Witness the main sights of Iceland on the Golden Circle Route, bathe in the magnificent natural geothermal pool at The Secret Lagoon, and take a Northern Lights minibus evening tour. This tour offers you the ultimate Iceland day trip.
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If you’ve come to Iceland for the sights, the tranquility, the countryside and for relaxation, we’ve got the ultimate tour for you! If you want to chill out in a lagoon after a full day of sightseeing, and then head off on an adventure to search for the northern lights, this is the ‘Iceland in a nutshell’ tour.
This day encompasses the golden circle tour of Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss, as well as a Secret Lagoon swim and a northern lights tour in the evening.
Departing from Reykjavik, the minibus will head towards Thingvellir national park. Thingvellir remains an important place for Icelanders, both historically and geologically, while also providing opportunities for beautiful photos for tourists. Following on from this is Geysir, the mother of all geysers and the original. You will get a chance to see the geothermal area and we’ll give you some time to capture the perfect photo of Strokkur. This famous hot spring spouts hot water high up into the air - sometimes up to 30 meters. Next up, we have Gullfoss, the golden waterfall, which welcomes us with open arms. The Secret Lagoon is the perfect place to unwind in the naturally warm water, after a long but great scenic day of exploring the Golden Circle. While there, you can relax, enjoy beverages and re-energize for star gazing later in the evening, where we will pick you up once again, to track down the Northern lights. In the evening we will leave the city's light pollution behind us and head toward the magical ‘Auroras Borealis’ or northern lights.
Our guide will be ready to pick you up from your Reykjavik accommodation at 9am. We then start off on our Golden Circle tour by driving to UNESCO world heritage site; Thingvellir National Park. þingvellir national park is a landscape painting of outstanding beauty. It is also of historic significance, as the world's first parliament was established there in 930 AD. Once you get there you will also agree that Thingvellir is recognisable for its unique geology and landscape. Thingvellir is where the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates meet, and you can physically see where they are drifting apart. (Each year they drift around 2.5 cm away from each other.) Thingvellir is filled with beautiful landscapes including tectonics, waterfalls, a lake, and so much more to explore.
Next on the tour is the Geysir Geothermal Area. This stunning valley has a fascinating surface of approximately 3km₂ and it is extremely captivating. The geothermal field is named after Geysir, the oldest geyser in the area and the most well-known geyser in Iceland. While Geysir is dormant, you can also find the much more lively geyser ‘Strokkur’. Strokkur is the most energetic spring in Iceland, spouting water into the sky every few minutes, sometimes upward of 20 or 30 meters into the air. It’s truly a magnificent sight.
Next on the tour is the Gullfoss Waterfall, or ‘The Golden Waterfall.’ The iconic Gullfoss Waterfall flows from the glacier river ‘Hvita’, where the water plummets 32 meters down into a natural pool of a canyon. The massive volume of water crashing down the waterfall comes from Iceland’s second largest glacier, ‘Langjokull’. If you’ve timed it right and you’re there on a sunny day, a rainbow can be seen over the waterfall and if you stand close enough, you can feel the ground trembling beneath your feet.
After experiencing some of the most beautiful gems Iceland has to offer, we head to the ‘Gamla Laugin’ Secret Lagoon in the small village of Fludir. This lagoon is a natural hot spring pool, located in a geothermal area, known locally as ‘Leynilaugin’. The Secret Lagoon makes for a uniquely wonderful swimming experience. You can sometimes see geysers erupt in the distance, while you relax in the pool. Stunning!
After an action packed day exploring Iceland, your guide will drop you off in Reykjavik at your accommodation. You will have some time to prepare for the nights excursion to track down the northern lights. Pick up will be for either 8.30 pm or 9 pm.
Escape the city's light pollution and come with us to look for the magical ‘Aurora Borealis’ or northern lights. On the day of travel, our specialised guides will decide where to take us. The guides observe the light forecast as well and take the cloud coverage into account, to get the best chance of seeing the lights. We’ll head out of Reykjavik, into the dark outskirts of South West Iceland, or somewhere where conditions are optimal to find the bright auroras in the dark night sky.
