Cheapest seatFree repeat
4 hNorthern Lights Bus Tour
★ 4.3 · 14873 reviews
- The classic coach hunt out of Reykjavik
- Hot cocoa and cinnamon buns included
- Free repeat trip if you see nothing
- Free cancellation
Northern lights tour Reykjavik
Nine tours leave the city between September and April, from a $71 coach with hot cocoa to a super jeep that goes where the coaches cannot. The aurora is not sold with a guarantee anywhere — what you are actually choosing is group size, how far the guide can drive, and what happens if the sky stays shut.
From, per person
9 tours compared$71
Four hours by coach, hot cocoa included
Average rating
Across all 9 tours4.3 ★
Across 21,138 verified reviews
Time out
Free repeat on most2–15 hrs
From a short sail to a full Golden Circle day
Free cancellation 24 h
Reserve now, pay later
Mobile voucher
Free repeat if you see nothing
Instant confirmation
Hotel pickup on most
Every tour that leaves the city
Every northern lights tour from Reykjavik
Everything that hunts the aurora out of Reykjavik in one place: nine tours between $71 and $319. They divide three ways. Big coaches are cheapest and take eighty people to a car park. Minibuses and super jeeps carry a dozen and can change plan when the cloud moves. Boats leave the city lights behind entirely.
Our top pickSmall group
4 hPremium Small-Group Tour
★ 4.4 · 3126 reviews
- Small group, not eighty people
- The guide can change plan when cloud moves
- Free repeat trip if you see nothing
- Free cancellation
Small groupHot cocoa
4 hNorthern Lights Minibus Tour
★ 4.6 · 722 reviews
- Minibus, so the route is flexible
- Hot cocoa and Icelandic pastries
- Photos taken by the guide
- Free cancellation
$157
Check availability→ 
Highest ratedPro photos
4 hTour with a Pro Photographer
★ 4.8 · 446 reviews
- A photographer travels with the group
- Portraits under the aurora, included
- Viking costumes for the pictures
- Free cancellation
$155
Check availability→ 
By sea2 hours
2 hNorthern Lights Yacht Tour
★ 4.4 · 1342 reviews
- Out of the harbour, away from city glare
- Warm cabin and open deck
- The shortest tour on this page
- Free cancellation
Goes off-roadSmall group
4 hSuper Jeep Northern Lights Tour
★ 4.2 · 157 reviews
- Super jeep reaches tracks coaches cannot
- Hunts a hole in the cloud, not a car park
- Small group with an aurora guide
- Free cancellation
$196
Check availability→ 
Two things in oneUnderground
4 hLava Tunnel & Northern Lights
★ 4.7 · 80 reviews
- Raufarhólshellir lava tunnel first
- Then the aurora hunt after dark
- Helmets and lamps provided
- Free cancellation
$196
Check availability→ 
Whales too6 hours
6 hWhale Watching & Lights Combo
★ 4.3 · 131 reviews
- Whale watching by day, aurora by night
- One boat, one ticket
- Warm overalls provided
- Free cancellation
$190
Check availability→ 
Full dayBlue Lagoon
15 hGolden Circle, Blue Lagoon & Lights
★ 4.7 · 261 reviews
- Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss
- Blue Lagoon in the afternoon
- Aurora hunt on the way home
- Free cancellation
$319
Check availability→ Two questions
Which northern lights tour is yours?
Seen the nine above and still torn? They are not versions of each other. A coach is cheap and goes where coaches go; a minibus can change plan at nine at night; a super jeep can leave the road entirely; a boat leaves the city glare behind. Pick what matters most and we will point at one.
See it before you pay for it
What the aurora actually looks like
The photographs lie, and everyone who has been knows it. A camera on a long exposure collects light your eye cannot, so the greens are stronger and the purples appear at all. What you see with your own eyes on a good night is a pale, moving band that looks grey-green at first and then, once your eyes adapt, unmistakably green — shifting, folding and brightening in a way no still image conveys. On a great night it fills half the sky and moves fast enough to follow. On a poor one it is a faint smudge that a phone camera reveals and you almost miss.
Side by side
Coach, minibus or super jeep
The cheapest coach and the small-group minibus are eighty dollars apart, and the difference is not comfort. It is how far the guide can go when the forecast changes at nine at night. A coach has a fixed route and eighty people to move. A minibus can drive two hours east because a hole opened in the cloud there.
