Reykjavik Northern Lights jeep tours hunt the lights in a 4x4 or a super jeep instead of a coach, with fewer seats and more kit. The shared jeeps cost $174 to $244 a person, and every one of them carries photos and a free retry.
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.
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.
Lifetime free re-booking if the lights stay away, in a 4x4 minibus of 16 at most with Wi-Fi, hand warmers, pastries and cocoa, and photos taken by the guide. From age 8.
From $174 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your own 4x4 with a guide fluent in English and Spanish, collected at your door. Hot chocolate, Icelandic pastries, hand warmers and Wi-Fi come with it; the fare is per person, and no retry is stated.
From $649 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Sixteen seats at most, hand warmers, pastries and cocoa, photos by the guide, and free re-booking for life if the lights stay away, from $174. Pick your night before you pay.
Check availabilityA jeep hunt is a night out in a four-wheel-drive vehicle instead of a coach or a plain minibus. The 4x4 minibus carries 16 at most. The modified super jeep carries 14 and brings a telescope. The Super Jeep, with its 8pm and 9pm starts, is shared between several parties. The private 4x4 carries only your group.
The job is the same as on any hunt. Your guide reads the cloud map and the activity forecast, then drives out of the city light to where the sky is clearing. A jeep cannot make the sky clear. What it changes is the ride, the size of the group and what comes with the fare. The visitor guide explains what each fare covers.
The 4x4 minibus re-books you free for life if the lights stay away. The stargazing super jeep lets you retry as often as you need within two years. The Super Jeep rebooks you on another evening once. You will not find a shared jeep with no retry stated.
The guide takes photos on the 4x4 minibus, photos of you under the lights come with the stargazing jeep, and the Super Jeep includes free photos from the tour.
The stated caps are 14 and 16, against 57 to 65 on a coach. You step off with a group that fits round one guide, and the stargazing jeep runs at one guide to ten guests.
The stargazing super jeep brings a telescope and a guide to the stars. The 4x4 minibus hands out hand warmers. Both bring hot chocolate and Icelandic pastry.
A small-group minibus does much of what a jeep does, for less. Here is what the extra money buys.
| Shared jeep | Minibus small group | |
|---|---|---|
| Fares | $174 to $244 | $114 to $212 |
| Group, where stated | 14 to 16 | 18 to 28 |
| If you see nothing | One, lifetime or unlimited | None stated up to unlimited |
| Photos | Included on all | Included on most |
| Hot chocolate | On two of them | On most |
| Youngest | 5 to 10 | 5 to 13 |
If a jeep is more than you need, compare the northern lights tour Reykjavik small group options, where the minibuses sit.
On the shared jeeps you get a guide, pickup from your hotel, photos and a free retry. The 4x4 minibus adds hand warmers, pastries and cocoa, and runs some departures in English and Spanish. The stargazing jeep adds the telescope, homemade hot chocolate and door-to-door pickup in central Reykjavík. The Super Jeep adds local taxes and national park fees to the fare.
You do not get food or drinks on the Super Jeep, and it does not collect outside the Reykjavík area. It is not a jeep to yourself: several parties share it. Alcohol is excluded on the 4x4 minibus. And none of them can promise the lights; the retry is what you are buying for a cloudy night.
| What to expect | |
|---|---|
| Fares | $174 to $244 shared; $649 a person private |
| Length | About 4 hours; 3 to 5 on the stargazing jeep |
| Starts | 8pm or 9pm on the Super Jeep; 21:00 to 21:30 on the stargazing jeep |
| Youngest | 5 on the Super Jeep, 8 on the 4x4 minibus, 10 on the stargazing jeep |
| On the day | A go or no-go at 18:30, or a call around 5pm |
| Cancellation | Free up to 24 hours ahead |
Book your first evening and keep your phone on. The stargazing jeep sends its go or no-go at 18:30. For the Super Jeep, you call +354 569 8000 around 5pm on the day, and it runs in all weather. The Super Jeep hunt has its own page with the full details, and the season guide shows when the jeeps' calendars run.
Fourteen seats at most, a telescope, homemade hot chocolate, photos of you, and unlimited retries within two years. Pickups between 21:00 and 21:30; pick your night before you pay.
Check availabilityNext: Set the jeep against the other formats in the best tour for your trip, or price it in what each fare buys. Every fare sits side by side on Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours.