Best Places to go Stargazing

Wanderlist

For nature lovers, spending time under the stars is a great occasion to enjoy what the environment has to offer. There are so many beautiful places to see on this Earth; we don’t have the time to see them all in this life.

Have you ever dreamt about spending a night under the bright sky stargazing? Alone or with the loved one, this nighttime experience will be fantastic. To make it easier for you, we created a list of 20 incredible places to go stargazing.

1. Cherry Springs State Park

PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES

Have you heard about this park? If not, here’s a piece of info: this 48-acre park situated in Northern PA has been considered the darkest east point of the Mississippi. How dark is it right now? Dark enough to offer you the most astonishing night view.

Every tourist can see an approximate number of 10,000 stars with their naked eye. The entire Milky Way is visible from this point; this is why this park has been included in the list of the twelve most beautiful dark sky parks in the world.

2. NamibRand Nature Reserve

NAMIBIA

Africa still has plenty of beautiful places to offer us and our eyes. This nature reserve is just one of them. Home to the darkest skies in the world, this reserve is the perfect place to spend your night stargazing.

Most safari packages include stargazing along with a trekking trip through this isolated 600-acre park.

3. Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve

NEW ZEALAND

New Zealand itself is home to an astonishing gathering of landscapes. You all know many from watching the Lord of the Rings series. The hobbit houses exist in this exotic land.

Here the stars offer an incredible view to all stargazing fans and it is home to the largest International Dark Sky Reserve in the world. The sky is so dark you can, on occasion, see the Magellanic Clouds and some distant galaxies.

4. Galloway Forest Park

SCOTLAND

Scotland is a great land known for its incredible scenery. Home to the highlands of the lowlands, Galloway is the best option for stargazing fans. This place has it all: lochs, forests, mountains, and of course, stars, plenty of stars.

This forest park is the only one of its kind in the UK. Its darkness in the night can only be compared with the photographer’s darkroom. Here you can see the northern lights on a clear night.

5. Zselic Starry Sky Park

HUNGARY

This park is a top European place to see the zodiacal lights due to low light pollution coming from Kaposvar city. It is a dark-sky preserve in a less known country called Hungary.

It is situated in two different counties: Somogy and Baranya, and it includes a couple of the hills of the Transdanubia region.

6. Paranal Observatory

CHILE

The Atacama Desert is one of the most fascinating places on Earth with its high altitudes and zero clouds. This observatory is an astronomical observatory where you can stare at any star you like.

This is why this place is a perfect stargazing option for any tourist. From the top of the world, at just 8645 feet altitude, you can be stargazing as many nights as you want.

7. Death Valley

CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES

California is one of America’s most beautiful places to spend your summer, and Death Valley is one incredible place to start. Did you know that nine out of twelve dark skies in the world are based in the US?

This park is one of the largest and newest parks in the world offering a dark sky you can stargaze at for a long night. Las Vegas is only 100 miles away, and its lights light up this dark place a little.

8. Mauna Kea

HAWAII, UNITED STATES

Hawaii is a place where it’s summer all the time, people are wearing a bikini every day, and the weather is too beautiful to sleep at night. You can spend your whole night stargazing in Mauna Kea which is nothing more than a dormant volcano.

Here there are several observatories located at over 13,800 feet altitude above the sea Mauna Kea, making it the perfect place to stargaze and for astronomical observation.

9. Sagarmatha National Park

NEPAL

Nepal is home to one of the most fantastic landscapes in the world. Situated on the base of Mount Everest, this mountainous park has 443 square miles. You should know that this park is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Therefore you must put it on your bucket list!

Once the night begins, you can have a clear view of the Milky Way, and all this is above the Himalayas. It is recommended you stay the night to enjoy the incredible night shows in the sky.

10. Trysil

NORWAY

This beautiful place to go stargazing is situated in Southern-Eastern Norway, and it is one of the country's most famous destinations due to its offering of skiing and winter sports. This area is home to the clearest sky in the entirety of Scandinavia.

Also, if you go here, you can enjoy a fascinating view of both the Milky Way and the Northern Lights. As long as you don’t mind the cold, there are plenty of sights to enjoy.

