On the extreme ends of the globe, strange and magical things happen.
The aurora borealis, for example, gets a lot of attention for the shimmering Northern Lights sky display. However, this nature’s own wallpaper is unpredictable and you may never see them. But one thing you can be sure of to spot, at least from May until July, is 24 hours or a bit less of consistent sunlight.
Here are five places where the sun doesn’t set.
For self-proclaimed nocturnals, these seven destinations might sound hellish but the famously known “Midnight Sun” is an attraction to behold for us folk who live in the duality of night and day all the time. It is not just the night sun, as this TikToker shows us a two am sun, but the clouds as well, take a look here.
This phenomenon is famous during summer in these places which seem to be compensation for dark and harsh winters. As the summer winds down, let’s look back on the five places where you can stay up late, go on midnight tours, and do other day activities at night.
Fairbanks, Alaska (United States)
From May 17 to July 27, Alaska’s second-largest city enjoys 70 days without a proper sunset, and locals really take advantage of that extra daylight. You can play a nighttime round at the country’s northernmost USGA course, the Midnight Sun Golf Club, soak in the nearby Chena Hot Springs, which is open until 11:45 p.m. or walk through the forest on a Midnight Sun ATV Tour.
There’s also the century-old Midnight Sun Game, an amateur baseball game that’s played annually on the summer solstice at Growden Park (this year, that’s June 21). Since 1960, the game’s home team has been the Alaska Goldpanners, a collegiate summer baseball team whose ranks have included Barry Bonds, Tom Seaver, and Dave Winfield.
Reykjavík, Iceland
Iceland is so overflowing with natural wonders; geysers, glaciers, waterfalls, beaches lined with basalt columns, and abundant marine wildlife, you can leave feeling like there wasn’t enough time to see everything. In the summer months, you get 24 hours of sightseeing and soaking up all the experiences you want.
The Magical Whales, for instance, in the Midnight Sun tour from Elding Whale Watching, during which the sky glows pink and orange as you observe the nocturnal habits of minke whales, white-beaked dolphins, and humpback whales.
You can go sea kayaking, go for a snowmobile tour, or soak in the silica-rich waters of the Blue Lagoon.
Svalbard, Norway
In June, the Svalbard Express itinerary, which used to operate between 1968 and 1982, relaunched with 10- to 16-day journeys. From here you can cross the Barents Sea from the North Cape to Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost settlement with more than 1,000 residents. During the day, there are short leisure trips as the night is spent sailing along the impossibly scenic coastline.
Svalbard is inspired by a rich history such as the Arctic-inspired cocktails in the 1893 Bar and the Funken Lodge, which occupies a building constructed in 1947.
Lapland, Finland
Finland is often called the Land of the Midnight Sun, and nowhere is that truer than in Lapland, which experiences so-called “white nights” from late May through early August. Locals celebrate the never-ending days with a number of cultural events, including the Midnight Sun Film Festival in Sodankylä.
Midnight sun adventures here include standup paddleboarding or floating on a lake with Nordic Unique Travels or walking through the forest with the resident pups of Arctic Circle Husky Park, and late-night excursions like a round of midnight sun golf at Ounasvaara’s Santa Claus Golf, where you’ll often share the greens with a herd of free-roaming reindeer.
Yukon Territory, Canada
Just across the border from Alaska, the rugged Yukon Territory is a dream destination for road trippers of all skill levels, and the midnight sun means you’ll have plenty of daylight to explore after a long drive.
The 1,387-mile Alaska Highway has one of the coolest properties on this stretch of highway is Yukon Black Spruce, a collection of four cabins in Whitehorse that get their name from shou sugi ban, a Japanese method of preserving wood by charring it.
There are many other locations on the Earth that experience the midnight sun. Some of them are:
Abisko (Sweden), Whitehorse (Canada),Nuuk (Greenland), St. Petersburg (Russia), Faroe Islands (Denmark), Lofoten Islands, Tromso, Finnmark (Norway) etc
It may interest you to know that while any one of these places is experience unending sunlight, their opposite location on the globe (Earth) is experiencing the exact opposite (unending darkness).
The duration also varies from place to place, depending how far north or south a place is. The midnight sun (or darkness) could happen for as short as 24 hours and last for as long as 6 months, depending on location.
This is a natural occurence, and happens as a result of the place’s location on the Earth.
