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Northern Lights Season is coming to Iceland
Those bright, endless Icelandic summer days are almost over, darkness is making its way back to Iceland, which means we will be able to admire the Northern Lights again.
The best time to see the Northern Lights in Iceland is from late August to late April. If you are traveling to Iceland in the autumn/winter, you know what to do: join a Northern Lights Tour.
You can read more about Aurora Borealis and the best time to see it here.
“At what time can I see the Northern Lights?”
Working in tourism, this is a question I get very often.
Being the Northern Lights a natural phenomenon, they are quite unpredictable. There is no set time when the Northern Lights will start dancing in the skies.
There are many factors to take into consideration and luck also plays a very important role when you go Aurora hunting.
I know of people who have been in Iceland for three weeks without seeing any Northern Lights and I know of people who have been here only three days and have seen them every night!
Check the forecast before going Aurora Hunting
First of all, there has to be quite a high solar activity for the Northern Lights to appear. There are apps and websites which show the sun activity and the Aurora forecast, you can check them and they will help you know when high activity levels are predicted.
Another big factor is the weather. The weather in Iceland is very changeable and also quite hard to predict. Even when the solar activity is high, which increases the chance of seeing the Northern Lights, if there are clouds in the sky, they might block the view.
The most beautiful Northern Lights I have seen always occurred in really cold nights with very clear skies.
Another element to take into consideration when you try to see the Northern Lights is the light pollution. Aurora can often be seen from downtown Reykjavik but of course the farther away you go from the city lights, the better. Luckily for all of us, Iceland has many places where nature is still unpolluted so it is not hard to just drive a bit out of Reykjavik to find perfect spots with no light pollution to try and see the Northern Lights.
What are the best places to see the Northern Lights in Reykjavik?
If you want to stay in the city, you can just take a walk to the Sun Voyager, the sculpture by the shore not far from Harpa Concert Hall.
When the Lights dance over the snow-covered mountains across the Faxaflói bay, it really is breathtaking.
Other good places are Grotta on Seltjarnarnes, Perlan or Nautholsvik geothermal beach.
I would recommend taking a Northern Lights tour, where expert guides will check the forecasts and drive you to the best places to observe this amazing show of lights called Aurora.
You can either join a regular bus tour or a private jeep tour.
It is not always easy but it is not impossible to see the Northern Lights, it takes luck and patience but the feelings you get when you see the Lights dancing in the sky will just be unforgettable.
Come and hunt the Northern Lights with us![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][mk_custom_sidebar sidebar=”sidebar-6″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]