Long nights, clear skies and some of the best northern lights viewing on earth. Here’s how to give yourself the best odds.
By the Global Escapes travel team · Updated
Fairbanks sits right beneath the auroral oval, the ring around the top of the globe where the northern lights dance most often.
Aurora season here runs from August 21 to April 21, but December through March is the heart of it. The nights are longest, the interior air is cold and dry, and clear skies are more common. At the winter solstice the sun is up for only about three hours and 42 minutes, which leaves a lot of dark sky to watch.
The lights are never guaranteed, but time is on your side. Explore Fairbanks says that if you stay at least three nights and get out to look each night, your odds of seeing them are about 90 percent. We like four or five nights, so a cloudy evening or two doesn’t cost you the show.
The lights come out late, so your days are free. These are the ways we’d fill them, and they’re as memorable as the nights.
At the end of Chena Hot Springs Road, northeast of town, you soak in a steaming outdoor rock lake while the snow piles up around you. Stay the night and join the resort’s aurora tour to a ridgetop with heated yurts.
Right at Chena, a museum carved from ice and kept at about 20°F all year, with an ice bar and ice-carved chandeliers. Guided tours run several times a day.
Meet the dogs, help harness the team and glide through the spruce forest. Black Spruce Dog Sledding works with long-distance racing dogs, and in winter you can try both riding in the sled and driving it.
More than 100 carvers from around the world turn huge blocks of ice into towering sculptures. In 2027 it runs February 15 to March 31 at the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds.
On the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, with galleries on Alaska Native cultures, wildlife, Arctic dinosaurs and 2,000 years of Alaska art.
Ride quiet trails through the boreal forest, take a walk with a reindeer herd, or see the frozen landscape from a helicopter.
The best aurora stays are a little outside town, away from the city glow, with someone keeping watch while you sleep.
Borealis Basecamp sits on a ridge about 25 miles north of Fairbanks, in igloos with clear domed ceilings, so you can watch the sky from bed. Aurora wake-up calls are part of every stay, and winter packages pair the nights with dog sled rides, snowmobiling and reindeer walks.
Chena Hot Springs Resort is a wonderful second base, with the hot springs, the ice museum and its own aurora tour all in one place. We often suggest a night or two at each, with a comfortable hotel in town on either end for flights and good restaurants.
The secret to a great aurora trip is a gentle rhythm: easy mornings, daylight adventures and long, cozy nights.
Sleep in, head out for a midday activity while the low sun paints the snow pink and gold, then nap before dinner. Most nights you’ll be up well past midnight, so we keep early starts to a minimum and build in a little slack for weather.
Arrive a day early if you can. Flights into Fairbanks often connect, and a winter delay is easier to absorb when it doesn’t cost you a night under the sky.
The small things that make a Fairbanks winter feel easy, even at well below zero.
A base layer, a warm middle layer and an insulated parka, plus a hat, mittens and boots made for deep cold.
Cold drains phones and cameras fast. Tuck spares in an inside pocket and bring a small tripod for night photos.
Many lodges will knock or call when the lights appear, so you can rest between shows instead of standing outside all night.
The aurora can flicker for a few minutes or fill the sky for an hour.
We look at the moon calendar when picking your dates. A dark week gives even faint displays a chance to stand out.
Visit from mid-February to the end of March and you can add the ice sculptures, with a little more daylight for your days.
Planning the whole trip?
Inside Passage cruises, Denali, wildlife, northern lights season, month-by-month weather and a route map, from Ketchikan to Fairbanks.
See the Alaska guideTell us when you’re thinking of going and who’s coming along. An advisor will take it from there.