Norway
Northern lights in Vesterålen
8 viewing spots around Vesterålen, chosen for a dark sky and an open view. For each one: how dark it is, which way it looks, where to park and how to get there. Under the auroral oval: aurora can be overhead even on quiet nights.
- Viewing spots
- 8
- Dark or very dark
- 4
- Magnetic latitude
- 66.4°
- Clearest dark month
- March 28 % of hours clear or partly clear
Which of these spots is clear tonight, and when? Aurora Atlas scores every spot hour by hour from the cloud forecast, darkness, the moon and live aurora activity, with road notices.
See tonight's live scores for Vesterålen in Aurora AtlasViewing spots
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Bleikstranda
Long white beach below the village of Bleik on Andøya’s ocean side, one of the classic aurora foregrounds on the…
-
Andenes · north shore
The northern tip of Vesterålen, looking straight out to sea; the shore just outside the village is a short walk from…
-
Nyksund
Revived fishing village at the end of a narrow road on Langøya; climbing a little above the harbour gives a dark, open…
- Gullesfjordbotn rest area Small rest area at the inner Gullesfjord, which Nordnorge names for cloudy-weather chases from Harstad: towering peaks…
- Grunnfør rest area Norwegian Scenic Route stop on Austvågøy's seaward side with a two-storey cyclist shelter whose upper floor gives a…
- Gisløy turning place rest area · Øksnes Rest area and car park at the end of Gisløyveien (Fv7670) on Gisløya in Øksnes, open to the sea on the north-west side…
- Sortlandsveien rest area · Øksnes Rest area on Sortlandsveien (Fv821) at Lønnskogen in Øksnes, between Sortland and Myre.
- Bergvikveien rest area · Hadsel Small rest area on Bergvikveien (Fv7634) at Bervika near Stokmarknes, Hadseløya.
Drive times are estimates from the middle of Vesterålen by straight-line distance, as the app estimates them before it knows your route; ferries and winter closures are not counted.
Good to know in Vesterålen
- Cloudy on one side? Try the other Between the high peaks of Hinnøya you can find pockets of clear sky. If Harstad and Kvæfjord are cloudy, local advice is to try Lødingen, the Raftsundet area or out towards Andøya instead. Source
- Mid-August to mid-April Vesterålen lies just under the auroral oval, and the aurora can be seen here from mid-August to mid-April whenever it is dark and there is solar activity. The Andøya Scenic Route rest areas are the easiest dark stops. Source