The Northern Lights are a magical experience in Iceland. They can usually be seen from September - April. The northern lights are always there but in the summer time it becomes too bright to see them.

In order to see the northern lights you need a couple things: clear skies, dark skies, and activity level in the Aurora and a little bit of luck. If you have all these things then you are sure to see the northern lights! They come and go so sometimes waiting in one spot is also helpful or driving around until you see them. There is no magic spot in Iceland to find northern lights. The northern lights are very fleeting so if you see a faint green in the sky, just wait around, they will hopefully get brighter if you just wait!

Expectations: The northern lights cannot be controlled and they come in any brightness. Sometimes they are not visible to the naked eye and can only be seen with a long exposure/night mode photo. Other times, they are so bright that it's truly mind blowing. Often times, if you just wait, they will get better, maybe, hopefully. We just never know.

Clear Skies: I use www.en.vedur.is to see the cloud forecast. Click on weather, cloud coverage forecast, composite. This allows you to see where the clouds will be. Do not confuse the green lower clouds with aurora, the color shows where clouds WILL be.

You can also just look up when you are outside, if you can see stars, that is a good sign!

Dark Skies: If you are in the city, it might be best to drive a little bit out of the city and look north, some spots near the city where I have spotted them before are Grotta Light House, Hljómskálagarður, and the Sun Voyager. I have also seen them just walking down main streets and even from my bedroom window. Your best bet will be to drive a little out of town or to Grotta Light House. Then look to the north for dancing green lights. Preferably drive somewhere that has no clouds. Remember that it is unsafe to pull over on the side of the road main road.

Activity level: I use the Aurora App to help find the northern lights activity. There is a lot of information in this app and it can be confusing but I only two things. 1. The map of aurora forecast 2. KP forecast graphs under Forecast Tab.

Any KP level with 2 or higher is standard for Iceland and it is likely you will see them if the skies are clear. Anything above 3 is HIGH chance of a great northern lights show.

Apps I Use:

Instagram: I recommend following Instagram Broadcast Channels like @dannytkaze and following @emerald_skies_of_iceland for daily updates on his stories the northern lights forecast.

Aurora Pro - There is also a free version. I use this to track the location of the northern lights using the "Aurora Map" feature. I also like to check the "Forecasts" Tab I only check the "Next Hour (realistic KP)" "Upcoming days" and "Long term forecast" everything else on the app is pretty confusing or inaccurate for Iceland.

Hello Aurora - I use this to see if others around me have spotted the lights under the Map tab. This is also a good place to check the Bz level (you want this to be negative)

No matter where you are,  if the skies are clear and there's good activity, you will see the same lights as everyone else in the country. As mentioned, the northern lights are never a guarantee, it's 50% luck and 50% preparation and 100% patience

Take a Tour from Reykjavik with a guide to find the Northern Lights. You get to sit back while a local guide will drive you around chasing the northern lights so you don't have to do any of the work. You can use the code KYANA10 to get 10% off your tour booking.

Aurora Base Camp is a great place to see and learn more about the northern lights near Reykjavik. You can use the code KYANA10 to get 10% off when booking.