Arctic Circle Northern Lights

An Arctic Circle northern lights tour from Fairbanks is a day trip to the Arctic Circle sign that turns into an aurora watch on the drive home. You cross the Circle in the afternoon light, then spend the dark hours of the return looking up. Of the combinations sold in Fairbanks, the Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour by Alaska Wild Lights carries the most reviews by a wide margin, and it is the one we would book first.

Why the aurora fits on the drive home

The Arctic Circle sign stands at milepost 115 of the Dalton Highway, about 200 miles north of Fairbanks (199 by the BLM mileage chart). In good conditions the drive takes around five hours each way before any stops. Every Arctic Circle day trip therefore spends five or more hours heading south again, and from late August to April most of that return happens in the dark.

The aurora combos use those hours. Over interior Alaska, the best displays tend to come between about 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., which is when these vans are rolling back down the Dalton and Elliott highways. The guide watches the sky and stops when it lights up. You add no extra night and no second trip. On a dark-season date you would be driving home through the same hours on a plain day tour anyway.

When the season runs, and what the odds are

The Fairbanks aurora season runs from 21 August to 21 April. Outside it, the sky never gets dark enough. Late April to late August is the midnight sun season, and between about 17 May and 27 July the light never fully fades. One operator’s listing says plainly that the northern lights cannot be seen in May, June and July. A summer visit is a daylight trip. Our Arctic Circle day tours page covers those.

Inside the season, Fairbanks sits under the auroral oval, and the lights show on roughly four nights out of five when the sky is clear and dark. Visitors who stay at least three nights and stay out late raise their chance above 90 percent. A tour is one night, and clouds can close the sky completely. No operator promises the aurora, and none refunds for clouds. Book the combo because you want to cross the Arctic Circle, and treat the lights as a strong chance on a clear night. Our guide to seeing the Arctic Circle and northern lights together goes into the forecasting.

The season also changes character as it goes. From August to October, nights are milder and the aurora can reflect in unfrozen lakes. From late October to late March the landscape is snowbound and the nights are the coldest of the year. Late March and April are milder again. If cold is your main worry, the winter Arctic Circle tours page sets out what deep winter on the Dalton is like.

Every Arctic Circle aurora tour, side by side

Several of these trips are sold on both Viator and GetYourGuide under different names. They are the same tour with the same operator, so we list them together.

The Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour is also sold on GetYourGuide as “Fairbanks: Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour” at the same $363. The 1st Alaska Tours trip appears on Viator as “Northern Lights and Arctic Circle Trip from Fairbanks”, and the Midnight Sky Adventures tour appears on Viator at $399. Prices are per person and listed as “from”.

How to choose between them

Pick the Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour if you want the trip most travelers have already tested. It has 989 reviews averaging 4.6, picks you up at your hotel, caps each van at 8 guests and hands out a personalized certificate. Cancellation is not free: Alaska Wild Lights refunds in full only up to 7 days before the tour. Read our review for the full breakdown.

Pick the Arctic Circle Northern Lights Full-Day Trip if you want a fixed schedule and food on board. It leaves at 1:00 p.m., returns around 3:00 a.m., and includes sandwiches, snacks, water and hot drinks. On GetYourGuide you can cancel up to 24 hours ahead for a full refund. The operator needs at least 4 guests to run it. See our review.

Pick the Arctic Circle & Northern Lights, Dalton Highway Tour for the smallest group: 6 guests at most, a guaranteed window seat, and pickup from hotels and Airbnbs in Fairbanks and North Pole. Guests must be 15 or older, and dinner is your own, bought at the Yukon River Camp or brought from a grocery stop before departure.

Pick the Arctic Circle Aurora Drive Adventure if you want an operator that has run Arctic Circle trips since 1987 and you do not mind the longest day. Northern Alaska Tour Company has no hotel pickup, charges a parking fee at check-in, treats all sales as final, and ends the night watching for the aurora at Joy before returning. Its winter drive without “Aurora” in the name does not wait for the lights, so pick this version if the aurora matters.

The 1 Day Shared Tour Arctic Circle and Aurora Viewing chases the aurora by vehicle, takes groups of up to 14, and includes aurora photos taken by your guide. Dinner is not included; you buy it during a 50-minute stop at the Yukon River Camp. The Arctic Circle with Aurora and Free Photos adds free professional photography and hotel pickup. Both offer free cancellation, but both have far fewer reviews than the two leaders.

What the long night is really like

These are 12 to 18 hour days, mostly in a van, on a gravel road. The Dalton is mostly gravel with some paved stretches. There is no cell reception at the Arctic Circle sign, and no medical facility between Fairbanks and Deadhorse. Winter windchills on the highway can reach −70°F, and Fairbanks itself averages lows of −17°F in January. Two of these operators list cold-weather gear as not included, so dress in layers and bring spare batteries. Our what to wear guide has the list. Plan nothing for the next morning, since you will be sleeping in.

Ready to pick a date? Check availability for the Northern Lights & Arctic Circle Tour.