Northern Lights Iceland — When, Where and How to See Them
You can see the northern lights in Iceland from September to mid-April on dark, partly clear nights, usually between 21:00 and 02:00. The easiest way is a guided tour from Reykjavik (from €65), because the guide drives to wherever the cloud forecast is clearest that night.
4.4from 3,182 reviews on GetYourGuideOperated by Northern Lights Bus · Retry · 3 years
SeasonSep–Aprabout September to mid-April
Best hours21–02peak around 22:30 to 01:00
Forecast6 dayscloud map ahead on vedur.is
Night low−2 °CReykjavik, Dec–Feb average
Tours from€65per person on a big bus
Updated Oct 2026Prices checked 6 Oct 2026Sun times: US Naval Observatory · forecast: Icelandic Met OfficeCompare tours →
September to mid-April
When to See the Northern Lights in Iceland
Sunset, the end of twilight and the night low through the season.
Date12:0018:0024:00Night low
1 Sep
20:4321:36
+6 °C
22 Sep
19:2920:16
+6 °C
15 Oct
18:0818:56
+3 °C
15 Nov
16:2717:27
0 °C
21 Dec
15:2916:49
−2 °C
15 Jan
16:1917:27
−2 °C
15 Feb
18:0118:52
−2 °C
20 Mar
19:4320:31
−1 °C
15 Apr
21:0121:57
+1 °C
daylight until sunsetcivil twilightafter civil twilighttours leave 20:30–22:00
Source: US Naval Observatory — sunset and end of civil twilight, Reykjavik, 2026–27 (UTC = local time). Night lows: mean daily minimum 1991–2020, Reykjavik.
Reykjavik Excursions saysNovember to JanuaryThe darkest months — the most hours of night to wait in.
Guide to Iceland saysMarchThe most active month in its experience; December the quietest.
The northern lights season in Iceland runs from about September to mid-April. Outside it the sky never gets dark enough; inside it, what decides your chances is cloud, not the calendar.
The strip above shows how the evening changes through the season in Reykjavik. On 1 September the sun sets at 20:43 and civil twilight ends at 21:36 — just after tours leave. By 21 December the sun sets at 15:29, and the whole evening is dark. By 15 April sunset is back at 21:01, and the season closes.
Which month is best? The two biggest Icelandic tour companies give different answers, and we print both: one points to the darkest months, the other to the most active one. Both agree on the rule that matters — a clear, dark sky beats any month.
Source: Reykjavik Excursions and Guide to Iceland (best hours), operator listings on GetYourGuide (pickup) · 6 Oct 2026
Within a night, the aurora is most often seen between about 21:00 and 02:00, with a peak around 22:30 to 01:00. Tours are built around that window: pickups in Reykjavik run from 20:30 to 21:30, the drive to a dark place takes 30–60 minutes, and most groups are back after midnight.
On your own, the same timing applies: be somewhere dark by about 22:00 and give it a couple of hours. Displays often come in waves — a quiet sky can light up within minutes, then fade again.
What the official forecast shows, and what to do with it.
The official forecast is the Icelandic Met Office aurora page (vedur.is). It shows two things, and the order matters:
1Cloud cover on a map of Iceland, up to 6 days ahead in 6-hour steps. Green areas on the map are cloud and white areas are clear sky — you want the white gaps.
2Aurora activity on a scale from 0 to 9. Higher is stronger, but even a modest number is enough under a clear sky.
3Sunset, darkness and moonrise for Reykjavik, so you know when the sky is dark enough.
Read the cloud first. The Met Office itself says the aurora needs dark and partly clear skies; a high activity number under full cloud shows you nothing. When the map is clear somewhere within an hour or two of Reykjavik, a tour has a good night — the guide drives to the gap.
Fully cloudy everywhere? Move your tour to another night if the operator allows it, or visit the Aurora Reykjavik exhibition (€28, ★4.1 · 198 reviews) — a northern lights center in the city, not a tour.
Northern Lights Iceland Conditions — Moon, Activity and Cloud
What the 0–9 number means, what a bright moon changes, and why cloud decides the night.
Three things decide whether you see the northern lights in Iceland on a given night: cloud, darkness and aurora activity. Cloud matters most — a clear sky with modest activity beats a strong forecast under full cloud.
