You can see the northern lights from Reykjavík on any night that is dark, clear and active at the same time. Darkness is the part you can plan for, and it rules out summer entirely. If you are timing a trip around Reykjavik Northern Lights reservation, plan for the dark months, then keep your nights flexible.
The Icelandic Met Office puts it in one line: the aurora "requires dark and partly clear skies". Activity is the third condition, and it is the one nobody can forecast weeks ahead.
NOAA and NASA declared the sun's solar maximum in October 2024. Nobody publishes a promise for this winter, so do not plan around one. Plan around the dark.
Each tour sets its own season. The earliest opens in mid-August and the latest closes at the end of April. Pickup times move with the dark, so your evening starts later at either end of the season.
| Tour | Its own calendar | Pickup or departure |
|---|---|---|
| Northern Lights Small-Group Tour with Hot Chocolate & Photos | 15 August to 18 April | From 21:30 until 30 September and from 1 April; from 20:30, 1 October to 31 March |
| Northern Lights Small-Group Tour with Photos, Snacks & Snowsuits | 1 September 2026 to 30 April 2027 | Evening pickup |
| Northern Lights and Stargazing Small-Group Tour with Local Guide | 1 September to 15 April | 21:00 to 21:30 |
| Private Northern Lights Tour from Reykjavik | 5 September 2026 to 4 April 2027 | Evening hotel pickup |
| Northern Lights Superjeep Tour from Reykjavik | Autumn to spring | Leaves at 20:00 or 21:00 |
The coach and boat hunts run on the days their operators schedule, and you see the available dates when you book. Whatever the calendar, a hunt only runs when the forecast gives it a chance.
The University of Iceland almanac gives the times for Reykjavík. "Full dark" here is the almanac's own measure: the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, when the sky is black. Each row is the date nearest the middle of the month.
| Date | Sunset | Full dark from | Full dark until | Full dark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 15 | 16:20 | 19:29 | 07:46 | about 12½ hours |
| February 12 | 17:51 | 20:35 | 06:50 | about 10 hours |
| March 12 | 19:19 | 22:04 | 05:14 | about 7 hours |
| April 16 | 21:04 | Never fully dark | — | None |
| May 14 | 22:34 | Never fully dark | — | None |
| June 18 | 00:03 | Never fully dark | — | None |
| July 16 | 23:23 | Never fully dark | — | None |
| August 13 | 21:52 | Never fully dark | — | None |
| September 17 | 19:48 | 22:48 | 03:52 | about 5 hours |
| October 15 | 18:09 | 20:48 | 05:37 | about 9 hours |
| November 12 | 16:37 | 19:31 | 06:52 | about 11½ hours |
| December 17 | 15:29 | 18:56 | 07:51 | about 13 hours |
From mid-April to the end of August the sky never goes fully dark. From late May to late July it does not even reach deep twilight. In December you get about 13 hours of full dark and in June none at all, which is why the season runs through the winter.
NOAA's advice is that the aurora is usually best within an hour or two of midnight. The Met Office forecasts activity for midnight too. In Reykjavík the sun is lowest about half a day after solar noon, which the almanac puts between 13:11 and 13:42, so the darkest moment is after midnight on the clock.
That is why the stated pickups run from 20:00 to 21:30 and bring you back late. The drive out takes time, and the best of the night starts as you arrive. If you want to stay out past the usual return, the Northern Lights Midnight Adventure Small-Group from Reykjavík and the other late departures are built for it.
Book your hunt for the first night of your stay that looks clear. If it fails, the free retry on most fares gives you another night, and that retry needs nights left to use. The same goes for a weather cancellation: the operator offers you another date, and you need to still be in Reykjavík.
Retries depend on free seats, so a stay of several nights gives the forecast more chances to line up with you.
Book the first clear one, then check what your fare gives you if the sky stays shut.
You have two kinds of aurora trip to choose from. In mid-winter you get the most dark: about 13 hours of full dark around 17 December, and the sky is black by 18:56. You pay for it in cold and in daylight, with about 4 hours of it at the solstice.
In the shoulder months you get milder nights and long days for everything else. Around mid-September full dark lasts about 5 hours, and around mid-March about 7 hours. The dark comes later, so your hunt runs later too. October is the wettest month in the normals, which means more cloud to beat.
Visit Reykjavík names three things that wash the aurora out: cloud cover, moonlight and the city's light. The moon is the one you can look up in advance. The Met Office's aurora page gives the moonrise for Reykjavík beside its forecast.
Twilight is the other limit. At the edges of the season, full dark comes late: on 17th September not until 22:48. A pickup at 21:30 is timed for that. In mid-winter the sky is dark by 18:56, and pickups move earlier.
The darkness times are the University of Iceland almanac's Reykjavík table, which moves by about a minute from one year to the next. The forecast details are the Met Office's, and the best hours NOAA's. Each tour's calendar is its own, saved on 23 September 2026. The rest is read 23 September 2026.
Four hours in a minibus of 19 at most, with hot chocolate, Icelandic pastries and woollen blankets; photos if conditions allow, and a free second try subject to availability.
From $166 per person
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Three to five hours in a modified super jeep of 14 at most, with a stargazing telescope, homemade hot chocolate, photos of you, and unlimited retries within two years.
From $221 per person
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Three hours with a local guide for your own party, collected at your hotel; at least two adults, marked wheelchair accessible, and no free retry stated.
From $260 per person (minimum 2)
Check AvailabilityNext: see the weather month by month, learn how to read the forecast on the day, or compare every fare on Reykjavik Northern Lights Tours.