11. Easter Island

CHILE

This specific island is famous for its iconic heads which are statues dating back to somewhere between the XIIth and the XVIIIth Centuries. Also, people from here know about its significant history in navigation and even astronomy.

Polynesian settlers of this island used their astronomy knowledge to guide themselves in their voyages on the Pacific ocean. You can be stargazing in the Rapa Nui Stargazing Experience Tour.

12. Atacama Desert

CHILE

This desert is a magnificent 600-mile-long plateau situated on the Chilean Pacific coast. A combination of being so far from any towns, its high altitude, and its dry climate, make this place the perfect option for stargazing fans to spend the night.

Tourists fascinated by astronomy can choose from a large variety of tours. This place offers a view of one of the clearest skies on the entire Earth.

13. Nova Scotia

CANADA

Nova Scotia is one of the best places to go stargazing in Canada. The International Starlight Foundation has designated the shores of Yarmouth, Argyle, and Clare as the most exciting places to spend the night stargazing.

Nova Scotia has a long history in the astronomy domain that dates back to French colonists. The best stargazing season is during late Spring or early Summer because the sky is at its clearest.

14. Natural Bridges National Monument

UTAH, UNITED STATES

The USA has plenty of ideal places to go stargazing, for example, Utah. In Utah, you can visit the Natural Bridges National Monument, which is famous for its sandstone structures called Kachina.

The natural bridges you are able to see here have been around for millions of years, and they are still going to impress tourists from all over the Earth.

15. Ranu Kumbolo Lake

INDONESIA

Stargazing is one exciting experience everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. If you want to feel the different sensations stargazing can bring up in you, Ranu Kumbolo is the place to visit.

This iconic place houses a lake located at the base of Mount Semeru, where you can see the best landscape in the region. At night, travelers can experience different incredible stargazing panoramas.

16. Aogashima

JAPAN

Aogashima is a volcanic island Japanese people are proud to call their own. Located in the Philippine Sea, people often refer to it as the Tokyo Secret Island Paradise, and it is as accurate as the name implies.

This island is the southernmost and the most isolated island of the Izu archipelago, and the landscapes it offers are a true paradise. You have to try stargazing from this place, and you will not regret it!

17. Sabah

MALAYSIA

Sabah is a Malaysian state situated on the northern part of the Borneo island, and it is the country’s highest place due to Mount Kinabalu which is filled with granite spires. This place is famous for its lovely beaches, rainforest, abundant wildlife, and, its parks and reserves.

Here you can have exciting days and astonishing nights stargazing in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

18. Coonabarabran

AUSTRALIA

Coonabarabran is a town in Australia situated in New South Wales, and its nickname is “Coona.” For those who would love to admire the stars from this remote part of the world, Siding Spring Observatory is the place to visit.

This observatory is situated near the town, but there is another one called Warrumbungle Observatory, so travelers have a choice.

19. Perth Observatory

AUSTRALIA

Perth Observatory is another Australian place where travelers should go if they seek an ideal stargazing place. This place is your gateway to the universe, and you will stay the night to look at the stars.

This Australian observatory is the oldest one in the Western part of Australia, it is situated just 25 km east of Perth, and it has functioned for more than 120 years. It is still in perfect working order and is now involved in public education.

20. Dome A (Dome Argus)

ANTARCTICA

A remote site in Antarctica, known as Dome A (Dome Argus), is located south of Australia's Davis Station is widely known as the world's best spot for stargazing, thanks to its dark sky, stable atmosphere, and largely flat, desolate plain of ice.

The remotest place on Earth is hands-down the best place to stargaze, there is no doubt you will leave impressed. The nights here are long, and you will have plenty of stars to admire. If you can endure the cold, the experience will well be worth it.

Famous astronomers admit that this is the best place to set your telescope and admire the mighty of the universe.

There are so many incredibly beautiful places on this tiny planet where you can go stargazing that the only problem is time. On every continent, there is at least one place you should visit to experience the most exciting stargazing experience of your life.

Every place has its beauty, and the landscapes are unique. During the day you can visit, explore, enjoy the sights of the place or city while you wait for the stars to re-appear.

So, what are you waiting for? Pack your bags right now because the stargazing bucket list is on us!

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