Northern Lights w/Aurora Viking - free pro photos - unlimited retries – minibus
by Aurora Viking · Northern lights · cruise-excursion · Reykjavík
- Fine on your own
- Couples
- Self-guided
Would this be cheaper direct? No — we sell at Aurora Viking's own price and take our commission from them, not from you. What you get here is one checkout across operators, one confirmation, and one place to change or cancel it. If you ever find it cheaper on their own site, tell us and we will match it or explain why we cannot.
More photos of Northern Lights w/Aurora Viking - free pro photos - unlimited retries – minibus
24 photos from Aurora Viking. Tap any one for the full-size original.
Duration
5 hours
Difficulty
Easy
Season
Sep – Apr
Starts in
Reykjavík
Meeting
Hotel pickup available
Languages
EN
Departs
18:00, 20:00, 20:30, 21:00 …
Minimum age
7
Cancellation
Free until 24h before
About this experience
We at Aurora Viking have decades of experience in guiding people to the Northern Lights and we have realized that entertainment is a crucial part of the excursion, especially if we have to wait for the Aurora to come out.
We have great cameras to capture high definition pictures that you can then print out after a tour where we get lucky and spot the Aurora.
In order to make the excursion more fun and to live up to the name Aurora Viking we have Viking weapons and outfits sourced at a local museum to play with and take night time pictures which sometimes come out really nicely.
To have keep our energy high we have plenty of hot chocolate and Gingerbread.
Your guide for this tour will also delve in to the connection between the Vikings and the Aurora.
We are so confident in our high hit rate that we offer unlimited free re-bookings until you get to see the aurora. Valid one year from your first attempt.
Seeing an auroral band with the naked eye counts as seeing the Aurora, seeing faint auroras only through the camera lens does not count.
If no lights are spotted on a northern lights tour you can join us again another day for free. Just notify us by sending an email to info@auroraviking.com before 15:00 the following day to make a re-booking (subject to availability).
If luck does not favor us on the first night and you rebook the experience, you must show up for the tour or notify us with at least 24 hours notice that you will not be able to make it. If you do not show up for your rebooked tour the unlimited retry option is forfeit.
Description from the operator, Aurora Viking. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.
Where you go
- The Hunt
Good to know
Warm clothes
Cancellation for this tour
Free cancellation until 24 hours before departure; no refund after that. 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.
- 1Aurora Viking 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.
- 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.
- 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 1 day before departure, the operator's policy after that.
Questions on the day: [email protected] · +354 497 1373. How cancellations work in Iceland →
Why this one and not the cheaper one?
The nearest cheaper Northern Lights at Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon from Blue Iceland is €56 — €87 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.
| Aurora Viking · €143 | Blue Iceland · €56 | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it runs | 5 hours | 3 hours |
| Getting there | Picks you up | You make your own way |
| Changing your mind | Free until 24 h before | Free until departure |
The €87 buys you 2 more hours out and hotel pickup and free cancellation up to 24 h before. Whether that is worth it is your call — but that is what the difference is.
Sold out on your date?
Seats come back — a cancellation, or the operator adding a vehicle. Tell us the date and we will check once a day and email you if one opens. One email, then we delete the address; nothing else is ever sent to it.
Who this is not for
- Children under 7 cannot join this one.
- 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
Aurora Viking is one of 154 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
- Six hours in port is enough for one thing done well, not three done badlyShore excursions for cruise days in Reykjavík, Akureyri and Grundarfjörður — what fits inside a six-hour call and what to leave for another trip.
- Northern lights by bus, boat or super-jeep — the odds are the same, the night isn'tBus, boat and super-jeep lights hunts from Reykjavík compared on real odds, comfort and price, with the one we'd book first.
- Northern lights with a photographer or a regular tour — what the extra money buysSame sky, same dark field, €71 or €114. What a 'free photos' lights tour really gives you, and what the small-group Sprinter option actually costs.
Reviews from our travellers
Only people who booked this tour through us can write here. We publish every review in full — good or bad.
No reviews yet from our travellers on 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.
One checkout, any number of operators
Rankings are not for sale
153 operators vetted, and not all of them accepted
If it falls short, we fix it
Pairs well with
Everything here goes into the same basket and the same single payment, however many operators it comes from.
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