Table Of Content
- Alaska Northern Lights Viewing
- Aurora Expeditions: Northern Lights Explorer
- Where do Northern Lights cruises go?
- Trip Planning Help
- Wild Journeys Alaska Northern Lights Tours
- Do cruise tours improve my chances of witnessing the Northern Lights?
- Quark Expeditions’ “Under the Northern Lights: Exploring Iceland & East Greenland” cruise
Don’t miss out on the chance to see them this year as the sun’s cycle reaches solar maximum, ensuring the best viewing opportunities for the next 11 years, especially during the spring and fall. Plus, there’s no place better than Alaska for stargazing, where vast skies and minimal light pollution create the perfect setting for nature’s light show. Participating in cruise tours in Alaska can indeed increase your likelihood of seeing the Aurora Borealis. These tours take you to destinations such as Fairbanks and other inland areas, which typically have clearer skies compared to the Inside Passage where cruise ships navigate. While it is possible to catch a glimpse of the lights from Denali National Park and Preserve during the viewing season, your chances improve significantly when you venture further north to Fairbanks and beyond.
Alaska Northern Lights Viewing
Plus, there's a higher likelihood of clear skies in Alaska during spring, so the best time to maximize your chances of seeing the northern lights is in March. If you're eager to capture the beauty of the Northern Lights, it's advisable to bring along a high-quality camera. Many guests find it beneficial to also have a tripod, a remote control, and extra batteries for a smooth photography experience. Utilizing a sturdy tripod will help stabilize your camera for long exposure shots, which are ideal for capturing the movement and colors of the Northern Lights. Experimenting with different shutter speeds, ISO settings, and aperture values will enable you to find the optimal settings for your specific location and lighting conditions. Lastly, be patient and prepared to spend time outdoors during the night, as the Aurora Borealis is a natural phenomenon that can be unpredictable.
Aurora Expeditions: Northern Lights Explorer
After another day at sea, guests will reach Tromsø, a city 250 miles inside the Arctic Circle with famously consistent Northern Lights displays. Guests can stop by the Arctic Cathedral (which resembles a geometric glacier), visit the Polaria Arctic Center, or perhaps take a cable car to the top of Mount Storsteinen. If the lights appear during the night, the crew will play an announcement over the in-cabin TVs (meaning guests need to leave their TVs on all night to hear it). During sightings, staff circulates trays of hot beverages, like cocoa and toddies, to help guests stay warm on deck. Viking runs the itinerary multiple times from January through March in 2025 and 2026. It’s also the site of Scoresbysund, the most extensive fjord system in the world, and the glaciers here are the birthplace of many of the icebergs you see in the Arctic.
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Where do Northern Lights cruises go?
At 19 to 22 days long, depending on the departure, there is plenty of time to hope for a northern lights appearance — or two, or three, or more. The longer itinerary continues with a visit to the Faroe Islands and disembarkation in Bergen, Norway. If you're committed to booking a cruise to Alaska, you can increase your chances of seeing the northern lights by choosing to go as early or late in the cruise season as possible. Early May and late September both offer significantly longer hours of darkness than mid-summer months, giving you a better chance of seeing the phenomenon on a clear night.
Guests enjoy unlimited access to a variety of meals throughout the day, including early-riser breakfasts, lunches, dinners with multiple entrée options, and snacks in between. The beverage selection is also unlimited, featuring fine wines, craft beers, and signature cocktails, ensuring guests can savor their favorite drinks or try something new without any additional charges. Alaska also boasts a stunning variety of wildlife—think seals, sea otters, eagles, mink, porpoises, and mountain goats, to name a few. Search for brown bears in Red Bluff Bay against a backdrop of towering red mountains and waterfalls or along the shores of Chichagof Island. Observe a sea lion haulout (when they gather on the banks to rest) and puffin rookery in the Marble Islands, or go whale watching in Fredericks Sound, Stephens Passage, or Chatham. No matter your itinerary, UnCruise helps guests witness incredible creatures in their natural habitats, creating memories that will last a lifetime.
