The best places to see the Northern Lights in January
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Will you make 2018 the year you see the Northern Lights? A winter phenomenon in the northern hemisphere, the dancing green lights are the result of charged particles from the sun colliding with nitrogen and oxygen atoms.
They have to be seen to be believed, and there's no better time than in January, with the long Polar Nights in the Arctic Circle maximizing your green sky time.
From ringing in the new year under arctic skies to visiting the world's coldest inhabited place, we've selected 15 places you should consider heading to — all between 66-69° North latitude inside the Arctic Circle — this January to see the awesome aurora borealis in bloom.
Oymyakon, Russia
Searching for the Northern Lights in January means getting cold, so why not go for broke and see them from the world’s coldest inhabited place? This seven-day tour from Yakutsk in eastern Siberia to Oymyakon at 63° N includes dog sledding and a trip to the UNESCO-recognized Lena Pillars Nature Park. Oymyakon is at its coldest in January at around -36.4 °F.
Tromsø, Norway
Tromsø is above the Arctic Circle at 69° N, so experiences the Polar Night from the end of November to the end of January. Head there for the Polar Night Halfmarathon on January 6, 2018, an event that last year attracted 1,700 people.
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