Northern Lights From the City

Yes, you can see the northern lights from Reykjavík. On a clear, dark night with good activity, they can appear right over the city, even above the streetlights of Laugavegur. You will see them better if you walk a little way out of the brightest part of the centre, to the shore, a hill or a park. You do not need a tour to see them, though it helps to know where and when to look.

When is the season

The northern lights are always there, but you can only see them when the sky is dark. In Iceland that means roughly from late August to mid-April. The darkest months, November to February, give you the most hours to look. The weeks around the equinoxes, in September and March, are often good too.

What you need

Three things: darkness, clear skies and solar activity.

Darkness is the easiest. From October onwards there are many hours of it.

Clear skies are the hardest. Reykjavík weather is changeable and cloud is often the problem. The Icelandic Met Office, vedur.is, publishes an aurora forecast that shows both expected activity and cloud cover across the country. The cloud map is the part to watch.

Solar activity is measured on a scale called Kp. Even modest numbers can give a good show in Iceland, because the country sits so close to the auroral zone.

Where to look in Reykjavík

Grótta, the small lighthouse island at the tip of Seltjarnarnes, is the classic spot. It sits at the western edge of the city, with the sea on three sides and very little light pollution. It is about a ten minute drive or a long, pleasant walk along the coast from the centre.

The shore path between Harpa and Sólfar, the Sun Voyager sculpture, faces north across the bay. It is a short walk from Laugavegur, and on a strong night it is enough.

Öskjuhlíð, the wooded hill around Perlan, is darker than the centre and close by.

Klambratún park, near Kjarvalsstaðir, is a good open space if you want to stay close to home.

What to expect

The northern lights rarely look like the photographs at first. Often they begin as a pale grey-green band across the sky that could be mistaken for cloud. Cameras see more colour than eyes do. Then, on a good night, they brighten, move and ripple, and sometimes spread across the whole sky for a few minutes before fading again.

Patience matters. The best displays often come in bursts, with long quiet gaps in between. Many good nights peak between ten at night and two in the morning.

How to watch

Dress warmly, more warmly than you think. Standing still in the cold is very different from walking. Bring a hat, gloves and something hot to drink.

Give your eyes time to adjust to the dark and put your phone screen away. Most modern phones can take surprisingly good photographs using night mode. Lean on something to keep it still.

Tours or on your own

Tours drive out of the city to wherever the sky is clearest that night, which improves your chances. They are worth considering if the city is cloudy or if you want someone else to do the looking. On a clear night with good activity, though, walking down to the shore is just as good, and there is something special about seeing the lights over the rooftops of the town.

A quiet suggestion

Do not organise your entire trip around the northern lights. They may appear on your first night or not at all. Come for the city, the pools, the food and the light of the short days, and treat the aurora as a gift if it comes.

The shore, and the lights above it, are a short walk from our houses. You can find them at themuse.is.