Reykjavik Northern Lights late night tours collect you from 21:00 or later, or sell themselves as a midnight hunt, and bring you back after midnight. Each one carries photos and a free retry, with fares from $135 to $244.
Sold as a midnight adventure: an air-conditioned minibus of 18 at most, hot chocolate, Wi-Fi and free photos. See nothing and you retry free; if weather cancels, you reschedule free. Central hotels use numbered bus stops.
From $135 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Door-to-door pickup between 21:00 and 21:30 in a modified super jeep of 14 at most. A stargazing telescope, homemade hot chocolate and photos of you come with it, and unlimited retries within two years. From age 10.
From $221 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Hotel pickup for an 8pm or 9pm start in a Super Jeep with a driver-guide. Free photos, local taxes and national park fees are in the fare; food and drinks are not. One free rebooking if you see nothing. From age 5.
From $244 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Never more than 19 in the minibus, with hot chocolate, Icelandic pastries, woollen blankets and live commentary. Photos come if conditions allow, and you join again free, subject to availability, if the night fails. From age 5.
From $166 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
An air-conditioned minibus of 18 at most, hot chocolate, free photos and a free retry, from $135. Pick your night and see the pickup time before you pay.
Check availabilityA late hunt is timed for the dark end of the evening. NOAA says the best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight, between 10 PM and 2 AM local time. These tours put you outside for those hours: the stargazing super jeep collects you between 21:00 and 21:30, the Super Jeep runs a 9pm start, and the midnight minibus is sold as a midnight adventure.
The minibus with woollen blankets is on the list for its season edges. It collects from 21:30 between 15 August and 30 September and from 1 to 18 April, when full dark comes late, and from 20:30 in mid-winter. The when to visit page shows how the dark hours move month by month.
A 21:00 pickup and a hunt of three to five hours keep you out until well after midnight. On an early hunt, you may be heading home just as those hours begin.
Photos are included on all of them, and so is a free retry: unlimited within two years on the stargazing jeep, once on the Super Jeep, and free on the midnight minibus and the minibus with woollen blankets.
With a late pickup, you can take a full day tour, have dinner, and still make the hunt. Just keep the next morning clear.
The stated caps are 14, 18 and 19. Nobody here rides a coach of 65.
Most hunts print no start time and give it when you book. Here is what the stated late starts change.
| Late night | Other land hunts | |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup | 21:00 or later, or sold as midnight | Given when you book |
| Back in town | After midnight | Depends on the night |
| Fares | $135 to $244 | From $84 |
| Photos | Included on all | Most small groups; not the coaches |
| If you see nothing | A free retry on all | None stated up to unlimited |
| Youngest | 5 to 10 where stated | From 5 |
If a late night is too much for your group, compare the northern lights boat tour Reykjavik options: two hours on the bay and back in town early.
You get a guide, photos and a free retry on every fare here. The stargazing jeep adds a telescope, homemade hot chocolate and door-to-door pickup in central Reykjavík. The midnight minibus adds hot chocolate, Wi-Fi and USB, and a free reschedule if weather cancels. The minibus with woollen blankets adds pastries, blankets and live commentary.
You do not get an early night. One Super Jeep party stayed out until after 1 am. You do not get food on the Super Jeep. And once a hunt has run, it is not refunded: on the midnight minibus, operated tours are not refundable, and on the minibus with woollen blankets you are not entitled to a refund. The retry is your cover.
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Fares | $135 to $244 per person |
| Pickups | 21:00 to 21:30 on the stargazing jeep; 9pm on the Super Jeep |
| Back in town | Around midnight to 02:30 |
| Group | 14 to 19 where stated |
| Youngest | 5 on the Super Jeep and one minibus; 10 on the stargazing jeep |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
Eat before you go, and nap if you can. Keep your phone on for the go or no-go: the stargazing jeep messages at 18:30, and for the Super Jeep you call around 5pm. Plan nothing early the next morning. The nights planner shows how to fit a late hunt round day tours.
Door-to-door pickup between 21:00 and 21:30 in a modified super jeep of 14 at most, with a telescope and photos of you. Pick your night before you pay.
Check availabilityNext: Plan your evenings in the nights planner, or check the edges of the season in the first and last weeks. Every fare sits side by side on Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours.