"Amazing aurora chasing tour in Yellowknife last night! We were lucky to witness stunning northern lights. A big thank you to our guide Wendy. She is knowledgeable and attentive. Wendy patiently took photos of every single one of us with the aurora in the background. She took great care of all guests throughout the cold night. We really enjoyed the whole experience and created unforgettable memories. Highly recommend this tour!"
CHECK THE SKY
Cloud and darkness decide the night
—
Cloud over tonight’s dark hours
—
Kp forecast tonight (NOAA)
—
Moon tonight
—
Dark enough tonight
A forecast, not a promise: cloud for Yellowknife from MET Norway, Kp from NOAA SWPC · Yellowknife tours drive to lakeside cabins and viewing sites outside the city. · month by month · checked
Geomagnetic latitude
68.6°
Corrected geomagnetic latitude (IGRF-13) of the nearest observatory, Yellowknife, published by ISGI, adjusted for the distance to Yellowknife. Source, checked October 2026.
Kp that brings the oval overhead (est.)
Kp 0 estimated
NOAA SWPC’s rule of thumb: the oval’s edge sits near 66° geomagnetic at Kp 0 and moves about 2° per Kp step. Source, checked October 2026.
Dark enough for the aurora
September to April
Months with at least 4 hours a night of the sun 12° or more below the horizon; May to July is too light. Computed with JPL DE421, checked October 2026.
Best months, on clear dark hours
December, January and February
Dark hours a night times the share of cloud-free night sky (NASA POWER, 2001–2025), checked October 2026.
Clear dark hours in December
≈ 6.4 h a night
An average, not a forecast: 14.6 h of darkness with 57% typical night cloud. Checked October 2026.
Yellowknife · Northwest Territories · Canada
Yellowknife Northern Lights: Aurora Tours, Cabins and the Data
Yellowknife sits under the auroral oval on a dry, flat, cold shield of lakes and forest. In midwinter it has more clear dark hours than any Nordic place on this site.
From
US$62
per person
Free cancellation
- 4.7 / 5 292+ Reviews
- 10 Aurora Destinations Compared on This Site
- Free Cancellation
The Experience
What the Yellowknife Bus Tour Includes
Yellowknife Vacations' northern lights bus tour with photos.
Highlights
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- A bus tour with a driver-guide
- Three locations for different views
- A photographer on board, with pictures
- Hot cocoa, tea, coffee and cookies
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Bus tour
- Driver-guide
- Photographer
- Pictures
- Hot cocoa, tea, and coffee
- Cookies
How a Night Works
From booking to the lights.
Book Several Nights
Book early in your stay; most visitors plan three or four nights.
Hotel Pickup
Tours collect you from your Yellowknife hotel in the evening.
Out to the Lakes
Buses visit several spots; cabin and lodge tours wait in the warm.
Photos and Hot Drinks
Photographers capture you under the aurora.
Photo Gallery
On the Tour
Photos from the tour's own listing.
Book Your Experience
Check Availability & Prices
Select your preferred date and time. Cancel up to 24 hours in advance for a full refund.
What the Tour Brings, and What You Bring
Yellowknife Vacations includes
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Photographer
- Hot cocoa, tea, and coffee
From the tour’s GetYourGuide listing, checked October 2026. Check dates for this tour →
Bring
- Layers under a windproof shell, a warm hat and gloves: you stand still for long stretches on an Arctic night
- Warm, waterproof boots with good grip on snow and ice
- A charged phone and a spare battery: cold drains batteries fast
- A head torch with a red light, so you keep your night vision
Month by month
When Yellowknife Is Dark and Clear Enough
Night cloud, hours of darkness and how often the Kp index reached 3 or more in the dark hours, month by month at Yellowknife.
