Golden Circle Afternoon & Northern Lights
by Try Iceland Tours · Northern lights · Golden Circle
- Fine on your own
- Self-guided
Would this be cheaper direct? No — we sell at Try Iceland Tours'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 Golden Circle Afternoon & Northern Lights
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Duration
10 hours
Difficulty
Very easy
Season
Sep – Apr
Starts in
Reykjavík
Meeting
Hotel pickup available
Languages
EN
Departs
12:00
About this experience
Highlights of the Tour
- Þingvellir – Nature & History at the National Park
- Geysir & Strokkur – Hydrothermal features & erupting hot spring
- Gullfoss – Amazing powerful waterfall
- Combo with the chase of Northern Lights
Description from the operator, Try Iceland Tours. Prices and availability in the booking panel are live.
Where you go
- Þingvellir
- Geysir & Strokkur
- Gullfoss
- Northern Lights
Included
Good to know
Cancellation for this tour
Cancelling costs 10% of the price within 7 days of departure, rising to 50% 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.
- 1Try Iceland Tours 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 the cutoff shown above, 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 — €148 less. Here is every difference we can actually measure.
| Try Iceland Tours · €204 | Blue Iceland · €56 | |
|---|---|---|
| How long it runs | 10 hours | 3 hours |
| Getting there | Picks you up | You make your own way |
| Changing your mind | Not stated | Free until departure |
| How hard it is | Very easy | Easy |
The €148 buys you 7 more hours out and hotel pickup. 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
- 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
Try Iceland Tours 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 →
What travellers say about Try Iceland Tours
Read all 25 reviews on Google →Operator rating 4.8/5 from Google — these are reviews of the company, not this specific tour. Shown as Google returns them, unedited.
★★★★★ · 3 years ago
We wanted a smaller group tour for our time in Iceland and came across Try Iceland Tours. So glad we did, Adam was brilliant. We were picked up at our hotel in his very comfy, clean and warm Jeep. There were just 4 of us on the trip which was amazing compared to being on a huge coach tour. We had a brilliant tour around the Golden Circle, with plenty time at each stop to explore. We never felt rushed. Adam took us to a great restaurant too before we started our search for the Northern Lights. He drove North to some great spots, very dark and no city lights in sight. We stopped at 3 places overall. Seeing the lights and getting some amazing photos. I think we were lucky with the display they gave us though, as this isn't guaranteed but it was incredible, memories to last a lifetime! Adam was very knowledgeable about Iceland and answered any questions we had as well as giving us info along the journey. We hope to return one summer and do a trip with him again, would 100% recommend if you want a much more personal and chilled out tour. Thank you, Adam! See you again soon.
★★★★★ · a year ago
A great experience in the Golden Circle and Northern Lights tour. Adam collected us from the hotel in his jeep and then took us to the iconic sights of the Golden Circle. As the Northern Lights were clouded out (most of the day was a snowstorm) we finished up in the Secret Lagoon, Iceland’s oldest thermal public baths.
★★★★★ · 2 years ago
My husband and I joined a small group tour of the Highlands and Landmannalaugar. Adam is an incredible tour guide, I would not take a tour of Iceland any other way. He takes you to spots he knows of where the giant tour groups don't go. It's the first nature tour I've had where I felt like I was actually seeing something without a swarm of people. He really let's you drive the pace of the day. At one point he even drove us around looking for a place to buy towels for the hotspring! He's got great stories to tell and has collected an incredible amount of Icelandic knowledge in his time here. Choose Try Iceland!
★★★★★ · 4 years ago
We booked an Golden Circle Afternoon & Northern Lights tour with Adam and Try Iceland and I couldn't be more thrilled that we did. We weren't sure we would be able to see the lights, so Adam asked us to bring swimsuits so he could take us to a hot spring instead just in case. Well, turns out we had a lot of luck on our trip because the Lights were incredible AND we got to see them from the hot spring. Adam was an incredibly knowledgeable tour guide, who catered to our love of Game of Thrones by showing us a few of the scenes on our tour, exploring the incredible golden circle with us AND adding his awesome photography in to boot. I wouldn't hesitate to book all my tours with Try Iceland and Adam the next time I am there!
Reviews from Google · updated 13 Sept 2026
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.
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Pairs well with
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