Swipe the table sideways →
| Northern Lights Bus Tour | TOP PICKPremium Small-Group Tour | Super Jeep Northern Lights Tour | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per person | $71 | $94 | $196 |
| Time out | 4 hours | 4 hours | 4 hours |
| Cost per hour | $17.75 | $23.50 | $49.00 |
| Group size | Coach, up to ~80 | Small group | Super jeep, small |
| Can change plan late | Limited — fixed route | Yes — that is the point | Yes, and off the road too |
| Free repeat if no aurora | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Hot drinks | Cocoa and buns | Yes | Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 · 14,873 | 4.4 · 3,126 | 4.2 · 157 |
| Best for | The tightest budget | Most visitors | Getting off the road |
| Check dates | Book this one→ | Check dates |
TOP PICK
Premium Small-Group Tour
$94- Time out
- 4 hours
- Cost per hour
- $23.50
- Group size
- Small group
- Can change plan late
- Yes — that is the point
- Free repeat
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.4 · 3,126
- Best for
- Most visitors
Free cancellation up to 24 h · Free repeat if no aurora
Northern Lights Bus Tour
$71- Time out
- 4 hours
- Cost per hour
- $17.75
- Group size
- Coach, up to ~80
- Can change plan late
- Limited — fixed route
- Free repeat
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.3 · 14,873
- Best for
- The tightest budget
Super Jeep Northern Lights Tour
$196- Time out
- 4 hours
- Cost per hour
- $49.00
- Group size
- Super jeep, small
- Can change plan late
- Yes, and off the road too
- Free repeat
- Yes
- Rating
- 4.2 · 157
- Best for
- Getting off the road
Verdict
Book the small-group tour
The coach is the cheapest way out of the city glare and it is a good night out. What it cannot do is change its mind. The extra $23 for the small-group minibus buys a vehicle that can be told at half past nine that the sky has opened somewhere else, and a guide whose job is to know that. On a patchy Icelandic night that is the whole difference.
Check dates and availability→Before you book
Why nobody guarantees the aurora
Nobody guarantees the aurora, and an operator who implies otherwise is not being straight with you. It is a solar phenomenon seen through Icelandic weather, and neither is for sale. What a serious operator does offer is a free repeat trip on another night, and a willingness to cancel outright when the forecast is hopeless.
Two-minute check
Which aurora tour fits your trip?
Three things decide it: how many nights you have in Iceland, how you feel about a coach full of strangers, and what the budget stretches to. Answer three questions and find out before you pay.
How many nights are you here?The aurora does not run to a timetable
Coach or small group?This changes more than comfort
How long an evening?Most tours are four hours
Answer the three questions above
You'll get a straight yes or no, the tour that fits your trip, and the specific thing that would catch you out on the night.
Six ways to see it
21,138 reviews across nine Reykjavik tours
Ratings are the operators’ own numbers on GetYourGuide, shown as published. We do not write reviews and we do not average other people’s into a score of our own.
4.3
★★★★★
Based on 21,138
verified reviews
5 ★88%
4 ★9%
3 ★2%
2 ★1%
1 ★0%
All nine Reykjavik aurora tours, rated on GetYourGuide.
Read all 21,138→🌌
Premium Small-Group Tour
From $94 · small group
★★★★★
The one we would book
A small group instead of eighty people, and a guide who can change plan at nine at night because a hole opened in the cloud two hours east. That flexibility is the whole product.
🚌
Northern Lights Bus Tour
From $71 · free repeat
★★★★☆
The cheapest way out of the city glare
The classic coach hunt, 14,873 reviews, hot cocoa and cinnamon buns. It goes where coaches go, which on a night with patchy cloud is its one real limitation.
📷
Tour with a Pro Photographer
From $155 · pro photos
★★★★★
The highest rated aurora tour in Reykjavik
Rated 4.8 across 446 reviews, the best score on this page. A photographer travels with the group and the portraits under the aurora are included, which is the thing people actually want and cannot get on their own.
🚶
Grótta lighthouse, on foot
Free · 40 minutes from the centre
★★★★☆
The thing you should not skip, and it costs nothing
The northwest tip of Seltjarnarnes, walkable or a short bus ride from downtown, with the city glare behind you and open sea ahead. On an active night you can see the aurora from here. It is not dark enough for a weak display, and there is no guide watching the cloud maps for you.
🐋
Reykjavik: the Original 3-Hour Whale Watching Tour
From $100 · 3 hours
★★★★☆
What to do with the day before the night
Humpbacks and minke whales in Faxaflói, three hours from the old harbour. Rated 4.4 across 1,230 reviews. Nothing to do with the aurora, and the single most booked daytime thing in this city.
