You already might know that the mystical northern lights are not as easy to catch as some might think. There are certain things that you might want to know when hunting them and when booking excursions from travel companies in Lapland. When I worked in travel industry I often came across to many questions regarding to northern lights and aurora borealis. I have listed below what were the questions that many customers pondered.
- When is the good change to see them?
- Are the changes better for today or tomorrow?
- Do you cancel the excursion if there isn’t any changes or if it is snowing?
If you are thinking the same questions yourself, I highly recommend to continue reading!
Natural phenomenon
The Northern lights are a natural phenomenon, meaning that they don’t have timetables. Everyone would be really happy if they had! The change of seeing them depends a lot on the weather. The northern lights happen above clouds and therefore the sky needs to be clear. Best time to see them is when the sky is clear and dark, and when you can see the stars.
What to know before booking excursions?
Unfortunately no one can guarantee that you will see them when you book an excursion and not often does the travel companies cancel or give any refunds if you are unlucky with seeing them. When you are thinking about booking an excursion it is good to check the weather forecast, if it´s cloudy or not. Remember also that the weather can always change!
It is also good to bare in mind that during the full moon even if the sky is clear you might not be able to see them since the sky might be too bright.
It is always hard to tell beforehand if the changes are good even though we nowadays have a many aurora alert applications. They might tell you in real time what the changes are, but in order to see them you really need a clear sky to be able to catch the with your eyes.
Big 5 of Africa
When I was guiding a northern light excursion one quest from South-Africa advised wisely:
“Peole often come to Africa to see the big 5. The lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant and African buffalo, you come to see them but you might not see them at all.”
Some wise customer from the excursion that I guided
He compared the northern lights to the big 5 of Africa since they are both a natural phenomenon. If you see them, you are really lucky.