Ten places where the sky gets properly dark, from desert observatories to mountain reserves, ranked with what you can book once the sun goes down.
Ranked by the sky itself: how dark it gets and how many nights are clear, with a recognised dark-sky designation settling a close call, then by what a visitor can book there. Wherever you go, plan around the new moon.
The clearest sky on this list. ESO counts more than 300 clear nights a year here, which is why the world’s big observatories were built in this desert. Book a telescope night from San Pedro de Atacama and go near the new moon.
A private desert reserve whose sky earned Gold-tier International Dark Sky Reserve status in 2012, the first in Africa. The nearest town is over 140 km away, the lodges run their own telescopes, and Windhoek is the drive in.
A Gold-tier dark sky reserve since 2012, 4,367 km² of basin and mountain around Takapō and Aoraki/Mount Cook. The Dark Sky Project takes visitors up to the University of Canterbury’s Mt John Observatory.
The island that passed a sky law in 1988 to protect the observatory on Roque de los Muchachos, at 2,396m. It was the first Starlight Reserve, and the darkest viewing is from the high ground near the summit.
The highest summit on this list, at 4,205m, with thirteen working telescopes near the top. Commercial tours drive up for sunset and set up their telescopes lower on the mountain; book one before you attempt the summit road.
A Gold-tier Dark Sky Park since 2013 and the largest national park in the lower 48 states. Each February the park’s free Dark Sky Festival brings in NASA and JPL scientists; Las Vegas is the drive in.
The first International Dark Sky Reserve in continental Europe, accredited in 2013 around an observatory at 2,877m. The cable car from La Mongie goes up by day, and the Nuit au Sommet package keeps you overnight at the top.
A Dark Sky Preserve since 2011, and the largest with a town inside it, so the dark starts at the edge of Jasper. The Jasper Planetarium runs telescope tours, and the Dark Sky Festival fills the second half of October.
Three certified Dark Sky Parks within reach of one town: Arches, Canyonlands and Dead Horse Point. Arches, the closest, was certified in 2019; Dead Horse Point was the first Utah state park to earn it.
The world’s eighth International Dark Sky Community, designated in 2014. The city’s lighting rules bar new street lights on its roads, so the darkest viewing starts a short drive from the hotel.
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