Stargazing adventures – we just can’t get enough of them.

Since Professor Brian Cox opened our eyes to the skies and BBC2 screened their Stargazing LIVE show interest from curious adventure seekers for trips that mix staring into the night sky with a cultural exploration or active adventure couldn’t be higher.

If you live in a town or city you’ll know that it’s not easy to marvel at the same dazzling displays you get when you escape the bright lights. Unsurprisingly, London, and other major cities are the worst places for stargazing according to the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale. So it may be time to pack your bags in search of a great stargazing experience.

What you need for perfect evening under the stars without a mega telescope and relying on your own naked eyes is a clear, dark sky. Rural or remote locations away from pesky light pollution offer the best star-spotting opportunities – particularly as it takes at least forty minutes for your eyes to fully adjust to complete darkness. Ocean adventures with night sailing are a perfect and unusual way to look to the stars. Some of the longer journeys include celestial navigation training and a chance to see the stars change as you cross oceans and the equator under sail.

Star-gazing adventures aren’t to be rushed and as with all great experiences that require the stars to truly align for the perfect setting, a trip over a few days will give you the best chance to stargaze to your heart’s content.

Here are some unusual celestial navigation sailing experiences, astronomy adventures and star gazing trips for curious travelers in 2016.

Stargazing Adventures in 2016

Northern Lights and Active Winter Finland

Fill your evenings with the famous Northern Lights in Finland while packing your days with activities like dog sledding and snow shoeing in a remote area of Finnish Lapland.

Backcountry Skiing in Iceland – true wilderness and northern lights

Backcountry skiing in Iceland. Tori explores the wilderness of the West Fjords on a backcountry skiing trip with a sailboat as the moveable base and reflects on an incredible Northern Lights experience.

Sail from Europe to South America

A chance to join a hands on voyage leg to sail from Europe to South America including a transatlantic and equator crossing. Get involved in navigation seminars and learn about celestial navigation as you cross, as voyage crew, on this star-studded ocean adventure.

Sailing the Wild West of Iceland

A great sailing & hiking adventure from the wild west of Iceland to the edge of the Arctic Circle exploring the night skies from the deck of your old Herring drifter (Logger) built in 1915. No previous sailing experience is needed and experienced and new sailors love her equally.

Iceland Winter Adventure Weekend

An action packed weekend including some of the best adventure activities and pristine wildernesses in Iceland. Search for the infamous Northern Lights, power over the endless ice fields on the Langjökull glacier on snowmobiles, witness hot springs and waterfalls, explore the south coast with its impressive glaciers, stand on the ancient, rugged ice and even learn the basics of ice climbing.

Sail Across the Equator | South Africa – Europe

Atlantic ocean sailing voyage across the equator on a classic Dutch tall ship from South Africa to Europe via remote islands is a unique way to explore the night skies as you cross between the southern Atlantic seas to the north European Atlantic waving ‘goodbye’ to Southern Cross and ‘hello’ to the wonderful constellations of the northern skies hundreds of miles from any light and land pollution.

Solar Eclipse Indonesia 2016

Experience a total solar eclipse whilst visiting the lesser-known parts of Indonesia. When it comes to the best location to witness the 2016 solar eclipse, you want a warm environment with very little light pollution. The former spice islands of Indonesia, Ternate and Tidore, provide the perfect setting for the 2016 solar eclipse, one of natures finest spectacles.

Explore Mongolia by Bike

Mongolia is famed for it’s vast open plains, deserts and other wild and remote regions. This unusual trip will have you exploring by bike camping out in nomadic homestays and gers while being blanketed from horizon to horizon in spectacular and dazzling star displays.