Northern Lights Cruises 2024 & 2025

Table Of Content

• Explore Northern Lights Shore Experiences
• Pre: Pristine Iceland
• Subscribe to our emails to be the first to know about special offers & new itineraries
• Sea Kayaking Vacations
• These Cruises Offer the Best Way to See the Northern Lights
• When is the best time to see the Northern Lights on a cruise?
• Viking Inclusive Value
• New York to Norway Round Voyage with Cunard

Plan to put on your clothes or bathrobe quickly — the lights may only appear for a few minutes, or they could last considerably longer. If you are on a cruise in the Inside Passage before April 21 or after Aug. 21 and are willing to be awake in the middle of the night (the lights tend to appear in Alaska after midnight), there's a chance you'll see the aurora borealis. With mountains and fjords, as far as the eye can see, a trip on Narvik’s cable car offers stunning views, 650 metres above sea level.

Explore Northern Lights Shore Experiences

Hurtigruten Northern Lights Promise Extended to Benefit Cruisers - Matador Network

Hurtigruten Northern Lights Promise Extended to Benefit Cruisers.

Posted: Wed, 20 Mar 2024 07:00:00 GMT [source]

In Húsavik, we hope to have magical encounters with the many whales that visit this part of Iceland, known as the country’s whale-watching capital. We also have expert-led programs within the expedition, such as lectures or photography sessions, to enhance your understanding and capturing capabilities. Enrichment is an important component of our expeditions – we hope that you will leave changed and become lifelong ambassadors for the natural world and the wild, important destinations we visit. Your world-class Expedition Team will be on hand to answer your questions about the aurora borealis and how it comes to appear in the night sky, Arctic wildlife, geological formations and the history of the places we visit.

Pre: Pristine Iceland

The 10-Night Alaska Gold Rush Adventure Cruisetour (2A Northbound) will take you deep into the interior of Alaska, where you can explore Gold Rush history. You’ll call in at the Arctic beauty of Stavanger and Trondheim as well as enjoying two nights in Tromso, known as the Northern Lights Capital of the World, exploring its buzzing nightlife scene, distilleries and, of course, those illustrious lights. That’s all alongside Cunard’s signature fine gastronomy, plenty of evening entertainment and included flights. You’ll sail past natural wonders and beautiful medieval towns as well as spotting reindeer and huskies while you step out to hopefully view the Northern Lights, with a base in a cosy cabin and enjoying delicious regional meals.

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There are several things you can do to increase the odds of a sighting, starting with the time of year. The Northern Lights, or the aurora borealis, are natural light displays across the Arctic sky, caused by collisions between electrically charged particles from the Sun entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Experiencing these beautiful waves of light on a Northern Lights cruise holiday is at the top of many travellers’ wish lists and it’s easy to see why.

Sea Kayaking Vacations

Shorter days in the high latitudes means darkening evening skies, so on this voyage we stay close to the coastlines of the Arctic Circle, skirting around the Norwegian and Greenland seas, and exploring remote islands and villages of the region. As night falls, we look skywards hoping to catch the magic of the northern lights. This spectacular natural phenomenon offers a surreal light display as vibrant hues of blue, green, pink and violet dance across the night sky. Places located near the Arctic Circle such as northern Norway, Iceland and Greenland, are some of the best places in the world to witness this stunning light show. Dedicated trips in search of the aurora borealis include a 13-night round-trip expedition cruise from Amsterdam on MS Maud.

Sea kayaking holidays in the humbling wilderness of Antarctica, the Arctic, and some of the world’s most biodiverse regions, are guaranteed to stir your soul. Paddle between brash ice and icebergs of all shapes and sizes, absorbing the majestic scenery as it unfolds before you. See The Northern Lights with Aurora Expeditions and our Expedition Team will take you on excursions unique to the High Arctic, fully included in the cost of your expedition. For those interested in a little extra excitement, there are optional activities designed to get you closer to the action. Our Northern Lights expeditions provide a mix of comfort and adventure; for those willing to explore the Arctic the memories will last a lifetime.

When is the best time to see the Northern Lights on a cruise?

Iceland, Greenland and Arctic Canada are visited by some expedition ships during northern lights season (but mostly early in the season in August and September) by such brands as Quark Expeditions, Aurora Expeditions and Lindblad Expeditions. Yes - you can view the Northern Lights on one of our Norwegian cruises, however we can't guarantee their appearance! The aurora borealis is near impossible to predict, but sightings are more likely on clear nights between October and March, and odds increase the further north you travel.

