Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours
Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours › Pickup PointsUpdated 2026-09-23

Reykjavik Northern Lights Tour Pickup Points

Hours, prices and access verified by the Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours team — last checked 2026-09-23.

Your aurora night starts in one of three places: your hotel door, a numbered tour bus stop, or a quay at the Old Harbour. Knowing which, and where it is, is the simplest way to avoid missing a hunt. If you have booked Reykjavik Northern Lights ticket prices, find your stop here before the evening.

Three ways a night starts

Your hotel door
Most small groups, jeeps and private hunts collect you from your hotel if it sits outside the restricted centre.
A numbered bus stop
Hotels in downtown 101 are collected from the nearest numbered tour bus stop. You are told which one in the reminder.
A meeting point you walk to
The big coaches meet at Bus Stop 12 or Bus Stop 5 for free, and the boats board at the Old Harbour.

Your confirmation says which applies to you. On the big coaches the fare with a free meeting point costs less than the one with a pickup, so you choose between the walk and the door.

The numbered tour bus stops

The centre of Reykjavík has a set of numbered stops for tour buses and airport transfers. Tour buses may not stop at hotels in parts of downtown, so these stops stand in for the door. These are the ones the aurora tours use:

StopWhere it is
#1 RáðhúsiðCity Hall, Vonarstræti
#2 TjörninThe pond, on Lækjargata
#3 LækjargataLækjargata 4
#4 MiðbakkiThe harbour front
#5 HarpaBy the concert hall, Faxagata
#6 SafnahúsiðThe Culture House, Ingólfsstræti 1
#8 HallgrímskirkjaHallgrímstorg 1
#9 SnorrabrautSnorrabraut 24
#12 HöfðatorgÞórunnartún 6
#13 RauðarárstígurLaugavegur 120
#14 SkúlagataKlapparstígur 5
#15 VesturbugtGrandagarður 8

Walk to your stop once in daylight, so you can find it in the dark. The reminder you get before the night names the stop, and it is within walking distance of your hotel.

Höfðatorg and Harpa: the coach stops

The big coaches do not collect from the door unless you pay for their pickup grade. Instead you walk to one of two stops:

The small-group hunt that swaps you onto a big bus for its retry starts from Þórunnartún 1, by the same stop. On the Golden Circle days, allow 30 minutes for collection.

If your fare includes a pickup, you do not need either stop: the bus comes to your hotel or to the numbered stop nearest it. If it does not, you walk. Höfðatorg is east of the old centre and Harpa is on the harbour front, so pick the one closer to your room.

The Old Harbour quays

The boats have no pickup. You make your own way to the Old Harbour and board there.

Both quays are a short walk from the centre. Leave time to find the right door in the dark, because the boats sail on schedule.

Pickup windows and waiting

Pickup starts about 30 minutes before the tour. The bus works through its list of hotels and stops in that window, so yours may come early or late in it. Be ready at the start.

TourWhen the evening starts
Northern Lights Small-Group Tour with Hot Chocolate & PhotosFrom 20:30, October to March; from 21:30 at either end of the season
Northern Lights and Stargazing Small-Group Tour with Local Guide21:00 to 21:30 at your door
Northern Lights Superjeep Tour from ReykjavikLeaves at 20:00 or 21:00
Northern Lights Midnight Adventure Small-Group from ReykjavíkA late start, pickup 30 minutes before

Wait outside at a stop, or in the lobby at a hotel pickup with an eye on the street. Several tours collect in the same window, so check the name on the bus before you board.

Know where your night starts?

Compare hunts that collect from your door with the coaches that meet at a stop.

See the northern lights toursCompare every tour

Getting back at the end of the night

You come back to where you started. The coach hunt and the late small group both end at the meeting point, and a hotel pickup drops you at the same door or stop. On a late hunt that means a walk from the stop after midnight, so know the way back to your room.

The return time moves with the sky. A good night keeps you out longer, and a hunt that drives far to find clear sky comes back late. Do not plan anything early the next morning.

If your hotel is not on the list

Each tour publishes its own list of pickup hotels and stops. If yours is not on it, you are collected from the nearest numbered stop instead. Check this when you book, not on the night.

If you are staying outside the capital area, most hunts will not collect you at all. You would need to reach a stop in Reykjavík, or book a private hunt and ask first.

Asked about pickup

Where does my northern lights tour pick me up?
At your hotel door, at a numbered tour bus stop near it, or, for the boats, nowhere: you walk to the harbour. Your confirmation or the reminder tells you which.
Where is Bus Stop 12?
At Höfðatorg on Þórunnartún, the meeting point for the big coach hunts. Some coaches also use Bus Stop 5 at Harpa.
Why can't the bus come to my hotel?
Tour buses may not drive or stop in parts of downtown Reykjavík. Hotels there use the nearest numbered stop instead, within walking distance.
How early should I be at the stop?
Pickup starts about 30 minutes before the tour, so be at the stop, dressed for the cold, when the window opens. The bus will not wait long for you.
What if the bus is late?
Pickups roll through the window, so the bus may reach you near its end. Wait at the stop until the window has passed, then call the number on your confirmation.
Where do the northern lights boats leave from?
The Old Harbour, and you make your own way there. The larger boat sails from its ticket office at Ægisgarður 5c, where you arrive 15 minutes early. The smaller one leaves from Old Harbour House at Ægisgarður 2, where you arrive 30 minutes early.

Where these facts come from

The stops, their streets, the meeting points and the arrival times come from the tours' own pickup details, saved on 23 September 2026. Harpa's address is its own, read 23 September 2026.

Tours that start at a numbered stop

Next: see which areas get a door pickup, read what the fare includes, or compare every fare on Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours.