5 Best Places to Photograph the Milky Way in Europe

Explore Europe’s Darkest Skies for Night Landscape Photography

Over the past 15 years, I’ve explored countless corners of Europe in search of the darkest night skies and the most dramatic landscapes for night photography. My goal has always been to find locations where the Milky Way and the landscape work together, creating powerful and visually striking images.

In this article, I’ll share what I believe are the 5 best places in Europe to photograph the Milky Way, based not only on dark skies, but on a balanced combination of three fundamental factors:

• Light pollution
• Landscape scenery
• Milky Way signal strength

To make the comparison clear and practical, I rate each location on a scale from 1 to 10 for each factor, where 1 is the lowest score and 10 is the highest, based on years of personal experience shooting and guiding photography tours in these places.

 If you want to learn more about capturing the Milky Way, I recommend reading this article:

How I Evaluate the Best Milky Way Photography Locations in Europe

🌆 Light Pollution – Finding Europe’s Darkest Skies

Finding truly dark skies in Europe isn’t easy. Population density, cities, and infrastructure make night photography challenging in many regions. If you check a light pollution map such as lightpollutionmap.app, this becomes immediately clear.However, there are still a few exceptional places where it’s possible to photograph under skies that feel almost comparable to the darkest locations on Earth. Altitude plays a crucial role here: shooting at higher elevations often means cleaner air, less humidity, and clearer skies.

🌄 Landscape Scenery – Where Night Photography Comes to Life

This article is not about deep-sky astrophotography, but about landscape night photography, where composition and scenery are just as important as the stars themselves.

Volcanic formations in the Canary Islands, ancient forests and jagged peaks in Madeira, or the sharp limestone towers of the Italian Dolomites provide the perfect stage for the Milky Way. When landscape and sky work in harmony, the result is a truly high-impact night photograph.

🌌 Milky Way Signal – Latitude and Altitude Matter

I’ve captured incredible night images in Northern Europe—Norway, the Lofoten Islands, Iceland, and Finnish Lapland—but I don’t include them among the top Milky Way locations in Europe.

At higher latitudes, the Milky Way signal is weaker, colors are harder to capture, and the galactic core is never visible. As we move closer to the equator, the Milky Way becomes stronger, richer in color, and more detailed.Altitude is another key factor: shooting above 2,000 meters dramatically improves sky clarity, reduces atmospheric disturbance, and reveals finer details in the night sky.

Want to Photograph the Milky Way with Professional Guidance?

If you’d like to capture the Milky Way in these locations with hands-on instruction in the field, explore our dedicated tours: truly unique place.

The 5 Best Places to Photograph the Milky Way in Europe

These locations aren’t perfect in every category, but they offer an outstanding balance between dark skies, landscape scenery, and Milky Way visibility. Every time I guide photographers here, the excitement of creating new compositions never fades.

#5 Picos de Europa – Northern Spain

Light pollution: 6 (Bortle 3)
Landscape scenery: 8
Milky Way signal: 7 (43°12′ N)

Northern Spain is a dream for landscape photographers, offering ancient forests, hidden waterfalls, wild coastlines, caves, and rugged mountains—all within a few hours’ drive.

In the heart of this region lies Picos de Europa, a dramatic mountain range inside a national park, accessible only on foot and surrounded by just a few small villages. The skies here are dark enough to clearly see the Milky Way with the naked eye.

The true strength of Picos de Europa is the endless compositional possibilities: caves, colorful wildflowers, dramatic rock formations, and foreground elements that work beautifully with the Milky Way. It’s a playground for landscape night photographers.

Every year, I photograph this area during our Best of Spain Photo Tour, an experience that never fails to inspire participants.

#4 Tre Cime di Lavaredo – Italian Dolomites

Light pollution: 5 (Bortle 4)
Landscape scenery: 9
Milky Way signal: 5 (46°37′ N)

The Italian Dolomites are among the most beautiful mountains in the world, though light pollution from nearby valleys can be an issue. Having grown up near the Dolomites, I’ve explored them extensively, and one of the best night skies can be found around Tre Cime di Lavaredo.

These iconic peaks are accessible only by hiking and offer one of the most dramatic night photography settings in Europe. While the sky isn’t the darkest, the landscape scenery is simply extraordinary, making this one of my favorite places to shoot night images.

One of the biggest advantages of Tre Cime is the ability to photograph the area 360°, discovering countless compositions with caves, trenches, streams, wildflowers, and rock formations. You could easily spend a month here creating unique night photographs every single day.Each summer, I guide photographers here during our Dolomites Night Photography Tour.

#3 Madeira – Pico Ruivo, Pico do Arieiro & Fanal Forest

Light pollution: 7 (Bortle 2–4)
Landscape scenery: 9
Milky Way signal: 9

Madeira is a compact island that offers nearly every landscape a photographer could dream of: mystical forests, dense jungle, mountain peaks above the clouds, wild coastlines, waterfalls, and epic hiking trails.

Thanks to its lower latitude (30–33° N), the Milky Way signal here is significantly stronger, revealing more color and detail than in higher-latitude European locations.

The best Milky Way locations on Madeira are Pico Ruivo and Pico do Arieiro (Bortle 2–3). Shooting between 1,600 and 1,800 meters often places us above the cloud layer, with clean air and crystal-clear skies.

Another magical location is Fanal Forest (Bortle 3–4). While clouds are common, fast-moving gaps often open, creating dreamlike scenes where ancient trees merge with the Milky Way.We explore these locations during our dedicated Madeira Photo Tour, timed for peak Milky Way season and island bloom.

#2 Tenerife – Canary Islands

Light pollution: 8 (Bortle 2)
Landscape scenery: 10
Milky Way signal: 9

Tenerife is one of the most diverse and spectacular islands for landscape photography in Europe. Its crown jewel is Teide National Park, my personal favorite Milky Way location on the continent.

The park offers endless shooting possibilities: Roques de García, Minas de San José, volcanic caves, lava flows, and iconic formations that feel straight out of a western movie. Tajinaste flowers, lava textures, and dramatic geology create a perfect foreground for night photography.

With shooting elevations between 2,200 and 2,400 meters, low light pollution, and a latitude of 28°16′ N, Tenerife delivers an exceptional combination of sky quality and landscape drama.

#1 La Palma – Canary Islands

Light pollution: 9 (Bortle 1–2)
Landscape scenery: 7
Milky Way signal: 10

La Palma offers the best night sky in Europe. Located farther west than the other Canary Islands, it’s less affected by Saharan dust and atmospheric disturbance.

At Roque de los Muchachos, shooting between 2,300 and 2,400 meters at 28°45′ N, the Milky Way is visible to the naked eye with stunning clarity. Long exposures reveal extraordinary colors and fine details straight out of the camera.

While the scenery isn’t as dramatic as Teide, the sky quality alone makes La Palma unbeatable for Milky Way photography. Foregrounds include observatories, rock formations, wildflowers, and giant tajinaste plants.

For photographers seeking the darkest skies and strongest Milky Way signal, La Palma is simply unmatched.

For photographers truly passionate about dark skies and astrophotography, I invite you to my ultimate night photography experience:

💫 Ready to Photograph the Milky Way Under Europe’s Best Night Skies?

If you’re passionate about night photography and want to experience these locations with professional guidance, I invite you to join one of our Night Photography & Astrophotography Tours.

Each tour is designed to help you improve your technical skills, refine your compositions, and create powerful images under some of the most spectacular night skies.