Swap screens for stars, with a travel expert's pick of the darkest skies in the country and a few tips for getting little ones looking up.
The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October, the evenings draw in, and for once that's something to celebrate. With nightfall arriving well before bedtime, half-term is the perfect week to wrap up warm, pack a flask of hot chocolate and look up.
Plenty of us have the same idea. Searches for stargazing holidays in the UK are up by half in five years, and jumped more than 5,000% around August's solar eclipse. Andy Brooker, travel expert at holiday cottage company kate & tom's, has combined light pollution data with search interest to pick out the UK's top spots for dark skies.
"We're totally over looking at our phones," he says. "Looking up at the sky and truly observing something so much bigger than us can feel very freeing, and make our mundane problems feel much smaller."
1. Exmoor
Exmoor has the lowest light pollution in the UK and was Europe's first International Dark Sky Reserve. Its tenth Dark Skies Festival runs from Friday 16 October to Sunday 1 November, with astronomy sessions and planetarium shows alongside bioluminescence walks, UV rock pooling, night-time e-bike rides and moonlit dips. By day there are sea cliffs, open moorland and ancient woods to explore, so the darkness becomes part of the whole trip rather than a one-off event.
2. Yorkshire Dales
The most searched-for dark sky destination in the UK, and a good choice if you've never been stargazing before. The Dales' Dark Skies Fringe Festival runs from 23 October to 1 November, with stargazing events, night photography and dark-sky-friendly places to stay. Andy's tip for beginners is to book at least one organised event, "so you have someone on hand to explain what you're looking at rather than simply turning up and hoping for the right conditions."
It is estimated that 85% of the UK population has never seen a truly dark sky or experienced the sense of wonder that a clear night filled with billions of stars can give!
3. Northumberland
The serious stargazer's choice. Northumberland is home to the UK's largest Gold Tier International Dark Sky Park, covering 572 square miles around Kielder, and the skies over the remote East Kielder Moors are some of the darkest in the country. It gets far fewer searches than the others on this list, which makes it something of an unsung hero, and you're less likely to be sharing the view.
4. North York Moors
The North York Moors also holds a Dark Skies Fringe Festival from 23 October to 1 November. Highlights include guided stargazing at Danby Lodge, night photography and walks where you find your way by the stars, which older children in particular will love.
5. Eryri
Eryri's rugged, sparsely populated mountains keep light pollution very low. Spend the day scrambling up hillsides and the evening lying back under the stars: a proper adventure for families who like their holidays on the wild side.
Tips for stargazing with children
- Check the moon. It's full on 26 October, which washes out fainter stars. The first weekend of the festival (16 to 18 October) has the darkest skies, while later in the week the moon itself is a brilliant thing to look at through binoculars.
- Give your eyes time. It takes around 20 minutes for eyes to adjust to the dark, so put phones away and cover torches with red cellophane.
- Make it cosy. Blankets, hats, a camping mat to lie on and something warm to drink will keep little ones happy for longer.
- Don't forget the quieter spots. Cranborne Chase and Bodmin Moor are dark sky places too. As Andy puts it, smaller destinations "can offer just as memorable a night under the stars without the crowds."
