Northern Lights adventures

Experience the Northern Lights Winter from October until the end of February. You have without a doubt heard about the Northern Lights, but have you experienced it?

For the most ideal Northern Lights experience, you need to find a place that is completely dark and far removed from artificial lighting. With Longyearbyen as your base, you don’t have to travel far to achieve this!

One of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights in Svalbard is a truly unique experience. Naturally, you can experience this in the evening or at night, but in Svalbard the darkness of the Polar Night enables you to experience this during daytime too. The mystical green light dances high above the Arctic Archipelago, creating a magical atmosphere during the winter months of the Polar Night.

Activity providers in Svalbard offer Northern Nights experiences by snowmobile, dog sled, by boat or even on foot equipped with snowshoes. If you want to travel out of Longyearbyen in comfort, you can head out of town by snowcat. Or perhaps you would prefer to attend a wilderness evening and combine good food with exciting lectures and the Northern Lights?

About Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) have fascinated humans for centuries and are the subject of myths and legends. It’s a natural phenomenon caused by powerful solar winds, whereby the sun emits electrically charged solar particles towards the earth. These participles enter the earth’s atmosphere at a height of between 90 and 180 km above the ground, creating electromagnetic radiation that is experienced on the ground as the Northern Lights. This flickering light seems almost magical, especially when you see it dancing above the snow-covered Arctic winter wilderness of Svalbard. If you are interested to learn more about the Aurora Borealis while you’re here, you can do so at The Kjell Henriksen Observatory.

Curious about what other activities Svalbard has to offer? Get more insight here.