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Antarctic cruises tend to happen during the southern hemisphere’s summer, while the southern lights are visible in their winter. After departing London, guests spend a day in Amsterdam, where they can stroll along the canals, admiring the architecture and indulging in alfresco coffee and stroopwafel breaks. Then, after crossing the North Sea, the ship cruises the scenic Norwegian Inside Passage, a protected shipping lane that runs from the southern tip of Norway to Russia (though Viking guests will only go as far north as Tromsø). To see the Northern Lights, travelers need to be far north, away from light pollution, and have unobstructed views of the sky. Read on for our comprehensive guide on how to choose the best northern lights cruise for you. Elegant and thoughtfully designed, the warmth and appeal of our Cunard Queens is palpable the moment you step aboard.
Cycling In Trondheim
The region’s love of the outdoors lifestyle means active experiences are easy to find, both through cruise line excursions and independent operators. Such itineraries tend to be shorter, and are a great introduction to both cruising and Scandinavia, with limited sea days and plenty to see and do while in port. If you want to explore modern Scandinavia while gaining access to some of the region’s best museums, such an itinerary is a perfect choice.
Lofoten Islands
The auroral oval, a band that hugs the northernmost latitudes where auroral activity has the highest concentration, covers most of Alaska and Iceland, southern Greenland, and the northernmost parts of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. These are some of the cruises that offer you a solid chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Bridgett Quinn Weber, an advisor with Cruise Specialists who works with expedition cruises offered the advice below. Charming and postcard-pretty, Stavanger is an idyllic coastal town, famous for its perfectly preserved wooden buildings (some dating back to the 18th century) and miles of pristine white sand. She also runs talks and school workshops on aurora research to promote ‘The Aurora Zoo’, a citizen science platform where the public analyze short videos of aurora displays.
Frequently asked questions about Northern Lights cruises
Norway is one of the few locations where you can sail north of the arctic circle in winter – prime aurora-viewing season. That means a cruise along the Norwegian shore gives you the best chance to see the northern lights. Tromsø, another town on the Norwegian coast, holds a northern lights-inspired music festival in January.
Snowshoeing in Tromsø
Beyond the rewards of seeing the northern lights, the bonuses of winter season Northern Lights cruises are the stunning contrasts of scenery and the variety of onshore activities. Ports vary greatly from industrial centers and fjord villages to picturesque coastal towns and remote outposts on barren, frozen coasts. Dip into chocolate-making at the lakeside Lindt headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland. Viking guests can participate in a hands-on workshop led by a master chocolatier at one of the world’s foremost producers, founded in 1845.
ATV/Quad-safari to the Norwegian border (Kirkenes)
As mentioned, the lights like to appear in the wee hours — particularly between 11 p.m. An advantage in Norway is that it's dark enough to see them for a longer period as you get into the fall and winter. Some local initiatives protesting against cruise travel have also gathered momentum, so cruisers should be aware of these issues before setting foot ashore. If you’ve ever wanted to dive into the culture of the Vikings or explore what makes people in the Nordic region the so-called happiest on earth, you could do a lot worse than book a Scandinavian cruise.
Quark Expeditions’ “Under the Northern Lights: Exploring Iceland & East Greenland” cruise
For those interested in Viking history, look out for smaller ship itineraries featuring Visby on the wonderful island of Gotland. Scandinavia—and Norway in particular—is an expensive place to travel around, so a cruise can make financial sense for those seeking an introduction to the region. For one price, you get your travel, accommodation, meals, and entertainment covered. The Northern Lights shine almost every day in Finnish Lapland between September and March. Visitors to the area should tie in a visit to Rovaniemi, the capital of Finland known as the ‘official’ hometown of Santa Claus in the Arctic Circle. The enchanting celestial dance of the blue and green Northern Lights is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for many travellers and astronomers.
With mountains and fjords, as far as the eye can see, a trip on Narvik’s cable car offers stunning views, 650 metres above sea level. Formed after an accidental overflow from an adjacent geothermal plant, the original lagoon has been expanded into a dozen steaming, milky-blue pools with a lava wall looming almost four metres above. Iceland’s Majestic Landscapes ocean voyage spends half of the 13-day itinerary exploring the country’s dramatic vistas, villages and cities, with the other half cruising around the fjords of far north Norway. One such trip is this 12-night itinerary from Celebrity Cruises, which includes a visit to both Visby and Tallinn.
Day 10
Immerse yourself in the beauty of Arctic landscapes and rich traditions of the indigenous Sami people, who have a deep connection with the land. Iceland, Greenland and Arctic Canada are visited by some expedition ships during northern lights season (but mostly early in the season in August and September) by such brands as Quark Expeditions, Aurora Expeditions and Lindblad Expeditions. Tromso is another Norwegian destination known as a hub for aurora borealis viewing. In late January, there's a northern lights arts festival featuring top artists in various musical genres. The lights are best viewed in the Northern Hemisphere and especially in locations on the so-called auroral oval, a ring zone over the polar regions.
The best Northern Lights cruises for 2024 - The Independent
The best Northern Lights cruises for 2024.
Posted: Fri, 22 Dec 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Iceland, Greenland, and polar regions around the Northwest Passage promote some of their active, adventurous cruises around the equinoxes in September and March as northern lights viewing opportunities as well. Lines cruising in these regions include Hurtigruten, Silversea, Lindblad Expeditions, Viking Cruises, Quark Expeditions, Adventure Canada, and others. Cunard’s Norway and Northern Lights cruise is a 12-day roundtrip along Norway’s coastline from Southampton, England on Queen Mary 2, or Queen Victoria ships. Guest speakers, astronomers and award-winning photographers are usually on board to join guests on deck to each evening to scan for and enjoy the northern lights show. Midsize and small cruise ship companies offer a variety of Arctic Circle sails during prime northern lights viewing months.
The height of summer can be marred by heavy rainfall, while it’s possible to get sunburnt in the snow-covered conditions of February and March. The best places to see the aurora borealis are all north towards the Arctic Circle, such as Alaska, Canada, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. Dr Sadie Jones is the Astronomy Public Engagement Leader at the University of Southampton. In January 2020, she assisted members of the Space Environment Physics group on an expedition to Svalbard, Norway to observe the aurora and collect research data. She also runs talks and school workshops on aurora research to promote ‘The Aurora Zoo’, a citizen science platform where the public analyse short videos of aurora displays. Thanks to our Northern Lights Promise, if the Northern Lights don’t occur within sight of your ship during your voyage of 11 days or more, we’ll give you another 6- or 7-day voyage for free.
Seeing the northern lights on a cruise isn’t guaranteed (although at least one cruise line, Hurtigruten, does issue a guarantee for certain cruises. See below). But you will increase your odds of seeing the northern lights by being in the right place in the Arctic Circle at the right time. Receive special offers, exciting new itineraries and fascinating articles delivered straight to your inbox. From Honningsvåg, look out for the striking rock formation called Finnkirka near the entrance to Kjøllefjord village.
Pet and play with pups at the Tromsø Wildnerness Centre, home to around 200 Alaskan huskies. Founded in 1988 by dog sledder Tove Sørensen, the family-run business is more tour- than competition-based, providing hours- and days-long dog-sledding trips throughout the winter. During the summer, the dogs enjoy mountain and glacier hikes with staff members and public volunteers alike. Also known as the Northern Lights, aurora borealis is a swirling display of green and blue lights that move unpredictably across the sky in specific regions of the world. It’s believed that Galileo was the first person to name the dancing lights in 1623, with ‘aurora’ derived from the Roman goddess of dawn and ‘boreas’ from the Greek god of wind and storms.
