Reykjavik: Northern Lights Tour w/Pro Photos - Small Group

GYG

Reykjavik: Northern Lights Tour w/Pro Photos - Small Group

★ 4.8(446 reviews)

• Pickup from your hotel
• Guide works in English
• Duration per the operator: 4 hours

from $165

See dates, price and what is included at the operator

A four-hour hunt for the aurora, with a camera in the hands of a pro

This tour takes you out of Reykjavik for a four-hour evening search for the northern lights, in a small group with an English-speaking guide from Aurora Viking. The operator runs the trip with hotel pickup included, which means you are collected from your accommodation in the city rather than making your own way to a central meeting point. The stated goal is not just to see the lights, but to come away with professional photographs of them. The guide acts as your photographer for the evening, so the tour is aimed at travellers who want a record of the experience that is better than a phone shot in the dark. The itinerary reaches as far as Vik i Myrdal, a village on the south coast roughly 180 km (112 miles) from Reykjavik, though the exact stopping point on any given night depends on where the cloud cover and aurora activity are most promising. This is a tour for people who are willing to trade a fixed schedule for the chance of a clear sky, and who want the evening documented properly.

Photographs from the operator Aurora Viking. They show the listing, not your day.

What the 165 USD buys you, and what it does not

The entry price is from 165 USD per person. For that you get the small-group tour itself, the English-speaking guide, hotel pickup in Reykjavik, and the professional photography service that is the point of the trip. The operator explicitly includes hotel pickup, so you do not need to factor in a separate transfer to a departure point. No fees apply to any of the places on the itinerary, so there is no admission charge or parking cost waiting for you at the stops. The operator does not break the price down further, so you will not find a published figure for what the photography portion of the tour costs on its own. The price is simply the all-in rate for the evening. Free cancellation is offered, though the operator does not give a deadline for it. The tour is not wheelchair accessible, which is worth knowing before you book if that is a consideration for your group.

A high score backed by a modest number of votes

The rating sits at 4.8 out of 5, drawn from 446 reviews. That is a strong score, but the number behind it matters as much as the score itself. In a category of 68 northern lights tours, this one ranks 13th by the number of reviews it has collected. That places it in the upper tier of the group for evidence, though it is not the most-reviewed tour on the market. The 446 ratings give the 4.8 a solid base, but you should read it as a very good score from a relatively small sample rather than a verdict from tens of thousands of travellers. By comparison, a bus tour with hot cocoa in the same category has a lower score of 4.3 but draws on over 14,000 reviews, which makes its rating statistically more robust even if the number itself is lower. For this tour, the high score with a few hundred votes suggests a consistently good experience, but the sample is not large enough to guarantee the same result on any given night.

Chasing darkness in the cold months

The northern lights are a winter pursuit, and this tour runs in the season when the nights are long enough to see them. The climate chart above shows Reykjavik's monthly averages, and the pattern is clear: from September through March, the average high stays between 3 and 11 degrees Celsius (37 and 52 degrees Fahrenheit), with lows dropping to -2 degrees Celsius (28 degrees Fahrenheit) in the depths of winter. The aurora season aligns with these cold, dark months, when the sun sets early and the sky is dark for long stretches of the evening. The tour runs for four hours, which means you are out in the full cold of the night, not just the milder early evening. The warmest months for the lights, September and March, still see average highs of only 11 and 4 degrees Celsius (52 and 39 degrees Fahrenheit) respectively, so warm clothing is essential regardless of when you go. The tour's four-hour length is short enough to be manageable in the cold, but long enough to give the guide time to find a break in the clouds and wait for the lights to appear.

What happens once you are out of the city

The tour begins with hotel pickup in Reykjavik, so your first point of contact is the driver or guide arriving at your accommodation. From there you head out of the city lights, which is the essential first step for seeing the aurora. The guide monitors the sky and the forecast, and the route is flexible based on where the conditions are best. The stops themselves are likely to be roadside viewpoints or open areas away from artificial light, where the sky is dark enough for the lights to show. The guide handles the photography, so you do not need to worry about setting up a tripod or adjusting camera settings in the dark. The weather is the deciding factor on any given night. If the sky is overcast, the guide will drive to find clearer conditions, but there is no guarantee of success. The tour is not a fixed itinerary with timed stops; it is a search that ends when the four hours are up or the lights have been seen.

Who this tour suits, and who should look elsewhere

This tour is for travellers who want the northern lights experience without the hassle of driving unfamiliar roads in the dark, and who value a professional photograph over a blurry phone image. The small group format means you are not packed into a large coach, and the hotel pickup removes the need to navigate to a departure point. It is also a good fit for photographers who want to learn from a professional, or for travellers who simply want to be in the pictures themselves rather than always being the one behind the camera. The tour is not for anyone who needs wheelchair access, as the operator states it is not accessible. It is also not the cheapest option in the category. If your priority is keeping costs down, the Northern Lights Bus Tour with Hot Cocoa starts at 83 USD and runs for the same four hours, though it does not offer the professional photography. If you want a shorter commitment, the Northern Lights Yacht Tour runs for just two hours from 107 USD, but it is a different experience entirely, spent on the water rather than chasing clear skies by road.

GYG

Reykjavik: Northern Lights Tour w/Pro Photos - Small Group

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 $165

Ansehen