Goddess of Dawn: Northern Lights
As we slowly entered the winter season, programs for the winter holidays began to be prepared and tours began to be announced. When it comes to winter holidays, one of the routes that comes to mind is cold countries to watch the northern lights.
When I was little, one of my biggest dreams was to see the northern lights. In fact, I
decorated the background of my first phone with northern lights, and as I looked at the photo, I dreamed of going to the northern countries.
Northern lights called “Aurora Borealis”; It can be observed in northern countries between December and March of each year. These countries, which host many tourists between this time, special tours and routes are created for the northern lights.
The northern lights, also called the goddess of dawn, emerge as a result of the interaction of the energy contained in the sun’s rays with the elements in the atmosphere.
At the same time, the northern lights, which are described as “dancing spirits” among the people, can only be observed at night and near the polar circle. In this article, we take a road to Lapland and Greenland, where the northern lights can be seen.
Lapland
Lapland is a region where the northern
lights can be observed and consists of Finland, Norway and Sweden at the north pole. Rovaniemi, the capital of Lapland; it is located in Finland.
Although there are direct flights to Rovaniemi, they are quite expensive. For this reason, you can first go to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, and fly directly to Lulea, which is located in the Lapland region.
Of course, different routes can be found in the tours prepared by tour companies. When you fly to Lulea, there are other activities to do besides watching the northern lights. Because the northern lights can be observed for 15-20 minutes and are only seen at night.
For this reason, it would be very logical to program different activities when you have come this far north. One of the things to do in the city of Lulea is to go on a cruise on the baltic sea with an icebreaker. The city of Abisko, located in the Lapland region of Sweden, is recommended as the place where you can best observe the northern lights in Lapland and even in the whole world.
This is because it is the collision point of different air currents and the sky is clear in Abisko. Nellim, also in Finland, is one of the places where the northern lights can be observed at a high rate.
To observe the northern lights, it is necessary to go out of the city. You can set up
tents in places where you can observe, and you can even watch from glass igloos in some places. On the Norwegian side, Tromso is one of the cities where you can observe the lights.
There are direct flights from Turkey to Tromso. Or you can fly to Oslo, the capital of Norway, from there to Tromso. In order to see the northern lights in Tromso, you need to go to different places by getting away from the city. Among them, the most preferred place by tour companies; Skibotn.
Tour companies organize many tours to Skibotn. If the weather is not suitable for seeing the northern lights, tours may be delayed.
Greenland
Greenland, the autonomous region of Denmark, is among the points where the northern lights can be observed. Since all of Greenland is located within the arctic circle, the probability of seeing the northern lights is very high here.
The places where you can see the northern lights in this region are; Nuuk, Ilulissat,
Isortoq and Ammassalik. In order to reach Greenland, it is necessary to go to Copenhagen first and transfer to the island can be made from here.
Requirements to See the Northern Lights
First of all, the sky must be clear in order to see the northern lights, so the weather is very important. Another important point is to stay away from the lights. Since the full moon also illuminates the air, it blocks the northern lights, so it is necessary to stay away from dates with a full moon.
It is known that their activity in the sun goes in a rhythm consisting of an 11-year cycle. There is activity at every stage of the 11-year cycle, but scientists say there are times during these 11 years when activity peaks and bottoms out.
If you coincide your trip with one of the high activity years of the cycle, you can increase your chances of witnessing extraordinary sights. Apart from these, of course, the luck factor comes to the fore.
By drawing the Aurora ring on the world map, the places where these lights can be seen are determined. The longer you stay in this ring, the more likely you are to see the northern lights. For this reason, when planning your trip, you can include several cities in this ring in your trip.
As you can return without seeing the northern lights, you can also witness the most impressive examples of this natural beauty.
Prepared by: Nilsu Kotil
