Northern Lights
Super Jeep Evening Tour from Reykjavik
The Northern Lights exist in the outmost layer of the atmosphere. They are created by electrically charged particles that make the thin air shine, not unlike a fluorescent light. They can be seen in aurora belts that forms 20-25 degrees around the geomagnetic poles, both the north and the south. The Northern Lights are also called Aurora Borealis. Named after the Roman Goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas. They are one of the most spectacular shows on this earth and can frequently be seen in Iceland from September through March on clear and crisp nights.
Note: This tour is very dependant upon weather.
Every day we check the cloud cover forecast to estimate if there is a chance to see the Northern Lights that particular evening. There is no fixed itinerary. What decides where we go is the cloud cover and darkness; we need clear skies and as much darkness as possible.
If weather allows, we head out early evening, away from the glow of the city, following the best weather and hunt for the elusive Northern Lights. If the weather is not favorable for aurora viewing, we postpone to the next night – and so forth. If we go and you don’t see the auroras, you get a free tour the next night. We there recommend you book the tour for your first night in Reykjavik so you have the other nights as back up.
Please note that the Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon and sightings can never be guaranteed.
The only thing on the agenda is to try to see the Northern Lights / Aurora Borealis.
A: There is no fixed route, we head out of the city, away from the lights and where there are no clouds to block the view.
Q: When do you decide if it’s a go or no go?
A: Usually between 5 and 6 pm on the same day – but if the weather forecast is either very good or very bad, we might make the decision sooner. The Northern Lights tours are very dependent upon weather; we need a clear sky or at least a break in the cloud cover as the auroras are in the outer layer of the atmosphere.
Q: What happens if we don’t see the Northern Lights?
A: Then you get a free tour the next night or the next – if the weather is clear.
However note there is no refund as this is a tour to attempt to see the auroras. The northern lights are a natural phenomenon and sightings can never be guaranteed.
Q: What happens if the tour gets cancelled all of our nights due to weather and we never go at all.
A: Then you get a full refund.
“Super Jeep is the way to travel Iceland !!!”
Excellent experience all around, we received an amazing tour of some of the countries key sites (to include the Northern Lights). The Super Jeep does make a big difference when it came to traveling to some of the tough to reach spots and was great because there weren’t a bus load of people to take away from the experience. I will recommend Iceland and Nature Explorer Tours to all my friends.
– Reviewed on Tripadvisor December 5, 2014 by CLC226, NY
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We used Nature Explorers for 3 full days of private touring for our 15th anniversary (1 day on South Coast; 1 day @ Golden Circle; 1 day more West) – every day perfect. After 3 such good days we also added a northern lights chase on our last night with success! Our driver for all was “AJ”, who was amazing. Very pleasant to spend so many days with; very laid back and prepped for weather-caused schedule changes – extremely knowledgeable and informative of everything we saw. First and foremost, the benefits of a “Superjeep” truly are that you can go places that people driving themselves can’t go, and it’s so nice to have someone handle it for you vs. fumbling around with your own directions. AJ drove us down moonscapes to glaciers and lava tubes and onto the actual glacier for a snowmobile tour, and plenty of normal roads – with front door service at every stop. But doing it on a private tour was even better, because we had complete control of our schedule and it made it much more personal. It seemed a lot of the other “Superjeep” tours were less personal and more mixed groups. AJ was extremely knowledgeable about every site along the way, big or small, and about current events and the history of Iceland. We felt truly friends with AJ by the end of our stay. On our last night there were slim chances of seeing the Northern Lights which we hadn’t yet seen and so we canceled a nice dinner and chased the lights with AJ, who joined up with another Nature Explorer superjeep… Because AJ knew that it was our 15th anniversary, he even added some personal touches on his own initiative that made it that much more special. AJ teamed up with the other Nature Explorers driver and they expertly found the lights, which was a true bucket list experience for us… all the more rewarding because when we were driving back to our hotel late that evening we found multiple less personal superjeep companies who had tried and failed the same evening. You could see the passion in AJ and his fellow Nature Explorers drive even though they have done it 100’s of times. We will go back and definitely use Nature Explorers and hopefully AJ again. And if you can, book it direct… we stupidly booked through a travel agent, but they are perfectly easy to deal with directly and cut out the middle man.
RickStevesJunior, Austin, Texas
(15 contributions on Tripadvisor)
Written December 11, 2019
There is no route map for this tour as we will just focus on finding clear skies for optimal viewing of the auroras based on the weather on that particular evening.
Tour details
Available: Every day.
Duration: 8 – 10 hours.
Departures: 9 am or at your request.
Free hotel pick up in Reykjavik.
Not included: Lunch and refreshments.
ISK 239900 per Super-Jeep
ISK 329900 per XL Super-Truck
Photos of
Northern Lights
