I want to watch aurora in Canada. I'm a Japanese and now live in Boston. I've heard that this year is a good year for watching aurora once in 11 years, and so I want to watch it this winter. Preferably I want to go there in the beginning or middle of February.
I heard that Aurora Village in Yellowknife was wonderful, but it takes long time and costs expensive from Boston to Yellowknife. It costs twice as expensive as fee from Japan to Yellowknife. Therefore I have a question.
1. Are there any cheap plans from the United States to Aurora Village in Yellowknife? (including airline tickets, hotel, aurora seeing tour)
2. I think that Quebec is near Boston. Can I see aurora well in Quebec? In addition, is there an particular facility such as Aurora Village?
3. Do you know any other place, which I can see aurora well, in the United States or Canada? Is there a special place or facility such as Aurora Village? I wish the place is close to Boston.
Anonymous2012-01-06T01:06:24Z
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To be honest, Yellowknife is the cheapest option that you can find. Other places, such as Whitehorse, Dawson, and Churchill, are either farther away and/or more isolated, hence it is more expensive than the Yellowknife option.
1. Check Air Canada. They fly from Boston to Calgary via Toronto, then you can connect there to reach Yellowknife. I just checked the website and that would be $320 from Boston to Calgary, then $175 from Calgary to Yellowknife, plus the taxes and miscellaneous fees.
2. You have to be at least around the vicinity of Kuujjuaq, which is around Ungava Bay, at the extreme Northern Quebec. Kuujjuaq is the only major centre in Northern Quebec, but it is more isolated to the rest of the country than Yellowknife is, which means prices will be more exorbitant than that of Yellowknife.
3. Try Alaska, but there is less probability there, since I have seen that Yellowknife has the highest chance of seeing the aurora around the world (a 95% success rate on a clear day). Yellowknife's auroras are so strong that they penetrate through a cloud cover and can be seen even in the downtown core (where there are highrise buildings, which emit a lot of light pollution). But Aurora Village will be much further away from Downtown so you can see the full power of the aurora. And that's why I don't like Alaska as an option. Remember, Fairbanks and Anchorage are sprawling cities, hence emit a lot of light pollution, which will ruin your aurora viewing moment in those cities should you pick them, while Yellowknife is a small, compact city, with no light pollution whatsoever spreading to the Aurora Village. Hence, you'll see the best quality of auroras in Yellowknife.
1. No, there is no cheap way to get to Yellowknife. If you drive up to Ottawa, which you can do in a day from Boston, there are $531 plane fares, about half the price from Boston. There's really no aurora tour, you wait for a clear night, go outside, and look up.
2. Quebec is very, very large, about four times the area of Japan. The Eastern Townships are close to Boston (and a nice place to ski later in the winter), but you're not much more likely to see an aurora there than in Boston. If you go much farther north, the chances improve, but it's harder to get to.
3. The farther north you go, the more auroras you see, and the farther out in the country go you, so there's fewer street lights, the easier it is to see in the sky. I'm in central New York, no farther north than Boston, and maybe once every ten years we see an aurora.
To go along with what the others have said...just remember that even IF you get to Yellowknife there is no guarantee that you will see the aurora. It's not as if it happens every night and it's not as if it can be predicted. It's hit and miss. If the weather and atmospheric and space conditions are right you may see them. Otherwise, its a wasted trip other then seeing the sights of Yellowknife.
Another possibility to consider for aurora watching is Tromso, Norway. Airfare from Boston should be similar to a trip to Yellowknife. A possible advantage is that the winter temperatures get less extremely cold than you could get in northern Canada or Alaska. Your best Boston winter clothes could be adequate in Tromso.