One of the Northern Hemisphere’s most spectacular visual experiences is the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights – bright, fiery tapestries of hazel and amber that flicker and stretch across the heavens. Known in Finnish as revontulet (lit. “fires of the fox”), the country’s northern reaches are some of the best places in the world to see them. The lights are best seen on clear nights in rural areas from February to March and September to October. The further north you are the better: in some parts of northern Lapland there are as many as 200 displays per year. If you’re hoping to take snapshots of the aurora sky, remember to use long exposures – between 5 and 60 seconds – and bring a tripod. In the summertime, meanwhile, the midnight sun – 24 hours of daylight – is visible from anywhere north of the Arctic Circle during high summer.