Dark Sky Travel

Discover the awe and beauty of a truly dark sky

I've spent ten years on dark sky travel across all 50 states and some of the darkest corners of the world. I'll help you plan a night under the stars you and your family won't forget.

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Astro vacation plans delivered within 10 days. Or start with the free guide.

Why connecting with the night sky is worth the trip

Four reasons people book, in the order they usually give them.

Experience awe under a truly dark sky Most people have never seen more than a few hundred stars at once. Under real darkness it is thousands, with the Milky Way overhead as something with shape and dust lanes rather than a faint smudge. People go quiet when it happens.

Reset from busy city life A few hours with no signal, no screens, and nothing you are supposed to be doing. It is the rare kind of quiet that actually works, and more than one person has told me a single night out did more for them than a week off.

Give your family a night they keep Children remember the first time they saw the Milky Way, and so do the adults standing next to them. It is the rare thing every one of them is looking at together, and years later they will still bring it up.

Capture the moment Say the word and your plan comes with camera settings for the conditions you will actually have that night, where to set up, and how long to expose. That covers phone cameras too, which are better at this than most people expect.

You do not need to know anything to start. That is the whole point of having it planned. You show up, your eyes adjust, and the sky fills in.

Have your trip planned

The Milky Way over the Welcome to Marfa sign in West Texas — Marfa, TexasBortle 2

The Milky Way over the Bryce Canyon National Park entrance sign — Bryce Canyon National Park, UtahBortle 2

The Milky Way over a lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park — Lassen Volcanic National Park, CaliforniaBortle 2

Green and magenta aurora over Lapland, Norway — Lapland, NorwayBortle 2

The Milky Way core over Mauna Kea, Hawaii — Mauna Kea, Hawai'iBortle 1

The Milky Way over the moai at Rapa Nui, Easter Island — Rapa Nui (Easter Island), ChileBortle 1

80%

of North Americans live under skies too bright to see the Milky Way. Most never see it at all.

Meet Daniel

The person who will be planning your night.

I'm Daniel, a full-time traveler and amateur astronomer. Since 2016 I've been going wherever the sky is still black: Easter Island, Lapland, the summit air on Mauna Kea, the Maldives, and every one of the fifty states.

Featured in

National Geographic
Smithsonian
Travel + Leisure

2013Shooting the
night sky since

2016Chasing dark
skies since

50States,
every one

6Continents
so far

Behind the camera since 2013

I've been shooting astrophotography since 2013, three years before I started chasing dark skies full time. Every photo on this site is one of mine, taken on a normal night from a place you can legally stand.

The rest of the trip counts too

I also come out of luxury and adventure travel, and noctourism is rarely the only reason you're going somewhere. So while your plan is built around the best possible night under the stars, I factor in the rest of it: where to eat, what's worth seeing, the culture you're standing in the middle of.

Where I have been looking up

All fifty states, and thirty countries and territories across six continents.

Countries visited Islands too small to draw Aurora seen here

What actually decides whether a night delivers

Four things. Miss one and you drive home having seen nothing.

Light pollution and terrain Where the glow is actually coming from, and whether the land around you blocks it or lets it flood the sky.

What is actually up that night The Milky Way core has a season. Planets come and go. Meteor showers peak for a night or two. Right place, wrong date, and you see none of it.

The moon's windows of darkness Every phase steals a different amount of sky. Almost nobody checks, and it is the most common reason a night comes up empty.

Where to stand, and what you will face Somewhere safe and legal to spend hours in the dark, and being ready for the cold, the road, and the conditions.

None of that has to be your problem. I have spent ten years working it out across six continents, so you get to skip the trial and error and go straight to the part that matters: standing under a sky full of stars and feeling very small in the best possible way.

Have your trip planned

How astro vacation planning works

Astrotourism done properly: one specific night, in one specific place, built for you.

You tell me where A place you already have in mind, or "I don't know, inspire me." Plus any dates you're locked into.

Ten years of chasing dark skies goes to work This is the part you can't shortcut. I've stood under skies on six continents and in all fifty states, and your night gets built on that experience. A decade of trial and error, handed to you as a plan.

Your plan arrives Within 10 days, a PDF built for your night: the spot, the exact date, your window down to the hour, what you'll see and where to look, and a backup for the weather.

You stand under it You get out of the car, your eyes adapt, the sky fills in, and you finally see the thing most people go their whole lives without seeing. That's what you're actually buying.

See what's included — from $150

Recent dispatches

Field notes from the places I've been measuring.

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Start with one night

Not sure yet? Take the free guide and find a dark sky near you. When you want the stargazing vacation planned properly, I'm here.

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Chasing the aurora instead? That is a different trip entirely, and I plan those too — see northern lights trip planning.