How To Visit Yellowknife, The Best Place In The World To View Northern Lights

2025 is solar maximum, don’t miss your chance to see the aurora at its strongest

Virginia, friends and I just got back from Yellowknife, a small city in Canada’s Northwest Territories. We definitely saw the northern lights—it’s hard not to in a place that sees them an average of 240 nights a year—but the really surprising thing was how much we also enjoyed the place even when the sky wasn’t glowing. Yellowknife should definitely go on your must-visit list, here’s how to make the most of it.

This will be the third article I’m putting behind a paywall as part of this little newsletter project. Below you’ll find guidance around places to stay, how to get there, things to do, places to watch the lights, restaurant recommendations, a number of thoughts on how to get there, what you need to wear and bring with you to stay comfortable, and more. My hope here is to give you everything you need to plan a successful trip, but as always I’ll be available to subscribers in comments and through chat (or whatever) for any specific questions you might have.

Putting this stuff behind a paywall enables me to be really frank about impressions and experiences, and share the kind of information that no one wants out there on Google, for everyone to see.

This was (for us), a much chiller trip than most of our outdoor adventures. So, this would be an appropriate one to take with parents, kids, or just when you feel like doing something other than suffering. But there’s plenty of opportunities for activities, too.