Deserts, volcanoes and dark-sky reserves

Find the darkest sky on your trip, then book the night under it.

Telescope nights on Teide, Bedouin dinners in the Egyptian desert, the Southern Cross over Lake Tekapo. What each stargazing night costs and what you actually see.

The best stargazing tours Every night we review →

238stargazing nights to book

from $12cheapest night out

89nights under $50

Telescopes set up under the Milky Way on the slopes of Teide

Start here

Four stargazing nights on four continents worth planning a trip around.

A volcano above the clouds, a dark-sky reserve, a Pacific summit and a camp in the dunes. What each costs and why people come back raving.

Stargazing in the USA

American stargazing: an observatory, a canyon, or a summit at sunset.

The United States has more ways to see the night sky than anywhere on this site. Pick the kind of night first, then the state.

1★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · Small Group Big Island Twilight Volcano and Stargazing Tour · from $297

Observatory nightsGriffith, the domes, the big refractors and the planetarium. from $34

Sunset, then starsGolden hour on a ridge, the first planets right after. from $185

National park skiesZion, Arches, Joshua Tree, Death Valley after dark. from $160

Your own astronomerA private guide and a telescope set up just for your group. from $124 All 46 stargazing nights in the USA →

Stargazing with dinner

Stargazing dinners: a Bedouin table, a Teide picnic, a desert barbecue.

The most popular way to stargaze is with dinner first. Eat while the sky darkens, then the telescopes come out once the last light has gone.

1Dubai Red Dunes ATV, Camels, Stargazing & 5* BBQ Al Khayma Camp★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $88
2Ultimate ATV Quad, Stargazing & BBQ Dinner★★★★★★★★★★ 4.7 · from $35
3Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing with Dinner (Star Safari)★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $95

Dinner in the Egyptian desert Bedouin dinners from Hurghada Dinner on Teide Sunset and stars Every stargazing dinner

The dark-sky map

Six stargazing places where the Milky Way is a nightly event.

High volcanoes, salt deserts and protected dark-sky reserves. The places stargazing travellers fly to, and the best night out in each.

Best ofTenerifeTeide, above the clouds Best ofLake TekapoA dark-sky reserve in the Southern Alps Best ofAtacamaThe driest desert sky on Earth Best ofHurghadaBedouin camps in the Eastern Desert Best ofSedonaRed rock under a dark-sky city Best ofDubaiCamps deep enough to lose the skyline

Desert stargazing

Desert stargazing: dry air, no city lights, a camp fire and a telescope.

Deserts make the best stargazing because the air holds no moisture and no towns light it. The camel trains, the quad runs and the Bedouin camps all end the same way, lying back on the sand.

All the desert nights

1★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · from $88Dubai Red Dunes ATV, Camels, Stargazing & 5* BBQ Al Khayma Camp

2★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · from $88Sunset Camel Trek, Al Khayma Camp, Stargazing & BBQ

3★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · from $180Overnight Safari, Dinner, Stargazing & Al Khayma Camp

Best ofCamel ridesBest ofQuad and jeep nightsBest ofEgyptian desert

What it costs

What a stargazing night costs, from a desert camp to a summit dinner.

Every stargazing night on the site, grouped by price. The cheapest desert nights cost less than a cinema ticket; the summit trips cost what a long drive and a cold-weather kit cost.

Under $50

Desert camps out of the Red Sea resorts, observatory tickets and self-guided nights on Teide.

1Prague: Klementinum Library & Astronomical Tower Guided Tourfrom $18
2Ultimate ATV Quad, Stargazing & BBQ Dinnerfrom $35
3Teide National Park Sunset & Stargazing Tourfrom $47

$50–150

Guided telescope nights, sunset-and-stars combos and the classic dinner under the sky.

$150 and up

Summit trips, overnight desert camps, astrophotography workshops and private astronomers.

1Overnight Safari, Dinner, Stargazing & Al Khayma Campfrom $180
2Dubai Overnight Desert Safari, BBQ & Stargazing at Al Khayma Campfrom $175
3Small Group Big Island Twilight Volcano and Stargazing Tourfrom $297

Check the moon before you go

The moon, the clouds, the altitude and the cold decide your stargazing night.

A bright moon washes the Milky Way out, so the nights either side of a new moon show the most. Cloud cancels or moves a trip, so book early in your stay and keep a spare night. Volcano and summit tours climb above 2,000 metres and carry age and health limits. And desert and mountain nights drop close to freezing, even after a hot day. When the sky will not play, the domes and planetariums still run.

Planetarium shows Observatory visits Big-telescope nights Dark-sky tours Milky Way trips Northern lights

1Royal Observatory Greenwich & Prime Meridian Entrance Ticketfrom $32
2Griffith Observatory Hike: Guided Tour through Griffith Parkfrom $34
3Mount Teide Observatory Guided Tourfrom $25

Beyond the naked eye

Three ways to see more of the stars than the naked eye allows.

Lying on a blanket is half of it. The other half is a dome, a long exposure or a projected sky that explains what you just saw.

Under the dome

Observatory Visits

Research observatories sit where the air is thinnest and steadiest, which is why Teide, La Palma and Mount John all carry domes. Most open by tour only: a guide walks you through the solar telescopes by day or the instruments after dark, and the best include a turn at the eyepiece.

1Royal Observatory Greenwich & Prime Meridian Entrance Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 1,095 reviews
2Griffith Observatory Hike: Guided Tour through Griffith Park★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,020 reviews
3Mount Teide Observatory Guided Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 818 reviews

See the full list →

A long exposure

Astrophotography Tours

A camera on a tripod sees what the eye cannot: colour in the Milky Way core, star trails wheeling round the pole. The guides bring the mounts and settings, and a good trip ends with a portrait of you under the galaxy that a phone could never take.

1Private astronomy tour with sunset toast, picnic, and astrophotography★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 83 reviews
2AuthenticAs Star Gazing -Nightscape Portrait Photography Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 59 reviews
3The Windows Astro-Photography and Stargazing Hike★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 36 reviews

See the full list →

The sky indoors

Planetarium Shows

A planetarium runs whatever the weather does. The domes in Cusco, Jasper and London project the sky you would see from that spot tonight, and the Andean ones tell the stories the Inca read in the dark patches of the Milky Way.

1Miami: Frost Museum of Science and Planetarium Entry Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 429 reviews
2Planetarium and Telescope Combo Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · 144 reviews
3Houston Museum of Natural Sciences: Planetarium Ticket★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 139 reviews

See the full list →

The stargazing nights more travellers book than any others.

Every stargazing night →

From the Arabian dunes to the Canaries, the nights that fill up first and what earns each one its place.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 21,620 reviews

Dubai Red Dunes ATV, Camels, Stargazing & 5* BBQ Al Khayma Camp

Spend about six hours in Dubai’s Lahbab desert with a 60-minute ATV ride, sandboarding, camel time, Arabic coffee, henna, falcon photos, and a barbecue dinner at Al Khayma Camp. Guides such as Dennis, Asif Foji, and Abdul Wahab are praised for friendly help, but expect heat, a liability form, and a long evening of camp entertainment.

From · $88

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