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Chase the Aurora, Iceland · Iceland
Look up, the sky is putting on a show
1 / 12 · TTstudio
Look up, the sky is putting on a show
Chase the Aurora, Iceland · Iceland
Aurora Ice Wild
Ready to make it real?
Book it yourself on the next step, or let a GoSmart specialist plan it with you.
Find things to do in Iceland Talk to a specialistWhy you’ll love it
Green fire over black sand. Waterfalls by day, the aurora by night. A GoSmart specialist tailors the route, the stays, and the pace to you.
Why it works
You step out into the cold, look up, and a green ribbon is rippling silently across the whole sky, brightening and folding as you stand there with your mouth open. Chasing the aurora is part patience, part luck, and entirely worth the late nights.
Worth knowing
The northern lights need darkness and clear skies, so the season is roughly September to March, when the nights are long. They are never guaranteed, so give yourself several nights and chase the clear sky, since a cloudy forecast one place can be starry an hour's drive away.
Get away from town lights and let your eyes adjust for twenty minutes, and download an aurora and cloud forecast to plan the night. A tripod turns a faint smudge into the photo you are hoping for.
Winter Iceland is dark, icy, and gorgeous, with the Ring Road often the plan by day and aurora-hunting by night. If you are planning to drive outside Reykjavik in winter, rent a vehicle suited to icy conditions, keep an eye on the road reports, and build the itinerary around flexible nights rather than a fixed schedule.