No matter where you live in Canada, there’s a good chance you’ll be looking to the sky as summer winds down, hoping to catch one last spectacular sunset. And if you’re planning one last outdoor adventure, you’ll want to make sure golden hour is on the itinerary.
Golden hour is that dreamy period around sunset when the light turns soft, warm, a little orange and oh-so photo-worthy. Yep, golden hour is such a beautiful moment that even Grammy-winning artist Kacey Musgraves named a whole album after it.
A new study looked at the best destinations in the world for soaking up those dreamy evening skies, and Canada is absolutely glowing, with seven spots in the top 10.
Travel company and tour operator Journeyscape looked at sunset timing and duration to determine the world’s best spots for golden hour based on average minutes of glow time.
Canada dominates the list with Whitehorse, Yukon, taking the top spot.
“Its northern latitude brings long summer days and extended twilight, with sunset around 10:54 p.m. Just a nine-minute drive from downtown, Miles Canyon offers beautiful views of the golden light across the Yukon River,” writes Journeyscape.
According to the study, Whitehorse boasts the longest sunset glow in the world, with an average of 76 minutes between official sunset and the end of civil twilight.
Civil twilight, which arguably sounds like an emo band from the early 2000s, is actually the period just after sunset when there’s still enough natural light to see clearly outdoors. It’s that dreamy in-between stage when the sun has dipped below the horizon, but the sky is still glowing a bit.
Three Alberta spots — Jasper, Banff, and Calgary — also landed in the top 10, having an average of 43 to 40 minutes of golden hour.
B.C. equally dominated the list, with Whistler, Kelowna, and Vancouver making the cut.
Outside of Canadian spots, Reykjavik, Iceland, and two Alaskan cities, Juneau and Anchorage, ranked high on the list.
The best spots in the world for golden hour:
- Whitehorse, Yukon: 76 minutes
- Anchorage, Alaska: 72.2 minutes
- Reykjavik, Iceland: 72 minutes
- Juneau, Alaska: 59.9 minutes
- Jasper, Alta.: 43.2 minutes
- Banff, Alta.: 40.3 minutes
- Calgary, Alta.: 40.1 minutes
- Whistler, B.C.: 38.7 minutes
- Kelowna, B.C.: 38.4 minutes
- Vancouver, B.C.: 37.6 minutes
To learn more about the ranking, visit Journeyscape’s website.
Originally published on Daily Hive.
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