Viking Inclusive Value

Taking a cruise to the Northern Lights is a special experience, offering the chance to see the colourful Aurora Borealis in the skies above your smaller ship. It all ends in Bergen, where you can explore the UNESCO-listed Bryggen district – and journeying in late autumn means there’s a good chance that the Northern Lights will appear. Enjoy included flights, a range of included activities and expert onboard lectures from the Expedition Team. Among Havila’s many Norwegian cruises on offer, their round voyage that starts and ends Bergen is one of the best ways to get a full round-up of the country and its celestial delights, with a stay in an ultra-modern new cabin.

Read below to see what our lovely guests have said about our Northern Lights cruises. Surrounded by stunning arctic landscapes, get closer to magnificent Humpback and Orca Whales, listening out for their otherwordly calls echoing around you. It passes through remote parts of eight countries—the U.S. (Alaska), Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia—but it's frozen at 65 degrees north.

Bridgett Quinn Weber, an advisor with Cruise Specialists who works with expedition cruises offered the advice below. Aurora Expeditions’ 22-day Northern Lights Explorer itinerary starts in Kirkenes, a small town in far northeastern Norway, stays close to the coastlines of the Arctic Circle, and skirts around the Norwegian and Greenland seas, and ends in Bergen. To marvel at the ethereal beauty of the aurora borealis is, for many, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You’re also more likely to see them if you visit in colder months, as the most brilliant displays occur both in dark and cold environments. Because it’s a scientific phenomenon beyond the comprehension of modern science, you can only truly predict occurrences of the Northern Lights roughly two hours before they happen.

Another reason to book with them is that round trip transfers to and from the airport are included. I recommend booking airfare through Viking as they are able to find great deals and it’s just easier to let them handle the travel details, in case changes need to be made. Make sure to download and install the Viking Journey app on your phone to use while on the ship. I found it very useful to see the daily ship schedule, make reservations, and see the excursions. Since we were staying overnight, we needed to get a COVID-19 antigen test to return back to the USA. We went to the Klinik Sperro to get it done - it was very fast and done in under 30 minutes.

As a rule of thumb, the further north you go, the longer your window is for seeing them. In true expedition style, we encourage exploration and adventure on our Northern Lights tours. Aurora Expeditions’ Northern Lights cruises offer flexibility in challenging environments in a way that puts you amongst the action to see and do as much as possible. Our Northern Lights adventures will take you across the seas, seeking out the Northern Lights in multiple countries and landscapes. To increase your chances of seeing the lights we move to different locations around the Arctic Circle, ensuring all bases are covered. Increase your chances of seeing the Northern Lights or aurora borealis on a small ship expedition cruise that takes you deep into the Arctic, to iconic destinations such as Greenland, Iceland and Norway.

The ‘auroral zone’ starts in Northern Norway just above the Lofoten Islands and extends up the coast to the North Cape (Nordkapp) and beyond. You will observe the same light display from anywhere in this region, but from a different angle. Some of our favourite places in Northern Norway to witness the Northern Lights include Tromsø, Kirkenes, the Lofoten Islands, Bodø and the North Cape.

The huge Beerenberg volcano is the world’s northernmost active volcano, last erupting in 1985. The northern part of the island is a great place to look for whales and dolphins, and contains impressive glaciers, some of which reach the sea. If the weather is friendly, we will try to land at Kvalrossbukta, a relatively sheltered bay on the island’s west coast. This is one of the landings used to supply the Norwegian weather station at Olonkinbyen, a settlement situated on the eastern side of the island. There is no best place to witness an aurora which, in our opinion, only adds to the mystery and appeal surrounding them.

Havila Voyages is so sure that guests will see psychedelic coronas of light in the night sky that the Norwegian cruise line offers a “Northern Lights promise” on any of its 12-day Round Voyages, taking place from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025. From there, the ship will sail as far north as possible, to a few kilometers from the Russian border, before sailing back to Tromsø, then visiting the wild and rugged Lofoten Islands and the Trondheim fjord. Northern Lights cruises and expeditions with Aurora Expeditions offer a unique and enchanting experience, providing travellers with the opportunity to witness the mesmerizing natural phenomenon known as the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. These expeditions take place in regions near the Arctic Circle, such as Norway or Iceland, where the Northern Lights are frequently visible. Our cruises are strategically timed to coincide with periods of high auroral activity. Passengers will embark on comfortable expedition vessels, equipped with expert guides, to explore remote and dark-sky locations.

If you decide to wait for the Northern Lights to come to you, you could be waiting a lifetime. We chose to go in March in the Arctic Circle in Norway as that part of the year had historically high levels of Northern Lights activity combined with a good chance of clear skies. It was also the last opportunity to partake in some winter activities before the warmer spring weather. Ideally, the best conditions to see the Northern Lights are when the sky is dark and clear of any clouds. But even if it is cloudy, the wind can change at any moment and let the rays of the aurora shine through. In fact, when this happens, you might be treated to a unique Northern Lights spectacle that only happens on cloudy nights.