Five of the best places to see the Northern Lights

For fans of dazzling light displays 2013 is a big year. The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, come in 11-year solar activity cycles and 2013 will be the peak of its current cycle. This means that the lights that you see in the next few months will be at their strongest and most spectacular.

The 'season' is at its best across the winter when the skies are at their darkest.

Here's our pick of the best places to see the lights.

Where: Finland Lapland Igloo Village
Wow factor: You get to sleep in a glass igloo
Disregard all that you ever read about 'sleeping in an igloo is warm'. I've done it and it is not. It may be 'warm' in comparison to being outside but toasty it ain't.

However, there's no denying it is a great experience and if you have the chance you should do it, but this makes it all the better, as you're snug as a bug in a high-tech rug and you can watch the shimmering lights from your bed. The Igloo Village is just above the Arctic Circle and lights can often be seen in the sky above.

There's plenty to keep you entertained in the meanwhile with an ice bar, ice gallery and the world's largest snow restaurant.
 
Where: Kirkenes, Norway
Wow factor: Wrap up and admire the art sculpted on the ice walls of your SnowHotel room
Yes, it's chilly sleeping in an igloo, but once you're under the covers it's fine and bragging rights are yours for life.

Warm up before bed at the bar in the SnowHotel where you can swap stories of the thrilling day you had learning to handle a team of husky dogs and fishing for succulent King Crabs.

Take a trip out as darkness falls to watch the lights dance and colours paint the sky, maybe green or blue or, the more rare pink and purple. 
 
Where: Harads, Sweden
Wow factor: Spend a night among the branches at the famous Treehotel
Get right back to nature with an ultra-modern twist perched cosily in one of the eco-designed rooms created to sensitively blend with its surroundings in the peaceful forest in Harads, just an hour or so from pretty Luleå, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Watching the night sky flicker with the Northern Lights, whilst surrounded with nature, is an unbeatable experience.

Fancy making it a bit more adventurous? Sign up for a hovercraft pack ice tour, floating over the ice on a cushion of air.

Where: Finnish Lapland
Wow factor: Unspoilt 360⁰ views of Nordic pines and night skies in the Eagle's View suite
This hotel suite is divided across two floors - with a tree growing through the centre! The branches of the tree will cradle your bed and the glass roof means that you can enjoy the wonders of the natural world, from the twinkling stars to the dancing Northern Lights, even when you're curled up in your 'nest'.

If you want adventure, you can take an adrenaline-pumping snowmobile safari and go on the chase for Northern Lights, whizzing through the hushed forest by the light of the moon. 

Where: Hella, Iceland
Wow Factor: A private outdoor Jacuzzi to soak up the magic of the Northern Lights
Head away from the city and the light pollution which can soften the effect of the Northern Lights and discover southern Iceland.

The Hotel Ranga has traditional log cabin-style rooms where you can get back to nature and experience some of the mystic beauty that Iceland has to offer.

By day go whale watching or ice fishing or perhaps explore one of the glaciers. But at night, that's when the magic really happens and with the hotels Northern Lights 'wake up service' you won't miss any of the action.