astronomical tourism: any recommendations?

[tenbyfifty]

read the orange text if ur in a rush!

the reality of backyard astronomy can me back to me recently: longing after expensive scopes and eps, security and bathroom lights from next door,

waiting for the weather to break etc so the obvious solution to all this nonsense is to go somewhere where skies are great, scopes are better than u can afford & u can have a holiday as part of the deal, so anyone got any great experiences wrt this topic especially inside europe or maybe north africa ie nowhere too expensive to get to?

[starman1969]

Try Omega Holidays. They are the ones who do the Aurora flights. I've been on one. Otherwise check out the Sky at Night mag because there are adverts for astro tourism in there.

[SeedyF]

This is no help at all but I am going to the Maldives tomorrow and will be squeezing the bins in the case if I can

I live in a badly light polluted area and will just love laying on the back admiring the staggering number of stars and the crystal clear milky way. I was there last year and it is a close call which was better - the desert in Egypt or a desert island

[John]

This place is run by one of our members:

http://www.sunstarfrance.com/

[JB80]

I was going to say that too.

There are a couple of other gites down Provence way too and Pic du Midi http://www.picdumidi.com/.

There is also the Canaries, the hotel in the middle of Mt Teide has scopes you can use.

http://www.parador.es/en/cargarFichaParadorOtrosContenidos1.do?parador=023

A place in Crete also runs astro nights.

[sologuitarist61]

That's not very nice is it - a couple of gits down in Provence - well!!

Sorry just seen the 'e'

[starman1969]

I can vouch for the Parador on the Teide plateau. It's over 7000ft above sea level. I stayed there for a couple of nights in December last. The night sky was incredible. Room was £90 per night.

[majapala]

This place is run by one of our members:

http://www.sunstarfrance.com/

That place looks lovely. Absolute bargain too!

[tferrari]

This place is run by one of our members:

http://www.sunstarfrance.com/

This would be a 10 out of 10 destination!

[Dark Matter]

If you or any other member ever get to visit Queensland, Australia, you can visit this... www.maidenwellobservatory.com

[tenbyfifty]

thanks for all replies folks - very useful

[Pig]

I hear there is Galloway is a great place to go for astronomy, tailor made I believe.

[pete_l]

It's also possible to pack your telescope in your car and head for the ferries. A crossing from Portsmouth (or Plymouth) will take you to northern Spain and a 12 hour drive will see you arriving in Andalucia with skies of 21.5 Mag/Arc-sec (6.5 VLM in old money) or better - if you choose wisely.

Remember, that dark skies are not the only attribute worth chasing. There's no point going for a week at a "dark site" if it's cloudy - so the probability of cloud-free nights is even more important. Especially if you are only going for a limited time.

[JB80]

Good point, don't forget the full moon either.

Found one in Spain too.

http://www.actihol.com/astronony_holidays/astronomy.aspx

[nameunknown]

The full moon? is that a tour? - guaranteed clear skies, not much atmosphere .... visit the far side for 100% less light pollution guaranteed.

P

[recceranger]

Hi,

If your looking for somewhere to go for the future on holiday try La Palma in the Canaries. Myself and the Mrs went for 7 nts last week and it was fantastic. No need to cart along any gear as you can hire it from Astro-Tours when you get there. I hired a CPC 9'25" and it costs €25 for two nights (all accessories included).

I have been in the Desert of Afghanistan in the middle of nowhere but I can honestly say the Dark Skies in La Palma are like nothing I have ever experienced.

We booked with Thomson and went all inclusive which included a complimentary Astronomy Lesson using a Sky Watcher 120ED. A little basic but great for kids and new comers.

We both went up to the European Observatory on top of the largest Volcano 2440mtrs above sea level. Outstanding!

A great week. Even Jayne loved it!

[tenbyfifty]

Hi,

If your looking for somewhere to go for the future on holiday try La Palma in the Canaries. Myself and the Mrs went for 7 nts last week and it was fantastic. No need to cart along any gear as you can hire it from Astro-Tours when you get there. I hired a CPC 9'25" and it costs €25 for two nights (all accessories included).

I have been in the Desert of Afghanistan in the middle of nowhere but I can honestly say the Dark Skies in La Palma are like nothing I have ever experienced.

We booked with Thomson and went all inclusive which included a complimentary Astronomy Lesson using a Sky Watcher 120ED. A little basic but great for kids and new comers.

