Watching Aurora in Rovaniemi is one of the top activities and probably a main reason to visitors flocking to this Lapland town. I was, of course, one of these people, but I was also aware that the aurora borealis – northern lights – is a natural phenomenon and sightings are not guaranteed. No matter how much it had cost us to fly across the world.
But there are ways to increase your chances and to make the excursion more worthwhile. As a professional researcher, here is my experience along with my research for your trip planning!
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Frequently Asked Questions on Aurora in Rovaniemi
Is the aurora visible in Rovaniemi?
Yes, the aurora are visible in Rovaniemi as the town is already inside the Arctic circle, where northern lights can occur. But in general it’s best to move away from the city center so there’s no light pollution.
How often do auroras occur in Rovaniemi?
The main deciding factor of whether you can see northern lights are:
- Kp index: it has to be above 3 for northern lights to be visible to the human eyes
- Clear skies: if there is large cloud cover, then nothing will be visible at all
This is why it’s usually better to have a minimum of 2 nights when you are visiting Lapland. We went in late February and saw Northern Lights 3 out of 4 nights in the Laplands, with 1 night being too cloudy. Granted, none of them were KP5 level explosion, but it was great still.
What is the best time to see aurora in Lapland?
The best time to see the aurora borealis (Northern Lights) in Lapland is between late September and March. While the season technically starts as early as late August and lasts until mid-April, these eight months offer the necessary darkness for sightings.
Peak Viewing Windows for Northern Lights in Lapland
Autumn (September – October): Statistically, one of the best times due to the equinox effect, which increases geomagnetic activity. Benefits include milder temperatures, unfrozen lakes for “double aurora” reflections, and no need for heavy winter gear.
Deep Winter (December – January): Offers the longest nights (polar night), providing up to 20 hours of darkness per day. This is ideal for a “winter wonderland” experience with snow, though cloud cover can be more frequent, potentially blocking views.
Spring (February – March): Often considered the optimal balance. February typically has the least precipitation and clearer skies, while the March spring equinox triggers another peak in aurora intensity.
Optimal Conditions for Success in seeing Northern Lights
To maximise your chances, you need to consider the time of the year, KP Index, and cloud coverage. But in general, the “aurora window” is between 9:00 PM and 2:00 AM. Peak intensity often occurs around “magnetic midnight,” typically between 10:30 PM and 11:30 PM in Lapland. Both times we had seen it was around 9-11pm!
Why is 2026 a good year to see the Northern Lights?
We are currently in a Solar Maximum period (2024–2026), which means solar activity is at its 11-year peak, resulting in more frequent and vivid displays.
During a Solar Maximum, the sun emits more solar flares and coronal mass ejections. This leads to much more frequent aurora displays compared to the “Solar Minimum” years.
The lights are likely to be brighter, more colorful. Shifting from standard green to rare purples and reds, and more “active” aka moving faster across the sky.
Southern Visibility: Because the solar storms are stronger, the “Aurora Oval” expands. This means you might see the lights further south than usual, though Lapland remains the most reliable “front-row seat”
Aurora Apps You Should Get
There are aurora apps you can get to help you understand and maximise your chance to see Northern Lights!
My Aurora Forecast & Alerts(Best for Beginners): One of the most popular free apps for both iOS and Android. It provides a simple percentage chance of seeing the aurora based on your location, along with Kp index forecasts and solar wind statistics.
Hello Aurora (Community & Real-Time): Often cited as a top choice for its user-friendly interface and ads-free experience. Its standout feature is a live map where users share real-time sightings and photos, which acts as a crowdsourced alert system to let you know exactly when the lights are active near you.
Aurora Alert Realtime (Best for Lapland): A specialized app used by many resorts in Finland. It uses its own network of professional-grade cameras to trigger audible alarms the moment the aurora is physically detected in the sky.
*Note: remember to exclude it from your Do Not Disturb list and turn on the volume when you sleep because we have slept through our alarm
Choosing a tour to see aurora in Rovaniemi
It can be hard and overwhelming to pick a northern light tours for Rovaniemi because of all the options available. The most important part to remember is that you’re paying for:
- Driver in dark, icy conditions
- A van that is heated to stay in, and sometimes even a campfire and snacks at a hut/refuge
- Northern light and local geography knowledge to bring you to the best spots
- Potentially photography service as well – which I highly recommend you do unless you can withstand the cold and have photography experience on shooting northern lights
It’s much, much better to join the small group tour even though it’s more expensive, because you’re more likely to see the northern lights since the tour is constantly on the move.
Most big group tours just take you to one location and start a fire for you to stay warm in, and it’s the same as waiting in your resort.
Alternatively, you can pick to do an activity so you can have a fun experience without relying entirely on Northern Lights appearing to make your day! But it is going to be dark and cold, which is why we didn’t do this option.
What to wear to watch Aurora in Rovaniemi and the Lapland
Depending on when you are in Rovaniemi, the winter temperature at night ranges from -30 to 0 degree celsius, with cold spells occasionally as well. I had searched high and low on the internet and social media platforms to find clothing recommendations, but one thing for certain is that however prepared you are, if it’s below -20, you will still be cold.
