Reykjavík
61 departures from the northernmost capital in the world, under the steadiest sky in this catalogue
Reykjavík is the northernmost capital of any sovereign state, and the only one where you can leave a restaurant at half past nine and be standing under the auroral oval twenty minutes later. That is the usual argument for basing an aurora trip here: the infrastructure of a city, in a place the aurora passes over as a matter of routine.
The better argument is in the data and nobody makes it. Across eleven seasons of reanalysis, Reykjavík gets a usable sky on 35.6% of season nights, second in Europe behind Kiruna. More usefully, its worst month is 31.1% and its best is 40.7%. Nine points of spread across an entire season, where Tromsø swings seventeen and Rovaniemi thirty. There is no wrong month here, which is a boring virtue right up until your dates are chosen by somebody else.
About 140,000 people live in the city and roughly 250,000 in the capital region, close to two thirds of everyone in Iceland. That concentration cuts both ways. It puts 61 departures, several harbours' worth of boats and a national road network within reach of one hotel room, and it throws enough light into the sky that the faint displays, which are most of them, are lost from the centre.
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Northern Lights Experiences in Reykjavík
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