Britain has long been a haven for hikers, amblers, and fans of a brisk stroll in the open air. From the open expanses of the Lake District to the rugged terrain of the Scottish Highlands via Wales’s peaks, there is no shortage of places to work up a sweat, al fresco, across the UK.

As of summer 2026, travelers eager to stretch their legs will be able to embark on quite the adventure, thanks to the opening of the longest managed coastal path in the world.

While work on the King Charles III England Coast Path National Trail has been more than 15 years in the making, some of the final stretches of the route are currently being constructed or restored, with the aim of opening to the public ahead of sunnier times.

Summer view of the white cliffs of Dover and English Channel in Dover, Kent, England

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The coastal path is split into eight sections, the first beginning at the edge of the Scottish border and zig-zagging along the North East’s coastline, through the seabird colonies of Bempton, by the chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head and through North Yorkshire fishing villages and seaside towns that come alive in summer, such as Whitby and Scarborough.

From here, the path bends along the Lincolnshire coast before flowing into East Anglia and then the South East, from Woolwich on the Thames Estuary along some of the prettiest beaches in Kent and through buzzy Brighton towards the south.

Beyond this, the sixth stretch grants walkers access to the South West’s Channel coast before swinging round at England’s most southerly point onto Cornwall’s Atlantic Coast. As the King Charles III England Coast Path National Trail doesn’t include Wales, the final section of the route covers the northwest between Wales and Scotland’s borders.

Farm, mountains, and sea on the Lleyn Peninsula, North Wales

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Like the moon’s shadow sweeping across the globe during a total solar eclipse, astronomy-focused tourism is taking the world by storm. And in 2026, there are plenty of celestial reasons to travel. You’ve likely already heard of the August 2026 total solar eclipse, which is undoubtedly the year’s marquee event, but you can also travel for everything from rocket launches to meteor showers. These are the astronomy events that can turn trips into once-in-a-lifetime experiences—and where to go to see them at their best.

Artemis II Launch: ~February 5, 2026

Okay, this one isn’t quite an astronomy event, but fans of the night sky might want to check it out nonetheless. NASA plans to take one step closer to returning to the moon in 2026 with the launch of Artemis II, the first crewed launch of the Artemis program, which will take astronauts on a lunar flyby. It’s scheduled to take place at Florida’s Kennedy Space Center as soon as February 5, although that date is subject to change.

Where to travel: Florida’s Space Coast, near the Kennedy Space Center, where the launch becomes a communal event shared on beaches, causeways, and waterfront parks. (Named one of our best places to go in the US in 2025.)

Hot tip: Build in extra days. Launch schedules shift frequently due to weather or technical concerns—and they can be aborted down to the last second. But the Space Coast rewards those who are patient for launches with bioluminescent kayaking, wildlife refuges, and old-school Florida beach towns.

Annular Solar Eclipse: February 17, 2026

This is an eclipse for the intrepid, as it will only be viewable from Antarctica. Like a total solar eclipse, an annular solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun—but in this case, it doesn’t fully cover it. The result is a “ring of fire” around the black sphere of the moon.

Where to travel: Antarctica. The path of annularity cuts across the southernmost continent, making this eclipse accessible primarily via expedition cruise. The downside: most ships travel to the Antarctica Peninsula, from which only a partial solar eclipse is visible. You can also catch a partial eclipse in parts of southern Africa.

Hot tip: If you want to experience the full annular solar eclipse rather than just a partial one, you’ll likely have to charter your own vessel to sail to East Antarctica—and that is by no means a budget-friendly option.

Total Lunar Eclipse: March 3, 2026

In a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, its shadow crossing the moon’s surface and turning it coppery red. It’ll be fairly easy to see—lunar eclipses are visible anywhere from the night side of the Earth during the event, so long as there are clear skies. While you might not need to travel far for this total lunar eclipse, astrophotographers might want to position themselves somewhere especially scenic to get the perfect shot.

Aurora chasers, it’s time to charge up your cameras, don your hats and gloves, and get ready for a long night looking up at the sky. Last night, the best northern lights display of the year dazzled across the continental United States—reaching as far south as Mexico—and it could continue tonight.

