Astro Tourism Trends for 2025: What’s it All About?
Written by Kaelie Piscitello
Traveling somewhere remote and seeing the sparkly Milky Way attracts many people, especially during camping trips and significant astronomical events like eclipses. Scientists expect 2025 to have two lunar and solar eclipses, so it’s a big year for watching the skies.
Astrotourism, or astronomy-based tourism, is rising, according to popular travel websites, including Conde Nast Traveler and Skyscanner. Two of the most popular questions Googled in 2024 were about the best places to watch the solar eclipse. As astronomy tourism increases, many seasoned travelers wonder why others do it.
Why Astro Tourism?
Due to light pollution, many people cannot see the stars anymore. Only 20% of North Americans can see the stars from where they live. People are also becoming more interested in finding places to view the Northern Lights, so destinations like Iceland and Finland are experiencing a boom in people researching them as destinations.
Furthermore, because almost half of Gen-Zers and millennials invest in astrology, many have an interest in traveling to align with their cosmos. So, they book trips they hope will bring them more profound meaning and insight into their lives using astrocartography, a system explaining how different parts of the world will impact a person based on their star sign.
All the planets govern something different so people can plan their trip for a time suitable to their wants. For example, if a person wants a new romance, they can schedule a time when their Venus will have high power. (While I do not know what this means, you could plan your trip around this if you do.)
Several people use Astrotourism.com, a website that lists the best places to stay and visit to watch the night sky. It lists hotels with great views of the stars in Italy and France and offers tours and excursions to some of these places.
Where to Go in the United States
As time passes, many people want to stargaze abroad in countries such as France and Iceland. However, Americans from the United States can also do it at home. Some places have obtained International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) certifications and have seen more visitors hoping to view the skies.
Massachusetts became the first state to limit harmful blue lighting to prevent light pollution in 2024. The state government has set forth a Nonpartisan bill that aims to “conserve energy and increase dark sky visibility.”
Furthermore, Colorado has begun promoting tourism by ensuring many sites obtain IDA certifications. For example, the Wet Mountain Valley has West and Silver Cliff, which became two of Colorado’s first IDA-certified places.
The state also offers a tour stopping in several locations across Colorado to look at the stars. The state has a page on Colorado.com dedicated to listing the best places to go stargazing in Colorado, along with other activities and accommodations.
Many travel blogs have already released ideas for destinations and tours for stargazing across the United States. Many note rural destinations out west and include several national parks, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite.
The Northern and Southern Lights
Many people travel to see the northern and southern lights. Some of the most popular places to see the aurora borealis include Finland, Scotland, Iceland, Greenland, and Norway. The best time to see them is from September to mid-April. That’s when the north has its longest and darkest nights of the year.
While everyone knows about the famous Northern Lights, many forget about the Aurora Australis or the southern lights, which look just as spectacular as those up north. Travelers can see them from Tasmania, Australia, and New Zealand. The greatest time to view them is June and July; however, you can see them from May to August.
Tourism Concerns
While it’s natural for people to want to see the beautiful night sky, environmental organizations, such as Dark Sky, feel anxious about tourism’s impact on some of these reserved spaces.
They worry that the influx of travelers will negatively impact the environment because they think tourism will destroy the light in the remaining places without light pollution. They also have concerns about tourists degrading natural landscapes and uprooting the people living there.
As a result, Dark Sky has released regulations asking all visitors to exercise responsibility when traveling. They recommend tourists strive to protect the natural environment by not engaging with animals, respecting nocturnal species’ needs for darkness, and cleaning up after themselves.
Dark Sky also asks people to use light responsibly and respect local rules and regulations in each destination. As long as people appreciate the places they visit, the remaining places with unpolluted light have nothing to fear.
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