to share hot drinks and swap camera tips.
Not ideal for
Night owls who want to stay out after the group heads back to the hotel.
From £2,305 · 6 tours
Just your party
You travel only with the people you booked with, from Tromsø to Swedish Lapland.
Quieter stays
Private options include Arctic Bath and glass igloo stays in Lapland, plus Lofoten and Tromsø trips in Norway.
Self-drive in Norway
The Tromsø to North Cape self-drive lets you pull over whenever the sky clears on the road north.
Not ideal for
Solo travellers on a budget, as private trips usually cost more per person than group tours.
Northern lights tours are seasonal, running from September to late March when Arctic nights are dark. Bookings peak from December to March, with a second peak in Iceland in September and October. Cloud is the next biggest factor after darkness, and inland Lapland is usually steadier than the coasts.
Temperatures vary widely across the Arctic in winter. Coastal Iceland and Norway often sit around freezing point. Inland Lapland, Alaska and the Yukon can drop below minus 20°C (minus 4°F) at night.
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
There is no single best place, because it depends on what you want from the trip. Finnish and Swedish Lapland often have steadier inland weather, plus igloos and huskies. Iceland is a short flight with big daytime sights. Northern Norway sits deep under the oval. Alaska and the Yukon offer dark, empty skies far from light pollution.
The season runs from about September to late March, when Arctic nights are dark enough. February and March combine long nights with often steadier weather, and September and October are milder. Whatever the month, aim for the hours around 10pm to 2am and spend at least three nights under the oval.
No. The aurora is a natural event, and no one can promise clear skies. A good tour improves your odds instead. It gives you several nights under the oval and guides who drive to the clearest skies. Daytime activities make the trip worthwhile either way.
Charged particles from the sun travel on the solar wind, and Earth's magnetic field pulls them towards the poles. There they collide with gases high in the atmosphere and give off light. Oxygen glows green, the most common colour, and sometimes red. Nitrogen adds blue and purple.
Sometimes, but timing matters more than the ship. You need dark skies, so summer sailings, including most Alaska cruises, rarely see them. Sailings in the far north between late September and March have a real chance. Ship lights and sea cloud can still get in the way. On a land-based tour, guides can drive to clear skies.
Alaska is the most reliable place in the US, especially the interior around Fairbanks, which sits under the auroral oval. During strong solar storms the lights sometimes reach the northern states. For a planned trip, a few nights near Fairbanks gives you far better odds than waiting at home.
Most of the range is rated easy, and many Lapland trips run at a slow pace. They mix short daytime activities with aurora watching at night. A few trips, including Alaska and the wilderness weeks in Finland and Sweden, are rated moderate. Check each trip's minimum age, as some Lapland family trips start at age four.
Cost depends mostly on trip length, room type and trip style. Glass igloo and glass-roofed stays cost more than standard rooms on similar trips. Private trips usually cost more per person than group departures. Alaska and the Yukon sit at the higher end because of long flights and remote lodges.
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