The celestial displays of the Aurora Borealis

Somehow it never occurs to some visitors that if you come to Alaska in summer you won’t experience the northern lights.

They’re there alright, but since it never gets truly dark you’ve no chance of seeing them. Stick around until late September, or make a special trip in winter and it is a different matter.

Fairbanks is on the perfect latitude for spotting the aurora borealis, and once the nights draw in there’s a decent chance of a display pretty much every night. These celestial displays of soft greens, blues and reds rippling, waving and curling in on themselves can mesmerise for hours, so you don’t want to be standing watching in a cold field.

Ideally you’ll be in a natural hot pool at somewhere like Chena Hot Springs, a few miles outside Fairbanks, where you can lie back and gaze skywards until you turn into a prune.