Travel operator and Nordic specialist 50 Degrees North Pty Ltd has just released its Winter brochure with great ways to see the Northern Lights in 2012-2014.

The brochure displays a comprehensive range of trips tailored to maximise the chances to see the Northern Lights.  The Aurora trips include a tour to the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi (Northern Sweden), tours to the Lofoten archipelago and Tromsø in the far north of Norway, Finnish Lapland, Hot springs and Self drives in Iceland and a trip to Ilulissat in Greenland. Many of these tours have been tailor made by the 50 Degrees North team.

The northern winter 2012/13 is predicted to display some of the most intense occurrences of Aurora Borealis in over a decade, as the 11 year cycle of the sun comes to its peak. The main cause of the Northern Light is the number of dark spots on the surface of the sun, i.e. the more spots the better chance of Auroras. These natural displays of green, white and purple light occur most frequently in the Polar Regions in a 2500 km radius off the geomagnetic pole. The zone with the most intense sightings of Aurora Borealis extends over Lapland in northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Siberia. As it happens; this is 50 Degrees North’s specialist area.

The winter trips include Russian Winter tours and Finnish Christmas tours away from the crowds. We have also introduced a new ‘brick’ system to allow travellers to put together their own unique Scandinavian city itinerary.

There are also Antarctica voyages listed in this brochure.

When to go?

The months of November to April are generally the best for observing the Northern Lights, and nights closest to full moon should be avoided as this brightens the sky. The Northern Light emits more concentrated colours and longer experiences on the eve of a new moon.