7 Tips for Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland

Witnessing the northern lights is purely a magical experience, that you’ll remember with fondness for life!

But what no one tells you, is that it’s very unpredictable and difficult to plan a trip around seeing the illustrious aurora borealis.

With some effort, planning, and a bit of luck, you can increase your chances of witnessing this beautiful phenomena. Here are 7 big tips for seeing the northern lights in Iceland.

Tip #1: When to Go

Go in Winter

The northern lights are only visible in dark skies. During the summer, Iceland has very little dark hours, with some months seeing daylight 24 hours a day.

Therefore, you must go in winter to see the Northern Lights. Luckily in Iceland, that means a window of time from late September to early March.

I spent the winter of 2022 – 2023 in Iceland in Laugarvatn, and saw the northern lights at least a dozen times. This may not sound like much, but it gives a more realistic idea of how often you can realistically see the northern lights in Iceland.

Follow the Solar Cycle

The northern lights are a natural phenomena that occur when solar wind passes through the Earth’s magnetic field. The reaction is what creates those translucent colors that appear to dance across the sky.

The solar wind occurs all the time, but during years with peak solar activity, the chances and frequency of seeing the northern lights drastically increases.

The next projected peak in the solar activity cycle is in the year 2024, and will continue peaking for 2 or 3 years. Based on probability, these years are when you have the highest chances of seeing the northern lights.

I went in October 2019, during what was considered the least active point in the solar cycle. Out of my entire month in Iceland, I saw the northern lights for the entire last week. They stayed and just didn’t leave.

You definitely can see them any year and winter, but if you are coming from far away and are planning your entire trip around the northern lights, you’ll probably want to maximize your chances of seeing them.

Planning to visit Iceland during a peak year for solar activity will increase your chances.

For more information on the solar activity cycle, click here.

Tip #2: Where to Go

Go Where it’s Dark

The next tips for seeing the northern lights in Iceland, are about where you can see them.

You can see the northern lights, even from Reykjavik, the capital city. However, if they are lighter and more faint, they could be drowned out or made less visible by light pollution.

You’ll have better viewing of the lights from somewhere dark, and void of light pollution. That could mean even just driving 20 minutes to get out of the city, but it could result in a much better viewing experience.

Northern Iceland

There is some local belief that the northern part of Iceland is better for northern lights viewing than the other parts. This could be due to more clear skies, but I am not entirely sure.

According to this website, the southern part of Iceland gets way more precipitation than the north. The south gets 50 – 95 inches of rainfall a year, while areas in the north report as low as 20 inches a year. Of course, rain indicates clouds, so this could confirm that the north in fact, could have less cloudy days.

If you want to increase your chances of seeing the northern lights, you could base yourself in the northern part of Iceland.

That way, when you get an alert about activity (see tip 4 for more info on this!), you may be in closer proximity to the better viewing areas.

Iceland is a big island, and probably bigger than you would imagine before visiting. If, for example, you found out there would be high chances of northern lights in the north, and you were based in Reykjavik, it would take you far too long to get there.

Akureyri

If you plan to stay in the northern part of Iceland, there’s really only one area with a sizable amount of options, and that’s Akureyri.

There are even northern lights tours that start from here! A few options of where to stay here are:

Lava Apartments & Rooms: a very clean and modern apartment hotel and what is a steal in terms of Icelandic prices. A room for two starts at $74 USD a night.

Akureyri H.I Hostel: This hostel is the best option for those on a budget. It’s on the more stylish and comfortable side, as far as hostels go. A room for two starts at $56 USD.

Tip #3: Don’t Take a Northern Lights Tour

This is entirely up to you but in my opinion, these are a waste of time and money. And trust me, in Iceland you’ll want to budget your money wisely.

You absolutely do not need to take a tour to see the northern lights. There aren’t any publicly inaccessible places to view them, and with the right resources, you will basically have the same chances of seeing the northern lights as a tour guide.

These tours are pricy, generally running upwards of $130 USD (welcome to Iceland!). In no way does going on a tour guarantee that you will see the northern lights. Your chances are entirely up to nature, which you can track yourself (see the next tip).

If you like groups tours though, don’t let me stop you. It’s true that they’d do all the legwork and research for you, and drive you to the viewpoint and back. That way all you’ll have to do, is relax and enjoy.

If you want to book a tour, the one that was recommended was with Extreme Iceland. It was recommended by my boyfriend who was a tour guide in Iceland himself.

These trips depart from Reykjavik, and are the best value and service for your money. Even if you don’t see the northern lights, they’ll make sure you have fun, by off-roading in a jeep and warming you up with some hot chocolate.

Tip #4: How to Track the Northern Lights

Use the Icelandic Aurora Forecast Website

The most important tips for seeing the northern lights in Iceland, are related to how you will track the aurora borealis activity while there. Hopefully, your trip is not shorter than at least 5 days or a week. Not just because of the northern lights, but because there’s a lot to see and do in Iceland!

