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There are several threads on this exact topic. We were lucky when we went to Yellowknife. The advantage is that supposedly away from the coast there are fewer cloudy days. We flew in and stayed downtown so cheaper than the "aurora lodges" and would drive out to the lakes. The first night we had a spectacular show. It was clear and a great display and we were by ourselves near a beautiful lake.
There are several threads on this exact topic. We were lucky when we went to Yellowknife. The advantage is that supposedly away from the coast there are fewer cloudy days. We flew in and stayed downtown so cheaper than the "aurora lodges" and would drive out to the lakes. The first night we had a spectacular show. It was clear and a great display and we were by ourselves near a beautiful lake.
There were a couple threads that I remember by someone who first thought Scandinavia, then Michigan and then Fairbanks. I could try to dig them up. We went Oct. 15 (not sure what shows up if you are not a member of Flickr but for members it has the date taken as well as lens, etc). We drove to the area with the wood bison and they were right along the road. That is where we spotted the hawk eagle as well, driving this road to the wood bison. We flew from there to Nunavut and saw the aurora there as well. You can fly to Churchill or Arviat and see aurora and potentially polar bears:
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I spent most of my life in Anchorage and Fairbanks is a great location to see the Northern Lights. It is generally clearer than Anchorage (and colder) being further away from large bodies of water. I have photographed from in town away from lights and at Chena Hot Springs Resort about 50 miles from Fairbanks. The resort there offers a night tour to the top of a local hill that is away from light.
Yes we had rented a hotel room downtown (Coast Fraser Tower) and when we arrived at the airport picked up a car and drove out to the lake on our own. No problems, road was great, easy to find the lakes, even in the dark. We drove far enough from the city town so lights wouldn't be a problem and then went to a lake where we were the only people. You are converting Canadian to US dollars, right? At the time we had flights on West Jet and they were quite reasonable. But I think Fairbanks could work out fine as well. Another day we drove out to the Mackenzie Wood Bison Preserve and stayed at a different place near there, hoping to get photos of the aurora with the Deh Cho Bridge in the background. What month were you going? It is better if the lakes aren't frozen.
My only experience with the northern lights was years ago, in the northern Yukon. I was there most of the summer on a research project, and in mid-to-late August we got spectacular shows every “night”. A couple of us would get in the small boats we had, lie on our backs, and float downstream for a mile or so watching the show. I’ve never seen such a beautiful celestial display. Sorry I can’t be of any real help in your decision, but thought you might enjoying hearing about my experience. However, I’ve heard very good things about Fairbanks.
I'll be flying out of Boston and for some reason there are no West Jet flights that don't involve me spending a night in Calgary. I'm guessing there are only 1 or 2 flights to Yellowknife per day and none of the Boston flights make it to Calgary in time to catch those flights, so it forces me to wait until the following morning. Only Air Canada has flights that work and they are currently showing around $1200 USD per ticket. I looked at dates for both November and January. Flights to Fairbanks are currently showing $630 USD in January, and $750 in November. I'll have to do more research and decide what I want to do. Thanks again for the info and your help
