Ali Mclean
-
Home
-
The Aurora
-
Our Northern Lights Blog
- Ali McLean's blog posts

Why You Should Travel To Lapland In Autumn
March 2018 has been one of the best months for Auroral activity in many a long year, so we did some digging. The upshot of our research is that if you want to see the Northern Lights then some of your best chances are almost certainly around the vernal and autumnal equinoxes.


Here at The Aurora Zone, we’re extremely fond of the Finnish people and especially the Sámi community, who are the indigenous people of Northern Scandinavia. So, imagine our excitement when we heard that BBC Two are doing a one-off boxing day show all about the lifestyle of the Sámi people and their reindeer herding heritage.

Follow in the footsteps of Blue Planet II
Blue Planet II has been an amazing show, and if you're anything like us you’ll have sat in your favourite chair and watched it in wonder.
Here are three holidays to get you in the mood for some Blue Planet-style discovering, and of course, if you don’t spot some incredible marine life, you might just be in luck and see the Northern Lights instead!

Meet Our Aurora Expert: Markku Inkilä – CEO, Northern Lights Village, Saariselkä
Our expert Aurora guide and CEO of the new Northern Lights Village in Saariselkä, Markku Inkilä is a self-proclaimed Aurora nut. He lives and breathes the Northern Lights and is rarely happier than when he is capturing them on camera. His photos have been published in the Sunday Times, the Telegraph, and on hundreds of websites around the world.

Iceland’s Blue Lagoon: one night - two bucket list items!
I caught up with our Marketing Assistant Laura who had the most amazing first Northern Lights experience in Iceland. Here is what she had to say:
'"After suffering serious wanderlust from seeing so many breathtaking photos of Iceland I knew I had to head out there and explore it for myself. So, in December 2016 I flew over for a week of Arctic adventure. I experienced waterfalls, geysers, volcanoes, boiling mud pools, stunning scenery - you name it - but one night stands out for me - the night I ticked two experiences off my travel bucket list.

How often have you returned to work in the New Year regretfully thinking,
“Why on earth didn’t I do something useful over the holiday period?”
That period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, Betwixmas if you like, must be the most neglected of the year. It’s a dead zone during which you know you should be doing something useful but simply can’t be bothered.

March 2017 – It’s been a crazy month for our Aurora hunters
Here at The Aurora Zone we’ve seen something of a change in recent weeks. Naturally, as holiday providers and Northern Lights enthusiasts, we spend a lot of time travelling to the likes of Finland, Sweden and Norway in search of dark skies illuminated by dancing celestial light.
(Taken 1st March 2017 in the Lyngen Alps by Francisco Damm)

The best time to see the Northern Lights
If I had a pound for every time I have been asked this question I would be rich beyond the dreams of avarice. If I had an exact answer, I would be rich beyond the dreams of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet combined.
The problem with the Aurora is that it is a natural phenomenon and regardless of whether it is September, December or March, its appearance can rarely be predicted much more than a few hours in advance.

The secret is knowing where to look
Have you noticed that there has been far less mentioned in the media recently about Auroral displays over the UK and yet pictures of the Northern Lights taken further north continue to flood onto social media sites?
This is exactly what we said would happen in our blog back in November and given that we are dealing with something as unpredictable as Mother Nature, we are prepared to give ourselves a hearty pat on the back.
Articles by month
Contributors
-
Sue Mcdonald (1)
-
Ali Mclean (56)
-
Amy Hope (6)
-
Joanna Robertson (4)
-
Barry Nolan (1)
-
Amy Walkington-Gray (3)
-
Dawn Kitson (2)
-
Jono Archer (4)
-
Katrina Seator (2)
-
Graham Hughes (4)
-
Katharina Rogalski (1)
-
Dawn Kitson (1)
-
Sarah Whale (1)
-
Ben Murg (1)
-
Andy Marshall (5)
-
Dan Fleming (1)
-
Jenni Miekle (4)
-
Alex Charlton (3)
-
Allan Cooper (4)
-
Matt Robinson (3)
-
Mark McFaul (25)
-
Lauren Wiggett (1)
-
Kirsty Wood (14)
-
Caitlin Varley (3)
-
Niall McMahon (1)
-
Jade McKay (1)
Keywords
Receive ideas and offers
Subscribe to our email newsletter to receive weekly inspiring travel ideas and offers.