Best time to take a tour to see the Northern Lights from Reykjavik

The northern lights can be seen from the highest places in Iceland, and they have a certain time of the year when you can appreciate their dance in the sky. Sometimes these lights tend to be very still and at other times, have frantic movements.

The season not to miss the northern lights in Iceland is in winter, so this is an activity that you can not fail to include among the things to see and do in Reykjavik at that time of year.

Definitely the best time of the year to appreciate the Northern Lights in Iceland is the winter season. During this season the nights are much longer than the day and darkness floods the entire Icelandic landscape, giving way to the most beautiful light shows in the sky.

In summer it is really impossible to perceive this phenomenon and that is because the nights in summer are short and often non-existent. The clarity prevents the northern lights to be present during the summer nights.

Another necessary feature to see the northern lights in Iceland is the low light pollution that exists in most places in Iceland. Especially in forested areas and on the tops of dormant mountains and volcanoes on the island it is possible to appreciate this spectacle when the night is dark enough.

As for the weather, to appreciate this spectacle you have to take into account the low temperatures during the winter season, you should also know that during the night, the wind chill can be even lower.

During the months of December, January and February winter is considerably more noticeable. Temperatures start to drop more and the nights become longer and longer, lasting up to 20 hours.

With such long and much darker nights than in other winter months, the northern lights become much more visible and noticeable. The disadvantage of seeing this phenomenon at this time is that the weather can be a bit hostile compared to other months of the year.

But the truth is that the northern lights can be seen during all winter months, even during the late winter months, when temperatures begin to rise and summer begins to arrive in Reykjavik.

Especially the month of December is when the winter in Reykjavik is felt with greater force, reaching daytime temperatures of about zero degrees, and nighttime temperatures of -3 degrees. Given this reality, it is important that you check the website of the meteorological office of Iceland to know if there will be good weather to look for northern lights.

It is also common during the harsh winter, that there are wind currents and storms that make it impossible to go out to hunt for northern lights, to know if your polar aurora outings will coincide with the storms or not, I also recommend you to check the weather conditions before.

Although January and February are also part of the winter, during these months temperatures can be a little higher than in December and daylight stays a little longer, but they are still good times to go in search of the northern lights, especially because the storms diminish a little.

September, on the other hand, is one of the best times to visit Reykjavik and it is also one of the best times to see the Northern Lights. It is a month when the weather is usually a little warmer because winter is just approaching, so it is an ideal time to catch the first northern lights of winter under a less hostile climate.

On the other hand, in September the low season is just beginning to show, so one of the best features of this time is that the influx of tourists drops a little, leaving room for you to get the best places to stay and the best experiences to see the northern lights.

This month, which is located in the middle of summer and winter, also gives you the opportunity to know routes that during the winter will be closed, so it is a good time to get to Iceland and sightseeing throughout the island, without leaving out, of course, the sighting of the northern lights.

As for the prices of excursions and tours to see the polar aurora in this month, you need to know that you have the opportunity to get good prices because the high season is being left behind. It can even be much easier to get the places to make a private excursion for an affordable price.

If there is one rule for seeing the northern lights very well, it is that you need a dark and completely clear night. The clearer the night, the easier it is to see a dancing spectacle in the sky.

The best scenarios to appreciate a polar aurora show are found on the highest mountain tops all over the island, however, these locations may change depending on the weather bureau's forecast.

The month that usually offers more dark nights without storms is December, which is why it is one of the months with the highest probability of seeing the show in the skies. In certain forests of Iceland it is also possible to see the northern lights, provided that the night is dark enough.

As autumn approaches in September, you can find nights dark enough to see the northern lights, and the experience can be considerably better because the weather is more pleasant compared to other months of the year.

In October and November the nights are usually clear although the weather begins to become much more severe as winter approaches. Wind gusts tend to become much more frequent but storms have not yet appeared, which is ideal if you want to make your excursion to see this polar phenomenon.

For starters you have to know that winter is the low season in Iceland, so everything is cheaper during these months. In addition, the influx of tourists usually drops considerably, making Iceland a good destination to see the Northern Lights.

But, you also have to take into account different characteristics when hiring an excursion to go see the phenomenon. There are many private tours that can take you to see the northern lights, however, if you want to save money, then you should opt for more complete options.

Those excursions that offer you a bus with all the amenities and transfer from the hotel to the northern lights sighting site is a good option if you want to save money and you only have time to go and see the luminous spectacle.

Another great option that I really recommend you to take, is to do a combined excursion. This means that you will be able to do two activities in one combo. Usually the sighting of this curious phenomenon is accompanied by other activities such as whale watching tours from Reykjavik or the much appreciated tous around the Golden Circle.

You can also do a combined tour of aurora borealis and ice caves from Reykjavik, which is another of the activities par excellence in winter. One of the things you need to know about these types of combination tours is that you have the option to do them privately with just your group and still save money, given the combined status.

If you are traveling to Iceland as a family and want to know what to see and do in Reykjavik with kids but at the same time save money, I recommend you to ask before making your reservation, the minimum age to participate in the experience and if they offer discounts for children. This could greatly help you save money, because in this way the children could accompany you and you would have to pay less for the tickets for them.

You can get a myriad of tours for northern lights sighting from Reykjavik, and most of these are shared with other people who also want to attend the luminous spectacle. And I'm sorry to say that, as winter is the ideal season to see the Northern Lights, the tours are usually crowded.

If you want to have a good experience seeing the northern lights and above all do it together with your family or group of friends, then I recommend you to take a private tour to see this phenomenon of lights.

Generally in this type of tours and getaways from Reykjavik you will attend alone with your group and you can go in the company of an expert who will tell you everything you need and want to know about the northern lights. He will also take you to the places where the highest aurora activity is forecast for that night.

Another advantage of this type of tour is that it is usually done aboard a minivan where you will have all the necessary amenities to have a quiet and comfortable trip.

This is one of the best experiences you can have if you want to see the polar aurora together with a few people.

Of course, one of the first things we think about when we want to visit the Northern Lights, is that we have the opportunity to capture them best in a photograph. And I have to tell you that to take the perfect photograph of a Northern Lights you have to bring together several factors.

One of the factors is when, and in this case you know that one of the best times to see the northern lights is during the month of December, when the nights are longer. You also have to take into account the amount of light that exists in the place where you will take the picture, the less lights present in the scene, the more prominence the aurora will have.

After you are sure that you are fulfilling the first two requirements, you must comply with the next thing which is the camera settings. To take a good picture of the aurora borealis you must do it with the camera in manual mode and set it according to the movement and illumination of the aurora.

If you are new to photography and you only have the camera of your cell phone, try to investigate the camera modes offered by your phone to take good pictures that you will be proud of later.

If you are visiting Iceland but have little time and definitely don't want to leave without seeing the Northern Lights, I have to tell you that to be sure that you will be able to enjoy this spectacle you should reserve two nights of your time for it.

In most of these tours they allow you to rejoin the experience the next day if no northern lights are sighted during the excursion. But in this case, it is again helpful to book a combined experience, which allows you to do two activities on the same day.

Another way to save time on this type of tour is to book private tours, so the experience is only for you and your group, so the pace of the experience is set by you.

Regarding the best time and the highest probability of sighting this phenomenon, it is necessary that your guide is as expert as possible on the subject, to look for this phenomenon in the right places every night.

This is another way to save time, go with an expert guide to do this kind of expeditions. If you go on your own to hunt for northern lights, you will probably have little luck and waste time.