Light pollution has swallowed up most of Britain’s night sky, leaving city dwellers lucky to spot a handful of constellations on a clear evening.

Experts at AI SEO analysed Google search trends to find that “stargazing events near me” has surged by 380% in comparison to last month, meaning “astro-tourism” has become a major driver for the UK staycation market as families swap traditional city breaks for remote “Dark Sky” destinations. Tucked away in one corner of England, there’s a place where the Milky Way still stretches overhead, where you can count more than 2,000 stars without so much as a pair of binoculars, and where the Northern Lights have been known to make an appearance. Northumberland National Park and the surrounding Kielder Water & Forest Park together hold Gold Tier status as an International Dark Sky Park — one of only a handful in the world.

A new nationwide analysis compared stargazing destinations across Britain, looking at three things: viewing locations, organised astronomy events, and stargazing-friendly places to stay.

Northumberland topped the list, boasting 20 observation points and 19 annual stargazing events highlighted in the study. The dark-sky area spans roughly 572 square miles, with 96% of it enjoying very low light pollution.

On a clear, moonless night, the park’s guides say you can spot Andromeda — our nearest galactic neighbour, some 2.5 million light years away — with nothing but your own eyes.

A Dark Sky Park is a protected area where lighting is tightly controlled to keep nights genuinely dark. Officially, these parks have a “core” zone that meets strict sky-quality standards, plus a buffer zone designed to stop light spill from nearby towns ruining the view.

The UK now has seven International Dark Sky Reserves, with parks, communities and islands all certified under the same global scheme. As light pollution creeps further into the countryside, these protected pockets of darkness are becoming increasingly rare — and increasingly popular.

The observatory runs events throughout the year, with astronomers on hand to guide visitors through the constellations. Spring sessions are particularly popular — dark enough to see plenty, but without the biting cold of deep winter.