Earlier this year people all over the UK got a glimpse of the Northern Lights on our own shores – and it wowed huge parts of the nation. Millions of people missed the opportunity, though, whether because of timings or bad weather in their area, and even those who did see it might have just been given the bug to go see it again.

Whichever camp you fall into, if you dream of seeing the Northern Lights properly then there’s nothing better than a sightseeing tour aimed at just that – and Virgin Experience Days has the perfect package right now: the Northern Lights Sightseeing Flight Experience. And no – you don’t have to travel all the way to Iceland to get a good look at the Aurora Borealis, but you can experience it by air, taking off from the UK.

If you’re travelling in a pair, you can get a staggering flight plan that will see you take a guided tour of the sky with a pro astronomer aboard your plane and all the cabin lights dimmed as you do a flyby on the lights for £498. Depending on where you take off from, the trip will last between three and three-and-a-half hours, and that comes with an illustrated briefing before jetting off and light refreshments on board.

If you’re a solo traveller, you’re not locked out – you can get the exact same sort of flight for £249 from Omega Breaks, although the airports on offer are different. This means you don’t even lose out on the price per person. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see the Northern Lights in a way that very few people ever have, and it has the customer reviews to back that claim up. 

32 people have left reviews on Virgin’s website about their experience, averaging out to 3.5 stars and some of these reviews are really glowing. One sightseer said: “We had an interesting talk about what we might expect to see and then a comfortable flight. We saw the constellations and the Milky Way, all explained to us by an expert.”

Another wrote: “Very well organised, the astronomers were very knowledgeable and pleasant. The cabin crew were extremely good too. Was amazing to actually see the aurora borealis and such a magnificent view of the stars.” A third, finally, wrote: “Excellent trip with very informative astronomy experts giving an excellent presentation before our flight”. 

That said, some others have left more mixed reviews, like one person who said: “It’s disappointing that we did not see the Northern Lights but that is the chance you take.” Another agreed: “Unfortunately no Northern Lights, which were the whole point of the experience.” That’s the risk with this kind of trip – you can’t control nature, but will just have to cross everything and hope you get lucky.

Other tours exist with the same aim including more expensive options like a multiday trip to Iceland with Nordic Visitor starting from £1,021 per person – a significantly bigger commitment. Indeed, most of the Northern Lights trips are to Iceland, which will understandably cost a lot more – like Vulkan’s Northern Lights Hunt, which spans four days and costs from £1,240.

For a tour that starts and ends in the UK and lets you potentially see the Aurora Borealis from a completely novel angle, this package from Virgin Experience Days looks astonishing. Be sure to check what dates are available for the Northern Lights Sightseeing Flight Experience for a once-in-a-lifetime trip.