THE NORTHERN LIGHTS

The best places in the world to catch a glimpse of this spectacular view: Canada, Alaska, Iceland, Greenland, Norway, Finland and Sweden

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The northern lights (aka aurora borealis) appear in the sky as large areas of colour including green, pink, yellow, blue and violet. It occurs as a result of solar activity, and we're able to see it when charged particles in the solar wind collide with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

“When I look at the northern lights ... I see our ancestors dancing around a sacred fire, lighting the way for us when it's time for us to cross over from this physical world and join them." - Molly Larkin

To say I was excited to see the northern lights was an understatement! This breath-taking sight has captured the imaginations of people for thousands of years, influencing an abundance of tales in Norse mythology.

Of course, in true Amber-fashion I didn’t do a lot of research beforehand :( As the aurora borealis is a natural phenomenon, it's not always out in full beam. This is what we saw:

😭😭

#pitchblack #crushed #devastated

To be fair, February is actually the perfect time of year to visit Iceland. We were just unlucky.

If you’ve got your heart set on seeing this gorgeous display, your best bet would be to stay for at least a week. Clear your evening schedule, because if you don’t get to see the lights the first time then your travel company will most likely offer you a seat on coaches for the following nights until you see it.

Check beforehand of course, but we went with GrayLine and they had a very good policy with regards to this. I mean ideally, an igloo hotel would be perfect! Maybe start saving… 💲💲💲