The 0–9 activity scale
The activity number on the Icelandic Met Office aurora page is the Kp index, from 0 (minimum) to 9 (maximum). A higher number means a stronger, brighter aurora is likely. Most of the time it sits between 0 and 3; the highest numbers are very rare.
What the Kp number means
Kp
What it means
In Iceland
0–2
Low activity; the aurora is dim and not very active
Still worth going out on a dark, clear night
3–5
Brighter and more active; 5+ is a geomagnetic storm
Around 3 is generally promising
6–7
Quite bright and active
Uncommon — most nights sit at 0–3
8–9
Very bright and very active
Very rare
A bright moon
A full moon makes the aurora look dimmer than it is — it doesn’t weaken the aurora itself, but a faint display becomes harder to make out. The darkest skies come around the new moon; the Met Office page lists moonrise for Reykjavik.
Why cloud decides the night
Even a high activity number shows you nothing through cloud. On the Met Office cloud map, green areas are cloudy and white areas are clear sky — look for white gaps within reach, and check again on the day.
A quick check for tonight: first a gap in the cloud near you, then a dark sky after twilight, then the activity number. Without the first, the other two don’t help.
On a tour, the guide makes this call. The Arctic Adventures Super Jeep (€180, ★4.3 · 159 reviews) may cancel for weather by 18:15 on the day (you rebook) and gives unlimited free retries for 3 years.
How Many Nights You Need for the Northern Lights in Iceland
Why more nights help, and how long each tour’s free retry lasts.
No number of nights guarantees the northern lights in Iceland, but more nights mean more chances at a clear sky — cloud, not activity, is what most often hides them. With three or more dark nights in the season, you have room to wait out a cloudy evening.
Night 1the evening to book your tour for
Book the tour for your first night. If the sky stays dark, the free retry still has evenings left to use; if the operator cancels for weather, you can move to another night. Booked for your last night, neither helps you.
The cloud map reaches only 6 days ahead, so you can’t plan a trip around it. Once in Iceland, check it each afternoon and move a flexible tour to the clearest evening.
Source: operator listings on GetYourGuide · 6 Oct 2026
A next-day retry helps only if you still have an evening left. On a short stay, book early in the trip; if you expect to return, a multi-year ticket is worth more.
Four places, how dark they are, and how to get there after dark.
Anywhere in Iceland can see the aurora; what changes is how much light is around you and how easy it is to move when cloud comes in. From Reykjavik, tours choose a direction each night by the cloud forecast, usually within an hour’s drive of the city.
Northern Lights Iceland from Reykjavik — Can You See Them in the City?
When the city works, the darker corners nearby, and why tours still drive out.
Yes — on a clear night with strong activity you can see the northern lights from Reykjavik itself, but street lighting hides the fainter displays. The darker your spot, the weaker the aurora you can still pick out.
Inside the city, parks, the coastline and higher ground are darker than the streets around your hotel. Three places come up again and again in local advice:
1Grótta lighthouse at the western tip of Seltjarnarnes, on the coast just west of the city.
2Öskjuhlíð hill, where the trees screen out nearby streetlamps.
3Lake Elliðavatn on the city’s southeastern edge, with little light pollution.
Even there you are close to the glow of a capital, and you depend on the sky above the city being clear. That is why tours don’t stay in town: the guide drives 30–60 minutes out, to wherever the cloud map shows a gap, and picks a different direction on different nights.
No car? On a clear, active night, walk or take a taxi to Grótta or Öskjuhlíð, turn your back on the city lights and keep your phone screen dim so your eyes stay used to the dark.
The cheapest way out of the city light is a big-bus tour: the Northern Lights Adventure Tour costs €65 with hot chocolate and a free retry the next day (★4.3 · 795 reviews).
Northern Lights Hunt in Iceland — How a Tour Night Works
Five steps of a typical evening, and what happens when the sky stays dark.
A northern lights hunt in Iceland is not a fixed sightseeing route: the guide chooses the destination on the night, from the cloud forecast, and the whole evening bends around that choice.
1Pickup at 20:30 or 21:30, depending on the season. Hotel rounds can take up to 30 minutes; big buses also use numbered bus stops or the BSÍ terminal.
2The drive. The guide heads for the clearest gap on the cloud map, so the destination isn’t known in advance.
3The stops. You watch and wait at dark places away from road lights — most of the evening; the Akureyri tour spends about 1.5 hours at its viewpoint.