You will get free photos included in this tour, so you can keep the memory of this natural wonder!
Locations
The minibus tour will depart at either 8.30pm or 9pm, to take you out to look for the northern lights. The advantages of taking a minibus, means small groups and therefore personal service from our guides.
The weather changes quickly at night and the destinations vary. We might head back to Thingvellir National park, we could possibly head toward Reykjanes (The Southern Peninsula) or perhaps we will go towards Borgarfjordur - a beautiful fjord in west Iceland.
The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. The auroras appear in the sky because of chemical reactions in the Earth‘s atmosphere. Gaseous particles collide with electrically charged molecules and atoms released from the sun‘s atmosphere. These particulates from the sun are blown towards earth by the solar wind and can enter both the northern and southern hemisphere, because of weak magnetic field at the poles. That‘s the reason for why we only see those dancing lights close in the northern hemisphere, near to the Northern pole (Auroras Borealis) and south pole (Auroras Australis).
The different colours are due to the different molecules, but for the most part, oxygen forms yellow and green, while nitrogen produces blues or purples.
Please note: the success of the Magical Auroras tour is heavily dependent on weather conditions. As a result we reserve the right to cancel departures until 18:15 on the day of the tour.
Went to a tour but didn’t spot the Northern Lights? No worries, you can book another tour to see the lights free of charge. Note that this deal is unlimited and is valid for 3 years. So, don’t give up on your first time, get in touch with our Customer Care to witness this natural phenomenon.
The Northern Lights are natural phenomena and we, unfortunately, cannot promise you will see them. Their appearance depends upon atmospheric and weather conditions.
For more information on the Northern Lights, please have a look at our Northern Lights tours.
We, unfortunately, do not have one simple answer to this question.
There isn’t just one single setting for your camera that ensures great photos. However, if you have manual options, you are probably best served with experimenting with various combinations of ISO, aperture, and exposure settings. As a rule of thumb, ISO setting between 800 and 3200, aperture between f/2 8 and f/5.6, and shutter speed at between 15 seconds and 30 seconds have proven effective.
A good thing to keep in mind, ISO setting between 800 and 3200, aperture between f/2.8 and f/5.6, and shutter speed between 15 seconds and 30 seconds have given great results.
Different combinations may give very different results. Higher ISO setting will allow you to capture faster exposures, but the downside to this might be for example grainier images.
If the shutter speed is above 15 seconds it will result in a slight star movement.
Wider angle lenses are usually more versatile in low light settings, but longer lenses give you different options for compositions. Make sure that you remove all lens filters, as they may distort images. You will probably get the best results with manual setting for infinite focal length.
Reimbursement is not given if the northern lights tour goes ahead and no lights are seen but we do offer you the change to join a Northern Lights Minibus tour free of charge.
Please contact our Customer Care to re-book your tour.
When Northern Lights tours are canceled it’s usually due to unfavorable weather conditions.
In that case, your options will be to:
Please go to the customer portal to re-book your tour or contact us by phone at +354 562 7000.
The northern lights are a pretty difficult thing to predict. We recommend you to check en.vedur.is to see the forecast and if the level is high and the skies are clear then it’s very likely that the tour is going ahead. We do update our website’s tour departure sheet with the information at 17:00 pm the latest. If your tour is canceled then you will receive an email from us.
If we think there is no chance at all of seeing the lights we will cancel the tour. We don’t want to bring you out and disappoint if there is no chance of the lights to be seen.
Yes, the guide on your tour will take a photo of you with the northern lights in the background.
These can be single or group photo’s and are free of charge.
The Northern Lights season is from late August until mid-April. However, if you want to increase your changes of seeing them, it is best to wait until the clear winter months of mid-September until March.
The northern lights depend on luck and weather if that is in your favor than you will be able to see the Aurora Borealis above the inviting streets of Reykjavík. Whether you see the lights or not they depend on two different factors. The first being the weather. If the sky is clear, no clouds, then you are halfway there to seeing the astonishing spectacle that is the Northern Lights (although light pollution can sometimes be a problem). Increased solar activity is the second half so, if these two merge together you may well be able to see the Northern Lights from Reykjavik.
