Greenland Cruises
Greenland assaults your senses by its sheer scale, untamed rawness, ravishing beauty and remoteness, while her people will charm you with their hospitality. From Scoresby Sund’s …
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Tips for seeing the Northern Lights
- The best chances for sightings of the Northern Lights are during winter, between September and March
- The Aurora belt covers Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Norway and Svalbard, but our best sightings have always been in Churchill and Greenland
- Try to avoid stormy coastal areas which can commonly be cloudy
- Be patient as the Northern Lights can appear suddenly, before fading and returning somes hours later
- The Northern Lights are spectacular, breathtaking, and famously unpredictable. Make the most of your time in the Arctic by ensuring your days are action-packed too
Swoop says
There is nothing more absorbing than gazing at a sky alive with colour and movement. The Aurora Borealis is one of nature's most spectacular shows and is a memory that'll live with you forever!
Nardus Erasmus Arctic Sales Specialist
Our most popular trips to see the Northern Lights
Special Offers:Swoop has access to the widest range of offers and can help you find the right trip, cabin, & price.
Winter in Hudson Bay is cold but also very dry and that means clear skies and at this latitude that is perfect for spotting the northern lights from a variety comfortable, heated viewing platforms. Day time activities include dog sledding…
- 7 Days
- $8,795
Embark on this epic fly and cruise 11- or 13-day expedition into the wildest, least visited corner of Greenland, which combines the labyrinthine Scoresbysund fjord system with the vast Northeast Greenland National Park. By day, navigate spectacular fjords and pass…
- 11-13 Days
- $21,995
Start off in Akureyri, then cross the Arctic Circle as you sail north across the Denmark Strait and along Greenland's immense eastern coastline. The final leg of the voyage is across the Greenland Sea to Longyearbyen. This is a truly…
- 14 Days
- $8,300
Beginning in Cambridge Bay, this westbound-arching route encapsulates the best that the Northwest Passage and West Greenland have to offer. Thread your way through the icy labyrinth of staggering landscapes, dramatic history, remote Inuit settlements and charismatic Arctic wildlife, with…
- 16 Days
- $25,495
Sailing in August or September, explore the massive fjords of East Greenland and their legendary icebergs, spot musk oxen and visit ancient and modern Inuit settlements. Late summer provides a great chance of spotting the Northern Lights. A choice of…
- 10 Days
- $6,250
Head north to Churchill, renowned for its high auroral activity, and capture images of the ethereal Northern Lights. Accompanied by an expert photographer, evening aurora sightings are maximised using multiple, heated vantage points while you wait in anticipation. By day,…
- 7 Days
- $9,795
Focused on East Greenland’s Ammassalik region, specifically the incredible ice-choked Sermilik Fjord, this trip offers the best of this entire coastline in microcosm. Travelling slowly in a rarely visited area, maximising time off ship to hike and explore the tundra,…
- 10 Days
- $12,590
Traversing west to east this voyage takes you to iconic sites such as Cambridge Bay, Lancaster and Smith Sounds and Ellesmere Island, before exploring the fjords and towns of West Greenland. Bears, narwhal, musk ox, beluga and northern lights are…
- 17 Days
- $13,872
Watching the lights from the warm indoors
The Northern Lights dancing among the stars
Northern lights over the Greenland Ice Cap in Spring
Northern lights over Greenland
Northern lights over the Churchill tundra
Aurora over the Canadian Arctic
The Northern Lights illuminating the Arctic sky
Seeing the Northern Lights
The best time to see the Northern Lights
Winter is the best time to see the Northern Lights. It's not the temperature which makes a difference, but the appearance of the sky; it's only during the winter months that the skies are dark enough to make out the ethereal flickering. The best chances are between September and April.
A rainier month means a higher likelihood of cloud cover. In reality though, the changeable weather in the region means snow, sleet, hail and rain can appear with seemingly very little notice, at any point during the season.
Inukshuk and Northern Lights
The best places to see the Northern Lights
Most frequent sightings are found around the 'Aurora Belt', a line similar to the Arctic Circle. Contrary to popular belief, the lights are therefore strongest and most regular around the edge of the Arctic, rather than getting brighter the further north you go.
Picking your destination should be the most important factor in your trip and will depend heavily on what other interests you want to focus on during your trip to the Arctic.
Whether your secondary focus is history, culture, wildlife or icebergs, ask our specialists to find the right trip for you.
The Northern Lights views from Scoresbysund
Plan your trip to see the Northern Lights
Northwest Passage Cruises
This labyrinthine waterway was long sought by early adventurers as a sea route linking the Northern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Canada's Arctic archipelago is therefore no …
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Canadian Arctic Cruises
Sandwiched between Alaska and Greenland, Canada’s ‘Far North’ covers a whopping 39% of the country’s total land area, yet is populated by less than 1% of the population. …
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Churchill
The centre of a polar bear migration in October and November, the worlds' best place to see northern lights from January to March and a gathering point for thousands of beluga …
Discover MoreNorthern Lights: FAQs
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Which are the best months to see the Northern Lights?
The best time to see the Northern Lights is between September and April, when the night sky is dark enough.
The phenomena is present all year round, but the Midnight Sun during the summer makes it impossible to see.
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Where are the best places in The Arctic to see the Aurora Borealis?
The most frequent sightings are to be found in the ‘Aurora Belt’ either on or close to the Arctic Circle, rather than deep inside the High Arctic.
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What causes the Northern Lights?
The Northern Lights are caused when charged particles from the sun mix with gases in the Earth's atmosphere.
The Earth's magnetic fields draw these particles towards the poles and it's when these particles collide that they release energy in the form of the glowing lights we know as the Northern Lights.
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What causes the different colours of the Northern Lights?
The colours displayed by the Northern Lights depends on the combination of atmospheric gases and altitude.
Green is the most common colour and is the result of oxygen particles at altitudes of around 60 to 150 miles.
It's rare to see red streaks in the Northern Lights, but this is the result of oxygen particles at high altitudes - above 150 miles.
Blue, purple and pink colouring is caused by nitrogen molecules and lower altitudes.
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Do the Northern Lights look as good in person as in photos?
Sadly not. This is because camera sensors are far more sensitive to light than the human eye, so can capture long exposures. This results in the artificially vivid image you often see.
More often you might see whitish-grey streaks, but strong displays will still result in bright green and purple colours.
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Do the Northern Lights make a sound?
Yes, but only very rarely. Some people have reported low crackling, hissing or popping noises. This can be a result of static electricity building up in an inversion layer of the atmosphere, where it discharges during intense geomagnetic storms.
Ready to Book Your Arctic Adventure?
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