| Month | Dark hours a night | Night cloud | Clear dark hours (est.) | Dark hours with Kp 3+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January best | 13.9 h | 54% | 6.3 h | 15% |
| February best | 11.7 h | 49% | 6 h | 22% |
| March | 8.8 h | 50% | 4.4 h | 25% |
| April | 4.7 h | 64% | 1.7 h | 19% |
| May | Too light | 73% | — | — |
| June | Too light | 68% | — | — |
| July | Too light | 67% | — | — |
| August | 2.7 h | 63% | 1 h | 15% |
| September | 7.7 h | 63% | 2.8 h | 25% |
| October | 10.9 h | 79% | 2.3 h | 24% |
| November | 13.3 h | 74% | 3.5 h | 21% |
| December best | 14.6 h | 57% | 6.4 h | 18% |
Night cloud: NASA POWER climatology (CLOUD_AMT_NIGHT), January 2001 to December 2025, at the Yellowknife grid cell. Darkness: computed with JPL DE421 via Skyfield (sun more than 12° below the horizon), averaged per night. Kp 3+: share of the 3-hour Kp windows from 2015-01-01 to 2025-12-31 that fell in the dark hours here, from GFZ’s Kp index (CC BY 4.0); September and March run higher, the equinox effect NOAA describes. Clear dark hours are an estimate, dark hours times the cloud-free share. Checked October 2026.
Looking north
The Sky Over Yellowknife, Facing North
Computed charts of the stars where the aurora usually appears, on a new-moon night. The aurora itself is not drawn: no chart can forecast it.
Tour or on your own?
Yellowknife on Your Own, or With a Tour?
- Do you have a car and clothing for minus 30 degrees?
- Do you know where to stop safely off the roads outside town?
- Do you want somewhere warm to wait between displays?
Yes to all three
Go on your own
On a clear night the aurora is often visible from the edge of town; drive out to a lakeshore away from the lights.
No to any of them
Book the tour
Hotel pickup, warm buses, cabins or lodges between displays, hot drinks and photos.
Check dates →The Top Three Side by Side
Prices as listed on GetYourGuide, October 2026.
| Feature | TOP PICK Northern Lights Bus Tour with Photos | Aurora Borealis Tour with Cozy Cabin Base | Aurora Lodge and Aurora Chasing Tour |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | From US$62/per person | From US$101 (Oct 2026) | From US$98 (Oct 2026) |
| Rating | 4.7/5 (292 reviews) | 4.7/5 (85 reviews) | 4.6/5 (55 reviews) |
| Operator | Yellowknife Vacations | Bucket List Tour | Destination NWT Limited |
| Free Cancellation | Yes, up to 24 hours ahead | Yes, up to 24 hours ahead | Yes, up to 24 hours ahead |
| Check Availability | View This Tour | View This Tour |
Other Yellowknife Aurora Tours
A cabin base with a late lunch, a lodge by Madeline Lake, and a five-star bus tour.
CABIN BASEFrom Yellowknife: Aurora Borealis Tour with Cozy Cabin Base
Stay warm all night, while waiting for the Aurora - Hunt for Aurora from Cozy Cabin
AURORA LODGEMadeline Lake: Aurora Lodge and Aurora Chasing Tour
Enjoy the best of both worlds with Aurora Lodge and Aurora Chasing
BEST RATED BUSYellowknife: Northern Lights Aurora Hunting Tour by Bus
Chase the Northern Lights with an experienced local guide
The Yellowknife Aurora Guide
Which Tour to Book
Six tours compared on base, comfort and price.
Yellowknife is the clearest place on this site: NASA’s climatology puts typical night cloud there near 54% in January, against 83% at Tromsø, giving about 6.3 clear dark hours a night in January to Tromsø’s 2.6 (estimates). It sits at 68.6° geomagnetic latitude, under the oval, so even quiet nights can show the lights. The best-value start is Yellowknife Vacations’ bus tour with photos, from US$62 as of October 2026.
Check dates for the bus tour →
When to go
From September to April the nights are long enough. The clearest months on our measure are December, January and February, when midwinter’s long dry nights give the most clear sky. Late August and September offer milder nights and lake reflections, with 25% of September’s dark hours at Kp 3 or more in 2015 to 2025.
The tours compared
| Tour (operator) | From | Rating (reviews) | What stands out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northern lights bus with photos (Yellowknife Vacations) | US$62 | 4.7 (292) | 3 locations, photographer, hot cocoa |
| Aurora tour with a cosy cabin base (Bucket List Tour) | US$101 | 4.7 (85) | Late lunch, parkas for photos, runs in any weather |
| Aurora lodge and chasing, Madeline Lake (Destination NWT) | US$98 | 4.6 (55) | A warm lodge, games, photos |
| Aurora hunting tour by bus (Aurora Bus Tours) | US$69 | 5.0 (27) | The best rated, professional photos |
| Two nights in a cabin (Arctic Tours Canada) | US$229 | 4.4 (11) | Two nights of viewing, airport pickup |
| Four-hour hunting tour by bus (NWT Charter Services) | US$77 | 4.3 (12) | A shared bus, warm drinks |
Prices in US dollars, ratings and review counts as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026; they change with the date you pick.
