Magical Auroras - Northern Lights Hunt & Free Photos

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:

1. Reschedule for another day.
2. Get a full refund.

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.

If you’re visiting between mid-October and mid-April, it’s highly recommended to use lightweight crampons, also known as ice spikes. These small traction devices attach to your shoes and help prevent slips on icy paths, making sightseeing safer and more comfortable. You can purchase them during the booking process to ensure you’re prepared for winter conditions. They are yours to keep after the tour ends!

This natural phenomenon happens 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 hemispheres because of a weak magnetic field at the poles. That's why we only see those dancing lights close to the Northern pole (Auroras Borealis) and south pole (Auroras Australis).

The different colors are due to different molecules. Oxygen forms the most common one, yellow/green, and nitrogen produces blue/purple-red.