Small group · from the old harbour
♨
From Reykjavik: Blue Lagoon Comfort admission with transfers
From $204 · 5 hours
★★★★☆
What to do with the afternoon the weather takes
The Blue Lagoon with return transfers, rated 4.4 across 1,509 reviews. It has nothing to do with the sky and it is what people book when the forecast for the evening collapses.
Booked alongside the aurora tours
What it really costs
There is no cheaper seat in Reykjavik
Every operator here publishes one seat price and charges it everywhere — their own desk on Laugavegur, the booking platforms, the hotel reception. What changes is whether there is a clear night left in your stay, and in this country that is the whole game.
Swipe sideways →
| Where you book | Price | Risk | Cancellation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online in advance | $71–$319 | None — your seat is held | Free up to 24 hours |
| At a desk on Laugavegur | Same price, no discount | Only what is unsold that evening | Desk policy, usually stricter |
| Waiting for a clear night | Same price | High — everyone rebooks onto the first clear sky | None once you board |
What the listing doesn’t show you
- How big the group is. “Small group” means twelve on some listings and thirty on others. It decides whether the guide can change plan.
- Pickup is a bus stop, not your hotel. Almost always. Check which stop and be there five minutes early, because they do not wait.
- How the free repeat works. Usually subject to availability on a later night of your stay, which is why the first night is the one to book.
- Tipping. Not expected in Iceland, for guides or drivers.
What is genuinely included
- Transport out of the city glare and back, in winter, in the dark
- A guide who has been reading the cloud and aurora forecasts all afternoon
- Hot drinks on almost every tour — cocoa, and often Icelandic pastries
- A free repeat trip on another night if the aurora does not appear
- Free cancellation up to 24 hours before departure
The honest answer
Is a northern lights tour worth it?
You are paying somebody to drive you away from the city lights and to have watched the cloud maps all afternoon. That is a real service and it is why guided tours beat a hire car for most visitors. What it is not is a ticket to a guaranteed sight.
What makes it worth it
- Somebody has watched the cloud maps all afternoon so you do not have to
- You get driven an hour out of the city glare and back, in the dark, in winter
- Almost every operator gives you a free repeat trip if you see nothing
- Guides know where the sky is clear tonight, not where it was clear last week
- On the small-group tours the photographs are taken for you
Keep in mind
- Nobody guarantees the aurora, and any listing that implies otherwise is lying
- A coach with eighty people cannot chase a gap in the cloud
- Tours are cancelled outright when the forecast is hopeless — that is a good sign
- You will stand outside in the cold for a long time; dress for it
- The cheapest seat is $71, and you may need two nights
The evening, hour by hour
Pickup to hotel, hour by hour
The go / no-go call
Operators decide in the late afternoon and message you. A cancelled tour is not a failure — it means somebody read the forecast honestly.
Hotel pickup
Most tours collect from bus stops around the centre rather than from the door. Be out five minutes early; they do not wait long.
Out of the city
The glare of Reykjavik drops behind you within twenty minutes. On a coach the destination is already decided; on a minibus the guide is still watching the sky.
The first stop
Somewhere dark, facing north, out of the wind if the guide is any good. Eyes take fifteen to twenty minutes to adapt — this is the part people cut short.
Moving, or waiting
A small group can drive another hour to a hole in the cloud. A coach usually waits where it is. This is the single biggest difference between the tours.
If it shows
A pale band that brightens, folds and moves. The guide takes photographs; on the photography tours they are included.
Back in the city
Most tours return between midnight and one. If nothing appeared, you are booked onto another night for free.
Best time of night
Between ten and one
Aurora activity is not evenly spread through the night. The hours around local midnight are statistically the best, which is why almost every tour leaves around nine and returns after twelve. Two things matter more than the hour, though: whether the sky is open, and whether you gave your eyes the twenty minutes they need to adapt. People who look for five minutes and get back on the bus miss displays that everyone else sees.
On the route
What you actually see
A strong night
When the activity is high the band fills half the sky and moves fast enough to follow with your eyes.
An ordinary night
Most nights look like this: a pale band low to the north, much stronger through a camera than to the eye.
Away from the glare
Twenty minutes out of Reykjavik the sky goes properly dark. That drive is most of what you are paying for.
Chasing the gap
Small vehicles can leave the road and change plan late. On a patchy night that is the difference.
