Seeing the Northern Lights from India: where, when and how

The honest part first

The aurora happens 80 to 500 kilometres up, where particles from the Sun meet the upper atmosphere. To see it you need three things at the same time: activity overhead, darkness and a sky without cloud. Where you go and when you go take care of the first two. The third is weather, which is why a good aurora trip allows several nights and the freedom to move.

When to go

In the far north the season runs from late August to early April. In summer the sky never gets dark enough. Within the season, the long nights around midwinter give you the most hours of darkness to watch. A bright moon and city lights both make the aurora look fainter.

How dark is dark? In Tromsø the sun doesn't rise at all from about 27 November to 15 January, the polar night. In Rovaniemi, in Finnish Lapland, December gets about two and a half hours of daylight.

Is this a good winter to go?

In October 2024, NASA and NOAA announced that the Sun had reached the maximum of its 11-year cycle. Activity now eases off slowly, but the Royal Observatory of Belgium, which tracks the cycle, expects strong episodes to remain possible for another two to three years. The coming winters are still well worth it.

Where to base yourself

Tromsø, Norway

A city under the auroral oval, on a coast the Gulf Stream keeps milder than you would expect: winter averages about −4°C.

Finnish Lapland

Rovaniemi, Saariselkä or Levi. In the far north the lights appear on about 200 nights a year. It is colder: in Rovaniemi, January typically runs from −15°C to −30°C.

Abisko and Kiruna, Sweden

Abisko sits in a rain shadow that often keeps its sky clearer than the land around it, and has a dedicated aurora viewing station.

Iceland

Inside the aurora zone, with glaciers, waterfalls and hot springs to fill the days. Watch the cloud forecast as closely as the aurora one.

If you already hold a US or Canadian visa, two more places open up: Fairbanks in Alaska, where the dry interior climate often means clear skies, and Yellowknife in Canada, which counts up to 240 aurora nights a year.

Visas, and getting there

Norway, Finland, Sweden and Iceland are all in the Schengen area, so one Schengen visa covers the lot. Our Schengen visa guide explains where Tamil Nadu applications go and how long they take.

Lufthansa flies nonstop to Frankfurt from several Indian cities, and connects from Frankfurt to Tromsø and, in winter, to Rovaniemi, so both can be reached with a single change. Most other routings change twice, usually in Oslo or Helsinki.

Reading the forecast

Aurora forecasts use the Kp index, a scale from 0 to 9 that measures how disturbed the Earth's magnetic field is over three-hour periods; 5 or more counts as a geomagnetic storm. Under the auroral oval, in places like Tromsø and Lapland, you don't need a storm to see the lights. A clear sky matters more than a high number.

Three forecasts worth bookmarking: NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, and Yr, from the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.

Tell us when you can travel and how cold you're willing to be. We'll suggest the base that fits and plan enough nights to give the sky a fair chance. See our Northern Lights page.