Northern Lights Iceland: How to Maximize Your Chances of Seeing Them!

What Are the Northern Lights

So, what exactly are the northern lights? Don’t worry, I’ll keep it simple!

High up in the sky, particles from the sun collide with the earth’s atmosphere, and when that happens — the sky lights up in these incredible colors, usually green, sometimes purple or red.

It’s like nature’s very own light show — and Iceland happens to be sitting in one of the best spots on earth to see it.What affects how often and how spectacularly you can see the Northern Lights is the Sun’s 11-year solar cycle. The phenomenon becomes much more visible during the solar maximum, when solar activity peaks and you get more frequent sunspots and solar flares—perfect conditions for seeing Northern Lights.

We are currently in Solar Cycle 25, which reached its peak (solar maximum) around October 2024. That puts 2025 firmly in the high-activity window, and the elevated solar activity is expected to continue into late 2026, giving us an excellent aurora-viewing period

When Can You See the Northern Lights in Iceland?

The northern lights only appear when it’s dark enough, which means they’re a winter phenomenon.

The season runs from late August until mid-April. During these months, you’ll have long nights and plenty of opportunities to catch them.

A few key tips:

• You’ll need clear skies since clouds will block the view.
• Light pollution makes them harder to see, so the darker your surroundings, the better.
• They’re unpredictable! Some nights they’ll dance across the sky for hours, other nights they won’t show at all. So you’ll need high northern lights activity for them to be visible and for you to see them.
  

Northern Lights Hack: Aurora Forecast

A great hack to get a feel for the Northern Lights viewing in the next couple of days is to check out the Northern Lights Forecast. A lot of travelers have trouble understanding the forecast but I’ll explain it in a simple way.

The Aurora Forecast blends together three key pieces of info:

1. Northern Lights activity level, shown as a number from 0 to 9—the higher the number, the stronger the aurora. Even a 2 can be stunning, and a 3? That’s when things get dazzling.
2. Cloud cover map overlaying Iceland—white = clear skies, green = cloudy. You can move a slider to check different days and times.
3. Sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and darkness timing, based on Reykjavík’s schedule. This helps you know when it’ll actually be dark enough to see the lights.

Best Way to See the Northern Lights

Now, let’s talk about the best way to see them.

While you could rent a car and try chasing the lights yourself, I always recommend joining a small group northern lights tour.

Here’s why:

• The tour is operated by northern lights experts with many years of experience, who monitor the weather and aurora forecasts every single night. They’ll drive out of the city to the best possible spots for viewing.
• Tours only depart when the chances of seeing the lights are actually good — so you’re not wasting your evening. And if the tour doesn’t get cancelled - you can either get a full refund or reschedule to a different night.
• And if you don’t see them? You can join again for free until you do.

This gives you the absolute best chance of experiencing the aurora while keeping it fun, safe, and stress-free. Where you won’t have to monitor the weather forecast, northern lights forecast or drive yourself in dark and icy conditions.

Can You See the Northern Lights in Reykjavík?

This is a common question — and the short answer is: technically yes… but it’s very uncommon.

The city lights in Reykjavík make it difficult to see the aurora clearly, and the displays are usually much weaker. To get that real, breathtaking experience, you’ll need to leave the city and head into darker skies — which is exactly what our tours do.

Wrap Up

So to sum it up: the northern lights are nature’s most magical show, visible in Iceland from late August through mid-April. Your best chance of seeing them is by joining a small group tour with local experts who know where to go and when to go.

If you’re planning a trip to Iceland this winter, I’d love to have you join us on our northern lights experience — and hopefully, you’ll leave with memories (and photos!) that last a lifetime.