There is nothing more magical than lying on a beach on the night of San Lorenzo and watching the sky and its shooting stars. This phenomenon, visible to the human eye since the beginning of time, has become over the years a common activity for travelers and explorers, always searching for remote and unspoiled places to better observe the night sky and its wonders.
In this quest, Lenstore analyzes the best places in the world to watch the stars, taking into account the level of light pollution of each location and internet popularity through the analysis of Google search volume. Additionally, Lenstore offers a detailed guide on lunar eclipses visible in 2022, complete with locations and dates.
Top 20 places in the world to watch the stars
| Ranking | Place | Country | Light Pollution
(2021) – Brightness Level |
Total search volume | Lunar Eclipses in 2022 |
| 1 | Mauna Kea, Hawaii | United States | -0.03 | 40 | 2 |
| 2 | Mont-Mégantic | Canada | -0.14 | 30 | 2 |
| 3 | Sedona, Arizona | United States | 0.05 | 30 | 2 |
| 4 | Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania | United States | -0.02 | 20 | 2 |
| 5 | Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah | United States | 0.32 | 20 | 2 |
| 6 | Uluru | Australia | -0.01 | 50 | 1 |
| 7 | Wadi Rum | Jordan | 0.02 | 40 | 1 |
| 8 | Atacama Desert | Chile | -0.04 | 30 | 1 |
| 9 | Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park | Japan | 0.01 | 30 | 1 |
| 10 | NamibRand Nature Reserve | Namibia | 0.01 | 30 | 1 |
| 11 | Pic du Midi | France | 0.12 | 30 | 1 |
| 12 | Aoraki Mackenzie International Dark Sky Reserve | New Zealand | -0.06 | 20 | 1 |
| 13 | La Fortuna | Costa Rica | -0.01 | 20 | 1 |
| 14 | Tenerife | Canary Islands, Spain | -0.01 | 20 | 1 |
| 15 | La Palma | Canary Islands, Spain | -0.01 | 20 | 1 |
| 16 | Capulin Volcano National Monument | United States | 0.02 | 20 | 1 |
| 17 | Kruger National Park | South Africa | 0.03 | 20 | 1 |
| 18 | High Pyrenees | France | 0.11 | 20 | 1 |
| 19 | Los Angeles, California | United States | 0.82 | 20 | 1 |
| 20 | Hella | Iceland | 4.06 | 30 | 1 |
According to the study, Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano on the island of Hawaii, is the best place to watch the stars, partly due to a total search volume of 40 times per month, the second highest among the analyzed places, after Uluru in Australia. The Australian monolith ranks first among the twenty places in the ranking for popularity, with an average total of 50 monthly Google searches. According to the research, light pollution at Mauna Kea is very low, showing an artificial brightness level of -0.03.
Mont-Mégantic, an isolated rock located in Québec, a region of Canada, ranks second in the ranking of the best places to watch the stars, recording the lowest artificial brightness level ever, equal to -0.14.
In third place is Sedona, a town located in the desert of Arizona, United States. From this American town, which registers a brightness level of 0.05, it will be possible to see two lunar eclipses in 2022. The popularity level of this third place among Italians corresponds on average to 30 monthly Google searches.
Top locations for star-gazing in Europe
Without going too far, Europe also hosts places where you can observe starry panoramas. According to the study results, the best places to watch the stars in Europe are:
| Ranking | Place | Country | Light pollution
(2021) – Brightness level |
Total search volume | Lunar Eclipses in 2022 |
| 1 | Pic du Midi | France | 0.12 | 30 | 1 |
| 2 | Tenerife | Canary Islands, Spain | -0.01 | 20 | 1 |
| 3 | La Palma | Canary Islands, Spain | -0.01 | 20 | 1 |
| 4 | High Pyrenees | France | 0.11 | 20 | 1 |
| 5 | Hella | Iceland | 4.06 | 30 | 1 |
| 6 | Westhavelland Nature Park | Germany | 0.12 | 10 | 1 |
| 7 | The Wild Atlantic Way | Ireland | 0.18 | 10 | 1 |
| 8 | Kerry International Dark Sky Reserve | Ireland | 0.85 | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | Rhön Biosphere Reserve | Germany | 1.14 | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | Hortobágy National Park | Hungary | -0.07 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 | Zselic Protected Area | Hungary | -0.01 | 0 | 1 |
The Pic du Midi, a peak in the French Pyrenees, ranks first among European destinations for stargazing, thanks to a relatively high popularity level among Italians, averaging 30 monthly Google searches.
In second place are the islands Canary Islands of Tenerife and La Palma, both very popular destinations among Italians, offering some of the lowest light pollution levels in Europe (equal to -0.01 on both islands).
Hella, a town in southwestern Iceland, is among the best places in Europe to observe the stars. Despite the town having the highest light pollution among all the places analyzed (equal to 4.06), its high popularity in monthly Google searches makes this location one of the best spots to stargaze. Furthermore, Hella is the only location in Europe where the lunar eclipse of November 7-8 will be visible.
2022 Lunar Eclipse Calendar
This year there are two dates to keep in mind for fanatic observers: May 15-16, 2022 and November 7-8, 2022. The table below shows the top 10 ranking of the best places to observe the stars, and the dates to book if you want to witness this spectacle in one of these locations.
| Ranking | Location | Country | Number of lunar eclipses in 2022 | Dates |
| 1 | Mauna Kea, Hawaii | United States | 2 | May 15-16, November 7-8 |
| 2 | Mont-Mégantic | Canada | 2 | May 15-16, November 7-8 |
| 3 | Sedona, Arizona | United States | 2 | May 15-16, November 7-8 |
| 4 | Cherry Springs State Park, Pennsylvania | United States | 2 | May 15-16, November 7-8 |
| 5 | Natural Bridges National Monument, Utah | United States | 2 | May 15-16, November 7-8 |
| 6 | Uluru | Australia | 1 | November 7-8 |
| 7 | Wadi Rum | Jordan | 1 | May 15-16 |
| 8 | Atacama Desert | Chile | 1 | May 15-16 |
| 9 | Iriomote-Ishigaki National Park | Japan | 1 | November 7-8 |
| 10 | NamibRand Nature Reserve | Namibia | 1 | May 15-16 |
The breathtaking spectacle of the night sky will never cease to amaze billions of tourists worldwide, but to ensure that the experience is enjoyed in the best way, we must take care of our visual health, and in case of eye strain symptoms, contact your ophthalmologist to discuss possible prescriptions for glasses or contact lenses.
Research Methodology
To conduct the research, we created a list of places by combining several lists. We then found the coordinates of each place using Google searches for “latitude and longitude of [place]” and identified the level of artificial brightness in those areas. We included information related to lunar eclipses forecasted for 2022.
The average monthly search volume in Italy was calculated considering the dates December 2020 – November 2021, for the following keywords:
[place] stars [place] stargazing [place] stars [place] watch the starsFinally, these two search volumes were combined into a single figure.
The process was then repeated for [place] where [place] was the country of each term, and applied to all relevant countries.