What it's like
Four hours in the dark, and twenty minutes that matter
The part nobody warns you about is the waiting. You picture arriving somewhere and the sky already doing it. What actually happens is a coach park in the dark, twenty degrees of wind chill, and a guide saying give it twenty minutes.
Your eyes need that long. Coming off a lit street, the aurora reads as a grey smudge you would mistake for cloud, and the first thing anyone does is point a phone at it — which is how half the group finds out it is there at all, because a three-second exposure sees green where the eye sees nothing.
Then, if the night is any good, it starts to separate from the cloud. The band sharpens, takes on colour, and begins to move. Not quickly at first. It drifts, brightens at one end, thins in the middle. Somebody says it is getting stronger and everybody turns.
On a strong night it stops being a band. It folds into vertical curtains that ripple along their length, and the movement is the thing photographs cannot give you — it is fast, it is silent, and it goes on for minutes at a time. The green is unmistakable by then. Purple and red edges appear on the best nights and mostly stay in the camera.
The guides watch two things all evening: the aurora forecast, which is a number for solar activity, and the cloud map, which decides whether that number matters at all. A quiet aurora under a clear sky beats a strong one under an overcast, every time.
That is why the vehicle matters more than the price. A coach has a destination chosen at six in the evening. A minibus with twelve people can be told at half past nine that the Reykjanes peninsula has cleared and be there by half ten. On a patchy Icelandic night that is the entire difference between seeing it and not.
And on maybe one night in three you see nothing at all, get back to the hotel at one in the morning cold and disappointed, and use the free repeat the next evening. That is not a badly run tour. That is the product.
While you're in Reykjavik
The other three things people book here
The aurora happens after dark and the days in winter are short but not empty. These three are what end up in the same basket — and the first two are what people book when the evening forecast collapses.
The classic day
Reykjavik: Golden Circle Tour with Blue Lagoon Visit & Entry
13 hours · ★ 4.2 (441)
$325See dates From the harbour
Reykjavik: the Original 3-Hour Whale Watching Tour
3 hours · ★ 4.4 (1230)
$100See dates When it rains
From Reykjavik: Blue Lagoon Comfort admission with transfers
5 hours · ★ 4.4 (1509)
$204See datesPractical
Plan your aurora night
Five things decide how the evening goes: the season, the moon, the cloud, what you are wearing, and whether you left yourself a second night.
Cloud beats activity
A quiet aurora under clear sky beats a strong one under overcast. Guides watch the cloud map first.
The Kp number is not the whole story
Kp measures solar activity, not your chances. In Iceland a Kp of 2 is enough if the sky is open.
Tours get cancelled, and that is good
An operator that runs on a hopeless night is selling you a coach ride.
The moon matters less than people think
A full moon washes out a weak display and barely touches a strong one.
Leave two nights, not one
One night in Iceland is a coin toss. Two is a reasonable bet, three is a good one.
Check the message, not the app
Operators decide in the late afternoon and message you. That call is better informed than any app.
You are standing still outside
This is the mistake. Walking-around clothes are not standing-still-for-an-hour clothes.
Layers, and a windproof outer
The wind chill on an open plain in February does the damage, not the temperature.
Thermal base layer
Worth more than an expensive coat over a cotton shirt.
Hat, gloves, proper boots
Your hands come out for the camera; thin gloves under thick ones solve it.
Some tours provide overalls
The whale combo and a few small-group tours hand out warm suits. Check the listing.
Snacks and a flask
Most tours provide hot drinks. A few do not.
Free repeat is the real guarantee
Most operators rebook you free if the aurora does not appear. Confirm it is on your listing.
Book the first night of your stay
Then you have the rest of the trip to use the free repeat.
The price is the price
Every operator holds one fare across their own desk, the platforms and hotels.
Free cancellation to 24 hours
Standard on every tour on this page.
Small groups sell out first
Especially the photography tours, which have the best ratings and the fewest seats.
Pickup is usually a bus stop
Not your hotel door. Check which stop and be there early.
Everything leaves from the centre
Pickups run from designated bus stops around downtown Reykjavik.
Keflavík airport is 45 minutes
Most people are in the city, not by the airport.
You do not need a car
And in winter, driving unlit rural roads on ice is not a small undertaking.
Grótta is walkable
The lighthouse on Seltjarnarnes is about forty minutes on foot from downtown, and free.
Tours return after midnight
Between midnight and one, most of them. Plan the next morning accordingly.
Winter roads close
On a bad night the tour is cancelled because the road is shut, not because the sky is.
