From Reykjavik: Northern Lights Guided Tour with Photos

GYG

From Reykjavik: Northern Lights Guided Tour with Photos

★ 4.3(772 reviews)

• Pickup from your hotel
• Guide works in English
• Duration per the operator: 5 hours

from $120

See dates, price and what is included at the operator

Five hours of hunting the lights from Reykjavik

This tour takes you out of Reykjavik for up to five hours in search of the northern lights, with a local guide driving the route and handling the photography. The departure point is Reykjavik itself, and the itinerary reaches as far as Vík í Mýrdal, a village roughly 180 km (112 miles) to the southeast along the south coast. That distance matters: it puts you well away from the city's light pollution, which is the whole point of going that far. The tour is built around the aurora forecast and the weather on any given evening, so the exact stopping points are decided as you go rather than fixed in advance. You are picked up from your hotel, which is included in the price, and the guide speaks English throughout. The group size is not specified in the listing, but the tour's identity is tied to the guide who runs it, David The Guide Iceland, and the promise is that you come away with photos of the lights, not just a memory of having seen them.

Photographs from the operator David The Guide Iceland. They show the listing, not your day.

What the 120 USD gets you

The entry price starts at 120 USD, which works out to roughly 14,500 ISK at the exchange rate used for this page. That figure is the starting point, so the final price can climb depending on the season and demand. For that money you get the hotel pickup, the guiding itself, and the guide's photography work during the evening. The operator explicitly includes the hotel pickup, so you do not need to make your own way to a meeting point. The price also covers the drive to the south coast and back, which is the bulk of the five hours. There is no separate charge for admission or parking at any of the places this tour stops at, and the operator does not add any mandatory fees on top of the listed price. What the operator does not specify is whether any food or drink is included, so you should assume that is on you. The free cancellation offer is there, but the deadline is not given, so if you need to cancel, it is worth asking when you book.

A solid score from a modest sample

The tour holds a rating of 4.3 out of 5, based on 772 reviews. That score is respectable, but the more telling number is the review count. With 772 ratings, this tour ranks 6th out of 68 northern lights tours in Reykjavik by volume of feedback, which puts it in the top ten percent of its category for how many people have actually taken it and left a verdict. The score itself is not the highest in the group, and a 4.3 is a notch below the 4.4s that several competitors carry, but those competitors have far fewer reviews behind them. The small-group premium tour in the same category sits at 4.4 from 3,124 reviews, which is a stronger statistical basis, while the yacht tour also holds 4.4 from 1,340. This tour's 4.3 from 772 is a thinner foundation than either of those, so treat the score as a good sign rather than a guarantee. The gap between 4.3 and 4.4 is small enough that the difference could come down to a handful of disappointed customers on a bad weather night.

When the dark hours work in your favour

The northern lights season runs through the months when the sky is dark enough to see them, which in Iceland means roughly September through March. The temperature chart above shows what that means for this tour specifically. In September, the average high is still 11 degrees, and the lows sit at 6, which is manageable for standing outside watching the sky. By October the high drops to 8 degrees, and from November through February the highs hover around 3 to 5 degrees with lows at or below freezing. The tour runs for five hours, which means you are out in those temperatures for a sustained stretch, not just stepping outside for a quick look. The best conditions for aurora viewing are clear skies, which often come with colder air, so the nights that deliver the show are often the nights that demand the warmest clothing. The tour starts after dark, which in winter means late afternoon, and the five-hour duration carries you through the deepest part of the night when the lights are most active. If you are coming in the summer months, the midnight sun means no real darkness, and this tour will not run.

What happens once the guide picks you up

The evening starts with the hotel pickup, which the operator has confirmed is part of the deal. From there the guide makes the call on where to go based on the aurora forecast and the cloud cover. The drive to Vík í Mýrdal is a long one, so a good portion of the five hours is spent on the road rather than standing under the sky. When the guide finds a spot with clear skies and aurora activity, the group stops, and the guide sets up to take photos. The listing positions the photography as a core part of the experience, so you should expect the guide to be handling a camera rather than just pointing at the sky. The stops themselves are roadside or in open areas along the south coast, and there is no staffed facility at any of them. The weather is the deciding factor for the whole evening. If the clouds are thick or the aurora forecast is flat, the guide may adjust the route or cut the chase short, and that is the nature of the hunt. The tour is not wheelchair accessible, which the operator has stated, so if mobility is a concern, this is not the right option.

Who should book this tour

This tour suits travellers who want the lights documented properly without handling a camera themselves. The guide's photography is the selling point, so if you want a record of the evening that looks better than a phone shot in the dark, this is built for you. The five-hour duration and the long drive to Vík í Mýrdal also mean it is for people who are willing to trade time in a vehicle for a better chance of clear skies. It is not for anyone who wants a quick look: the two-hour yacht tour from Reykjavik gets you out on the water and back fast, but it does not go far from the city lights, and it costs 107 USD. If you are on a tighter budget and just want to see the lights without the photography focus, the three-hour bus tour with a lifetime guarantee starts at 71 USD, though its rating of 3.7 from 1,629 reviews suggests a more mixed experience. The small-group premium tour at 116 USD is close in price and carries a higher rating from more reviews, so if the group size matters to you, that is the stronger alternative. This tour sits in the middle: cheaper than the premium option, pricier than the basic bus, and distinguished by the guide's camera work.

GYG

From Reykjavik: Northern Lights Guided Tour with Photos

Dates, remaining places and the current version of what is included are at the operator. This page reflects the state of the catalogue, not the state of this morning.

from $120

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