Private Northern Lights Hunting

by Sýsli - Ferðir og ökukennsla ehf · Northern lights · North Iceland

  • Couples
  • Suits older travellers
  • Good with teenagers
  • Can be tailored

from €800.15 per vehicle

No published departures in the coming months — ask us

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Private Northern Lights Hunting — Sýsli - Ferðir og ökukennsla ehf
Private Northern Lights Hunting, photo 2
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1 / 5

  • Duration

    3 hours

  • Difficulty

    Easy

  • Season

    Sep – Apr

  • Starts in

    Akureyri

  • Pickup

    Hotel pickup included

  • Guide

    Guided in English

  • Departs

    21:00

  • Cancellation

    Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 999 days of departure, rising to 90% within 2 days.

About this experience

Private tour. Best chance of finding the Northern Lights with an expert local guide Northern Lights hunting- Icelandic Tales- Free pick up and drop off - Free retry the next day if lights are not found (if a tour is running the following day)

This wonderful private tour takes you hunting for Northern lights with an expert top rated Northern Lights guide through the winter night. Our hunt takes you out of town to the countryside, away from the bright lights of the city so that the Northern Lights can be seen in all their beauty and colours.

The local guide will share Icelandic tales during the journey on this magical tour. Please note the Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and are also dependant on weather conditions therefore we cannot guarantee they will be sighted however if the guide confirms no lights were seen, we do offer a free retry the next day if we are running a tour the next day.

This great value tour includes:

  • Private tour with an expert and top rated Northern Lights guide
  • Transport
  • Pick up/ Droff off from Akureyri or Lake Myvatn at your Hotel, Guesthouse, Airport
  • Northern Lights hunting
  • Icelandic tales
  • Atmospheric winter night in North Iceland
  • Free retry the next evening if a tour is running and no Northern Lights were found

Departure Time from Akureyri/Lake Myvatn:

  • Flexible, usually 21:30

Description from the operator, Sýsli - Ferðir og ökukennsla ehf. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.

Included


Private transportation

Good to know

You need to bring warm clothes according to the weather as we will be quite a bit outside.

We recommend that you bring a camera and a tripod along for photographing the northern lights. We can assist you with photographing the lights.

  • Wheelchair accessible. Please notify us if you are travelling in a wheelchair to get a suitable vehicle.
  • Warm clothing necessary, it will be cold on the tour
  • We pick up anywhere in Akureyri. Please provide pick up information in the booking.

Cancellation for this tour

Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 999 days of departure, rising to 90% within 2 days. If the operator cancels for weather or safety, you get a full refund or a new date.

If the weather cancels this tour

Iceland's weather is real. What usually stops this one is a solid cloud forecast — most operators call it by late afternoon and let you rebook on a clearer night free of charge. Here is exactly what happens to your booking.

  1. 1Sýsli - Ferðir og ökukennsla ehf decides, and tells us. Operators cancel when it is unsafe or pointless, and we back that call every time — we do not ask them to run anyway.
  2. 2We contact you by email, and by phone if your tour is the same or next day. You choose: another date if there is one you can make, or a full refund. There is no fee and nothing to argue.
  3. 3The refund goes back to the card you paid with, through Stripe, usually visible within a few working days. If this tour was one of several in your booking, the others are untouched.

What you do not get is the day back. If this is the only free day in your plan, put a spare day next to it — the planner leaves days free with the rest-day option. And if you want out because the forecast looks bad, that is your own cancellation: free until the cutoff shown above, the operator's policy after that.

Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →

Who this is not for

  • Priced per vehicle, so it is poor value for one or two people and good value for four or more sharing.
  • Not available in summer; the operator runs it roughly September to April.

Read off the operator's own conditions. If none of it applies to you, this is a good one.

Why we list it

Sýsli - Ferðir og ökukennsla ehf is one of 204 operators we work with — chosen for reliability, honest descriptions and how they treat guests when weather changes plans. We don't list everything; we list what we'd book ourselves. The six checks every operator passes →

Read before you book

Reviews from our travellers

Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.

Reviews arrive the day after each trip — none yet for this one. After your tour we send one email asking how it was, and what you write goes here, unedited.

Northern lights — questions people ask

When is the best time to see the northern lights in Iceland?

September to April, when the nights are dark enough. Within that, late September to March gives the longest dark hours, and the equinox months, September and March, often have active skies. There are no lights in June or July; the sky never gets dark. Anyone selling you a June lights tour is selling you a bus ride. Give yourself at least three nights, because clouds, not the aurora, are the usual reason people miss them.

Are the northern lights guaranteed on a tour?

No. Nobody can promise them, and we will not. Two things have to line up: a clear sky and solar activity. Guides check the cloud forecast at vedur.is and drive to gaps, which is the real value of a tour over standing outside your hotel. What most operators do promise is a free second attempt if the lights do not show. Check the exact retry policy on the tour page, because the number of retries and the validity period vary.

Is a northern lights bus tour or a boat tour better?

Bus, if you want the best odds. A minibus can drive an hour inland to find a clear patch; a boat stays in Faxaflói and sees whatever sky is over Reykjavík. Boats are shorter, about two hours, and pleasant with hot chocolate, and Reykjavik Sailors' cruise (/experience/6637/) includes a free retry. For a serious hunt, a small-group minibus like BusTravel's (/experience/150646/) or a 4x4 tour (/experience/1088067/) is the better bet.

Can I see the northern lights from Reykjavík itself?

Yes, on strong nights. The city is small and the sky over the sea to the north is fairly dark. Grótta lighthouse at the western tip and the Ægisíða shoreline are the usual spots, twenty minutes' walk from the centre. On average nights the street lights drown out a faint aurora, which is why tours drive out. If the forecast shows high activity and clear sky, walk to Grótta first and save the tour money.

Hotels

Where to stay for this tour

From the cheapest to the top end of what is near Akureyri, from our hotel partners. Rooms are booked on our hotels site.

All hotels in North Iceland →

  • One checkout, any number of operators

  • Rankings are not for sale

  • 203 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted

  • If it falls short, we fix it

Pairs well with

Add any of these to this tour and 3 % comes off both at checkout. One basket, one payment, however many operators they come from.

from

€800.15 per vehicle

Check dates & book