But if you have at least 5 – 7 days, what you can do once you arrive in Iceland (or even a few days before) is check this website here.

This is the best resource for tracking when and where the northern lights are likely to occur.

They rate the northern lights activity level on a scale from 0 to 9, with 9 being the highest level of northern lights activity, and 0 being nothing at all.

My boyfriend has spent a couple seasons working in Iceland, and confirms that it is fairly accurate. In my own experience, when the rating goes above a 6, if you go to a spot with clear skies, you will see the northern lights.

You can find the rating in the upper right box of that webpage.

Find the Areas with No Clouds

Due to the unpredictable nature of Icelandic weather, the map only predicts up to 3 days in advanced.

If you see that a day is coming up, with a rating of 5 or higher for northern lights on the website, next you should check where there will be clear skies.

On the website’s map, what’s shown in green are the cloudy areas, and the white areas are projected to be clear skies.

You should plan to head to the areas with clear skies, to maximize the chances of seeing the northern lights.

Don’t forget to check what time they will occur. The website will tell you predicted northern lights activity levels and weather in increments of 6 hours. So it gives you projections for activity levels and weather at 6 AM, noon, 6 PM and midnight.

Depending when the skies are dark when you go, those will be the times you should opt to view the northern lights. For example, when I went in October, It was dark from 4:00 PM to 5:00AM, so even if there was northern light activity at 6:00 AM, I wouldn’t be able to see it.

In months like February, the hours of darkness increases, which widens your window of time to possibly see the northern lights.

Tip #6: How to Increase Your Chances

If you want to maximize your luck, here are additional pro tips on how to see the northern lights in Iceland and increase your chances of seeing them!

Drive Outside the Cities

Reducing light pollution will increase your chances of seeing more faint northern lights. You need a really dark sky to see the northern lights at their maximum brightness.

Come in December or January

These months have the longest hours of darkness. You have nighttime skies from 5 PM well until 10 AM the next day. This creates a bigger window of time for you to catch the northern lights.

Find a Flat Viewing Area

Sometimes the northern lights will only be seen very low in the sky, seemingly right above the horizon. It’s best to have a viewing area that is flat, with no large mountains or objects obstructing the sky.

Ask Your Hotel For Northern Lights Calls

Depending on where you stay, many hotels offer wake up calls to their guests when there are northern lights sightings.

Almost all of the higher end hotels offer this service. However, even if you are staying at a hostel or guesthouse, you can ask your receptionist about this service.

Generally, locals know best and if there is word of nearby northern lights, they can let you know.

They may also have their own personal tips for you on how to see the northern lights in Iceland, so be sure to ask!

Have You Camera Ready at All Times

You could get lucky and see some random flares, at any time during your trip. Although unlikely, it could even happen before nightfall. Always have your camera charged and ready to go.

For the more faint northern lights, you can also sometimes see them better on your camera, by using long exposure photography.

Tip #7: How to Photograph It

Let’s be clear: nothing compares to seeing the northern lights in person. The way the lights seem to dance across the sky is truly magic. The way it change colors from green to pink to purple, can only be witnessed in real time. Or the way it sometimes seems to start raining down on you, like an ethereal cloud. These aspects can’t be captured the way the human eyes will see it, period.

With that said, there are still advantages of capturing the northern lights in a photo. A camera, when used right, can capture the northern light differently than the naked eye. Even if you aren’t a photographer, try to capture some photos and see for yourself. Sometimes the results will amaze you.

Set up Your Long Exposure Shot

You will need a tripod to set up your shot. Iceland can be pretty windy, so the heavier and sturdier it is, the better.

You will want to put your 2 second timer on, then decrease the shutter speed to at least 10 – 20 seconds. You can play around with this, but I found 20 seconds to work best for my camera.

Set the aperture to the lowest possible setting or to 2.8 f at least. This will allow the lens to capture the most light.

If you want to light up the foreground, you can also use a flashlight. Flash the light across the foreground for a second or two, while the camera is shooting. This will allow enough light to capture the foreground and some color, without washing it out.

Take a Few Shots

The northern lights are truly like natures art in the sky. No shapes or patterns will be identical, and they change every minute. It also changes color, and you’d be lucky to capture it when it turns purple or blue.

Sometimes, even when the light is undetectable by the human eye or is very faint, you can capture it clearly in photos. Play around and take a few pictures to see what you get!

You could also play around with the composition of the photo. I took a few silhouette photos, some with me sitting in a chair that I set up outside our house, and some landscape photos with no one in it.

I love all these photos, and often look at them in amazement at the fact I was there, and witnessed this magic in person.

Those are my top tips for seeing the northern lights in Iceland! Have you seen the northern lights? Where is your best place to spot them?

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