Have you seen the midnight sun? If so, in which country? If you have written a blog about the experience, post a link to it in this thread.
I havent seen the midnight sun yet, but I would love to. It is one of my travel dreams. Wonder how much a flight to Scandanavia and then a train ticket to further north would cost. May be worth splashing out on!
Reply to this Mell - £55 Ryan Air return from London - Riga, Latvia. £40 return from Riga - Moscow cheapest train ticket. £20 return from Moscow - Pechora cheapest train ticket. Pechora - Naryan-Mar boat (negligible cost, not sure exactly). Anyway, Naryan-Mar, although not Russia's most attractive town (understatement), is past the Arctic Circle and has a couple of months of 24/7 daylight. And it's not like the St Petersburg "White Nights" which really aren't that White. Naryan Mar is actually full on daylight 24/7. You can check out my blog on the area if you want, it's the second one I wrote.
Reply to this Thanks Edward 😊 Now, when will I go there is the big question. Love the prices so that will make going happen sooner. I have so many places on my list battling to be next. Well, India is next in May, but after that I cant decide between Honduras, Mongolia, Laos and a bunch more.
Maybe what Avril chooses will help me make up my mind. Otherwise, I will have to resort to my tick list system. ie I have a list of off putting things about countries and I choose the one on my list that gets the fewest ticks.
Reply to this Hehe yeh I have 50 countries on my list still, gonna be at it for quite few years to come... 😊 By the way, those train prices I quoted are just for seats, ie you're not guaranteed a bed! Plus you have to book in advance IN THE COUNTRY to get those cheap fares. The Riga - Moscow one is overnight and the Moscow - Pechora one is 2 nights. If you want a bed, double the price. But I always find that on Russian trains you can usually find an empty bed or sleep on one of the baggage shelves!
Reply to this Who needs a bed, when I have an exciting destination distracting me from discomfort. 😉 I usually find at least a corner to prop myself up in to sleep in order to avoid paying extra and make the travel cash stretch.
I have scored some really cheap overnight train tickets here in Germany to get me to various destinations in Europe.
There are probably lots of destination where one can see the midnight sun. I only had Scandanavia and Iceland in mind. I can start watching out for others.
Reply to this I haven't, yet. But I'll be visiting Tromsø, Norway, in July next year, before the 23rd, to see it.
Reply to this Would July be the best month to see it? Or are all the Summer months good?
Reply to this In Tromsø, the sun rises on the 18th of May, and starts setting again around the 26th of July. Due to various topographic features, and buildings, some parts of Tromsø lose the midnight sun even earlier.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Tromso#Light_and_darkness
Reply to this Do people living in those places all sleep at the same time like we do in more Southern locations, or does no darkness or all darkness make a difference?
I would also like to see 24 hour darkness. Is that interesting, or are people too grumpy at that time of the year with seasonal depression to make being there nice?
Reply to this The guy I was staying with in Naryan Mar when it was 24/7 light was a workaholic and only slept 3 hours a night or sometimes not at all - maybe there's a connection?!
Reply to this Thanks Edward. 😊
Now I am gettting all excited about my next destination after India. I am going to make a list of the countries and put the ones where I can see the midnight sun on it too. All those places seem expensive so I will just go for 4 days or something like that. Maybe Summer 2010 might be the one where I experience the midnight sun.
Iceland, Norway and Sweden may be the easiest as regards visas etc.
I could see the midnight sun in Russia too, couldnt I? I heard the visas have become easier to get since last time I tried to get one. How much does it cost to backpack in Russia these days? I heard it is getting expensive. But if it costs less than Scandanavia and I have to go to the trouble of getting a visa I will stay for a couple of weeks there.
Are there any countries I left out, where I could see the midnight sun? I suppose there is Alaska but I am not too keen on that. Canada?
Reply to this One of the places I'd like to see summer solstice is in the Yukon. I've heard some good stories from river guides who canoed in the midnight sun
The furthest north I've been in Jasper, with just under 17 hours of sunlight in summer, which was pretty awesome. Midnight sun would be neat!
A friend did a 3-week fossil dig in the Artic (in Nunavut I believe) one summer...he was above the Circle so no darkness for him. It took him weeks to readjust to a normal schedule! He said it was wierd, where 8pm could've easily been 4am and no one would know the difference. It sounded like a fun experience.
If you look at a map of Canada, getting above the Arctic Circle is rather difficult and expensive, as there are no roads in the summer. (Heard of the ice roads? That's where they are!) If you can afford the flight, fly into Iqaluit and go hiking on Baffin Island...which I have heard is spectacular. Or check out canoe trips in the Yukon for solstice (June 22nd maybe?)
Why not Alaska, just out of curiosity?
And how about Finland? Has that been mentioned?
Reply to this Yeh its really easy to get past the Arctic Circle in Russia, just hop on a train. Trouble is that'll just take you to some ugly soviet industrial town - getting out into the wilderness requires permits which are an absolute pain in the #$*% to get even if you speak Russian. Visas are easy to get through an online agency but fairly expensive. Backpacking can be cheap if you stay in student guest houses or monastery / convent guest houses and take the cheapest trains.
Reply to this If you look at a map of Canada, getting above the Arctic Circle is rather difficult and expensive.....
I was going to go to the Artic circle when I lived in Canada, but at the time I decided that I would prefer to sit still for a while and have money to enjoy the things people enjoy when not travelling.
Why not Alaska, just out of curiosity?
I would like Alaska itself, but I feel kinda resentful about the US visa and immigration process. I expect better of a modern country. Alaska will be back on my list when the US lighten up. They are Allies of most of Europe FFS, but still we have to go through a heap of BS to get into the US.
And how about Finland?
That is certainly an option. I can look out for flight bargains. I will check for Sweden and Norway too and buy whichever is the least expensive.
Yeh its really easy to get past the Arctic Circle in Russia, just hop on a train. Trouble is that'll just take you to some ugly soviet industrial town -,,
I wouldnt mind the town being ugly, if I get to see the all day and night sun and I like train travel, so getting there from Moscow would be a nice experience for me. So, if I do that I would only need a Russian visa and not permits, presumably. Around how much do the visas cost, if I get one through an online agency?
Reply to this I have almost 100% decided that we will be seeing the midnight sun in 2010.
My boyfriend wants to come too, and that means our dauther is also comming. My boyfriend prefers Scandanavia over Russia, so Scandanavia it is.
So Tromsø would be the town to head for in Norway. What about Sweden and Finland? Which places/towns should we head for if we choose one of those coutries? We are going to whichever country the cheapest airfares to are. Hopefully Sweden, because I want to spend a day in Stockholm. 😊
Since there are going to be 3 of us, we are going to need to try to be economical. What is the most economical accomodation for 2 adults and a 9 year old kid? Would it be too cold for camping? If not, how much would it cost for a tent and 3 people in the camp sites?
Can we choose between End of May, June and up until last third of July? There will be midnight sun during all those times?
Reply to this The midnight sun starts around now, doesnt it? Anybody seeing it? If so, where are you?
Reply to this Hi Mell,
I travelled up the coast of Norway on the Hurtigruten ferry, sailing from Tromso to Bodo then onto Nordkapp, Europe's northernmost mainland point. It was in June so it never got fully dark for the time I was there and I definitely recommend it as a great experience. You can save on your fare and sleep in the bar as I did - and make the most of the Midnight Sun!
Cheers,
Andy
Reply to this Great tip about sleeping at the bar, Andy. I would do it some of the time while there to save on accomodation expenses if I wasnt taking my 8 year old daughter with me. 😊
Reply to this 
