12 days europe
Aug 28th, 2016, 07:48 AM
#42
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Just to correct, Longyearbyen is not the best place to see Northern Lights as it is not always under the "aurora belt" (the green thingy on this map : http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/ ). Tromso and Iceland (North of it mostly) are more favorable.
But highly agree that you are bound for disappointment if you plan a holiday in either of these place with the sole hope to see Northern Lights. You need both solar activity (not predictable) and clear skies (not predictable) to hope to see something, and something is not always the multicolored sky-wide explosions you see on NL pictures. Sometimes, NL are just a faint greenish cloud. So definitely plan a holiday in a place you would enjoy even if you don't see the NL, and hope for them as an added bonus.
I have spent 11 nights last March in Northern Norway above the Arctic Circle. On these 10 days, I had nice NL one night, clear skies but no NL on 2 others, very faint displays behind clouds on 3, and fully cloudy skies for 5 nights in a row. They are never a given.
But highly agree that you are bound for disappointment if you plan a holiday in either of these place with the sole hope to see Northern Lights. You need both solar activity (not predictable) and clear skies (not predictable) to hope to see something, and something is not always the multicolored sky-wide explosions you see on NL pictures. Sometimes, NL are just a faint greenish cloud. So definitely plan a holiday in a place you would enjoy even if you don't see the NL, and hope for them as an added bonus.
I have spent 11 nights last March in Northern Norway above the Arctic Circle. On these 10 days, I had nice NL one night, clear skies but no NL on 2 others, very faint displays behind clouds on 3, and fully cloudy skies for 5 nights in a row. They are never a given.
Aug 28th, 2016, 02:47 PM
#43
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Save your time in Amsterdam for the end of the trip. When you arrive in Amsterdam, go directly on to Paris.>
direct Thalys trains right from Schiphol Airport's train station- www.thalys.com. The only direct Amsterdam to Paris trains- book early for deep discounts but non-changeable so if plane is late - leave a lot of fudge factor time though - Schiphol has one of Europe's best shopping areas with restaurants, cafes, etc.
You can book 39 euro tickets IME (I did not long ago) Ams-Par and I think full fare is about $200! Not sure check the site.
direct Thalys trains right from Schiphol Airport's train station- www.thalys.com. The only direct Amsterdam to Paris trains- book early for deep discounts but non-changeable so if plane is late - leave a lot of fudge factor time though - Schiphol has one of Europe's best shopping areas with restaurants, cafes, etc.
You can book 39 euro tickets IME (I did not long ago) Ams-Par and I think full fare is about $200! Not sure check the site.
