The Best Road Trips for Seeing the Northern Lights

Few travel experiences can compare with seeing the Northern Lights illuminate the dark Arctic skies. Add an open road, snow-covered mountains, frozen lakes and remote wilderness to the equation, and you’ve got the ultimate winter road trip adventure.

From far northern Canada to Lapland, these are the 7 best road trips for seeing the Northern Lights.

7 Ultimate Northern Lights Road Trips

1. Anchorage to Fairbanks – Alaska, USA

Distance: 580km

Best time of year: September to April

For some of the best Northern Lights viewing in North America, the drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks is hard to beat. You can hire a car directly from Anchorage Airport.

The route follows the Parks Highway, itself known for being one of the most scenic routes in the US. Along the journey, you’ll pass through some of Alaska’s most spectacular scenery: vast forests, rugged mountain ranges and the outstanding wilderness surrounding Denali National Park.

And while the Northern Lights come out at night, you won’t need to stay up late for them, with around only 4-5 hours of sunlight every day at the peak of winter.

In the daytime, you can keep an eye out for Alaskan wildlife such as bears and moose, while at night you can sit mesmerised by the Northern Lights as they dance in the sky above.

Because of Fairbanks’ rural location with minimal light pollution, and the fact that it sits right under the auroral oval, you have an excellent chance of viewing the aurora borealis from the city itself.

2. Tromsø to Senja – Norway

Distance: 120km

Best time of year: November to March

Northern Norway is renowned for being one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights, and hitting the road from Tromsø gives you the freedom to explore beyond the city.

Tromsø itself sits around 350km north of the Arctic Circle, making it an excellent place to view the Northern Lights. Hire a car from Tromsø Airport and head out of the city towards Senja, and if you’re lucky enough, the aurora borealis will light up your journey the whole way.

Senja is one of Norway’s most spectacular islands, and the 120km route takes you through classic Norwegian fjords, tiny coastal villages and rugged mountains, with breathtaking scenery around every corner.

Northern Norway is plunged into total darkness in a phenomenon known as the Polar Night during the winter, so there is an excellent chance to see the aurora borealis all through the daytime, as well as at night, when road tripping, particularly in December and January.

3. Whitehorse to Dawson City – Canada

Distance: 535km

Best time of year: September to April

For a truly wild Northern Lights road trip adventure, head into northern Canada’s Yukon province.

This is the type of road trip where preparation is essential, because the towns are few and far between and the roads seem to stretch out endlessly into the vast wilderness.

Yukon’s capital, Whitehorse, is a popular base for Northern Lights viewing, and from here you can make the 500km+ journey to Dawson City, a historic gold rush town with plenty of frontier history. You can hire a car from Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport to begin your journey.

Along the way, you’ll see a fantastic combination of remote landscapes, snow-covered forests and frozen rivers, which all look magical with the Northern Lights shimmering above them.

With such stunning scenery and the excellent chance of seeing the Northern Lights for around six months of the year, it’s easy to see why this is a popular Northern Lights road trip. 

4. Rovaniemi to Inari – Finland

Distance: 330km

Best time of year: September to March

Head over 300km north through Finnish Lapland for a road trip filled with forests, frozen lakes and plenty of Arctic atmosphere.

Rovaniemi is the capital of Finnish Lapland, and a popular destination for winter holidaymakers, thanks to its guaranteed snow and cold weather. However, for an even more intense winter experience, hire a car from Rovaniemi Airport and drive north to Inari, and you’ll notice the skies become even darker and the aurora borealis even brighter.

Make sure to stop off along the way to experience traditional Finnish winter activities, such as a dip in an icy lake with a sauna afterwards, or a husky sled ride under the illuminated skies.

While the peak aurora activity is in mid-winter, Inari can often offer Northern Lights from late August to mid-April, making it a great place to see them early or late in the season and avoid peak-season price hikes.

5. Kiruna to Abisko – Sweden

Distance: 100km

Best time of year: September to March

Sweden’s far north is another brilliant option for a Northern Lights road trip.

Drive from Kiruna towards Abisko National Park, and you will see some of the most stunning Arctic wilderness on the planet.

Also, the further you travel from Kiruna, the less light pollution there is, and the better chance you have of seeing the Northern Lights.

Abisko is regarded as one of Sweden’s premier destinations for seeing the Northern Lights, and given that the road trip is only 100km, you could easily do it a few times if weather conditions don’t allow for good viewing on your first attempt.

6. Ring Road – Iceland

Distance: 1,300km

Best time of year: October to March

With the classic Icelandic Ring Road route, you’re not restricted to just one area of the country, because you’ll be driving around its perimeter.

This 1,300km-long round road trip – best started from Reykjavík – is not for the faint-hearted, but it is also one of the best chances you have to see the Northern Lights in Iceland.

The biggest advantage is that you are not tied to one location; if the conditions are not great for viewing the Northern Lights, then you can simply carry on driving for another hour or two and be rewarded with excellent viewing conditions.

Plus, the Ring Road takes you past some of Iceland’s most incredible natural wonders, which are best explored in the daytime, such as black sand volcanic beaches, natural geysers and waterfalls.

7. Kirkenes to Båtsfjord – Norway

Distance: 250km

Best time of year: September to April

For a road trip that takes you deep into the Arctic wilderness, this is the one for you.

Kirkenes sits in far northern Norway, close to the Russian border and 400km north of the Arctic Circle.

The town is a popular base for winter sports, including dog sledding and snowmobiling, and also serves as an excellent destination to start your aurora-hunting road trip.

Hire a car in Kirkenes and head northwest towards Båtsfjord, where you will travel through the stark and beautiful landscapes of the Varanger Peninsula, with dramatic coastal views, wide-open tundra and small, traditional Arctic settlements along the way.

Båtsfjord is a small fishing village on the shores of the Barents Sea, and as such, there is minimal light pollution here. Combine that with the polar night that the region experiences in the depths of winter, and you’ve just found yourself one of Norway’s best places to see the Northern Lights.