By Maya Abu Hajleh
Published on
Stargazing has become a trending topic for travellers, with more trips now built around finding skies dark enough to reveal the Milky Way and passing meteor showers.
To rank the best destinations, eSIM provider Holafly has created its first “Clean Sky Index”. Rather than just highlighting the darkest places on Earth, the index identifies destinations that offer the “best overall balance between exceptional night skies and practical travel”.
Researchers analysed various stargazing locations using four weighted criteria: light pollution (35%), based on Sky Quality Meter readings and the Bortle scale; clear-night frequency (30%), measuring the percentage of cloud-free nights annually; accessibility (20%), based on travel time from a major international hub; and Dark Sky certification (15%), recognising destinations designated by DarkSky International.
“To ensure geographical diversity, no more than three destinations from the same country were included in the final shortlist, while both certified and non-certified locations were assessed to prioritise real sky quality over certification alone,” Holafly said.
Ranked at No.1 in the index, Pic du Midi in France was highlighted thanks to its balance of strong sky conditions and easy reach, with the French observatory accessible in under four hours from London, unlike other destinations which lost out for their remote locations.
Top 10 clean sky destinations for summer 2026
- 1. Pic du Midi, France
- 2. Warrumbungle National Park, Australia
- 3. Grasslands National Park, Canada
- 4. NamibRand Nature Reserve, Namibia
- 5. AlUla, Saudi Arabia
- 6. Atacama Desert, Chile
- 7. La Palma, Spain
- 8. Aoraki Mackenzie, New Zealand
- 9. Mauna Kea, Hawaii, USA
- 10. Cherry Springs State Park, USA
Other top destinations for stargazing
Warrumbungle National Park in New South Wales placed second. Recognised as Australia’s first Dark Sky Park, it is home to the Siding Spring Observatory.
Grasslands National Park came in third. It was designated in 2009 as the Canada’s darkest Dark Sky Preserve with a top rating on the Bortle scale.
Placed fourth, NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia recorded the darkest skies in the study, but lost points for its remote location. It came ahead of AlUla in Saudi Arabia in fifth, which holds the world’s third-largest Dark Sky Park designation, spanning more than 6,000 square kilometres of protected desert.
Chile’s Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, rounded out the top six.
The index shows that remoteness isn’t always required for great stargazing. La Palma in Spain, Aoraki Mackenzie in New Zealand and Cherry Springs State Park in the US all made the top 10, proving that world-class dark skies can be found within easier reach than many travellers might expect.