That said, here are my top tips:
- Thermal top x 2– this is an absolute must for both top and bottom! I wore a merino wool base layer with a uniqlo heavy duty heattech layer on top
- Warm sweater – I wore my warmest sweater made from alpaca wool, but any wool sweater would do. If you have high neck sweater, those are even better!
- Weather-resistant down jacket – I have an Aritzia Super Snug Puff jacket that has 700+ fill-power premium down, which kept me really warm without an additional down layer, which I had brought along.
*A long jacket is probably even better! - Thermal leggings – I have a pair of wool and silk blend leggings that was very warm on its own
- Fleece lined waterproof trousers – I then put on my fleece lined waterproof trousers which fit a bit tight with the leggings under, but the combination had kept me relatively comfortable but not exactly warm
- Hat, earmuff, scarf or buff – depending on your preference, I’d say bring all of them and wear them all!
- Gloves – your hands will get very cold, so make sure you have waterproof and windproof fleece lined gloves!
- Socks x 2 – I wore one pair of regular wool socks, then a pair of thick wooly socks
- Snow boots – we specifically got snow boots that are 2 sizes bigger than normal so it can accommodate thick socks and wool insoles as well, but even then our feet were the coldest. Someone suggested that I should cut insoles out of insulated-bag and this would be something that I’ll try next time!
- Heat pads – this is helpful, but generally they don’t work well if you are also very cold and the outside temperature is super cold…
Some photos of my outfit for reference:
If you want to be fashionable in your photos
Wear White
While it sounds like weird advice, wearing white will make you stand out the most! Since it’s very dark and the photographer (if you do have one on tour) will use flash only for a second, your light colour clothes will reflect light and become off-white anyway. And since your background will be darker, it’s very sharp.
Wear a jacket with a belt
You will be wearing many layers, therefore wearing a jacket with a belt will accentuate your waistline so you don’t look like a blob!
Pose with your hands
Holding your hands out when you pose makes the entire scene look more lively and dynamic!
Northern Lights Photography Tips for Noobs
If you are a seasoned photographer, then my tips might not be that helpful to you, but if you are a noob like me, I have all my research for you on shooting under the aurora. To be honest, I didn’t ended up shooting myself out in the dark because I felt far too cold, but it might come in handy for you!
Starlapse or Timelapse for action camera
- 8K30FPS
- Timelapse
- Custom/Infinite
- Duration: 1s / infinite
- Exposure 100-12800 (max)
- +3 EV
- White balance 4300k
Note: if you can, check the footage quickly before you set it to shoot for the whole night as mine came out a bit too dark
Northern Lights setting for DSLR+
- If you can see with your eyes: 3-5s shutter
- Try next: 4-10s
- Cannot see: 15-30s shutter
- Manual focus to infinite (furthest)
- Adjust others accordingly but try aperture largest fist
- Then bump up ISO (usually 1600-3200)
- ! Use a timer or delayed shutter to avoid shaky hands
iPhone Northern Lights photography tips
While using a tripod is ideal, you can shoot northern lights clearly with 3 seconds or even 1 second long exposure naturally built into your phone. You just have to keep your hand steady!
The tricky part is trying to get it on video at the intensity you can see it on phone camera! A neat trick I came across after I returned is to screen record your phone camera screen, which will retain the photo-level clarity.
Turning on the flash does not work to shoot you and the background as it’d make the background darker!
Note: you can use Pro Raw to try and capture all the details, but if you already don’t have enough phone storage like me, it won’t be very possible.
My Rovaniemi Aurora Tour Experience
After comparing a lot of tours, I opted for this small group tour limited to 8 participants with unlimited DSLR photography.
We got our pick up time a few hours before the tour started via the Get Your Guide message portal – and our pick up was 6 pm.
It actually took 40 mins to pick everyone up, and the third stop was so close to our hotel that it felt a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless, it was at least heated.
Once all 4 groups had boarded, our driver and photographer briefed us on the plan. We were going to drive 20-30km east to get out of Rovaniemi city center to avoid the light pollution at a clearing.
If too crowded, then another 30km to a bigger spot.
We ended up driving to the second place directly, as the first place was crowded with clouds coming in as well.
There was a quick stop at Vanttauskoski, where a staff was buying sausages to roast at the refuge. There was a bathroom there, which the staff kindly let us use and that was the last bathroom stop.
The tour first took us to a spot by the lake in Juotasniemi, but we left to go elsewhere as the trees are high and it seems the aurora might be low tonight.
We went to a frozen lake where the staff started a fire. There’s an option to stay in the van as well, which has better heating, but the Aurora started appearing, so we went down to see it on the lake.
Admittedly, it’s quite faint with the naked eye, but we did see a few dancing strands, a vibrant one with red hues. Then it got too cold, so I had a rest in between in the hut! By 11 pm, we were all back in the van due to the cold.
It’s about 1 hour to drive back to the city center, so we were back by midnight. While in theory you can do this by yourself, driving on icy roads and in the dark is not ideal, and it’s so cold that I didn’t even attempt to use my own camera or devices.
They took as many photos for us as we wanted, but the camera had to take a break twice to defrost.
It took a few days for us to get the photos, as they edited them as well. It does look significantly more vibrant and visible in photos – with the naked eyes it’s sort of like a thin mist.
I did edit them myself as due to the flash we had a green tint to us that was easily fixed on Lightrooms.
