If you’ve ever planned a trip around the northern lights (or, frankly, a bar crawl), you’re already halfway to embracing the travel world’s latest obsession: noctourism. The trend is all about the adventures that only happen after dark, from stargazing in the desert to glowing bioluminescent bays, and travel eSIM provider Holafly has now pinpointed the best places in the U.S. to do it. The results reveal a mix of cities, national parks, coastal towns and island getaways that offer everything from silent, star-packed skies to late-night ghost tours.
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Topping the list is New Orleans, a city that seems tailor-made for night owls. With close to 300 night-specific tours, it’s a destination where the evening hours are the main attraction rather than an afterthought. Warm year-round temperatures make wandering the French Quarter or joining a midnight ghost walk easy, and the city’s famously dense nightlife scene blends seamlessly with noctourism’s focus on atmosphere and discovery. Between the food, music and the sheer amount of things happening at all hours, New Orleans makes a strong case for being America’s unofficial capital of after-dark adventure.
Coming in second is Denver, which might surprise travelers who associate the city with daytime hikes and breweries rather than nighttime exploration. But Denver’s clear mountain skies and cooler temperatures make it a prime spot for stargazing tours and starlit hikes. The city offers 150 night-specific tours, which range from guided astronomy walks to evening brewery cruises, giving visitors a mix of natural beauty and urban energy after dark.
Rounding out the top three is the Florida Everglades, one of the only spots on the list where the night experience is entirely different from the day. The massive, 1.5-million-acre national park attracts more than 18,000 annual visitors and offers nighttime wildlife spotting, airboat adventures and bioluminescent kayaking. With extremely low noise, light and air pollution scores, it’s one of the rare places in the country where total darkness becomes part of the attraction rather than something to avoid.
Other top destinations include Key West, Savannah, Joshua Tree, Kailua-Kona and a scattering of coastal towns and desert outposts known for dark skies and calm evenings. Though all vary in climate, style and cost, they share the same after-dark appeal: nights that feel like experiences in their own right rather than downtime between daytime activities.
Top 20 nocturism destinations in the U.S.:
1. New Orleans, LA
2. Denver, CO
3. Everglades, FL
4. Key West, FL
5. Savannah, GA
6. Kailua-Kona, HI
7. Merritt Island, FL
8. Joshua Tree, CA
9. Terlingua, TX (Big Bend)
10. Flagstaff, AZ
11. Fairbanks, AK
12. Moab, UT
13. San Juan Islands, WA
14. Lake Tahoe, CA
15. Santa Fe, NM
16. Port Aransas, TX
17. Monterey, CA
18. Ashford, WA
19. Vieques, Puerto Rico
20. Hatteras, NC (Outer Banks)
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