A green aurora curtain arching over a snowy trail and spruce forest near Chena Hot Springs, Alaska

Stand under the northern lights

Where to go, which month, and how many nights you actually need. Planned on real odds, worked out from 26 winters of Fairbanks weather and the geomagnetic record, not wishful thinking.

Work out your odds Best time to go to Alaska How we work

Chena Hot Springs, Alaska. Photo: Analogick, CC BY 2.0 · 5-second exposure at high sensitivity: still brighter than the eye sees, but closer than most aurora photos.

Three questions, answered straight

Where should I go?

In or near the aurora ring

By our calculation from geomagnetic coordinates, Iceland, Tromsø and Abisko sit inside the band where auroras happen even on quiet nights, and Fairbanks sits right at its edge. Rovaniemi sits further south and needs a more active night.

When should I go?

Near the equinoxes

Activity runs higher around March and September. Then clear skies decide: in Fairbanks that puts the best window at late February to March.

How many nights?

Three for even odds

In Fairbanks in February–March, three nights gives about even odds of a proper display, and 8–9 nights about four in five. Cloudy spells come in runs, so leave room.

Where to go

Aurora over snow-covered cabins and spruce trees in Fairbanks Guide live

Alaska

Fairbanks sits at the edge of the aurora ring, in Alaska's interior. Best from late February to March.

10-second exposure: brighter than the eye sees

Green aurora reflected in still water beneath a dark mountain ridge in Iceland Guide live

Iceland

Magnetically deeper inside the ring than Lapland, with a whole holiday's worth of things to do if the sky stays shut.

15-second exposure: much brighter than the eye sees

Plan your trip

Green and purple aurora curtains above the dark lake at Álftavatn in Iceland's highlandsBest places to see the northern lightsSix destinations ranked on odds, cost and access Green and violet aurora rays rising behind a silhouetted line of spruce treesBest time to see the northern lightsActivity, darkness, cloud and moon, month by month A bright green aurora over FairbanksNorthern lights odds calculatorPick a place, month and nights, and see your real chance A wide green aurora swirl above frosted birch trees and snow in Finnish LaplandHow many nights you needOdds from real night-by-night records A green aurora curtain arching over a snowy trail and spruce forest near Chena Hot Springs, AlaskaNorthern lights toursBus, minibus, boat or camp, and what the free-retry promises cover A crowd of aurora watchers beside parked cars under a wide green aurora, one holding up a lit phone screenPhotograph the aurora on your phoneSettings that work, and why the camera sees more green than you do Bright green and red aurora curtains filling the sky above silhouetted birch treesHow we work out the oddsThe data, the thresholds and the limits

Alaska guides All of Alaska

A band of green aurora behind tall spruce trees and snow-covered cabins in Fairbanks, AlaskaFairbanks trip plannerWhere to base yourself for the Alaska aurora A band of green aurora behind tall spruce trees and snow-covered cabins in Fairbanks, AlaskaBest time in AlaskaMonth-by-month odds from 26 winters of records Bright green and red aurora curtains filling the sky above silhouetted birch treesWhere to see them in AlaskaFairbanks hills, Chena, the Arctic Circle road, Anchorage A green aurora arcing over a snow-banked road, power lines and frosted birch trees outside FairbanksFairbanks aurora toursHilltop chases, cabins and camps, compared Green aurora curtains with purple tops rising over a dark, flat horizon near FairbanksA 5-night Fairbanks itineraryDay by day, with the aurora nights built in A green aurora curtain arching over a snowy trail and spruce forest near Chena Hot Springs, AlaskaChena Hot SpringsOutdoor pools in the snow, an ice museum and aurora tours Steam rising off the outdoor rock pool at Chena Hot Springs, its boulders heaped with snowThings to do in FairbanksDog teams, reindeer, ice carving and more by day Snow-loaded spruce forest and a plowed road below the University hill in Fairbanks, with ice fog and distant mountains at sunsetFairbanks winter weatherHow cold it gets, and what to wear to stand outside

Iceland guides All of Iceland

Swirls of green and pink aurora over a snow-covered mountain near ReykjavíkBest time in IcelandMonth by month, and why cloud decides your nights The white Grótta lighthouse on the Seltjarnarnes shore with a green aurora arching behind itWhere to see them in IcelandFrom Reykjavík's edges to Jökulsárlón A northern lights tour coach parked with its lights on at dusk, snowy mountains behindIceland aurora toursBus, small group, 4x4 or boat from Reykjavík A white tour boat moored at the pontoons of Reykjavík's Old Harbour under a grey winter skyNorthern lights boat toursOut of Reykjavík's Old Harbour to dark water A glassy iceberg on the black sand of Diamond Beach under a green auroraA 7-day winter itineraryGolden Circle, south coast and spare aurora nights The scalloped blue ice ceiling of a glacier ice cave in IcelandIce cavesNatural blue caves, Katla, and the man-made tunnel Steam drifting over the milky blue water of the Blue Lagoon, with bathers, boardwalks and lava rockBlue Lagoon in winterTickets, and the cheaper Reykjavík pools A road winding along a snow-covered fjord shore beneath white mountains in IcelandGetting around in winterDrive yourself, take tours, or use transfers

Why we print shutter speeds under our photos

At night your eyes see mostly in grey. A camera holds its shutter open for seconds and gathers the green that your eye can't. That's why so many people stand under a real display and feel let down. A typical aurora looks pale and silvery to the eye, and vivid on a phone. Strong nights are genuinely green to the eye; weak ones aren't.

So every aurora photo here says how long the shutter was open. Short exposures of a few seconds are close to what you'll see. Twenty seconds is brighter than real life.

How we work