Adventures don’t have to stop after dark. Here are the natural phenomena and man-made wonders that are best seen by night – or at least with the lights off.

Biolumniescence in Krabi, Thailand

Dinoflagellates are tiny, bioluminescent marine plankton found in certain waters. Most of the time they’re slightly off-shore, and you need to disturb the water a little for them to light up.

Bioluminescence in La Jolla, California, USA

Very occasionally, though, they’re concentrated at the beach, so you can see them from the sand.

Glowing murals in Timișoara, Romania

Barcelona-based graphic arts studio Reskate has created glow-in-the-dark street art in several locations around Europe, including in the Romanian city of Timișoara.

The Harreman Project murals are painted in dark spaces, using photoluminescent paint that’s charged by a motion sensor-controlled light.

Fireflies in Taiwan

Fireflies aren’t actually flies at all, but winged beetles, which intermittently produce light from their abdomens. They live mostly in moist and humid parts of Asia and the Americas, including Taiwan, where they’re found in summer around wooded areas.

Van Gogh-Roosegaarde cycle path, Netherlands

What could be a more Dutch combination than cycling and Vincent van Gogh? This bike path, near the city of Eindhoven where the artist produced some of his masterpieces, does just that. Inspired by van Gogh’s painting, Starry Night, it incorporates fragments of the work among colorful solar-powered stones that light up at night.

Crystal jellyfish in Washington State, USA

Crystal jellies can give off a greenish-blue glow – so much so that their fluorescent protein is used in medical research. These creatures can be spotted off the coast of Washington State, for example around Puget Sound.

Neon fungi on Hachijō-jima island, Japan

The volcanic Hachijō-jima island, just south of Tokyo, is one of the only places on Earth where you can find mycena lux-coeli mushrooms, which shine neon green in the dark.

Translating as “heavenly light”, the fungi only grow for a few days in the rainy season, lining the island’s hiking trails.

Luminescent mushrooms in Madagascar

Japan’s not the only country where glowing mushrooms can be found. A nighttime stroll through Madagascar’s Ranomafana Rainforest might reveal other species.

Wow Northern Lights Run in Reykjavík, Iceland

Last year saw the launch of a new glow-in-the-dark event in Iceland: the Wow Northern Lights Run.

Wow Northern Lights Run in Reykjavík, Iceland

Taking place again in February 2019, it sees hundreds of people dress in neon and LED lights to walk or run through Reykjavík.

Bobtail squid in Hawaii, USA

The bobtail squid is unusual in that its bioluminescence is not actually created by the squid itself, but by a bacteria that lives in its body. Native to Hawaii, these animals bury themselves in the sand by day, but you might catch sight of them in the shallows by night.

Dubai Garden Glow, United Arab Emirates

Billing itself as the “first glow theme park in the Middle East” (and possibly the only one), Dubai Garden Glow features light-up installations by artists from around the world.

Northern Lights in Alaska, USA

Caused by charged particles from the sun hitting atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere, the Northern Lights are a phenomenon you can spot all across the far north of the Northern Hemisphere in winter. Yellowknife, Alaska, is said to be the world’s best place for spotting the aurora, thanks to its clear skies.

Waitomo Glowworm Caves, New Zealand

Unique to New Zealand, thousands of arachnocsampa luminosa glowworms can be found in Waitomo on the North Island.

Visitors can take a boat ride through the caves, along the Waitomo River, surrounded by thousands of glistening glowworms.

Dark Mansion in Penang, Malaysia

Located in Malaysia’s Penang state, Dark Mansion is a glow in the dark museum, with supernatural scenes created using photoluminescent paint. Among the attractions are the Infinity Room, with its glowing bridge and glittering creatures hanging from the ceiling.