Best time
When to come
Tours run from late August to mid-April. What changes is how many hours of true darkness there are and how often the sky is clear enough to use them.
Sep – Oct
The sweet spot
Long enough nights, mild enough weather and roads still open everywhere. Aurora activity peaks near the equinox, and you are not standing in a blizzard.
Feb – Mar
The other equinox
The same equinox effect with more settled weather than midwinter and enough daylight to do something else with the day.
Nov – Jan
Darkest, wildest
Nineteen hours of darkness and the highest chance of a storm cancelling the tour. When it is clear it is spectacular.
Apr – Aug
Too light
From mid-April the nights never get properly dark and the tours stop. In June there is no night at all.
Worth knowing
Six things that aren't in the listing
01
Book the first night of your stay. Nearly every operator rebooks you free if the aurora does not show. Book the last night and that promise is worth nothing.
02
Give your eyes twenty minutes. Coming off a lit street the aurora looks like grey cloud. Most people who say they saw nothing looked for five minutes and got back on the bus.
03
Cloud beats solar activity. A Kp of 2 under a clear sky is a better night than a Kp of 5 under overcast. Check the cloud map, not just the aurora app.
04
Dress for standing still. Not for walking around Reykjavik. Thermal base layer, windproof outer, hat and proper boots — the wind chill does the damage.
05
A cancelled tour is a good sign. An operator who runs on a hopeless night is selling you a coach ride in the dark.
06
Turn the flash off and the exposure up. Three seconds on a phone will show you green the eye cannot see — and will ruin everyone else's night vision if you use a torch.
Round out the trip
Booked alongside
Go deeper
More on the aurora in Reykjavik
Common questions
Northern lights tours, answered
How much is a northern lights tour from Reykjavik?
From $71 for the classic coach hunt with hot cocoa. A small-group minibus is $94, a tour with a photographer $155, a super jeep $196, and a full Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon day ending with an aurora hunt $319.
Will I definitely see the northern lights?
No, and nobody can sell you that. What the good operators sell instead is a free repeat trip: if the aurora does not appear, you go again on another night at no cost. Book the first night of your stay so that promise is actually usable.
What is the best month to see the northern lights in Iceland?
September to October and February to March. Activity peaks around the equinoxes, the nights are long enough, and the weather is less violent than midwinter. From mid-April to late August the sky never gets dark enough.
Coach or small group — does it matter?
More than the price does. A coach has a destination chosen in the late afternoon and eighty people to move. A minibus or super jeep can be told at half past nine that a gap opened somewhere else and be there within the hour.
Can I see the aurora from Reykjavik itself?
On an active night, yes — from Grótta lighthouse on Seltjarnarnes, or from Óskjuhlíð. The city glare washes out anything weak, which is why the tours drive an hour out.
What should I wear?
Dress for standing still outdoors, not for walking around town. Thermal base layer, warm mid-layer, windproof outer, hat, gloves and proper boots. The wind chill on an open plain is what catches people out.
Is a northern lights tour worth it?
You are paying a guide to read the cloud maps and drive you out of the glare, with a free second attempt if it fails. For most visitors that beats hiring a car and driving unlit icy roads. What it is not is a ticket to a guaranteed sight.
Free · no account needed
Three nights in Reykjavik — the plan we'd follow
One PDF with the order to do things in, which night to hold for the aurora, and what to do with the short winter days. Built from the same sources as this page.
- Which night to book, and why it is the first one
- How to read the cloud map against the aurora forecast
- What to do with the day: Golden Circle, whales, the lagoon
- Exactly what to wear for standing still at −5°C
Check your inbox
The plan is on its way. If it isn't there in a minute, look in Promotions.
Why trust this page
How we put this together
Checked, not guessed
Every price, duration and rating was read off the live listing, and is re-checked each quarter.
How we pick
We list every aurora tour sold out of Reykjavik, not a shortlist. Nobody pays to be featured.
Written for one decision
This page exists to answer one question: which tour to book. If a section did not help with that, we cut it.
No guarantees, anywhere
We do not repeat any claim that the aurora is certain. What we do check is whether an operator offers a free repeat trip.
The answer
A small group, on your first night
The premium minibus at $94 does the two things that actually change your odds: it keeps the group small enough to move, and it puts a guide in charge who is still reading the cloud map at nine at night. Book it for the first night you are here, and the free repeat is worth something.
Check dates and availability→ Free cancellation up to 24 hours · Free repeat if the aurora does not appear