Any suggestions of where to go and see the northern lights while combining with a memorable holiday? I’m open to ideas as long as it’s not Scotland (we do lots of trips there already).

It will be in early March and probably for a long weekend. March is meant to be a good time of year as there is some day light but still plenty of night-time. I’d like to somewhere nice to stay and not to break the bank if at all possible.

What experiences have people had?

Abisko. It was amazeballs.

Not sure if it’s still snowy in March, but the whole trip was great. We did snowmobiling and husky trips along with staying in the ice hotel.

Was on my mum’s bucket list so my brother & I took her.

Stikine delta. Kinda blew me away. Paddled there from Vancouver, then went on to Juneau

She will love you forever 8)

Northumberland but it’s rubbish.

wonny j – Member

I’d like to somewhere nice to stay and not to break the bank if at all possible.

Well you could come over to Ireland and try your luck. You’ll sometimes see great aurora (auroras?) in north Donegal. See pics.

I will caveat that by saying that relying on the weather to do or see anything in Ireland is a perilous business and perhaps not advisable if it’s an absolute necessity. Also, I saw them in Alberta easily and regularly like it weren’t no big thing.

How about Kirkenes in Northern Norway. You can have a night in the ice hotel as well.

Clue’s in the name

fly to Oslo, and then to Trømso and then Longyearbyen on Svalbard

see the lights, go snowscootering and enjoy the top of the world

there’s an SAS Radisson hotel and afew bars

last time I was there one of the bars was serving seal lasagne

We went to nellim, inside the Arctic circle and about 30km from the Russian border.
Absolutely no one around apart from the little village we were in. Saw the northern lights went dog sledding, snowmobiles, xc skiing and snow shoeing.

Will be going back when the little boy is old enough

We saw them on a long weekend in Reykjavik in early January. Photos nowhere near as good as those ^^^^^^

enjoy the top of the world

Mind you don’t fall off the edge.

Ireland would be a cheap option. I’ve been working with one of the national parks in co Mayo and we have some fabulous northern lights pics from a local photographer. He has the benefit of picking good weather days though, there’s a pretty good chance of seeing nothing. It is a dark sky park, though. Short cheap flight or ferry and road trip. We stay in a fab local hotel when working there. Happy to pass on details.

I’ve spent a week in northern Finland in February the last 2 winters – only seen the aurora once in that time, but as I was riding my bike in the middle of nowhere at night it was pretty special. Seen it plenty of times out a plane window flying over northern Sweden in winter – less weather, clouds to get in the way. In March, you’ll get about 10-11hours of daylight on the arctic circle and plenty of snow.

I’ve seen them from a couple of miles away from Avebury, but that’s not a particularly reliable suggestion, somewhere up in the Arctic Circle is most likely to field results.

I’ve seen the Aurora in Iceland, Sweden (at the original Ice Hotel) and Northern Finland.

However there are no guarantees – weather and a thousand other things can prevent you from seeing them. Have a nice holiday and if you’re lucky you may see the Aurora 8)

Check out AuroraWatch UK. App for tablet & smartphone also available

YouTube 🙂

The OP wants to see the Northern Lights…
Why are people just listing examples of Ikea furniture?
Sometimes I just don’t understand the people on here.

Sparky that is genius, I must have the wrong end of the stick – what she’d really like is some flatpack shelves! Good spot 8)

Svalbard looks amazing. As does the IceHotel. Ireland less well received unfortunately.

Saw them when we stayed about 50 miles north of Rovaniemi, the northern tourist town of Finland. It’s only about 3 miles south of the Arctic Circle so they run dog & reindeer sled trips up to the Circle.

We were way north of there, the Aurora lit up half the sky. Good base though, seemed a nice enough little town.

Constable Point, Eastern Greenland. There’s sleigh rides to Ittoqitoormiit, a minus one star Hilton Hotel, and possibly polar bears.

Take your own booze.

Do you ski?

Tromso and a drive to Lyngen Alps. Stunning if you ski or not, and if you are the northern lights or not.

I think the least bit’s important. You don’t want to go to somewhere just to spend your evenings traipsing round in a minibus,