2024 is the year for stargazing – here are the best places to see the skies

Calling all stargazers and beginner astronomers (Credits: Getty Images)

So far this year, we’ve witnessed a solar eclipse, a devil comet and a pink moon.

Astronomers say this year will be the best to view the Northern Lights in more than two decades thanks to the sun reaching solar maximum – when the star’s activity is at its greatest.

Unsurprisingly, interest in places where guests can gaze up in awe as the galaxy unfolds above them is at fever pitch.

Here are some of the world’s best star-spotting stays.

Sal Salis, Ningaloo Reef, Western Australia

Look up to the heavens from star beds in Namibia (Picture: So Salis)

A natural playground of rust-coloured soil, turquoise lagoons and an impossibly starry night sky twinkling high above the Indian Ocean, Western Australia’s Ningaloo Reef is a renowned hotspot for avid astronomers.

Stay in safari-style tents as zero light pollution affords magnificent views of the Milky Way’s iconic dust lanes – known as the Great Celestial Emu by some Aboriginal tribes – as well as Mercury, Mars and shooting stars that glide across the silver-studded sky.

Blending unobtrusively into its desert location, this eco-conscious beachfront resort is also a breeding ground for sea turtle hatchlings that rely solely on the light of the moon to navigate them into the ocean; an intrepid journey that guests can watch nightly under the soft glow of solar-lit lanterns.

salsalis.com.au

Wilderness Little Kulala, Namib Desert, Namibia

A wide expanse of stars against a soundscape of the animal kingdom’s finest (Credits: Lance van de Vver)

Kicking bubble baths topped with rose petals to the curb, Wilderness Little Kulala has upped the romance quotient with its star beds – raised open-air beds set a 30-minute drive from the main camp offering complete seclusion in one of the most naturally dark places on Earth.

Camouflaged at the foot of Namibia’s massive Sossusvlei Dunes, the star beds sit seamlessly in the Namib Desert, a recognised Dark Sky Reserve with wide views stretching from the Milky Way’s southern Crux constellation to bold, bright Cygnus in the north, and Jupiter, which begins to dazzle at dawn.

Accompanied by an after-dark orchestra of grunting buffalos, roaring lions and trumpeting elephants, sleep might not be a guarantee, but the tranquillity of endless space is.

wildernessdestinations.com

Elan Valley Hotel, Mid Wales

Elan Valley celestial landscape changes monthly (Credits: Getty Images)

You don’t have to cross continents to indulge in a bit of star spotting – in fact, Elan Valley near Rhayader in Powys is a 72sq mile International Dark Sky Park that was recently ranked ninth best place in the world for stargazing.

Granted silver-tier status by the International Dark Sky Association (IDA) in 2015, meaning the entire area is protected against light pollution, Elan Valley is known as a gatekeeper of the sky’s secrets as its celestial landscape changes monthly.

In May, noctilucent – or ‘night-shining’ clouds emerge, spreading high-latitude ice crystals illuminated by the sun; June uncovers thousands of green-glowing comets and galaxies; while July 17 to August 24 delivers the theatrics of the Perseid meteor shower – with about 150 meteors per hour slamming into the Earth’s atmosphere at 36 miles per second and exploding in a trail of burning fireballs. Woah!

rarebits.co.uk/hotels/elan-valley-hotel

Refuge du Montenvers Overnight Glacier Experience, Chamonix

Hit the Alpine heights and stargaze above the clouds (Picture: Chamonix)

Chamonix’s mythical massifs are known as a mecca for climbers who think nothing of clinging on to their rockfaces for fun; thankfully, there’s now a far less exhausting way to hit the Alpine heights and stargaze above the clouds.

Sitting high in the Chamonix Alps, the Refuge du Montenvers hotel is perched 1,903m up on the edge of the Mer de Glace, a seven-kilometre long, 200m deep ‘sea of ice’. Its overnight glacier experience begins with sundowners overlooking France’s largest glacier before a fancy three-course dinner and an evening of astronomy spotting shooting stars as they highlight the mountaintops and clear views of Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn as they rise and set throughout the early hours.

inghams.co.uk

Dark Skies and Northern Lights Tour, Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland is one of the best places to see the Northern Lights (Picture: Unknown)

Solar maximum lasts until October and is the peak of the sun’s 11-year activity cycle, meaning a blockbuster season for Northern Lights seekers, particularly in Scandinavia, where
the already spectacular aurora displays are set to be even more wild.

Appearing like swathes of neon silk that dance across the sky in bursts of bright green, pink and purple, this phenomenal light show is caused by stormy activity on the surface of the sun and there’s no better place to grab a front-row seat than underneath northern Finland’s dark skies.

Aurora Zone’s six-day guided tour includes an aurora workshop, an aurora hunt and two evenings of sky-watching at a secluded camp
in Finnish Lapland right in the heart of the dazzling action.

theaurorazone.com

The Lookout Bubble, Port Lympne Safari Park, Kent

Luxuriate in The Lookout Bubble at Port Lympne (Picture: Port Lympne Safari Park)

A brilliant option for entry-level astronomers, Port Lympne’s The Lookout Bubble is a new addition to The Aspinall Foundation’s 600-acre endangered animal reserve.

Tucked away in a secluded corner of the grounds, the luxury ‘bubble’ is more of a transparent cluster with a cosy observation area adjoining a bedroom with a big freestanding bath, so guests can sleep and bathe beneath the stars.

With a cool, illustrated Stargazers Guide provided, outlining handy tips for exploring the skies, fun facts and scannable QR codes to help budding star spotters know their planets from their constellations, on a clear, cloudless night it’s possible to see The Plough, The Big Bear, The Seated Queen and The Swan as they twinkle directly overhead.

aspinallfoundation.org

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