Northern Lights via Iceland

[kcbmarek]

Hubby and I are considering a cruise to Iceland in 2019. One of his "bucket list" items is to see the Northern Lights. Will these be visible from ports in Iceland or should we focus more on going as far north in Norway as possible to see them.

 

Thanks for any insight ...

[ljandgb]

You need true dark, solar activity, and clear skies. You’d need to cruise to maximize the hours of darkness so as late into fall as possible, or to get even more hours of dark, take a land tour during the winter.

 

Either way, never hinge the success of your trip on seeing the NL’s. You can’t predict either the weather or solar activity accurately. Enjoy the trip regardless.

[cruisin2alaska]

Check out the Viking Northern Lights cruises

https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=7917

 

 

 

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[Nitemare]

Definitely depends on time of year. Most cruises there are in summer and lights can't be seen from May to late August. September is the 'sweet spot' when you still have decent weather plus a chance to see lights, but you'd need to be in a dark location (not on the boat!) to be able to get a sighting.

[kaisatsu]

Also note that if you're interested in photographing them, doing so from a ship is notoriously difficult given the movement. It's fine if you just want a souvenir photo, but even the pros have trouble getting good shots.

[cruisin2alaska]

Has anyone tried a video from the ship? I wonder if that would work differently / better?

 

 

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[Nitemare]

It won't work. So many lights on a ship and in the port area, you won't see the northern lights with all that interference unless it's a ridiculously strong showing

[mara93]

You must cruise some time other than summer, as well. There is barely any dark time during the summer months.

[libby10205]

It won't work. So many lights on a ship and in the port area, you won't see the northern lights with all that interference unless it's a ridiculously strong showing

we saw the Northern Lights twice from a ship. Once in Alaska and once moving from Iceland to Greenland.

[libby10205]

Hubby and I are considering a cruise to Iceland in 2019. One of his "bucket list" items is to see the Northern Lights. Will these be visible from ports in Iceland or should we focus more on going as far north in Norway as possible to see them.

 

Thanks for any insight ...

 

We will be sailing on IcelandPro's Ocean Diamond Sept 2019. I think we will be too early for the light show but October would be ideal.