The Northern Lights

When you leave the city lights behind in winter and turn your gaze to the northern sky, you can see the beautifully blazing Northern Lights in clear weather. Witnessing the sky's own fireworks is an indescribable feeling that you just have to experience yourself. In Lapland, Northern Lights can be seen on up to 200 days a year. The best time for seeing them is from September to the end of March, slightly before midnight. As a phenomenon, however, the Northern Lights are very unpredictable. Sometimes they only show up for a moment, at other times for several hours. The Finnish word for the Northern Lights, "revontulet" (fox's fires), comes from an old story where a fox running around in the fells is brushing the snowy peaks with its tail, which strikes sparks in the sky. The Latin name Aurora Borealis in turn means "northern dawn".