Iceland
The most consistent sky in this catalogue, which is worth more than the best one
Iceland's reputation is that it is beautiful and cloudy, and half of that is wrong. Across eleven seasons of reanalysis, counting nights with at least two hours of cloud cover at or below 50% in the hours tours run, Reykjavík gets a usable sky on 35.6% of season nights. That puts it second in Europe on this site, ahead of Rovaniemi at 31.5%, Alta at 29.3%, Tromsø at 25.4% and Abisko at 18.7%. Only Kiruna, at 38.8%, does better.
The more useful number is the spread. Reykjavík's worst month is 31.1% and its best is 40.7%: a range of nine points across the entire season. Tromsø swings seventeen, Rovaniemi thirty, Yellowknife thirty-two. Everywhere else in this catalogue there is a right month and a wrong month; here there is barely a difference.
That flatness is the argument for Iceland and nobody makes it, because it is a boring virtue. If you are planning around a specific week, or you have a single night, or your dates are set by somebody else's calendar, a destination that is the same in November as in March removes the largest variable from the decision. The Arctic destinations offer higher peaks and demand that you turn up in the right month.
What Iceland charges for it is the second-best sky rather than the best, and a latitude that is not really the point: at 64°08′N Reykjavík is under the auroral oval every night the sun is down.
Choose a destination in Iceland
Northern Lights Experiences in Iceland
Reykjavik Private Northern Lights Tour with a Professional Photographer
A private aurora hunt run by a small family company, with a guide who is a working photographer using professional cameras.
Reykjavík Small Group Northern Lights Hunt with Local Hunters, Max 16
Sixteen guests is the ceiling. That keeps the minibus warm without being crowded, and keeps the guide talking to the group rather than announcing at it.
Seven Day Self Drive Campervan Tour of South and West Iceland with Aurora
Seven days, five nights, a campervan and a route built for winter rather than adapted from a summer one.
Small Group Northern Lights Jeep Tour with an Icelandic Guide and Photos
A jeep, a handful of other passengers and an Icelandic guide who talks for most of the drive.
Small Group Northern Lights Tour by Sprinter Minibus from Reykjavík
A Sprinter minibus instead of a coach changes two things: how many people are standing at your shoulder, and how fast the driver can change the plan when the…
Small Group Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavík, Max 19, with Photos
Nineteen guests at most, in a minibus, with guides who specialise in aurora forecasting and read live data every evening before deciding where to go.
Small Group Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavík, Maximum 19 People
Nineteen seats and no more. The Northern Lights team reads the weather and the aurora forecast before every departure and picks that night's location from the…
Small Group Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavik with Free Photos
An aurora tour where the guide teaches you to photograph what you are looking at, whether you brought a camera or only a phone.
Small Group Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavík with Snowsuits and Photos
Eighteen guests at most, and a guide who is also a working photographer.
Small Group Northern Lights Tour with Free Photos and Hot Chocolate
An aurora hunt in a small group, with hotel or bus stop pickup and a comfortable minibus that has decent Wi-Fi on board.
South Coast, Sólheimajökull Glacier Hike and Northern Lights from Reykjavík
One booking covers a full day on the South Coast, a guided glacier hike, and a northern lights hunt after dark. No car needed at any point.
South Iceland Highlights and Northern Lights Combo Full Day Tour
Two tours in one day, sold together at a discount on both, which is the only sensible way to fit the south coast and an aurora hunt into the same 24 hours.
Spirit of the Aurora: Reykjavík Group Tour with a Dedicated Photographer
One person on this tour does nothing except take photographs. That is the operator's argument and it holds up: the pictures are what most people keep from an…
Three Day Iceland Tour: Ice Cave, Glacier Hike and Northern Lights
Three days covering the Golden Circle and the main stops along the south coast, with two separate ways of meeting the ice: a glacier hike on the surface, and…
Three Day Tour: Ice Cave, South Coast, Golden Circle and Aurora
Three days that put the Golden Circle and the South Coast on the same ticket, with a blue ice cave inside Europe's largest glacier at the far end of it.
Two Day Snæfellsnes Tour with Lava Caving and Northern Lights
Two days in West Iceland, one night outside Reykjavik, and a lava tube 8,000 years old somewhere in the middle.
Whale Watching by Day and Northern Lights by Sea from Reykjavík
Two sailings from the same harbour, sold as one. The daytime boat heads into Faxaflói bay after minke and humpback whales, dolphins, harbour porpoises and…
Winter Whale Watching and Evening Northern Lights Cruise from Reykjavík
Two sailings from the same harbour, one in daylight and one long after it.
Ratings collected by Viator and Tripadvisor