Last week, Carla asked our readers on Been there for their tips on the best places and ways to experience the aurora borealis or northern lights. Here are 10 of the best answers. For more tips and this week's questions (How to do Hawaii without a car, and Which is the best report for a solo snowboarder?), or to put another question to our readers, go to I'vebeenthere.co.uk

Tromso, Norway
Posted by Xavier
Book a tour with local guide Kjetil Skogli. He's not the cheapest but is worth every penny. He takes you out in a small group (six/eight maximum) in a minibus anywhere where the weather will be clear – other companies have a fixed base somewhere near Tromso, so if it's cloudy there but clear 30 miles away, then tough! One hint to photograph the aurora: take a tripod, a fast wide lens and a camera that will let you use long exposures (10 to 30 seconds) with a remote cable to avoid camera shake.

· ScanTours offers a four-day Northern Lights Experience including return flights from London Heathrow to Tromso via Oslo for £625 per person.

Svalbard, Norway
Posted by Jonathan Phillippe Levy
I saw the northern lights in Svalbard. It's a wonderful place - the landscape there is stunning and being over 78°N in places, you live the experience of the polar night, which is perpetual darkness.

· Exodus has 2009 Spitzbergen tours taking in the Svalbard region at prices starting from £3,350 per person for 12 days including flights. For independent travellers, British Airways, BMI and Scandinavian Airlines operate flights to Tromso from UK airports including Manchester and London Gatwick with a stopover in Oslo.

Norwegian cruise
Posted by Angela Thatcher
I have been on the Norwegian Coastal Cruises twice and the first time I saw the lights. They were wonderful to watch as we sailed silently between the snow-clad islands. Try a smaller boat as I enjoyed it more being on my own and they do trips with no single supplement.

· Norwegian Catsal Cruises is offering a seven-day Northern Lights Experience voyage in January from £845 including flights, husky-dog sledging and a visit to the Viking capital of Trondheim

Lake Superior, Ontario, Canada
Posted by Thomas Andrews
A short snowmobile ride (one hour) north of Lake Superior in Canada offers a spectacular display of light. Check for flights to Thunder Bay and be prepared for deep cold. Expect to have a sauna. Drink beer.

· British Airways has return flights from the UK to Toronto for £409 and Air Canada from £408. Onward flights to Winnipeg Manitoba from £214 return and on again to Churchill from £440. Lazy Bear Lodge in Churchill has double rooms from £66 per room per night and also offers polar bear Arctic tours.

Archers Direct has a nine-day polar bear northern lights tour from £3,240 including all flights and transfers, while Discover the World has a four-night polar bear/northern lights tour for £1,944 per person including flights.

Iceland
Posted by Iain Hunter
Iceland is currently having a few economic problems so perhaps you can get cheaper hotels and food than in Tromso. Reykjavik is more lively than Tromso but the city skies are not quite as dark due to more street lighting. I only saw a poor display of aurora here but enjoyed the atmosphere of the city more.

· Icelandair has return flights from London, Glasgow or Manchester to Reykjavik from £228. Discover the World offers a three-night winter break to Iceland's capital city including flights, accommodation and a visit to the Blue Lagoon for £330.

Kiruna, Sweden
Posted by Kath
We went to Kiruna in northern Sweden in late January. Kiruna is an interesting little mining town and was under about 10ft of snow, which made for a wonderful wintry experience. Actually seeing the northern lights is somewhat of a hit and miss affair. Don't believe the places that "guarantee" you will see them - as they are as dependant on the weather and there actually being sufficient solar activity that night to see the lights. You have to get a little out of Kiruna (just get a taxi to the other side of the ski slope hill at night) to see the lights, as Kiruna has a surprising amount of light pollution.

· Book a cold room in the Ice Hotel in the village of Jukkasjärvi near Kiruna from £131 per person per night. Alternatively Simply Sweden offers a three-day package including return flights to Kiruna and Ice Hotel accommodation from £775 per person.

Northern Finland
Posted by John Lewis
My choice for this would be somewhere in northern Finland, like Utsjoki or even better Ivalo. In northern Finland, which has very low levels of air pollution, the lights (in Finnish "revontulet", which means "fox's fires") are visible up to 200 times a year. I have seen them as far south as Kirkkonummi, 30km west of Helsinki, but only very rarely.

· Blue1 have flights from London Heathrow to Helsinki from £135 return. Finnair will fly you onwards to Ivalo from £154 return.

Oulu, Lapland, Finland
Posted by Jari Tolkkinen
I've spent most of my life living in Oulu, and even though the city is not all the way up north, we are treated every year to a magnificent display of the northern lights. The further north you go, the chances of seeing them increase. Rovaniemi is the capital of Lapland, so check for flights to there. Since the lights occur during the night, there are hotels in Lapland which will offer wake-up calls for people wanting to see them.

· Responsible Travel offers four-day group and family holidays to Oulu including flights from the UK from £1,200 depending on group size.

Hetan, Finland
Posted by Kathleen
I can strongly recommend Hetan Majatalo, which is one of the original tourist guest houses in Lapland where you will still find a warm welcome (in English as well as Finnish!) and delicious traditional home cooking.

· Basic rooms with shared bathrooms start at £33 a night. More spacious hotel rooms with ensuite at £54 a night. Reindeer safaris and dog-sledding rides can be arranged at extra cost. Transun organises four-night Polar Magic breaks to the Arctic village of Hetan from £599 (reduced from £849) with limited availability from Gatwick.

Watch them on film
Posted by David
The northern lights are pretty fickle, you might take a trip and see nothing. What you may be able do very inexpensively is see the film Pictures of Light by the Swiss-Canadian film-maker Peter Mettler. He travelled to northern Manitoba in winter and used then newly developed technology to film the aurora borealis.

· Albiris has copies of Peter Mettler's film on DVD from £14.76