Custom Northern Lights Safari - Tours for 2 - 10 days

View of the northern light at Grotta Lighthouse in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Overview

It is a dream come true to see the northern lights dancing their patterns beneath a black velvet winter sky, especially on a cold and peaceful winter night in the middle of nowhere in Iceland.

Tour Snapshot

Level

Easy

Availability

All year

Starting point

Reykjavik

End point

Reykjavik

Languages

English

Minimum age

All ages

What to Expect

On Tour

This tour can really is tailored to your own wishes. We provide the expertise and local knowledge

Transportation

Meet on location
Pick-up & drop-off in Reykjavik

Accommodation & Meals

Meals
Accommodation

Itinerary

Tour Itinerary Overview

The northern lights are one of those rare natural phenomenons that people all over the world feel excited about seeing.

This really is a perfect tour for those enthusiasts who for a long time have held a dream to see the northern lights. We simply follow the best weather and atmospheric conditions for the optimal chance of viewing the northern lights. You choose how long you want the tour to last from 2 up to 10 days – whichever timescale suits you best.

This tour is truly a hunting expedition with us chasing the prize of seeing nature's winter phenomenon of the aurora borealis. Each evening we will follow the best conditions for seeing the northern lights swirling their jeweled colors across the dark winter sky. Our hunt could take us west, south, north, or even up through the middle of Iceland. This tour will give you the opportunity to follow your dream in the most comfortable, exciting, and memorable way.

During the daytime there will be plenty of opportunities to enjoy sightseeing around Iceland, to experience the winter environment of a country that touches the Arctic Circle. It is possible to arrange many different activities including caving, horseback riding, nature bathing, and snowmobiling.

We will enjoy an early dinner before we get ourselves ready for the excitement of the northern lights hunt when the sky is completely dark. This expedition usually lasts for a couple of hours. Our guides are trained to find the best places to track down the lights where you will really enjoy their full spender – it is so exciting for the passengers to participate in the search. Our guides are all well informed about the Icelandic Sagas, nature, and folktales, so if the northern lights are elusive they will make sure our passengers still enjoy a night to remember.

Our local guides will use their knowledge and experience to take you to the places where there is the best chance of seeing the northern lights. However, as the northern lights are natural phenomenon sightings, can never be guaranteed.

Option 1 ~~ Go with the weather

This is a very Icelandic way of traveling. If the weather is good in the north, then we go north. If it looks better towards the south, then we go there. In this way, you optimize your chances of viewing the aurora - provided there is some magnetic activity in the ionosphere. With some basic ideas of what you would not want to miss, this tour is probably the best bang for the buck you can get.

Accommodation will be arranged during the tour itself, since we do not know for sure where we will be heading, we simply follow the northern lights and the weather and take it from there.

Option 2 ~~ The surprise trip

You put it in our hands and we book something gorgeous for you. We love caves and geothermal pools, so we would probably schedule something like that in your tour. You can certainly count on waterfalls, glaciers, and highlands. As in option 1, your accommodation will be arranged during the tour according to the conditions.

Meet Your Operator

At Adventures.com we love transparency, there are operators involved in your booking, we just stay with those we trust. This tour is operated by:

Arctic Adventures

Arctic Adventures is a top Icelandic tour operator known for its small-group experiences. Since 1983, they’ve specialized in guiding travelers through Iceland’s wild terrains, from glaciers to volcanoes. Their tours are all about adventure and sustainability, led by expert guides who make sure every trip is safe, fun, and memorable. Arctic Adventures combines deep local knowledge with a strong commitment to nature, making them a trusted choice for anyone looking to explore Iceland up close and responsibly.

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Packing List

Get ready for your trip, here are some items, you should not forget

What to bring (Required)

Warm clothes
Sturdy shoes

We're here to answer your questions

The Northern Lights are natural phenomena and we, unfortunately, cannot promise you will see them. Their appearance depends upon atmospheric and weather conditions.

For more information on the Northern Lights, please have a look at our Northern Lights tours.

We, unfortunately, do not have one simple answer to this question.

There isn’t just one single setting for your camera that ensures great photos. However, if you have manual options, you are probably best served with experimenting with various combinations of ISO, aperture, and exposure settings. As a rule of thumb, ISO setting between 800 and 3200, aperture between f/2 8 and f/5.6, and shutter speed at between 15 seconds and 30 seconds have proven effective.

A good thing to keep in mind, ISO setting between 800 and 3200, aperture between f/2.8 and f/5.6, and shutter speed between 15 seconds and 30 seconds have given great results.

Different combinations may give very different results. Higher ISO setting will allow you to capture faster exposures, but the downside to this might be for example grainier images.

If the shutter speed is above 15 seconds it will result in a slight star movement.

Wider angle lenses are usually more versatile in low light settings, but longer lenses give you different options for compositions. Make sure that you remove all lens filters, as they may distort images. You will probably get the best results with manual setting for infinite focal length.

Reimbursement is not given if the northern lights tour goes ahead and no lights are seen but we do offer you the change to join a Northern Lights Minibus tour free of charge.

Please contact our Customer Care to re-book your tour.

When Northern Lights tours are canceled it’s usually due to unfavorable weather conditions.

In that case, your options will be to:

Reschedule for another day.
Choose another our tour and use the deposit for it.
Get a full refund.

Please go to the customer portal to re-book your tour or contact us by phone at +354 562 7000.

The northern lights are a pretty difficult thing to predict. We recommend you to check en.vedur.is to see the forecast and if the level is high and the skies are clear then it’s very likely that the tour is going ahead. We do update our website’s tour departure sheet with the information at 17:00 pm the latest. If your tour is canceled then you will receive an email from us.

If we think there is no chance at all of seeing the lights we will cancel the tour. We don’t want to bring you out and disappoint if there is no chance of the lights to be seen.

Yes, the guide on your tour will take a photo of you with the northern lights in the background.
These can be single or group photo’s and are free of charge.

The Northern Lights season is from late August until mid-April. However, if you want to increase your changes of seeing them, it is best to wait until the clear winter months of mid-September until March.

The northern lights depend on luck and weather if that is in your favor than you will be able to see the Aurora Borealis above the inviting streets of Reykjavík. Whether you see the lights or not they depend on two different factors. The first being the weather. If the sky is clear, no clouds, then you are halfway there to seeing the astonishing spectacle that is the Northern Lights (although light pollution can sometimes be a problem). Increased solar activity is the second half so, if these two merge together you may well be able to see the Northern Lights from Reykjavik.

Still not convinced?

Customer Care

For Iceland, Scandinavia & Baltic tour

Open daily from 6:00 AM to 10:00 PM GMT

Address

Köllunarklettsvegur 2

104 Reykjavík

+354 562 7000

BOOK YOUR TOUR

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