The Five Best Places To See The Southern Lights - Aurora Australis

If you are wondering how exactly you go about seeing the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis then look no further. On this page we are going to review the five best places to see the Southern Lights. We will tell you when is best to view the Aurora Australis, how to go about finding them and most important the best locations for viewing the Southern Lights.

Both the Northern and Southern Lights are said to be one of the world’s most impressive spectacles. Many people travel thousands of miles to get a glimpse of the famous Aurora. The dazzling displays they put on really are the stuff of legend. So how do you go about finding them and first of all, what is the difference between the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights.

The Southern Lights then are really the less glamorous sibling of their Northern counterpart. The Aurora Australis is like the ugly sister to the Aurora Borealis. The reason for this is simply because they are far harder to catch a glimpse of. View the Southern Lights on a good day and they are every bit as impressive as their Northern Cousins. So why are the Southern Lights so elusive and no where near as popular as the Northern Lights?

Well it’s all about land. Head high up in the Northern Hemisphere towards the Artic Circle and there is land aplenty. You have Northern Canada, Greenland, Norway and Russia all heading high up to where the Aurora comes out to play. This makes finding a nice location with accommodation very easy. You can go on trips and spend days relaxing in comfort while the night sky lights up for you. However, in the Southern Hemisphere things are a little different.

Due to the nature of the land masses in the South, there are very few places that reach down low enough towards Antarctica that will give you ideal Aurora viewing spots. If you look at a map of the polar regions you will see the South is just surrounded by water. Of course you could go and camp out on the Antarctic ice, but realistically that is not something your average person can do.

Despite the fact that viewing the Southern Lights can be very tricky, there are places you can go where you can see them. So we have put together a list of our top 5 places to view the Southern Lights.

South Georgia is one of the Southern most islands anywhere in the world. This island is encased by sea ice for much of the year, but you can get to it up to March and sometimes even later. There are cruises that will take you to South Georgia and if you do visit in March this is a great time to see the Southern Lights. These are most active between the months of March and September which is of course the Antarctic winter. Leave it any later than March and the condition are just to dangerous to travel in.

South Georgia itself does not have any permanent residents but during the summer months there is a population of up to 2000 people there. So if you do manage to get a visit in you will find some basic forms of civilisation. If you are on board a cruise ship then you really need not worry about accommodation anyway. Due to the fact that this is really as far South as you can get without becoming a serious explorer, South Georgia tops the list for places to view the Southern Lights from. If you want to give yourself the best possible chance then this is for you.

If you want something a little easier to manage then Stewart Island may well be for you. This is located off the southern tip of New Zealand and is seen as a wonderful spot for viewing the Aurora Australis. The island has a large national park called Rakiura National Park, this is a Maori word which translates as the land of the glowing skies.

Stewart Island has a wide range of accommodation available from hotels to self catering. If you want to improve your chances of viewing the lights then you should look to go in the winter months when there is less daylight ours and hence more chance of catching a glimpse of what you are there for. The population on Stewart Island is quite sparse and so it is easy to find an isolated spot away from any light pollution so that you can enhance your chances of viewing.

If a cruise is not for you and you want to keep your feet firmly planted on solid ground then Stewart Island could well be what you are after. The fact is that even if you don’t see the light show there are still plenty of activities on the island to keep you entertained.

Somewhere that many people seem to forget about is the Falklands. This small group of islands lies around 400 miles of the coast of South America and is home to around two and a half thousand people. This is an area of outstanding beauty and incredible wildlife. You can see penguins, elephant seals and much more incredible wildlife in this area. As well as all this, the Falkland can be a great place to see the Southern Lights.

In 2010 engineers installed a monitoring system that was set to record the activity of the Aurora Australis. This obviously shows that the Falkland Islands is a decent place to watch displays from. For your best chance of seeing anything you need to head down between April and August, these are the best months as there is less daylight and a higher chance of spotting something in the sky.

The Falklands has plenty of accommodation and you can also use this as a stop of point when visiting South America. For these reason we have put the Falklands in the number three spot.

The forth place on our list is Ushuaia which is located in the far south of Argentina. This is the world’s most southern city and thus is a good spot for Aurora viewing. Again as with other places on our list, you do need some luck and the right conditions. Although Ushuaia is further south than some of the other destinations we have looked at, the fact is that the city has a reputation for poor weather. So even if everything is right and the sky lights up, if you have cloud cover your not going to see anything.

There is some stunning scenery in the area though and some wonderful wildlife. The city is also not that difficult to get to as it has it’s own airport. That’s why Ushuaia makes it onto our top five list. If you do head down to South America, again you want to make sure you go in the winter months to improve your chances of a spectacular show. You will also want to head out of the city to somewhere more remote to avoid any light pollution.

The final suggestion on our list is really one that is unrealistic for most people. The best place for viewing the Southern Lights is actually Antarctica itself. Here the lights are most visible, most active and most impressive. In the winter months the sky is lit up on a regular basis. However, the reality of the area is -50 degree temperatures, howling gales and dangerous ice packs.

There are ways of getting into the Antarctic in the winter months but these are very costly and sometimes even dangerous. You can get cruises a little later in the season but there is limited hours of darkness and so your chances of seeing the lights are reduced. The later you leave it the better, but the sea ice obviously then becomes a real problem.

If you are one of the lucky few who do manage to get far enough south in the winter, then you can be sure the Aurora Australis will put on a lights show that you will never forget.

So there you have it, some of the best places to view the Southern Lights. The reality of all this is that you are going to find it far harder to catch a glimpse of these than you would the Northern Lights. It is just so hard to get far enough south to really see the best of them. But, given the right conditions, some patience and a little luck, you can see some wonderful displays in any of the locations we have mentioned. If you are heading to one of these areas to see the Southern Lights we hope you get some wonderful displays of the beautiful Aurora Australis.