Beautiful Aurora Borealis is a wonderful natural phenomenon of appearing dancing light in the sky that many people would love to see. It is a truly magical happening that is defined by disturbances in the magnetosphere by a solar wind. Northern lights, or aurora, or polar lights as they are usually called, can be viewed in the high-latitude regions. Speaking of Russia, viewing Northern lights is possible in such cities as Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Yakutsk, Vorkuta. Aurora is not a rare thing in Karelia region, for instance, Petrozavodsk.

Speaking of viewing Northern Lights in Saint Petersburg, people split in opinions. Some say it is plausible, due to the location of the city. By the way, city residents say that they were lucky to see this magnificent natural phenomenon. Others ponder that aurora borealis happens very occasionally, and even if it does, it is still complex to notice it within the city limits due to the ever-shining city lights.

Aurora in Saint Petersburg. Photo (opens in a new tab)”>from the website >

Hard not to agree with that, as in order to witness the whole range of changing lights, it should be dark. Probably, the area on the Gulf of Finland is a good viewing point in Saint Petersburg.

If you want to have an aurora-viewing stay in Saint Petersburg, do not plan it on summer. It’s a white nights season, so at most you will see the sky lit up with sun rays (which is anyway very romantic and charming).

Another advice would be to travel way from the city, to the Leningrad region, for instance, Vyborg. This place has less city lights and there are more cottages in the forest on the lakes, where you can stay peacefully, enjoying the nature and waiting for the Northern lights. They happen all of a sudden, but are forecast.

Check the possibility of aurora borealis (opens in a new tab)”>in advance >