Latitude and Aurora Visibility
(Although some sailings operate in reverse.) The Norwegian fjords themselves are a sight to behold — and if they're paired with the northern lights, that's all the better! The sailings run from January to March when daylight is limited in the Arctic Circle, making for prime aurora opportunities. Rates start from $4,999 per person in 2023, and it should be noted that Viking is an adults-only cruise line. Remember that seeing these lights doesn't involve a cruise director flipping on a switch. Witnessing the northern lights in their prime requires clear and dark skies, sometimes late-night viewing hours, enough solar activity for the colors to appear and a big dose of luck. Keep that in mind before you place all your cruise vacation hopes on this one experience.
Wild Journeys Alaska Northern Lights Tours
If you don't have two or three weeks to take off work to go northern lights watching, consider Oceanwide Expeditions' eight-day aurora borealis sailings from Iceland to Greenland and back. The adventure begins in Akureyri, the unofficial capital of north Iceland, before heading for Greenland's breathtaking Scoresby Sund, the largest fjord system in the world. If you do have a little more time, you can opt for the 13-day Spitsbergen - Northeast Greenland - Aurora Borealis itinerary, which embarks in the Svalbard archipelago before sailing to Greenland and down to Iceland. Both take place in the late summer into early fall, as darkness returns to the skies in the Arctic. Rates for the eight-day itinerary start from $4,600 per person for the 2023 sailings. Specializing in polar voyages, Quark Expeditions knows a thing or two about the northern lights, which is why the company offers aurora sailings each fall.
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Expert guides double as concierges, tailoring a plan the day before based on your interests and preferences—and you’re free to join in on as many or as few activities as you please. Alaska’s magnetic pull is undeniable, drawing adventurous travelers eager to explore its vast wilderness and rugged landscapes. More than 25 years ago, it was also the launching pad for UnCruise Adventures, which started with a single yacht in Alaska. Today, UnCruise’s Alaska expeditions are renowned for non-stop action, adventure, and exploration.
Quark Expeditions’ “Under the Northern Lights: Exploring Iceland & East Greenland” cruise
The final days before disembarkation in Bergen, Norway, will be spent in the Faroe Islands. There you’ll find traditional red-painted timber homes with grass roofs, lots of sheep and Faroese ponies, Viking history, and imposing sea cliffs. Cunard Line and Hurtigruten are among the lines that visit northern Norway in the fall. Alta's credentials include the world's first permanent observatory for viewing the aurora borealis; it was built there in 1899.
Each fall, one or two of the ships in Cunard's legendary fleet head north for Norway, where guests are treated to scenic cruising along the coast. The 12-day itineraries depart from Southampton, England, before traveling to Alesund, Tromsø, Narvik, and Haugesund, sailing through majestic fjords along the way. Since the ships sail this itinerary from October to November, the skies will be dark enough to see the northern lights, should they decide to appear. In 2023, the voyage will be undertaken by Queen Victoria, while next season, the Queen Mary 2 and the upcoming Queen Anne will take the reins.
Midsize and small cruise ship companies offer a variety of Arctic Circle sails during prime northern lights viewing months. While this list is not inclusive, lines to choose from include Hurtigruten, Viking, Cunard, Quark, P&O, Silversea, Fred. In that case, the company will give you a free six-day southbound or seven-day northbound Original Coastal Express Class Voyage. Beyond the North Cape Express, the other auroral sailings (with the Northern Lights Promise) include the 12-day Original Coastal Express (the full scenic route that stops at all 34 ports twice, on the northbound and southbound route). From mid-November through March, you can check into a lodge or look for the lights each night as you try a different activity, like ice fishing or dogsledding.
Alaska, with its vast wilderness and clear skies, offers some of the best opportunities to catch a glimpse of this mesmerizing phenomenon. Find out the best time to see the northern lights on your Alaska cruise and what Alaska locations offer the best viewing. Another option for improving your chances of seeing the aurora is a land and sea cruise tour package that includes one or more nights in the city of Fairbanks, which is less than 200 miles below the Arctic Circle in interior Alaska. It's considered one of the best places in the state to see the aurora, especially if you venture away from the city lights.
