Seen it in Tromso, Norway and Ivalo, Finland . Take the Hurtigruten coastal cruise from Bergen all the way north to Kirkenes and you will be sure to catch a glimpse of the Aurora Borealis if it appears. Stop at Tromso if you like. 

At Tromso, you will have to travel inland and stay overnight in one of the camp gounds. Tomso town itself is too bright to get a clear view of the Aurora.

At Ivalo, you should not have any problems seeing it if the Aurora appears.

Mind you, the chance of seeing the Aurora is even slimmer than seeing a Rainbow after the rain. I've traveled 3 times up North and only saw it twice. So good luck and be prepared to spend a lot of money.

By the way, it is very very cold and windy in Tromso or anywhere north of the Arctic Circle. Get really warm clothes, gloves and shoes. It's dark all the time and can get depressing. 

I forgot to mention, if you decide to take the Ivalo route, be sure to visit Rovaniemi where Santa has his home ;)

Thanks Novecento for the heads up, I'll try to prepare (also mentally) accordingly and still hope I'll be able to see it at the first try! :-)

Dear Diana,

Don't count on your luck or you are bound to be disappointed. Finding a place that is is far north enough, populated so you will not freeze to death and without too much light is only the first step. It is very hard to get the right combination of auroral activity and clear weather. And you have to catch it during those winter months when the sky is dark at night (in summer you get light 24 hours a day), which reduces your time window.

After spending a week in Tromso in the winter (under 24 hour darkness) 6 years ago, with no luck, I have been monitoring auroral activity every winter, and every time it is high, the sky has been clouded, with rain or snow.

If you check the aurora forecast here:

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/2012/12/30

You will find that there is moderate activity forecast for December 30. Less than ideal but if you fly to Tromso via Oslo, and then arrange for a trip inland or on a boat to where it is dark enough, you may be able to see some activity. But if you check the weather forecast, it will be cloudy that night. 

If you catch a time period of 2-3 days when solar activity will be high, yielding high auroral activity, and the weather forecast is for clear skies (not too often in arctic winters) then you have to be able to find an air ticket that you can afford. If you make advance travel arrangements, the chance you will get lucky is very low. 

I have met several people who have made trips to see the Northern lights, paid for expensive cruises that offer you will see them, and come back disappointed. The only people I know who have seen the Aurora Boreals, are those who have lived a whole winter or two in a place like Tromso, for work or study and were able to catch them in one of those rare occassions where they are visible.

Good luck.

Read this article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2011/dec/04/northern-lights-finland-aurora-borealis

Andy Pietrasik has spent years trying to see the northern lights – and always without success. But this time he was going with an aurora hunter…

Interesting link posted by JR M! As the map on that link suggests, go to Iceland! ;) For us here the Aurora Borealis are not considered a very rare sight, we see them quite regularly during the winters. In different colors, sometimes dancing on the skies. Of course this applies to people that live here, and travelers can be unlucky in this respect. An idea would be to combine such a trip with other objectives, not only to see the Aurora. I know of one tour operator in Reykjavik that guarantees Aurora sightings, that is if you dont see them on the day you go with them, you can go for free again. I doubt they would offer that if the likelihood of spotting the lights are slim, that would be bad business. ;) 

Bjorn is right. The weather in Iceland tends to be a a bit better than in the areas of Scandinavia in the Auroral zone. The only areas that have clearer skies  are portions of Eastern Siberia and Alaska (see map below)

Where:

Clear skies are a requirement, so you should try to choose a location that is blessed with the clearest skies. At the continental locations in Russia, Alaska and western Canada, which have the clearest skies under the auroral zone, will also be at their clearest around the spring equinox. So the dark of the moon in March is the best time of year to travel to the auroral zone since the yearly variation of auroral activity also peaks around the equinox

When you travel should depend on the best chance for clear skies and little or no moonlight. For most destinations, that means December through April, for two weeks around the dark of the moon. The best for weather, darkness, and daytime activities is February/March/April.

The best time of year is in the spring when the probability for clear skies is twice as good as in the fall. Two weeks around new moon in March is best, viewing is good from early January to late April, however.

If you must travel in the fall, the last two weeks of August and the first three weeks of September are best for weather, but the aurora is there behind the clouds (60 percent probability) during the entire winter.

Where you stay is not as important as arranging for transportation outside town to avoid city lights, and to acquire a clear view of the northern horizon. Dress warmly, plan to watch the sky between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, although an active period can occur anytime during the dark hours. Active periods are about 30 minutes long, occurring every 2 hours, if the activity is high.  The aurora is a sporadic phenomenon, occurring randomly for short periods or perhaps not at all.  If you can monitor the "short term forecast," it will reliably tell you what is expected in the next hour.

http://www.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/.

Oops, that link does not work. Use this:

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/

and look for the short term forecast on the right column

Having said all the above, here is something to wet your appetite, so you will not give up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NrhuBhgmjU

And this is the best view ever of the Aurora, but it may be a bit out of reach for most of us:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxrP3XCoSOI

Thanks everyone for the valuable inputs!

The aurora forecast website is very useful however available previsions are of course just for a few days, less than a week.

From what I can see the activity has been low or quiet. I was thinking about February / March so will try to do some research until then, plan and be ready to take off if the conditions are favorable.

From the “occurrence frequency picture”, it seems Iceland has the highest chances. I guess combining the trip with other objectives is a good idea :)

Björn, can you please let me know what is the Reykjavik’s tour operator you mentioned?

Thanks a lot!

