Seeing the northern lights

You Need to Know

Let’s be clear: coming to Iceland just to see the Northern Lights is a bad idea. There’s no guarantee you’ll spot them, and pinning all your expectations on something so unpredictable is a surefire way to ruin your trip. Think of the aurora as a bonus rather than the main event.

What It Really Takes to See the Northern Lights

The only thing you truly need is luck—and no one can promise you that. There’s a lot of misinformation out there, like the idea that you can only see the aurora in the dead of winter, that moonlight or city lights make it impossible, or that some months are better than others because of weather conditions. In reality, the differences in average cloud cover from month to month are negligible.

While it’s technically possible to see the aurora even in August, organized tours don’t run then because the sky doesn’t get dark until very late. From September to mid-April, though, guides take every opportunity—by late November, you might even spot the lights as early as 7:00 PM.

Where & How to Watch

While getting away from city lights helps, the Northern Lights can be seen from Reykjavík, even if urban lighting isn’t ideal. The real advantage of heading out of town isn’t just escaping light pollution but also chasing clearer skies if it’s cloudy where you are.

Many visitors rely on guided tours in winter rather than renting a car, which makes sense given the road conditions. Reykjavík itself, in fact, is often quite cloudy, which is why even multi-day tours usually include an aurora-hunting trip—it’s never guaranteed that your hotel’s location will have clear skies and it’s paramount that you can get to move away.

A common tip for Reykjavík visitors is to go to Grótta lighthouse, but this is a terrible idea. The area gets packed with people and cars whose headlights constantly ruin the view.

Cold & Comfort

There’s no strict rule, but clear skies (ideal for auroras) often mean bitter cold—because without cloud cover, heat escapes quickly. That said, Iceland’s winter temperatures are relatively mild compared to other aurora hotspots like Lapland or Canada, where it can drop to -20°C or -30°C. In Iceland, you’re usually dealing with temperatures closer to 0°C.

How to Track the Aurora

Don’t just sit indoors posting your daytime photos online—check outside periodically, and use vedur.is to monitor two key factors:

1. Solar activity (measured on a scale from 0 to 9, known as the KP index)

• However, KP values are just a rough average over three-hour windows and across multiple observation stations. Since auroras happen in short, unpredictable bursts, this number isn’t always useful.

2. Cloud cover maps

• These are much more helpful for deciding where to go. Many apps provide real-time cloud coverage forecasts.

Are Photos “Fake”?

Some people claim that aurora photos are misleading because the lights don’t look as bright to the naked eye. That’s not because the pictures are fake—it’s because the human eye is terrible at night vision. Camera sensors, especially with long exposure settings, capture more light than our eyes can, revealing details that are actually there but hard for us to see.

Final Thought: Don’t Chase the Lights & Miss Iceland Itself

The Northern Lights are an amazing experience, but making them the sole focus of your trip is risky. You could miss them entirely—and worse, you could waste your time chasing them instead of enjoying everything else Iceland has to offer.