The northern lights occur when charged particles from the sun impact the Earth and react with our magnetic field. Those particles can burst forth from the sun via various events, including coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields that often occur alongside solar flares. Since November 9, five major X-class solar flares—the most powerful type of solar flare—erupted from the sun, including the largest one of the year at X5.1 intensity. Two associated CME hit the Earth last night, producing extraordinary auroras across the US. Now, there’s one more on the way.

When such emissions are inbound, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issues geomagnetic storm watches on a scale of G1 to G5. For these recent solar events, it issued a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday, November 11, and a G4 watch for Wednesday, November 12. Today, SWPC extended the G4 watch to Thursday, November 13. Keep in mind that SWPC uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is hours ahead of US time zones. In the US, the northern lights are expected to peak the night of November 11 and November 12. Below, everything aurora-hunters need to know to catch the dazzling display.

This article has been updated with new information since its original publish date.

Where can you see the northern lights in the US?

On November 11, viewers in the US were able to see the northern lights as far south as Florida and Texas. If you’re hoping to see the northern lights tonight, the best thing to do is go to the darkest place you can find with clear views to the north after sunset. (That said, the northern lights were visible in heavily polluted cities last night, including New York.) The farther south you are, the lower the northern lights will be on the horizon. In extremely southern locations, you might only see a red glow—that’s because the aurora appears red at high altitudes, with greens coming in closer to the Earth’s surface (and purples and blues below that). Additionally, a weak display might not be visible to the naked eye, but it might show up on a camera—hold up your phone to the night sky, and you might be surprised.

Aurora chasers, it’s time to charge up your cameras, don your hats and gloves, and get ready for a long night looking up at the sky. The year’s best northern lights display could happen this week, starting as early as November 11—and you might be able to see it across the continental United States.

The northern lights occur when charged particles from the sun impact the Earth and react with our magnetic field. Those particles can burst forth from the sun via various events, including coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields that often occur alongside solar flares. Since November 9, five major X-class solar flares—the most powerful type of solar flare—erupted from the sun, including the largest one of the year at X5.1 intensity. Now, Earth is bracing for the impact of three associated CMEs.

When such emissions are inbound, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issues geomagnetic storm watches on a scale of G1 to G5. For these recent solar events, it has issued a G2 geomagnetic storm watch for Tuesday, November 11, a G4 watch for Wednesday, November 12, and a G3 watch for Thursday, November 13. Keep in mind that SWPC uses Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which is hours ahead of US time zones. In the US, the northern lights are expected to peak the night of November 11 and November 12. Here’s everything aurora-hunters need to know.

Where can you see the northern lights in the US?

If you’re hoping to see the northern lights this week, the best thing to do is go to the darkest place you can find with clear views to the north after sunset. The farther south you are, the lower the northern lights will be on the horizon. Additionally, a weak display might not be visible to the naked eye, but it might show up on a camera—hold up your phone to the night sky, and you might be surprised.

“During a G4 geomagnetic storm, we may see the auroral ovals expand to lower latitudes and places in the central US may see naked-eye auroral displays throughout the night,” aurora photographer and space weather Ph.D student Vincent Ledvina wrote on X. “The US-Mexico border latitude could even see red glows on-camera during big flareups called substorms.”

Some of the best places in the contiguous US to see the northern lights (beyond Alaska) include Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument in Maine, Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, and Glacier National Park in Montana. Even if the auroras decide not to show, officially designated Dark Sky Places like Big Bend National Park in Texas and Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida promise prime stargazing and outdoor adventure regardless.

When will the northern lights be visible?

As always, when it comes to the northern lights, some expectation setting is in order. SWPC’s watch is simply a forecast for geomagnetic activity, so there’s a chance the northern lights will underperform.

Here’s how the government shutdown—and the administration’s decision to keep public lands open—could impact national parks and upcoming trips.

Why are advocates calling for park closures?

To put it simply, leaving public lands—including national parks—open during the government shutdown is dangerous to both visitors and park resources, says Emily Thompson, executive director of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. “We don’t leave museums open without curators, or airports without air traffic controllers, and we should not leave our national parks open without National Park Service employees,” she tells Condé Nast Traveler.

Which national parks are staying open?

