The Northern Lights from the Hotel Room in Finland

What you need to know

Booking: While you can book year-round, the most popular option is during the winter when the sky is the darkest and the stars are the most visible. Autumn offers myriad colors that you may not see during the winter, but the Aurora is visible from late August to late April.

Winter Attire: Some of the best stargazing will take place outside of your dwelling, and it’s encouraged to dress snug and warm. Thermals, gloves, a lined jacket, and comfortable boots are recommended, because comfort will directly influence the enjoyment of the spectacle that awaits you.

Accommodations: Cabins, igloos, and hybrids vary in size and price. Whether you’re looking for an intimate escape, or a family retreat, there are plenty of options for lodging.

What is Aurora Borealis?

The phenomena known as Aurora Borealis is the result of solar wind at high altitudes. This solar wind causes disturbances in the magnetosphere, and creates the illusion of a ghostly green blanket that wraps itself around the sky. The visual stimulation is vibrant, awe inspiring, and all consuming. Pale green and pink are the most common of colors, and they display themselves in magnificent arcs of color and shape. You can easily lose yourself in the spirals as the Aurora Borealis encomposses your surroundings. Roughly translating to “The Dawn of the North,” Aurora Borealis occurs between the twilight and the obscurity of the early morning. It doesn’t matter if you’re an early riser, or a night owl, because the overlapping circle of this Venn Diagram is one of total awe-inspiring beauty, and majestic optical magnificence.

The beauty that awaits you

Imagine hiking up a hill in snow shoes, eagerly awaiting your homestead; your body aching, and your soul weary. Maybe you were hunting, or maybe you were just hiking while your neck did all the work gathering in all of the surroundings. As you press on, and on, you catch a glimpse of the horizon that awaits you. You seat yourself on the incline for just a second, and take a sip of water as you look up. What waits for you in the sky at first seems like it’s too good to be true, but as you wipe your weary eyes, you cannot believe what you are seeing. Explosions of color and shapes that you once only thought belonged in long-lost fairy tales and stories innocently youthful exuberance. Your mind, your body, and your soul are rejuvenated by your surroundings. You can finally close your eyes and rest under a sky that you can call your home.

The Majesty of Your Surroundings

Whether you’re residing in a glass igloo, a cabin, or a combination of the two, you’ll never have to worry about the amenities. As you warm yourself in the early evening waiting for the Aurora Alarm that waits for you in your sleeping quarters, you know that you’re taking things slow as the twilight emerges. Sleep might hit your eyes, but you know that laying back and staying awake for just a little while longer will treat you to the magnetic magnificence that will show itself in all of its splendor. Whether you choose to spend your day in a snow tank safari, skiing or snowboarding, ice fishing on Lake Inarinjarvi, or bathing in the icy bay of Bothnia, comfort will encapsulate your existence as you wrap yourself up and lay back to admire the natural beauty that you didn’t know you were missing.

What You’re Missing

We get lost in the day to day of modern society; cars stalled in traffic, lines for lattes, mid day lunch recesses, and that aching desire to escape from the monotony that encapsulates our existence. Meanwhile, the sky has its own glorious map full of stories and bursting with light; an enchanting kaleidoscope of cosmic creation. We all get so lost in modern day minutia, that we often forget about what’s beyond the periphery; the universe precedes our existence, and will continue to exist long after we’re gone. We owe it to ourselves to feast our eyes upon it’s magnificent glory, and take it all in.