Travelling to the Eclipse

The eclipse of 2 August 2027 is unusually easy to travel to. It falls on a Monday in the middle of the European holiday season, the path crosses countries that already have summer tourist infrastructure, and much of it is within a three hour flight of most of Europe. That is good news for access and bad news for availability, because everyone else has noticed the same thing.

This page is the overview. The detailed guides are linked from each section.

Step one: choose where to be

The single decision that matters is whether you will be inside the path of totality. Everything else is detail. A 99% partial eclipse is a pleasant curiosity; a total eclipse is one of the most extraordinary things most people ever see, and there is no gradient between them.

Broadly, your options are:

• Southern Spain if you want a short, easy trip inside the EU. Two to nearly five minutes of totality. See the locations guide.
• Ceuta or Melilla if you want the longest totality available under Spanish administration, 4 minutes 48 seconds and 4 minutes 34 seconds.
• Northern Morocco for nearly five minutes with straightforward access from Spain. See Morocco.
• Tunisia for five and a half minutes with beach resorts and Roman ruins. See Tunisia.
• Algeria for over five minutes and Roman cities almost nobody visits, if you can manage the visa. See Algeria.
• Egypt for six minutes and more, and the best eclipse on land for ninety years. See Egypt and Luxor.

Step two: check the exact spot

The northern limit of the path runs across the middle of Andalusia and through the northern suburbs of Málaga. Being on the wrong side of it by a few kilometres costs you the entire event. Before you book anything, put the exact address into the interactive map and confirm it is inside the shaded band.

Step three: book in the right order

1. Accommodation inside the path. This is the scarce resource. The small towns of Cádiz province, Ceuta, Melilla, Tetouan and above all Luxor have far fewer beds than the demand for them. Book refundable if you can, but book.
2. Transport into the region. Flights, ferries and trains. Flexible fares are worth the premium.
3. Local transport for the morning. A hire car booked months ahead, or a train ticket, or a decision to walk.
4. Eclipse glasses. Certified to ISO 12312-2, bought from a reputable source, one pair per person plus spares. Do not leave this to the last week.

More detail in getting there and when to go.

Step four: plan the morning itself

In Spain and North Africa the eclipse is mid morning; in Egypt it is the middle of the day. In every case the partial phases last more than two hours, in August, in some of the hottest places in the world. The practical plan is:

• Be in position at least ninety minutes before totality. Roads and car parks will fill much earlier than you expect.
• Have shade. A parasol, a tree, an awning, anything. Two hours of direct August sun is the part people underestimate.
• Carry more water than seems reasonable. Two litres per person as a minimum in Spain, considerably more in Egypt.
• Assume you will not be able to leave quickly. Bring food and be prepared to sit out the traffic.
• Keep your eclipse glasses on except during totality itself. See safety and health.

The travel guides

Choose a location See the map