🇬🇧 English · 🇸🇪 Svenska · 🇳🇱 Nederlands · 🇩🇪 Deutsch
It often starts as a pale green band above the forest. You think it’s a cloud. Then it moves.
Many people think you have to travel to Kiruna or Abisko to see the aurora. But here at the High Coast, in the middle of Sweden, it dances across the sky several times every winter. On our homestead in Undrom we have seen it from the sheep pasture, from the sauna – and from the loft bed in Hillside.
When are your chances best?
The aurora season here runs from late August to early April. The darkest months, October to February, give the best odds. Look up between roughly 9 pm and 2 am, when activity is usually highest.
The sun is still very active. The peak of the current solar cycle was in autumn 2024, but strong auroras often keep coming in the years after a peak. Winter 2026–2027 is still a good winter for northern lights.
Three things that matter
- Darkness. The further from city lights, the more you see. There are no street lights on the homestead, and Hillside is fully off-grid.
- Clear skies. Clouds are the aurora’s biggest enemy. Check the weather and be ready to step outside when it clears.
- Solar activity. The Kp index (0–9) shows how active it is. At our latitude the aurora can be visible even at low values – the higher, the stronger.
Our tips from the homestead
- Download an aurora app that alerts you when activity rises.
- Dress warmly. Clear nights are often the coldest. Wool layers, a hat and a thermos.
- Give your eyes time. It takes 15–20 minutes to adjust to the dark. Switch off your phone screen.
- Your camera sees more than you. A phone in night mode often catches colours your eyes only hint at.
- Be patient. The aurora comes in waves. Sometimes it fades for ten minutes and returns stronger.
No promises – but a beautiful evening anyway
We can never promise the northern lights. But a winter evening here is lovely either way: dinner by the fire, a warm wood-fired sauna and a quiet starry sky. And if the sky starts to move, we’ll let you know.
Winter at the homestead runs 1 December – 1 April.
