Yellowknife Aurora Hunting Tours by Bus: Northern Lights Viewing

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Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/23

Duration4h–5h

GroupUp to 28

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Four to five hours chasing the Northern Lights across Yellowknife's dark-sky lakes

An aurora hunting tour by bus from Yellowknife takes you to remote viewing spots across the wilderness where guides trained in wilderness first aid lead small groups to watch for the Northern Lights. Hotel pickup is included, and a guide photographs you with the aurora. Children from age 4 are welcome, and the tour runs in English with snacks provided.

4h–5h

Step-by-step itinerary

Aurora hunting and viewing spots

Meet expert aurora hunting guides
Explore wilderness and wildlife areas
Visit great spot for aurora viewing
Visit another great lake for aurora viewing
View aurora at clear lake shoreline

The Experience

You land in Yellowknife with a free evening and no car. The tour picks you up directly from your hotel, so you step into a warm bus instead of arranging transport to the dark-sky zones where aurora actually appears. Your guide is a hunting specialist who knows which lakes offer clear, unobstructed views of the night sky—the open shoreline and reflections off the water amplify what you see. Small group sizes mean you are not standing shoulder-to-shoulder with thirty other people; the intimacy of it changes how the night unfolds.

The bus moves between three or four spots across the wilderness, each chosen for minimal light pollution and sightlines that let you watch the full arc of sky. You stand on the shoreline waiting. The guide knows the patterns and the timing; they are trained in wilderness first aid and equipped for the conditions. When the lights move, they move fast, and having someone there who reads the sky and knows where to position you means you catch the display instead of missing it. The guide also photographs you against the aurora—those are yours to keep, the only proof that you stood there and saw it.

The tour runs four to five hours, which is the window aurora typically holds. Snacks are provided to keep you warm and alert through the waiting. The bus has heat, so you can step inside between sightings if the cold becomes too much, then return to the open air when movement starts again. This is not a passive drive-by; you are outside, watching, moving between locations as the guide reads the conditions.

What’s included

Hotel pickup and drop-off in Yellowknife.
a live English-speaking guide trained in wilderness first aid.
shared bus transportation to multiple aurora viewing spots across the wilderness.
professional photography of you with the Northern Lights.
snacks to keep you warm during the tour.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Aurora Bus Tours

Is this one for you?Book this tour if you arrive in Yellowknife without a rental car or local knowledge of where the lights are best seen. The guide's expertise in reading the sky and the small group size mean you spend the night watching instead of searching, and the hotel pickup removes the logistics of getting to the dark-sky zones on your own.