Diana,

Just a heads up:
http://www.glocals.com/things-to-do/events_view/geneva/54355.htm

Thanks Michelle, sorry to hear... :(

if you are going to se the northern light you should go to greenland. you have a good chance of experiensing it. 

i found some picture from greenland with the northern light. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ilovegreenland/sets/72157631665809029/

and some information about when its the best time to experience it

http://www.greenland.com/en/things-to-do/naturoplevelser/oplev-nordlyset.aspx

hey Diana, 

Have a look at: http://authentic-scandinavia.com/northern-lights

So Diana, did you ever made this trip?  It looks interesting and this has always been on my bucket list!

Hi! No I haven't done it yet, but it's definitely still on my bucket list as well! There are a few people interested, we'll be exchanging thoughts and ideas and perhaps plan something for 2014 ! Who knows? :) Will keep you posted!

i do remember hiking in the summer on mount greylock in massachusetts just south of vermont. i was about 16 and it was quite late at night and dark. we were just lucky enough to see a small display. not colorful, but like curtins ruffling in the sky. that was the only time. but it might be easier to go to the USA in maine, and enjoy the lobster if you don't see any northern lights.

I took the Hurtigruten cruise to Kirkenes in February and saw the aurora twice, once from the boat in open water and the second on a snowmobiling trip from Kikenes but I know that we were very lucky. The cruise was still worth doing so that would be my tip (And you can stay in an ice hotel).

i have also seen the aurora in Scotland, just noeth of Edinburgh but that was pretty exceptional.

good luck!

You can go to Svalbard (Arctic Island in Norway). Northern light appear here quite often - you can seen it from October till the polar day start (more frequent in winter of cause)

But it also really expesive, but in a case you got there there are also a lot of interesting excursions to do

Good luck with it!

Hi Diana,

http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/ good aurora forecast in island, including cloud cover...

http://www.yr.no/ good weather forecast for the "northern countries"...

Aurora forecast, of course,  is only  a  bit accureate for a timeperiod of 1-3 days max . Nothing more. I was in Iceland at the end of september, beginning of october this year. I was in Hali, aurora forecast 5/8 for 2 nights but unfortunately with total cloud cover (low, mid and high). The same 2 nights, roughly 300km to the east of Hali, in Kevlavik, they had the best aurora sightings. It all comes down to luck: being at the right place at the right time. Any place near or above the northern circle in autumn, winter or spring is a good guess.

There are tons of operators out there organising aurora tours and none can guarantee a sighting.

I can recommend Iceland because of its stunning scenery as well. If you don't see the polar lights, you will love iceland's landscapes. There is a tour operator in Reykjavik that goes to the Jokulsarlon-icelake in the evening/night: very interesting. http://www.jokulsarlon.is/ and http://www.mountaineers.is/northern-lights-hunt-midnight-sun-and-dinner.html

Good luck!!

So who's up for doing this trip?

I'm available on the week of February 17 and flexible on number of days

cheapest flight

ZRH - Reykjavik (Iceland) departing Feb 17 / return Feb 21 = 467 CHF

or somewhere else depending on what else we would do :)

Just to throw an idea out there

Hi Jean-Jacques,
I just saw your activity post, that was quick :)

Unfortunately I won't make it that week. Hope you found some travel buddies and please share details afterwards! There's a slight chance that I'll make it by mid-March, otherwise I'll probably be planning for late Sept / October, so any hints will be very valuable.

Good luck and have fun !

If you want to see the aurora Borealis, the remainder of this week is one of those rare occassion when auroral activity will be high (see map in the link below for wednesday to Monday

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/2014/02/19

and clear skies in Tromso, Norway, those days, as well as in Iceland during the weekend.

Best days will be today and tomorrow and next Sunday and Monday.

This is your chance!

You can't plan it for when it is convenient to you, but when you get the confluence of high levels of auroral activity and good weather.

So I just came back from Iceland and it was an amazing trip!!  The weather was cloudy the first couple of days, but then we got to see the aurora during our last 2 nights there.  The first time we saw the lights near the town of Hofn, in the south of the island.  The second time we saw the lights was in Keflavik, right next to the KEF airport!  The lights were at level 2 and 3 (from scale of 0 - 9), but it was still impressive to see anyway.

So I'm happy to say, I've checked this one from my bucket list, and might even return to Iceland to see the northern portion of the island.

Thanks for sharing! I was wanting to ask you how had it was!

Any chances of wanting to go back in the next month ? :)

I still haven't given up on the idea, but this cycle is about to end, so from October on is more likely.

Re-starting my travelling searches soon if anyone is interested in joining please get in touch!

Hi Diana,

If you are looking for travel buddies next time around for the Northern Lights let me know as I am keen to see them too. 

Cheers

Tash

Hi,

shame you weren't anywhere in the uk last week, there was a spectacular showing of the Northern lights.  the Scottish Borders had a great show, I grew up there and saw the lights several times.

good luck,

Andrea H.

Unfortunately I was taking photos with my ipad and the lights were not showing up.  This is one of the best pictures we took, but the lights were brighter than shown on this picture.

Oops that second image wasn't supposed to be there.

Count me in Diana. I would love to go there.. Have been eyeing for quite some time now but it'll be great to go with travel buddies..

Hi everyone,

I'm planning on dong a trip to the Lapland region of Finland to see the northern lights.  This could happen in early December or mid to late January.  I'm on the initial stages of researching; however, I found this information:

http://tours.aurora-service.eu/

http://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/

Aside from the northern lights, I have no idea what else there is to do or see there, so any suggestions would be welcome.

let me know if you would like to join.

JJ

Dear JJ, I see that you are planning a trip to Lappland, as I mentioned, I would love to see the northern light. Please keep me posted. Thanks! BR Helena

Organizing a second trip to Iceland in late January.  Looking for travel buddies.  Details are here

http://www.glocals.com/things-to-do/lausanne/75603.htm

Really funny to see this post, I'm going in an hour to Tromso to Photograph them