Reykjavik: Aurora Small Group 4x4 Northern Lights Adventure

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Reykjavik: Aurora Small Group 4x4 Northern Lights Adventure

★ 4.4(21 reviews)

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

from $152

See dates, price and what is included at the operator

A Five-Hour Hunt for the Aurora, Out of Reykjavik

This tour takes you out of Reykjavik in a 4x4 for a five-hour evening search for the northern lights. The departure point is the city itself, and the operator, IceTrek Iceland Tour Operator, runs it as a small group with a local guide speaking English. Hotel pickup is included, so you start from your accommodation rather than making your own way to a meeting point. The tour is built around flexibility: the destination depends on where the sky is clearest, and the itinerary can reach as far as the Vík í Mýrdal area on the south coast, though the exact stopping points shift with the weather and the aurora forecast. This is a tour for travellers who want to trade the convenience of a big coach for the manoeuvrability of a smaller vehicle, and who are prepared for the fact that seeing the lights is never guaranteed. The price starts at 152 USD per person, and the whole experience, from pickup to drop-off, runs about five hours.

Photographs from the operator IceTrek Iceland Tour Operator. They show the listing, not your day.

What the Price Covers and What It Does Not

The 152 USD entry price buys you the guided 4x4 tour itself, with hotel pickup in Reykjavik and the services of an English-speaking local guide for the duration. The tour is explicitly sold as a small group, which is part of what you are paying for compared with the larger coach options. Food is not part of the deal, so you should eat before you go or bring your own snacks for the ride. There are no official fees added on the day at any of the places the tour visits, so you will not be paying admission or parking at the stops themselves. The operator offers free cancellation, though you should check the terms when you book. What you are not told in advance is whether any warm drinks or refreshments are provided on board, so it is safest to assume you will be covering that yourself. The price is quoted in US dollars, and at the time of writing the exchange rate sits at 121.15 ISK to the dollar, which puts the tour at roughly 18,400 ISK if you are budgeting in the local currency.

What a 4.4 from 21 Reviews Is Worth

The rating here is 4.4 out of 5, but it comes from only 21 reviews. That is a small sample, and it means the score is far less reliable than the same number attached to a tour with thousands of ratings. In the category of northern lights tours, which holds 68 listings, this one ranks 33rd overall, a position based on the strength of the evidence rather than the score alone. By price, it sits in the middle of the field, ranked 31st of 68, with the group ranging from 32 to 1,995 USD. The number of reviews puts it at 32nd of 68, which tells you that most competitors have far more feedback on record. What this means in practice is that you should treat the 4.4 as a reasonable sign that the tour works, but you are not getting the statistical comfort of a score backed by thousands of opinions. The comparable bus tour with hot cocoa has a similar rating of 4.3 but from over 14,000 reviews, which gives that score much more weight.

When the Darkness Works in Your Favour

The northern lights are a winter pursuit, and this tour runs in the months when the nights are long enough to give the aurora a chance to appear. Reykjavik's temperatures through the core season are cold but not extreme, with January and February highs around 3 degrees and lows dipping to minus 2. March is similar, and April starts to warm slightly to a high of 7 degrees. The tour lasts five hours, which means you will be out in the evening and into the night, when temperatures fall to the lower end of those daily ranges. The best conditions are the darkest ones, so the deep winter months of December, January and February offer the longest windows of darkness, with the sun setting early and rising late. By May the high reaches 10 degrees, but the nights are short and bright, which makes aurora hunting impractical. The summer months are essentially out of the question, with June and July highs of 13 to 15 degrees and barely any darkness at all. For this particular five-hour evening tour, the sweet spot is the stretch from September through March, when the sky is dark enough for the lights to show and the cold is manageable with proper clothing.

What Happens When the Tour Starts

You are picked up from your hotel in Reykjavik, so the tour begins at your door rather than at a central terminal. The guide will take you out of the city in the 4x4, heading for wherever the forecast suggests the clearest skies. The itinerary is not fixed, and the guide makes the call on the night based on cloud cover and aurora activity. This can mean driving south toward the Vík í Mýrdal area if that is where the conditions are best, which extends the drive time but improves your chances. The vehicle is a 4x4, which gives you access to roads and viewpoints that a standard coach could not manage. There is no set list of staffed stops, and the tour does not revolve around visiting particular sights, so you should not expect facilities or services at the viewing points. The weather is the deciding factor throughout, and a guide who decides to turn back early because the sky has closed in is making the right call for your safety and your time. The tour is not wheelchair accessible, so you need to be able to get in and out of the vehicle and stand outside in the cold for periods while you wait for the lights.

Who This Tour Suits and Who Should Look Elsewhere

This tour suits travellers who want a more personal northern lights experience than a packed coach offers, who are happy to let the guide chase the best conditions, and who do not mind spending part of the five hours driving to get there. It is a good fit if you are staying in Reykjavik and want the convenience of hotel pickup without joining a large group. It is not for anyone who needs wheelchair access, as the operator states the tour is not accessible. If you are on a tighter budget or prefer a shorter commitment, the Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa runs four hours from 83 USD and comes with the security of a rating based on over 14,000 reviews. If you want to stay on the water rather than on the road, the Northern Lights Yacht Tour lasts just two hours and costs from 107 USD. For travellers who want the smallest possible group and are willing to pay more, the Small-Group Premium Northern Lights Tour is priced from 116 USD for four hours. The lifetime guarantee option, at 71 USD for three hours, is the cheapest way to keep trying until you see the lights, though its 3.7 rating from 1,629 reviews is the weakest of the group.

GYG

Reykjavik: Aurora Small Group 4x4 Northern Lights Adventure

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 $152

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