A guide to trips to see the Northern Lights

Ways to boost your chances of seeing the aurora borealis

The Northern Lights are one of nature's great displays, a free, multicoloured light show that is most commonly seen in the Arctic regions. Every performance is different, a beautiful, shifting dance of nocturnal rainbows that many viewers find a humbling and spiritually uplifting experience.

In recent years, trying to see this elusive and ethereal sight has become a prime reason to fly north for an adventurous winter break, despite the often high costs and the cold, dark and challenging environment in which it occurs.

The mesmeric lights are formed from fast-moving, electrically charged particles that emanate from the sun. These are driven towards the Poles by the Earth's magnetic field and their varying colours are a result of the different gases in the upper atmosphere. In the northern hemisphere they are known as the aurora borealis and hang above the planet in an oval-shaped halo. The lights also have their southern counterpart above Antarctica, the aurora australis, but the principal audience for this is penguins.

Where and when to go

What are the best ways of maximising your chances of seeing the aurora borealis? The good news is that the range of holidays available for viewing the Northern Lights has never been better.

To see the celestial disco in its full glory, you will have to head north towards the Arctic, above latitude 60 degrees at the least.

The snowy wilds of Canada and Alaska are fine viewing spots, too, but for most of us it is more affordable, and convenient, to fly to Iceland or northern Scandinavia, commonly known as Lapland. Here it is possible to see the lights from late September to early April, with October to November and February to March considered optimum periods.

The hours of darkness increase the farther north you travel, and while the aurora can be sighted at any moment, 9pm to 2am tends to be prime viewing time. It's surprising how often the lights reveal themselves just as dinner is served, and many hotels offer an aurora alarm service if you don't want to stay up waiting.

Where you go will depend on your budget and the time available, but a more crucial decision is what else you want to do when you're not standing outside in sub-zero temperatures staring up at the night sky with fingers crossed.

With luck you will see the heavens ablaze with a silky, swirling light, but bear in mind that this can never be guaranteed. For this reason it's important not to become obsessed with the single goal of beholding the aurora, but to see this as just one of the many thrills of a winter holiday to the Arctic. Cool city breaks, sparkling white landscapes, fairy-tale ice hotels, romantic husky-sled rides, the hi-tech-meets-frontier lifestyle of its indigenous peoples - these are all equally good reasons to go.

How to book: Packages

These make sense for an Arctic adventure, particularly if you want to travel on a short break or in half-term and include activities such as snowmobiling, superjeep trips or husky sledding. Scandinavian countries are much better than us at keeping their transport systems moving in winter, but even there bad weather can disrupt journeys and it helps to have the support and financial protection that comes from booking through a tour operator.

1 Sweden: The specialist soft adventure travel company, Off the Map Travel (0800 566 8901; offthemaptravel.co.uk) organises tailor made trips to the best destinations in the world to experience the Northern Lights. These include Bj?rkliden, in northern Sweden, which is situated in a weather shadow of the surrounding mountain range delivering optimum conditions for aurora spotting. A four-night trip in the February 2017 half-term starts from £1,299pp based on two adults and two children sharing a two-bedroom cabin on a half board basis, including exclusive aurora activities, but excluding flights.

2 Iceland: Regent Holidays (020 7666 1290; regent-holidays.co.uk) has a four-night South Iceland Winter Break to Reykjavik from £685pp, based on two sharing, staying at the Hotel Cabin on a bed-and-breakfast basis and including flights, transfers and a range of excursions such as an evening Northern Lights excursion, a Golden Circle coach tour and a visit to the Blue Lagoon.

The company also offers an escorted Northern Lights Explorer Group Tour to Iceland that aims to maximise the chances of success by staging six aurora-hunting expeditions, with a fresh location every night. As the aurora is such a fascinating phenomenon, it helps to travel with an expert who can offer some, well, illumination. Prices are from £1,655pp including flights and B&B accommodation.

3 Norway: Hurtigruten (020 8846 2642; hurtigruten.co.uk), which operates a fleet of passenger ships that constantly sails up and down the Norwegian coast, has a "Northern Lights promise" to anyone booking a Classic Round Voyage (a round-trip along the Norwegian coastline between Bergen and Kirkenes) combined with its Astronomy Tour, which includes talks and guidance by astronomers, before March 31 2017. The promise means that if the Lights are not visible from your ship you will be offered a free six or seven day cruise. The 12-day cruise costs from £999pp in an inside cabin on full board basis, based on two sharing. If you're short of time, a five/six day Arctic Highlights with Flights package sailing between Troms? and Kirkenes costs from £799pp including flights from a choice of eight UK and Ireland airports.

Remote locations away from cities and light pollution offer better chances of spotting the lights. Head to Sollia on the Russian-Norwegian border and stay at the Sollia Gjesteg?rd which has one of the best restaurants in northern Norway. You can also visit the owners' aurora borealis basecamp. Inntravel (01653 617000; inntravel.co.uk) has a Sollia Northern Lights Break from £975pp based on two sharing including return flights London-Kirkenes, transfers, three nights' half board, and an evening in the aurora borealis base camp.

4 Finland: In Finnish Lapland, combine accommodation at the Torassieppi Reindeer Farm with dog-sledding and cross-country skiing with night treks on snowshoes, by minibus and snowmobile to seek the Northern Lights. Travellers are also provided with an aurora alarm, to maximise sighting chances. The Aurora Zone (01670 785012; theaurorazone.com) has departures for its Torassieppi - Lakeside Aurora package from January 8 to March 12 2017 from £1,595pp including flights from London, transfers, seven nights' full board accommodation, all activities, cold-weather clothing and guides.

5 Canada: The lights are not just a northern European event: cross the Atlantic for potential spectacular sightings too. Churchill, in the Canadian province of Manitoba, is one of the best places in North America to witness an aurora borealis display. Go seeking them on a Tundra Buggy at night, combining such excursions with snowshoe treks and dog-sledding by day.

Tactics

As with whale-watching or a safari, you need some luck to get a good sighting - but there are a few things you can do to improve your chances.

It helps to pick dates that avoid a full moon and to visit locations away from the light pollution caused by large settlements.

Good weather is also crucial, but this is harder to predict. Local conditions can vary wildly, with sensational sightings at one spot but thick cloud just a few miles away.

One solution is to go for as many nights as you can spare, and to visit more than one place.

(China Daily 11/26/2016 page24)