DoaluKnow the place before you book.
Glowing midnight sun resting on the horizon over a still Arctic fjord, dark snowy peaks, and a lit red shore cabin.

Experience

Polar / Midnight Sun

The far north runs on light: aurora seasons turn on darkness, midnight sun on its absence, and both reward clear inland skies away from town glow. Choose the season first — the same destination is two different journeys in June and January.

Where to stay →

Best places to stay for polar / midnight sun

Ranked by global recognition — how widely each place is read about across Wikipedia's language editions. Never paid placement, prices, or reviews.

Riverside district of Yakutsk with modern mid-rise apartment blocks fronting a sandy foreshore along the Lena River.

Yakutsk

Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) · RussiaYakutsk is the capital of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), a far-northern city founded in 1632, south of the Arctic Circle.Where to stay →Murmansk spread over hills above the Kola Bay port, framed by golden autumn forest.

Murmansk

Murmansk Oblast · RussiaCranes and ship funnels crowd Kola Bay at Murmansk, a port city in Murmansk Oblast, the largest city north of the Arctic Circle and a harbour of the…Where to stay →A street in Norilsk lined with colourful Stalinist-era apartment blocks under a blue sky.

Norilsk

Krasnoyarskiy Kray · RussiaFrost grips the tundra at Norilsk, a nickel-processing city on the Taymyr Peninsula in Krasnoyarsk Krai, one of the northernmost cities in the world…Where to stay →Wooden Orthodox church with blue and gold domes in snowy Vorkuta, Russia, with Soviet-era apartment blocks behind.

Vorkuta

Komi · RussiaSnow blows across the tundra at Vorkuta, a coal-mining town on the Vorkuta river in the Komi Republic, just north of the Arctic Circle in the Pechora coal…Where to stay →Kiruna, Sweden below its terraced iron-ore mine mountain with the mine headframe on the ridge

Kiruna

Norrbotten County · SwedenKiruna runs on the polar calendar — weeks of midnight sun, then winter dark — and the Jukkasjärvi ice hotel is rebuilt from Torne river ice each winter.Where to stay →Aerial view of Rovaniemi, Finland, at its river confluence with the cable-stayed Jätkänkynttilä Bridge

Rovaniemi

Lapland · FinlandRovaniemi is the regional capital of Lapland, set near the Arctic Circle in the far north of Finland.Where to stay →Aerial view of Narvik, Norway, its iron-ore harbour and peninsula reaching into the fjord below snow-flecked mountains.

Narvik

Nordland · NorwayNarvik is a fjord port in northern Norway, set in the north-eastern part of Nordland on the Nord-Norge coast.Where to stay →Aerial view of Akureyri, Iceland, a colorful fjord-side town and harbor below green mountains by Eyjafjörður.

Akureyri

Norðurland Eystra · IcelandAkureyri is the main town of northern Iceland, set at the head of the long Eyjafjörður fjord.Where to stay →Aerial of Tromso on Tromsoya island with its bridge, airport strip and fjords ringed by snow-capped peaks, Norway.

Tromsø

Troms · NorwayTromsø is an Arctic island city on Tromsøya, in the northern part of Troms, in northern Norway.Where to stay →Kirkenes

Kirkenes

Finnmark · NorwayKirkenes is a border port in Sør-Varanger, near the Russian frontier in northern Norway.Where to stay →Bodo marina full of boats with the modern waterfront and distant mountains behind

Bodø

Nordland · NorwayBodø is the seat of Nordland, a coastal city in northern Norway set above the Arctic Circle on the Nord-Norge shore.Where to stay →Snow-covered village street in Inari, Finnish Lapland, with a Sale store and low buildings under blue sky.

Inari

Lapland · FinlandInari is a Sámi village on the shore of Lake Inari in Lapland, the Arctic north of Finland.Where to stay →
66 more Polar / Midnight Sun destinations, by country

Finland (24)

KemiLapland · FinlandTornioLapland · FinlandKittiläLapland · FinlandSallaLapland · FinlandSodankyläLapland · FinlandUtsjokiLapland · FinlandKemijärviLapland · FinlandEnontekiöLapland · FinlandMuonioLapland · FinlandKolariLapland · FinlandSavukoskiLapland · FinlandPelloLapland · FinlandPelkosenniemiLapland · FinlandPosioLapland · FinlandRanuaLapland · FinlandYlitornioLapland · FinlandKeminmaaLapland · FinlandSimoLapland · FinlandTervolaLapland · FinlandKorkalovaaraRovaniemi · Lapland · FinlandSyväsenvaaraRovaniemi · Lapland · FinlandLapinrinneRovaniemi · Lapland · FinlandKorkalorinneRovaniemi · Lapland · FinlandNapapiiriRovaniemi · Lapland · Finland

Norway (30)

Mo i RanaNordland · NorwayHonningsvågFinnmark · NorwayHammerfestFinnmark · NorwayHenningsværNordland · NorwayUlsteinvikMøre og Romsdal · NorwayKautokeinoFinnmark · NorwayLakselvFinnmark · NorwayVadsøFinnmark · NorwayÁvanuorriFinnmark · NorwaySortlandNordland · NorwayØksfjordFinnmark · NorwayBåtsfjordFinnmark · NorwaySkjervøyTroms · NorwayLyngseidetTroms · NorwayLangevågMøre og Romsdal · NorwayStorsteinnesTroms · NorwaySjøveganTroms · NorwayVuonnabahtaFinnmark · NorwayBogenNordland · NorwayEvenskjerTroms · NorwayHansnesTroms · NorwaySørlandNordland · NorwayInndyrNordland · NorwayMoenTroms · NorwayBreivikbotnFinnmark · NorwayOppeidNordland · NorwayHareidMøre og Romsdal · NorwayStraumeNordland · NorwayHamnaTromsø · Troms · NorwayBjerkakerTromsø · Troms · Norway

Sweden (12)

GällivareNorrbotten County · SwedenJokkmokkNorrbotten County · SwedenAbiskoNorrbotten County · SwedenBodenNorrbotten County · SwedenArvidsjaurNorrbotten County · SwedenArjeplogNorrbotten County · SwedenPajalaNorrbotten County · SwedenJukkasjärviNorrbotten County · SwedenVilhelminaVästerbotten County · SwedenÄlvsbynNorrbotten County · SwedenÖvertorneåNorrbotten County · SwedenRiksgränsenNorrbotten County · Sweden

When to go

Midnight sun May–Jul · Aurora Sep–Apr

Common questions

When is the best time for northern lights or midnight sun?

They are opposite seasons: aurora needs long darkness, roughly autumn through early spring, with clear inland skies; midnight sun is the weeks around midsummer above the Arctic Circle. The same northern base serves both — but never on one trip.