OK, yes, it can be rainy, cloudy, and a little cold. However, when you get a clear night in Britain, the evening sky is as wondrous as anywhere. For one thing, when all that rain moves off, you are left with remarkably crystalline skies and low levels of air pollution. The high northern latitude also has its advantages for stargazing in Britain, with long winter nights, an array of constellations visible, and a chance to spot the ever-elusive Northern Lights.
The country has also done well to protect many of its outstanding landscapes, meaning there are plenty of dark areas for stargazing away from light pollution. So grab your picnic blanket, a warm waterproof jacket, and a sense of adventure, and head out to one of the best places for stargazing and aurora-spotting in Britain.
Designated British Stargazing Spots
Though almost anywhere clear and away from city lights will suffice, 11 British parks and places have been given an official International Dark Sky Association (IDA) designation, recognizing them for their low levels of light pollution and good public access. Furthermore, a partnership called Dark Sky Discovery has set out to pinpoint stargazing sites across Britain. Typically, these are nominated and maintained by local groups and tend to be both more plentiful and easier to access, although they might be less rigorous on the quality of darkness.
Northumberland Dark Sky Park and Kielder Water
The skies above the heartbreakingly beautiful and remote Northumberland are some of Britain’s finest, culminating at Kielder Observatory, which hosts various stargazing events. Numerous accommodation options around Northumberland National Park, which is an IDA-designated dark sky park, are set up for night-sky viewing; however, no matter where you stay, a clear evening here will dish out a light show.
Galloway Forest Park
The UK’s largest forest park was also its first to be designated a dark sky place. Galloway Forest Park, west of Dumfries, has pristine skies and has instituted protective measures against light pollution. It remains one of Britain’s lesser-known parks, making it ideal for sky-viewing in pure dark solitude.
Exmoor & Bodmin Moor
Exmoor National Park in Devon and the neighbouring Bodmin Moor in Cornwall are two parks that offer extremely dark skies (the IDA claims Exmoor has the darkest in England and designated it a dark sky reserve in 2011). Additionally, what could be more primal than gazing at the cosmos from haunting moorland next to Bronze-Age burial mounds? Every year in late autumn, Exmoor hosts a Dark Skies Festival, featuring stargazing, planetarium sessions, evening moorland walks, and even nighttime swimming to take in the sky.
Islands from Tip to Toe
The three-mile-long and one-and-a-half-mile-wide Sark in the Channel Islands has no paved roads and no street lights, having been designated the world’s first dark-sky island by the IDA in 2011. In contrast, at the opposite end of Britain, the Isle of Coll in Scotland’s Inner Hebrides is a dark-sky community without street lights.
North York Moors
It’s the openness and lack of obstructions such as trees and buildings that make moorlands exceptional for stargazing. The North York Moors experience little light pollution and host several events, including a dark skies festival in February/March, along with a three-night ‘star camp’ in August. Most events center on Dalby Forest, which houses an observatory.
Welsh Mountains and Coast
The heavens above the mountains of Wales are astonishingly starry (if you can score a clear night). Several dark sky discovery sites are located in the Brecon Beacons, which, along with wild and wonderful Snowdonia National Park in the north, is classified as a dark sky reserve. The Elan Valley, featuring its Victorian reservoirs, has some remote open-sky spots and is also a dark sky park.
If it’s sea, not mountains, you’re after, the Pembrokeshire coast, jutting out from southwest Wales, is full of rocky coves and soaring cliffs suitable for atmospheric astrophotography.
Britain’s Best Aurora-Spotting Sites
The northern location of Britain makes it a fairly reliable place to spot the Northern Lights. The aurora (borealis in the northern hemisphere, australis in the southern hemisphere) occurs when charged particles are propelled into the earth’s atmosphere by solar winds, releasing photons (light particles): a spectacular show produced by the charging and discharging of electrons as they move around the planet’s two magnetic poles.
The further north you go, the better your chances of seeing the aurora, although they are highly dependent upon solar flares, which makes them elusive. In Britain, head as far north as you can for a chance to see them: Shetland and Orkney provide the best opportunities, being as far north as you can get within the UK. The Scottish Highlands and Outer Hebrides are also north enough for aurora-spotting, and sometimes you can see them further south, particularly if conditions produce a particularly bright flare-up. In England, the Forest of Bowland and the Lake District – particularly Derwentwater – are well-known aurora-spotting sites.
Accommodation, Tours, and Courses
Go Stargazing, a website from a former Kielder Observatory volunteer, has recommendations for stargazing spots and events throughout the UK. In addition to its popular planetarium shows, the Royal Observatory in London offers regular six-week astronomy courses, where you have special access to the historic telescopes.
Several British hotels have dedicated stargazing offerings. The Selkirk Arms just outside Galloway Forest Park offers stargazing weekends that include night-sky excursions with an expert guide. Battlesteads Hotel in Northumberland features its own dark sky observatory and runs stargazing events year-round for guests and visitors. Snowdonia is a great place to seek self-catering cottages, like the Stargazer’s Retreat, which contains its own tiny observatory. Coll Bunkhouse on Coll offers budget stargazing accommodations as well as ‘cosmos weekends’ featuring an intro-to-astronomy course. For do-it-yourself stargazing, camping at the unique Wasdale National Trust campsite in the Lake District allows you to glimpse the Milky Way shimmering between Scafell Pike – England’s highest peak – and Wast Water, its deepest lake.
Tips for Stargazing in Britain
Avoid contributing to light pollution by using a red-light torch (photons at the red end of the spectrum have longer wavelengths that are more challenging for the human eye to absorb, ensuring your eyes remain adjusted to the dark while the flashlight still provides some illumination – health and safety are essential, especially in Britain). Moreover, as always, the British weather necessitates waterproof shoes/jacket, alongside a waterproof picnic blanket if you wish to recline and enjoy the celestial show.
A few apps can significantly enhance your stargazing experience (however, beware of using your phone excessively as it may interfere with your eyes’ adjustment to the dark). SkyView offers an augmented-reality view of the stars and constellations, while My Moon Phase informs you of when you can spot our lunar neighbour (or avoid it if you aim to see more stars). Scope Nights is a dual-function weather and stargazing forecast app with a built-in dark sky map, while ISS Finder shows the live location of the International Space Station, indicating when to expect it overhead.
