Great American Eclipse 2024: A traveller’s guide to the best places to be when the light goes out

On 8 April 2024, a total solar eclipse will sweep across North America, providing an astronomical experience in many alluring locations.

Only a tiny proportion of humanity has ever witnessed a total eclipse – but tens of millions of people will be able to experience one as the “path of totality” sweeps from the Pacific to the Atlantic during the course of that magical Monday.

Here’s what you need to know about why you should see it and where to be.

What happens during a total solar eclipse?

The greatest show on earth comes courtesy of the lifeless moon. Normally the orbiting lunar lump merely provides earth with tides, moonlight and somewhere to aim space rockets. But roughly once a year it aligns with the sun and, thanks to a geometric miracle, blots out the hub of the solar system to create a total eclipse.

“Even though the moon is 400 times smaller than the sun, it’s also about 400 times closer to earth than the sun is,” says Nasa. “This means that from earth, the moon and the sun appear to be roughly the same size in the sky.”

A narrow band marking the “path of totality” carves an arc of darkness across the surface of our planet. If you are somewhere on that line at the predicted time, and you have clear skies, then the experience will become a lifelong memory. The closer you are to the centre of the path of totality, the longer the total eclipse will last.

What’s so good about seeing an eclipse?

After a warm-up lasting more than an hour, during which the moon steadily nibbles away at the surface of the sun, you suddenly experience totality. The stars and planets appear in the middle of the day. The air chills.

To testify to the heavenly fit between our two most familiar heavenly bodies, faint diamonds known as Baily’s beads peek out from behind the moon. They actually comprise light from the sun slipping through lunar valleys.

A sight to behold – so long as you can see the moon blotting out the sun and appreciate the mathematical perfection of nature in our corner of the galaxy.

Eclipses are entirely predictable: we know the stripes that the next few dozen will paint upon the surface of the Earth. But the weather is not. Cloud cover, which blighted the Cornwall eclipse in 1999, reduces a cosmological marvel to gloom.

Where will the great American eclipse 2024 be visible?

The path of totality makes landfall from the Pacific at Mazatlan on Mexico’s Pacific Coast and sweeps northeastwards to reach the US-Mexican border at Piedras Negras.

Big Texan cities – San Antonio, Austin and Dallas – are on the extremes of the path of totality, and it is highly likely that many citizens will drive to the middle of the line.

Arkansas will be an attractive place to see the eclipse, with both Texarkana (on the border with Texas) and Little Rock within the path of totality.

In the Midwest, Indianapolis and Cleveland share the distinction of being fairly central in the path of totality. In upstate New York, Buffalo and Niagara Falls could be extremely attractive – though prone in early April to cloudy skies.

In Canada, Montreal is just touched by the path of totality. The line then reverts to the US, passing across northern Maine – which would be a superb location were the weather good. Then back to Canada’s Maritime Provinces, with New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland all in the line of darkness.

I’d rather be in a more exciting city – will they get a partial eclipse?

Boston, New York and Chicago are among the big cities that will see a sizeable chunk of the sun blotted out; but there is nothing to compare with a total eclipse.

The astronomer Dr John Mason, who has guided dozens of eclipse trips (and will be doing so again in 2024) sums up the difference between a 99.5 per cent partial eclipse and a total eclipse as far apart as “a peck on the cheek and a night of passion”.

You must use special eclipse safety glasses or viewers when viewing a partial eclipse or during the partial phases of a total solar eclipse.

Where should I be for the total experience?

There are no guarantees of clear skies: all you can do is play the odds based on the record of cloud cover for the corresponding date in previous years.

Dr Mason says the average expected cloud cover amounts increase from around 40-45 per cent on the Mexico/Texas border to over 80 per cent in Maine, New Brunswick and Newfoundland.

I am currently deciding between three possible locations:

• Southern Texas, close to San Antonio or Austin. Besides clear skies being more likely than not, access is easy with direct flights to Austin. Importantly there is much to explore in the region before and after the eclipse, from Big Bend National Park on the Rio Grande to Space Center Houston – an excellent place to continue the cosmological theme.
• Northern Arkansas, a picturesque part of the state, with the added attraction of Memphis just a couple of hours away.
• Niagara Falls: it could be a washout due to clouds, but the natural surroundings are impeccable – and there is plenty of hotel accommodation.

Having decided on the location, the first essential is a hotel close to the site. Almost as predictable as the eclipse is that traffic to and from the path of totality is going to be heavy on 8 April 2024. Rooms are likely to be expensive – during the 2017 US eclipse a midrange hotel in Jackson, Wyoming, was charging over $1,000 for the crucial night before.

Can I book flights yet?

No, but you will be able to do so soon. Transatlantic flights generally go on sale just under a year ahead (350 days is typical). A good travel agent can be poised to book on your behalf as soon as they are available.

Can I join an organised trip?

They tend to sell out years ahead, but Intrepid Travel has space on a 16-day tour departing from Albuquerque, New Mexico on 26 March 2024 and ending up in San Antonio, Texas, on 10 April. The price of £7,099 per person excludes transatlantic flights but includes guiding by Dr John Mason.

More economical options will be available for the first two total solar eclipses in the second half of the 2020s.

When are the next total solar eclipses?

Summer 2026 – Wednesday 12 August, to be precise – should bring a spectacular eclipse visible in northern Spain at the height of the European holiday season. The path of totality begins in the Arctic and crosses Greenland and Iceland before arriving in the northern half of Spain. The stripe of darkness will traverse the great cities of Bilbao, Zaragoza and Valencia in mainland Spain before arriving in Palma de Mallorca.

The following summer (2 August 2027), the southern tip of mainland Spain is in the path of totality for an eclipse that will sweep across North Africa and the Arabian peninsula: going east from the Strait of Gibraltar, it will encompass Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, the northeasternmost corner of Sudan, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.

Just under 12 months later, on 22 July 2028, Outback Australia will be the place to be. A total eclipse will make landfall in northern Western Australia, sweep across the Northern Territory and part of southwest Queensland – then clean across New South Wales, with Sydney in the middle of the path of totality.

Winter cloud cover could disrupt the experience in Australia’s largest city – and is very likely in the southern portion of New Zealand’s South Island where the eclipse reaches a finale.

Australia also features in the cosmological plans on 25 November 2030. This is early summer in the southern hemisphere, and likely to be good conditions for viewing in Namibia, Botswana and South Africa (Durban is on the path of totality) as well as South Australia.