The language in the DOI’s Park Service contingency plan indicates that open air elements of national parks, such as roads, trails, outdoor memorials, and viewpoints, will stay open and accessible to visitors. Meanwhile, facilities like visitor centers, caves, indoor museums, and some restroom facilities will be closed.

“Our understanding is that anything that would normally have closed last night, where they would have closed the gate or closed a door… those portions of parks are staying closed,” says Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, a membership group that represents park professionals. “Everything else is going to stay open.”

The federal government’s contingency plan allows for parks to utilize donations and appropriated state funds to keep national parks staffed and open, though it is unclear which sites will have the resources to do so. Both Utah and Colorado legislators have mentioned that they will, if necessary, use state money to fund major national parks so that their respective economies and gateway communities are minimally impacted.

If you’re a traveler with an upcoming national park booking, such as a camping permit or entry reservations, Recreation.gov has posted a vague disclaimer that it might not be able to take reservations for future dates “depending on agency operations,” noting that existing reservations could be canceled with or without an email update. The website suggests contacting local park offices for specific details on reservations, but with the NPS communications team furloughed, it’s unclear what, if any, communications will get through.

The northern lights are a bucket-list item that appears on virtually every travelers’ wishlist—but if you’re really lucky, you won’t even need to catch a flight to see them. The dazzling light show is one of nature’s most impressive spectacles, most commonly visible in destinations like Alaska, Iceland, and Norway. While it’s true that the best places to see the northern lights are these far-northern locales, US-based aurora hunters in the Lower 48 can get quite lucky at home, too.

The northern lights occur when charged particles ejected from the sun bombard the Earth, interact with the atmosphere, and glow. While this happens on a daily basis, most auroral displays are too weak to detect, and the northern lights typically stay, well, up north. But especially powerful solar events can occasionally make the northern lights visible in the US—and we’re not just talking about Alaska either. In fact, the May 2024 Gannon storm—the most severe geomagnetic storm in two decades—put on an auroral display in all 50 states. (Yes, even Hawaii.)

Such strong events happen infrequently, but even lesser ones can nudge the northern lights toward the US–Canada border. So the next time the aurora odds are in your favor, make your way to the darkest skies you can find. But first, some ground rules for aurora hunting.

How to see the northern lights

Simply being in one of the below locations doesn’t guarantee that you’ll see the northern lights. First and foremost, you need clear skies, minimal light pollution, and a wide open view to the north (lakes and hilltops are your friend here). You might have to travel within these locations to find the perfect viewing spot.

Second, in these mid-latitude locations, you need enhanced solar activity, which isn’t easy to forecast. Most of the time, we have to wait until a satellite observes some action on the sun, and that only gives us a few days’ notice of a potential auroral show. Keep an eye out for geomagnetic storm warnings from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center—the stronger the storm, the better your odds of seeing the northern lights.

That said, even with enhanced solar activity, the geomagnetic conditions might not be right for a social-media-worthy northern lights display. You might only be able to catch a faint whitish glow with the naked eye, or perhaps only a slightly green wisp through your camera. Cell phone cameras are more sensitive than our eyes, so hold your camera up to a dark sky to reveal the aurora. (For more expert tips, read our full guide to night sky photography.)

If the forecast looks promising, but you can’t make it all the way up to Alaska, check out these northern lights viewing locations in the contiguous US. And if the northern lights don’t show, these spots are still well worth the journey thanks to plentiful opportunity for outdoor activities, day and night.

Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument, Maine

With a low population density and plenty of rural areas, Maine is an ideal state for aurora viewing. Make your way to Katahdin Woods and Waters National Monument for especially dark skies—it’s a designated International Dark Sky Place by DarkSky International, an organization dedicated to preserving the night sky.

Where to stay: Just to the north of the national monument, the New England Outdoor Center (NEOC) on Millinocket Lake operates a night-sky webcam that many mid-latitude aurora chasers use as a forecasting tool. Conveniently, it also has comfortable cabins for travelers to the region.

The Adirondacks, New York

Though not a national park, New York’s Adirondack Park is the largest protected area in the contiguous US, spanning about 6 million acres—it’s larger than the entire state of Vermont. As such, there are plenty of dark places within it that are ideal for catching the northern lights. Head as far north as you can within the park, and make for one of its many lakes, such as Saranac Lake or Tupper Lake.