Mistakes People Make When Observing the Northern Lights

At the moment I’m sitting in a hotel room in Rovaniemi hoping the clouds clear and my group can see some northern lights. It got me thinking about all the mistakes people make when observing the northern the lights, so I thought I should make a blog about it! Okay, I’m also trying to keep myself awake long enough to see them.

I’ve been travelling to the Arctic to see the northern lights for eight seasons, and I feel like I have to give the same ‘reality check’ to every group I pick up. Many have the wrong expectations when coming to Northern Europe to seeing the northern lights, and one of the most important factors as a trip leader is to set realistic expectations. As an operator and agent, I feel it is even more important!

Here are the common problems I find when people are booking northern lights trips, based on my experience.

Staying too far south

People very often plan a trip to Norway to see the northern lights and stay too far south. People ask if it’s possible to see the northern lights in places like Oslo and Bergen. Tourism boards don’t help, either. They often use photos of the big cities under the northern lights in their marketing material. I live in Bergen and can tell you that we see the northern lights maybe once a month, but maybe in the city centre once or twice a season! The same goes for Oslo. Even Trondheim is too far south.

I find cities on the Arctic Circle, such as Rovaniemi, can also be difficult because you are still technically quite far south. When you are further north, the strength of the lights doesn’t matter so much as they are guaranteed to reach there almost every night. When you are further south (but still within the Arctic Circle), you have to rely on the lights being a certain strength to reach you. It’s a fine art to planning where the right spot is, which is why it’s important to give yourself a lot of time in the north!

Going too far north doesn’t help, either

The next problem is that people may go too far south. Svalbard is a fantastic place to see the lights, but often they are so strong that they actually go past Svalbard and can’t be seen there. Here’s a picture of the aurora belt as I write this article, and you’ll see the lights goes over Svalbard.

Many people may just look on a map and pick the northernmost spot they can get to – for example, Honningsvåg – but fail to recognise that many northern towns are prone to bad weather. Coastal Norway may be further north than somewhere like Saariselka or Abisko, but it’s prone to more clouds.

That said, when the far north is clear, it’s practically guaranteed that you’ll see the northern lights. The best lights I’ve seen were just out of Båtsfjord, which is at 70 degrees north. However, Båtsfjord is on the Barents Sea and has many cloudy days. I just got lucky. In fact, this whole article can be summarised as “you have to just get lucky”, but that would be a boring read!

Picking the wrong place (or wrong time of year...)

When looking for northern lights, there are two things that are important: Latitude and cloudy days. Look for somewhere that has few cloudy days.

It’s also important to choose a place where you can do northern lights tours. It’s harder to see the lights in cities, so it’s important to get out with a guided tour to give yourself a good chance to see them.

This may seem obvious to 99% of you, but you should also be aware that you can’t see the northern lights between mid-April and early August because it’s not dark enough. To see the lights you have to see stars, and that is not possible in those months because of the midnight sun. I’ve had people in July ask me if they can see the lights.

The weather in December and January can be full of storms (it’s actually the rainiest time of year for some parts of Northern Norway), so the cloud coverage is often pretty consistent. When researching locations, also check how many rainy days on average they have. Abisko in Sweden actually has the most clear nights of anywhere in the aurora belt.

You want to be in a place that is high with a wide sky – which is why Norway can be a problem with all the mountains. Lofoten is not a good place to see the lights (though they do appear there and the mountains make for spectacular photos!).

I prefer high, wide and flat areas with little cloudy days. Wide skies and good visibility make a huge difference.

Not dressing appropriately (or being too impatient)

I find it so frustrating when people spend years saving and then planning a northern lights tour, only to give up within the first 15 minutes of being outside because it’s too cold. Come on, you’re in the Arctic in winter! Dress appropriately.

It is freezing cold in the winter (it’s -20C now in Rovaniemi) and standing still makes it feel even colder.

Also – be patient! You may be standing outside for over an hour waiting for northern lights. They don’t come on with the flick of a light switch. Don’t give up after the first five minutes.

Not staying long enough

When I do my walking tours in Bergen, I meet many people who tell me they are flying to Tromsø for one or two nights before heading to Oslo or somewhere else. That’s crazy. I’ve been above the Arctic Circle for a week now, and we have had lights twice in that week. What I’m saying is that you need to give yourself time. You need at least five days in the Arctic to give yourself a strong chance of seeing the lights.

Not booking a northern lights tour

If you are serious about seeing the northern lights, you will book a tour. Many people fly to Tromsø and hope to see the lights from the city centre. It does happen, but not frequently. And the lights are never as bright in the cities because of light pollution. You need to get out to the countryside, and the way to do that is with a tour. They will drive you to where they are sure the lights will be seen. Nothing is better than that. Some tours will even teach you how to photograph the lights. Some companies even provide the appropriate clothing.

Relying on apps or alarms

Some people download all the northern lights apps and expect the apps to tell them when the lights are out. Some of the best lights I had were when the apps told me I had a 7% chance of seeing them! I got amazing northern lights in Ålesund and Hurtigruten never set off its northern lights alarm. If you want to see the lights, get out and look with your eyes.

The best chance of seeing the northern lights is to go out and look for extended periods of time.

Not having the right camera gear

Not every camera takes the professional quality photos. Many point and shoot cameras will not pick up the northern lights, and many smart phones also can’t capture them. You need to have a DSLR camera (with a tripod!) that has a low F-stop (I use 1.4 but anything under 2.5 works) to be able to capture the lights. I use a wide angle lens especially for the lights. High-end iPhones and other smart phones can capture the lights pretty well.

Also, make sure flash is turned off. It ruins not just your photos but everyone elses.

This guide perfectly summarises mistakes people make when photographing the lights.

Managing expectations

The northern lights never look like the pictures when you’re looking at them in person. The lights are often a grey-ish colour and become a muted green if they are very strong. Very rarely will you see the purple or bright green with your eyes. 10% of people will never seen the green. Phones and cameras pick up the colours a lot better than our eyes can. The camera will often pick up the lights before you can see them with your eyes.

Also, the intensity and the frequency of the lights varies a lot depending on atmospheric conditions and solar activity. The science is a lot more complicated, and factors like speed, density and solar storms weigh in a lot to what the lights will look like.

Also, just because you are far north and have a clear night sky doesn’t mean you’ll see the northern lights.

Mistakes people make when observing the northern lights

That’s all I can think of. Sadly as I wrote this Rovaniemi got cloudy. So now we won’t see some lights. But that’s part of the adventure!

I hope this was beneficial to you. Remember that you can reach out to me if you want help planning a northern lights trip, or you can read our northern lights travel guide.