4Hot drinks and photos. Hot chocolate comes with most tours we list, and several include photos of you under the aurora.
5Back after midnight. Tours from Reykjavik last 3 to 5 hours, so a 21:30 pickup on a 4-hour tour brings you back around 01:30.
3–5 hpickup to drop-off on an evening tour from Reykjavik
The longest land hunt we list is David The Guide’s 5-hour minibus tour (€106.92, ★4.4 · 789 reviews); the shortest is Gray Line’s 3-hour tour (€70, ★3.7 · 1,654 reviews).
If you don’t see the lights
If the tour runs and the sky stays dark, you get a free retry, not a refund — the most-booked bus tour says so in its terms. If the operator cancels before departure because of weather, most move you to another night or refund you:
1Arctic Adventures Super Jeep: weather cancellations announced by 18:15 on the day; you rebook.
2Small-Group Premium minibus: a full refund if the weather cancels every day of your stay.
3Northern Lights Adventure bus: the next evening or a full refund.
4Norse Adventures jeep: reschedule or a full refund.
For a smaller group, the Nordur Travel 4x4 (€135, ★4.4 · 504 reviews) runs one guide per 16 guests, with hot chocolate, pastries, two hand warmers each, photos and a free retry.
Source: operator listings on GetYourGuide · 6 Oct 2026
Seeing the northern lights on your own is free if you already have a car, and you choose when to leave and how long to stay. You also take on everything a guide does: reading the cloud map, choosing a direction, driving dark and often icy roads, and finding a safe place to stop away from lights.
If you go on your own, check the forecast and road conditions before you leave, park only where it is safe and legal, and turn off your headlights at the viewpoint. If you have never driven in an Icelandic winter, a tour for the first night is the easier start — and its free retry costs you nothing.
What the Northern Lights Are — and Why Iceland Sees Them
The short science, and why your camera sees more than your eyes.
The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are light from the upper atmosphere. Charged particles from the sun are steered by the Earth’s magnetic field towards the polar regions, where they collide with oxygen and nitrogen high above the ground and make them glow. Iceland lies under the band around the North Pole where this happens most often, so on a clear, dark night there is a real chance anywhere in the country.
Green is the most common color, from oxygen; strong displays add pink, purple or red edges. To the eye a weak aurora can look like a pale gray-green cloud — a camera usually shows more color than you see, because it collects light for several seconds.
1Needs: darkness and at least partly clear sky.
2Helps: distance from city lights, and higher aurora activity.
3Doesn’t matter much: cold — clear winter nights are often cold, but cold itself doesn’t bring the aurora.
Five habits that make the difference on a dark roadside.
You don’t need professional gear to bring home a picture of the northern lights in Iceland. A recent phone in night mode, held still, will often catch a display your eyes see only faintly. A camera with manual settings and a tripod does better.
1Keep it still: a tripod, a wall or a rock — exposures last several seconds.
2Turn off the flash and lower screen brightness so your eyes stay used to the dark.
3Focus far away: on a camera, manual focus on a distant light.
4Keep batteries warm in an inside pocket; cold drains them fast.
5Let someone else do it: several tours include photos of you, and portrait tours have a photographer-guide.
−2 °Caverage night low in Reykjavik, Dec–Feb (1991–2020); wind makes it feel colder
EndsHat, gloves, wool socks, winter boots with gripFingers and toes go first when you stand still
OuterWindproof, waterproof jacket and trousersWind at an open stop makes it feel much colder
MidFleece or a thin down layerTraps warmth; add a second layer on the coldest nights
BaseWool or synthetic long underwearKeeps sweat off your skin while you stand still
You will stand outside for an hour or more at night, usually in wind. Dress in layers you can add and remove, and bring more than you think: average night lows in Reykjavik are about −2 °C from December to February and +3 °C in October.
Some tours help: the EastWest minibus hands out wool blankets, the Nordur Travel 4x4 gives two hand warmers each, and boats lend warm overalls. On every tour, warm boots with grip matter most — viewpoints are often icy.
Pick the line that sounds like you. Each points to one tour we would book in that situation — with its price, its reviews and what happens if the sky stays dark. Not sure? The Small-Group Premium minibus at €101 is our pick for most first-time visitors.