All prices in US dollars as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026.
Is a tour worth it here?
The sky is free, and on clear nights the aurora can show from the edge of town. At minus 30 degrees, though, the tour is mostly about warmth and safety: a heated bus or a cabin between displays, hotel pickup, and a guide who knows where to stop off the roads.
For Canada as a whole, including Whitehorse, see northern lights in Canada.
Guest Reviews
What Recent Guests Say
4.7/5
from 292 verified reviews
"Wendy, our guide, was incredibly patient and great at taking pictures of the participants. The pace of the tour was just right—not too rushed, but not too slow either. We witnessed amazing displays of dancing auroras at three different lakes. Even though there were plenty of other people at the lakes, including participants from other tour groups, it never felt cramped or overcrowded. I had taken a semi-private tour with another operator the day before, paying three times as much, but somehow, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as this tour. This tour is definitely worth the price!"
"Doris is our guide, she has enthusiam about this. And we could see northen light very well. Thank you."
"The guide and driver were so kind. I could see an amazing Aurora and the guide took a lot of pictures not only tourists but also the scenery."
"I booked different tours for three nights, and this was the best experience. The entire itinerary was well-planned. The guide, Wendy, was very professional. She was an excellent photographer and very patient. She took photos repeatedly until everyone was satisfied, and she was also able to find good spots to see the aurora in a timely manner. Highly recommended."
"Our tour guide did everything she could to take us to different places, as it was very cloudy at first, and she finally succeeded!!"
"We didnt see the Aurora on our first night but luckily with the patience and guidance of our excellent tour guide Wendy and her driver partner(too bad we failed to get his name) that we saw the Northern lights clearly in all its splendor. Definitely worth the chase🤍❤️"
"Dori was our guide. When we arrived, I was worried that we wouldn't be able to see anything because the moonlight was so bright, but suddenly the aurora appeared, and after that, we saw even more than we had expected. The staff were also very kind and guided us enthusiastically. Thank you for showing us something so wonderful."
Read all 292 verified reviews
See All ReviewsPick a Night, See the Price
Most northern lights tours on this site cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, and several offer a free second tour or a refund if the lights do not show. Check the terms of the tour you pick before you pay. Starting from US$62 per person.
Check AvailabilityFAQ: Yellowknife Aurora Tours
The tours, the odds and the season, with figures checked October 2026.
On clear sky, it is the best of the places on this site. NASA's climatology puts January night cloud near 54%, and Yellowknife sits under the oval at 68.6° geomagnetic latitude, for about 6.3 clear dark hours a night in January, an estimate checked October 2026.
Plan three or four. Even in the clearest months some nights are cloudy; more nights give more chances, and most tours cancel free up to 24 hours ahead, as listed in October 2026.
Very, in midwinter. Bucket List Tour's cabin base and Destination NWT's Madeline Lake lodge give you somewhere warm to wait between displays.
September to April, when the nights at Yellowknife get at least four hours of nautical darkness. Darkness, not the aurora, sets the season this far north: from May to July the sky never gets dark enough. Computed with JPL DE421 via Skyfield for the town, checked October 2026.
December, January and February, on this site's measure: the most dark hours that are also cloud-free on average. That is the night length times the share of clear nights in NASA POWER's 2001-2025 night-cloud climatology. September and March also see more Kp 3+ activity, the equinox effect NOAA describes. Checked October 2026.
About Kp 0 (the oval is often overhead) brings the edge of the auroral oval over Yellowknife, an estimate. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center puts the oval's edge near 66 degrees geomagnetic latitude at Kp 0, moving about 2 degrees per Kp step; Yellowknife sits near 68.6 degrees geomagnetic. Higher Kp means brighter, more active displays, and cloud matters more than the number on most nights.
Still have questions? Email us at info@northernlightsdestinations.com
Kp index: GFZ Helmholtz Centre for Geosciences (Matzka et al. 2021), CC BY 4.0 · Oval rule of thumb: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center · Geomagnetic pole: NOAA NCEI (WMM2025) · Night cloud: NASA POWER Project, January 2001 to December 2025 · Tonight's cloud: data from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0); Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC · Sun and moon: JPL DE421 via Skyfield · Aurora data checked October 2026.