Iceland Northern Lights?

[jessicasquared]

Hello friends! Our ship is doing an overnight in Reykjavik in September and I simply MUST find a way to see the northern lights. Does anyone know of a night tour or can recommend how I can go about doing this? Bonus points if you can also point me in the direction of a dog sledding or blue lagoon tour ❤️

[hallasm]

There are many who organize northern lights tours from Reykjavik - an example or This option.

September is a good month.  You just have to search on the internet - or joining the Roll Call for your cruise is also an option.
Several opportunities for dog sledding in Iceland (dogsledding.is) - again search internet or roll call

There are also several options for Blue Lagoon - you can book transport from Reykjavik on their website - also other options for transfer from Reykjavik - again, search on the internet.

You can also combine northern light tour with blue lagoon

Many options - enjoy Iceland.

Edited February 6, 2023 by hallasm

[Hezu]

And worth remembering that there is never absolute guarantee for seeing auroras. First, there has to be suitable space weather, which may not occur every night on the latitudes where Reykjavík is located, although it is sufficiently north that the phenomenon is still reasonably common. And if there is suitable disturbances in the magnetosphere that would allow auroras to occur, to actually see these, you need clear skies and given that Icelandic weather can be quite variable, there is fair chance that there is cloud cover that makes it impossible to see northern lights.

Also if you would like to do dog sledding on snow, I think September is too early for seeing snow, at least outside mountain tops and glaciers, but these are not locations where you do dog sledding.

[MissBreezy]

4 hours ago, Hezu said:

And worth remembering that there is never absolute guarantee for seeing auroras. First, there has to be suitable space weather, which may not occur every night on the latitudes where Reykjavík is located, although it is sufficiently north that the phenomenon is still reasonably common.

I'd also add to this, that even in September there will still be quite a bit of midnight sun left (it may not get dark enough at night for long enough to see them) I live in rural Northern Canada and our lighting conditions are very rarely right for aurora outside of the dead of winter, I maybe see them once a year 😬

[Hezu]

3 hours ago, MissBreezy said:

I'd also add to this, that even in September there will still be quite a bit of midnight sun left (it may not get dark enough at night for long enough to see them) I live in rural Northern Canada and our lighting conditions are very rarely right for aurora outside of the dead of winter, I maybe see them once a year 😬

Perhaps calling it midnight sun is bit of overkill, but yes, in September days are still fairly long and nights fairly short, so for seeing dark sky you have to be up fairly late in the evening/night to even have any chance to see auroras. Although the sunlight hours do diminish as the month progress: in Reykjavík on September 1st sunrise is at 6:13 and sunset at  20:25, on September 30th sunrise is at 7:22 and sunset at 18:57. And these times are not the times when the darkness fades or falls in, that happens already sometime before sunrise and after the actual sunset time.

[ljandgb]

Dog sledding is not really a cultural thing in Iceland.  It is offered for tourists but isn't a big thing.  NL are possible in September, but are not as likely as later in the winter just due to the length of darkness.

 

The BL can be done without a tour.  Just book a reservation on their website.  There is a bus that goes to/from Reykjavik - you can see the options by doing a dummy booking first.

 

If you do a tour for any of this, book directly with the provider, not thru Viator or another middle man.  Weather can impact tours even in September and it will be easier for the tour provider to contact you if you book direct.  Check over on the TripAdvisor forum for tour provider recommendations.

[Nitemare]

By mid September Northern Lights are possible.  But as mentioned above, no guarantees.  We spent 7 nights in Iceland in 2019 September with zero sightings.  Still had an amazing vacation with PACKED days.  We also had 5 nights in March a few years prior with no sightings.

All the tour agencies offer Lights tours.  Google to find one with a schedule you like.  Know in advance if you want a Big Bus or a minibus or a SuperJeep option

 

Dog Sledding is possible in Iceland, but it's not a native activity, just a tourist thing.   Not much snow in September, you will likely be on a glacier, so as much ice as snow

[Hezu]

As the previous posters note that dog sledding is not a native Icelandic activity, I remembered that there is another animal related transportation method that is far more Icelandic: riding Icelandic horses. I think there is quite many places where you could try this activity, although I cannot name any specific ones right now and I feel bit lazy to do a web search that probably would yield several options.