For those who were left totally wanting more after last week’s eclipse, it’s not too early to start thinking about trips to Europe, African and Australia — which will all see total solar eclipses over the next four years.
On Aug. 12, 2026, the moon will black out the sun over Reykjavík, Iceland and just outside of Barcelona, Spain.
A year later — on Aug. 2, 2027 — the zone of totality will be above Luxor, Egypt and the Strait of Gibraltar, which separates Spain and Morocco.
And on July 22, 2028, a total solar eclipse will intersect the Australian continent, with the zone of totality above Sydney, the nation’s largest city.
People who follow eclipses are called umbraphiles — meaning shadow lovers — and if they plan early enough, they can avoid paying out-of-this-world prices for Airbnbs, hotels and flights.
Emily Beatty, 32, bought tickets from Los Angeles to Albany eight months in advance to watch the eclipse in the Adirondacks last week, and said her flights were “not too bad” because of her planning.
“I knew about the eclipse like four years ago, and I knew I was going to come out and see it,” said Beatty, a video game producer.
Airline tickets are normally only made available for purchase a year in advance, and a quick check of the travel site Priceline found that roundtrip flights could be had in the days around Aug.12 of this year from New York to either Reykjavík and Barcelona for under $700.
Emily Regan, 30, was visiting Iceland two weeks ago and just returned to her Ovid, New York home to see the eclipse, which she missed because of cloud cover on Seneca Lake in the zone of totality.
“We went out, tried to find a spot on the lake that we thought would have a total view of totality, and the clouds rolled in about an hour and a half before, so that was really disappointing.”
Although she was “super disappointed” that she wasn’t able to see the eclipse, she enjoyed Reykjavík so much that she would go back in two years to catch the next astronomical event.
“The whole scenery and everything about that area is so beautiful, and seeing it in the summer, when sun goes for — I think it’s like up to 20-something hours in the peak of summer, would be especially cool for the solar eclipse,” said Regan, a school nurse in the South Seneca district.
“Especially because the country is so relatively small that you can get out of the major city center and experience like truly immersed in nature … I’m sure you could find a place just 40 minutes of the city center where you could have some isolation if you really were looking for it.”
Many hotels could be had in the Icelandic capitol this August for between $200 and $250 a night. Lodging was cheaper in Barcelona — by about $100.
With clear skies in eastern New York last Monday, Beatty said the celestial event “100%” exceeded her already high expectations, and said she would love to hop the pond to see another one.
“I think I would I would definitely be interested in seeing it either in Reykjavik or Gibraltar, like that would be really pretty rad,” she said.
Roundtrip flights to Lisbon, Portugal, near Gibraltar, could be snagged for about $950 in August, while flights to Cairo were about $1,000.
The Egyptian capital will not be in the zone of totality in 2027 however, so eclipse-hunters may be better off spending $1,500 to fly to Luxor, where they could enjoy highly rated hotel rooms for as little as $10 a night, according to the travel site.
The event will also be seen from Africa’s Algeria and Libya as well as Saudi Arabia and Yemen in Asia.
The most expensive — and longest — eclipse trek, by far, would be Down Under. Flights from New York to Sydney in July start at $2,100, but hotels are more reasonable, with many in the $100 to $200 range.
The event will also be visible from southern New Zealand.
For umbraphiles like Beatty, it is hard to put a price tag on the experience.
“I was really excited to see it but I just did not expect it to affect me in the way it did. It was very physiological, you know what I mean?” she said.
“Like I got really excited. Not freaking out, but definitely very like, in the moment. It was pretty unbelievable.”