We both went up to the European Observatory on top of the largest Volcano 2440mtrs above sea level. Outstanding!

A great week. Even Jayne loved it!

sounds great , the cost of scope hire sounds quite reasonable too, thanks for that

[Lorne]

You don't have to go abroad, go north...... wayyyyy north to Caithness and Sutherland. Darkest and best skies I've known in my few years in the hobby. My problem is I'm restricted to binoculars when I visit the inlaws there, Id have to leave one or both of the kids behind to get my scope up there in the car!

[tenbyfifty]

You don't have to go abroad, go north...... wayyyyy north to Caithness and Sutherland.

yes they don't call it bonny scotland for nothing and i was lucky to get a clear night on the banks of loch ness

many years ago, but there's the rub, you have to be there for a good while i reckon to guarantee a clear night

but u could be really lucky i s'pose and get the aurora thrown in too!

[Ganymede12]

I heard that the moon is lovely this time of year

[Fivost]

Some time ago I stumbled upon an Italian mountain hotel that features some great equipement.

http://www.hotelcarlomagno.com/en/hotel/astronomy

Their observatory is equipped with a Ritchey-Créthien A&M RC400AS f/8 telescope on a Paramount-ME mounting and a CCD FLI ProLine-1001E.

[PeteC]

Another vote here for La Palma. Fantastic skies, lighting strictly controlled - they like to look after their resident astronomers up at the ORM. Check out Sheila Crosby's website www.starisland.co.uk

Holiday wise it's very laid back and undeveloped. Only about four flights a day into the airport, and they aren't allowed to fly over the island, so no plane tracks on your pics!

[Ludd]

I've had three holidays at a place in the south Ardeche where the light pollution was barely noticeable. Well within a day's driving distance of Calais. It looks as though we may be off there again at the end of May - perhaps not ideal timing for astronomy, as the moon will be going from full to last quarter, but Saturn will be 35 degrees above the horizon and towards the end of the week there should be good views of the Scorpius and Sagittarius areas before the moon is too bright.

[ilbrec]

Hi,

If your looking for somewhere to go for the future on holiday try La Palma in the Canaries. Myself and the Mrs went for 7 nts last week and it was fantastic. No need to cart along any gear as you can hire it from Astro-Tours when you get there. I hired a CPC 9'25" and it costs €25 for two nights (all accessories included).

I have been in the Desert of Afghanistan in the middle of nowhere but I can honestly say the Dark Skies in La Palma are like nothing I have ever experienced.

We booked with Thomson and went all inclusive which included a complimentary Astronomy Lesson using a Sky Watcher 120ED. A little basic but great for kids and new comers.

We both went up to the European Observatory on top of the largest Volcano 2440mtrs above sea level. Outstanding!

A great week. Even Jayne loved it!

Could I just ask which hotel you stayed in and were you using the hired scope in the hotel grounds or did you use a hire car to cart it about? Cheers

[PeteC]

While you're waiting for a reply from ilbrec here's some more info on La Palma. We went in February with Thomson, self-catering at the Hacienda San Jorge in Los Cancajos a couple of miles from the airport. Nice hotel. We had a beginners talk from one of the local Star Guides (a professional from the ORM) and a tonight's best tour in the hotel grounds using her CPC800. All outdoor lighting is sodium so you're OK if you've got a filter, but it's not hard to get away from the lights if you've got a hire car. I didn't hire a scope, just took my camera, tripod and tracking mount, but I think there are 3 or 4 places renting them. There are a number of miradors around the island that have been turned into astronomical viewpoints. Probably the easiest to get to are one on each side of the Cumbre Dorsal, the north-south ridge down the island, each at about 1300m up. They have easy parking, gravelled areas for scopes, astro information boards and at night you can't see your finger in front of your nose. The drive up to the ORM takes about an hour and a half, easy enough in the daytime and highly recommended, but maybe not for the squeamish at night with all the hairpins. Pretty much guaranteed perfect skies though. They do free tours of the ORM once a week in winter or twice a week in summer, pre-booking only. Ours got cancelled for technical reasons

As starman1969 suggests, another option is Tenerife. More bright lights than La Palma around the coast, but if you are prepared to stay at the Parador in Las Canadas (which I haven't tried yet) or drive up from the coast - about an hour on better roads than La Palma - you have excellent skies and a very good chance of being above any cloud at about 2000m.

Hope you get clear skies wherever you go!