It’s only extreme adventurers who venture to Easter Island. In this mysterious setting, you’ll feel the true magic after dark, when the sky comes alive with a million blazing stars that watch over the statues until sunrise.
Every sky-scanner’s bucket list should include seeing nature’s most remarkable light show, the Northern Lights. You’ll find the heavens ablaze with ethereal swirls of color in Trysil, eastern Norway, where ski slopes and hiking trails make it a fantastic outdoor destination. Stay in one of the stargazing cabins to watch the lights come to life against an inky night plotted with limitless constellations.
Perched atop the dramatic summit of Mauna Kea, the tallest sea mountain in the world, the observatory’s 13 telescopes represent 11 countries watching the twinkling heavens. Tour companies take keen stargazers up to the peak and offer detailed narratives on the history and significance of the astrological epicenter.
Stargazing is one of the prime activities offered at this remote nature reserve set in the arid Namib Desert in southern Namibia. Visitors come to watch amazing wildlife by day and star-filled skies by night at Africa’s first dark sky reserve. The sight of stars twinkling above sand dunes and mountains to the orchestra of an animal chorus is an unforgettable experience.
NamibRand National Reserve, D381, Namibia, +264 61 224 882
Keep your head in the clouds with a visit to the Pic du Midi. In summer, outdoor adventurers make the hike up to the top, while those coming in winter can take the cable car before staying the night in the sky-high hotel that offers use of the giant telescope to get a closer look at the looming galaxies and lunar craters.
Pic du Midi, Rue Pierre Lamy de la Chapelle, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, France, +33 825 00 28 77
In this 600-mile stretch of dry and isolated desert in northern Chile, it’s the high-altitude, crystal-clear skies and little rainfall that contribute to the unparalleled stargazing opportunities. Various tours run stargazing excursions, and there are hotels with special packages for exploring the desert by night.