From about September to mid-April, on dark nights with at least a partly clear sky. From late spring to late summer the nights are too light. Inside the season, cloud decides more than the month. On 1 September civil twilight in Reykjavik ends at 21:36, just after tours leave; by 21 December the sun sets at 15:29 and the whole evening is dark.
Most often between about 21:00 and 02:00, with a peak around 22:30 to 01:00. That is why tour pickups in Reykjavik run from 20:30 to 21:30 and most tours bring you back after midnight. Displays often come in waves: a quiet sky can light up within minutes, then fade again.
There is no single best month — sources disagree. Reykjavik Excursions names November to January, the darkest months with the most hours of night; Guide to Iceland names March as the most active month and December as the quietest. Both agree that a clear, dark sky matters more than the month, so choose the dates that suit your trip and plan several nights rather than one.
Sometimes — on clear nights with strong activity they are visible from the city, but street lighting washes out weaker displays. Darker spots such as Grótta lighthouse, Öskjuhlíð hill or Lake Elliðavatn improve your chances without a car. For the best chance, tours drive 30–60 minutes out of the city to wherever the cloud forecast shows a gap; the cheapest land tour costs €65.
Use the Icelandic Met Office (vedur.is) aurora page. It shows a cloud-cover map up to 6 days ahead in 6-hour steps — green is cloud, white is clear sky — and aurora activity on a 0–9 scale. Look for dark, partly clear sky first; the activity number comes second, and even a low one can be enough in Iceland.
No — nobody can promise them. What you can choose is what happens if you miss them: most tours give a free retry, from the next evening on the €65 Northern Lights Adventure bus to 3 years on the Small-Group Premium tour, unlimited retries on the Aurora Viking photo tour, or a lifetime guarantee with Gray Line. The 3- and 5-day packages we list have no retry at all.
A tour is better if you don’t want to drive icy roads at night or read a cloud map yourself, and it usually includes a free retry. On your own is better if you already have a car, winter-driving experience and flexible evenings: you choose when to leave and how long to stay. Either way, check the cloud forecast and road conditions first.
Around −2 °C on an average winter night in Reykjavik, and it feels colder because you stand still outside for an hour or more. Average night lows are about −2 °C from December to February, −1 °C in March and around +6 °C in September (1991–2020 normals), before wind chill. Dress in layers, with a hat, gloves and boots with grip; some tours add blankets or hand warmers.
There is no fixed number, but three or more nights give you real room, because cloud is the usual reason people miss them. Book a tour for your first night: if the sky stays dark, the free retry still has evenings left, and if the operator cancels for weather you can move to another night.
Yes — two- to two-and-a-half-hour cruises leave Reykjavik’s Old Harbour from €47.50 (Elding, ★4.1 · 107 reviews). Elding’s boat has a heated indoor area and lends warm overalls and blankets. A boat can’t drive away from cloud, so book it for a clear forecast rather than as your only chance. See our northern lights cruises.
Mostly green, from oxygen high in the atmosphere. Strong displays add pink, purple or red edges. To the eye a weak aurora can look like a pale gray-green cloud, while a camera usually shows more color, because it collects light for several seconds. A bright moon also makes the aurora look fainter than it really is, so faint color is easier to miss on moonlit nights.
No. From late spring to late summer the nights are too light; the season runs from about September to mid-April. Tours start again in late August or early September, when the evenings get dark enough — on 1 September civil twilight in Reykjavik ends at 21:36. In summer, the Aurora Reykjavik exhibition (€28, ★4.1 · 198 reviews) shows the northern lights indoors instead.
Around Kp 3 is generally promising in Iceland, but even 0–2 is worth going out for on a dark, clear night. The Kp index runs from 0 to 9 and measures how disturbed the Earth’s magnetic field is; most of the time it sits at 0–3, and the highest numbers are very rare. Under full cloud, no Kp number helps, so check the cloud map first.
Yes — a bright moon makes the aurora look dimmer, though it doesn’t weaken the aurora itself. Under a full moon, faint displays are harder to make out, and the darkest skies come around the new moon. The Icelandic Met Office aurora page lists moonrise for Reykjavik, so you can see whether the moon will be up during your hunt.
When you are ready to go out and look
Small-Group Premium Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavik
Small-Group Premium Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavik★ 4.4 · 3,182 reviews · up to 19 people · 4 h
€101per person
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No lights? Free retry for 3 years on the operator’s big-bus tour.
