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Aurora Borealis Lodge, Fairbanks, Alaska. Photo: Yuhan Du, Unsplash License · 6-second exposure: brighter than the eye sees
Book a tour for your first clear night, pick it by how you want to wait (outside, in a heated cabin or behind glass), and keep the other nights flexible.
Key takeaways
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You head out in the evening, away from town, up to a hill or a lodge where the northern sky is dark and open. Then you wait. Some nights the aurora is a faint grey-green arc low in the north for hours. Some nights nothing. Once in a while it breaks up and moves overhead, and nobody talks.
All six run from Fairbanks. Ratings and review counts are GetYourGuide's. Details are compiled from the operators' published terms and GetYourGuide's listings and review counts as checked on 23 September 2026; we have not taken these tours ourselves.
The most-reviewed aurora tour in Fairbanks on GetYourGuide (262 reviews). Photos of you under the aurora are included. Suits: first-timers who want to watch rather than work a camera.
A trip up Murphy Dome, one of the hilltop viewing spots Explore Fairbanks lists. The lowest price of the six. Suits: budget trips, and a second or third night out.
An evening at a husky lodge, waiting for the aurora. Suits: anyone who wants dogs and aurora in one night at a low price.
You wait inside a glass house on Cleary Summit instead of standing in the snow. Suits: people who feel the cold, older travellers, and January trips.
Dinner in a yurt, then aurora watching. The meal fills the long wait. Suits: couples and anyone who'd rather make a night of it.
A full day north on the Dalton Highway to the Arctic Circle, with northern lights viewing built in. It's a very long day. Suits: people who want the Arctic Circle anyway. More on Arctic Circle tours.
Prices are GetYourGuide's 'from' prices for 15–20 February 2027, converted from Indian rupees at 95.54 per US dollar (the booking sites' own rate on 23 September 2026) and rounded to the nearest $5. Check the listing for what's included and pickup details.
In short A typical display looks paler to the eye than in photos, often grey-white with a hint of green, while a camera gathers light for several seconds and shows it bright green.
That's normal; it isn't a trick.
To the eye
To a camera
Tours that include photos save you from spending the best ten minutes of the night adjusting a tripod.
In short No tour can promise clear skies: at Fairbanks airport about half of nights in February and March have a clear spell, and about a quarter in autumn.
Nights with a clear spell at Fairbanks airport:
A tour on a cloudy night is a long, cold drive
Not on a booking site: Chena Hot Springs Resort runs its own 5-hour aurora tour for $125, by tracked vehicle up Charlie Dome to heated yurts with hot drinks. It starts from the resort, about 60 miles from Fairbanks, so it suits people staying there. See Chena Hot Springs.
| Tour | Length | From | Where you wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arctic Night Tours | not listed | ~$225 | not listed; photos included |
| Murphy Dome | 5 h | ~$130 | hilltop |
| Aurora Husky Lodge | 5 h 30 min | ~$135 | husky lodge |
| Glass House, Cleary Summit | 5 h | ~$180 | glass house |
| Yurt dinner | 5 h | ~$200 | yurt |
| Arctic Circle | 14 h | ~$365 | Dalton Highway |
| Chena, Charlie Dome | 5 h | $125 | heated yurts |
In short Pick a tour by how you want to wait, book it for your first night, and plan to go out more than once, on a tour or in a rental car.
Standing outside at −20°F for hours is hard. If that worries you, pick the glass house, a lodge or a yurt.
If it's cloudy you still have nights left to try again, on another tour or on your own.
Three nights in February or March gives roughly even odds of a proper display, so one tour is a gamble. See how many nights you need.
With a rental car you can drive to a dark, safe pull-out yourself on every clear night. You give up the warm cabin and the local guide.
If your tour doesn't include photos, a recent phone can do it: read how to photograph the northern lights on a phone before you go.
From about $130 for a 5-hour hilltop tour to about $365 for a 14-hour Arctic Circle trip, on GetYourGuide for February 2027. Chena Hot Springs sells its own 5-hour tour for $125.
Yes if you don't have a car or don't want to stand outside in the cold. The tour gets you away from town lights and somewhere warm to wait; it can't promise a clear sky.
In the evening, so you're at the viewing spot for the usual peak of roughly 10pm to 2am. Check each listing for the exact pickup time.
Yes. Get out of town to somewhere dark with a clear view north, on a clear night, and wait. A car makes that easy.