Touring the Northern Lights

November, along with October, February and March, are largely considered the months best for viewing the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, October to April will provide an opportunity and the farther north you go, the more likely you will be to witness this ethereal natural phenomenon and “free” light show provided by the heavens.

The Northern Lights provide a dance of rainbows in the evening from this display caused by fast-moving particles emanating from the sun colliding with different types of gases in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The amounts of varying gases provide for the different colors you’re likely to see. While generally the Lights lean toward yellows and greens, there isn’t a color of the rainbow that isn’t occasionally on offer including red and purples.

Essentially, you need to get yourself north of the “line” of 60 degrees latitude. While Lapland is certainly a wonderful place to view the lights, many people are headed to Iceland this year owing to the bargain basement fares provided by Icelandair from both the United States and a number of locations throughout Europe.

Discover the World does a fantastic job catering to tourists interested in checking out the lights with tours and packages for everyone in six countries deemed best for viewing, with packages catering to light chasers beginning this month (November) and through February 2017.

The Northern Lights are a perfect bucket list item and it’s the time of the year best for ticking this off with an ethereal delight you’ll not soon forget.