The best time to see the Northern Lights in Iceland is said to be between the months of September to April, even though they actually occur year round it’s best seen when it is really dark and clear. Our time in Iceland was from the end of August to the first week of September, so we weren’t sure if we would be able to see it. The first couple days into our road trip, we heard from the locals that if the weather cleared we had a good chance to spot the aurora. Luckily for us, we spotted this beautiful sea of green within the skies. While you can book a tour to find these – no tour can guarantee you’ll find them, so here are some helpful tips.
- Drive out to a dark area – We drove out and found a dark spot in the middle of a National Park. When the Aurora activity is high you should be able to view them from the city, but your best bet is find where it’s dark!
- Check the weather daily – there are lots of apps you can download to track the aurora.
- Wait and be patient – If the reports are promising and the skies are clear but not yet visible, set an alarm in the middle of the night and check again!
- Sometimes the activity is low so it’s hard to see with the naked eye. Set your camera to have a long shutter and see if anything shows up!
DAY 05 // Vatnajökull National Park is home to the largest glacier mass in Europe. Despite being a large glacier mass, the landscape in the park is diverse due to volcanic activity. From the park headquarters you can book many different tours, which I recommend pre-booking. We didn’t book in advance, so we missed our opportunity for the day. We didn’t want to spend an extra day so we ventured off to a self-guided excursion instead. We hiked to Svartifoss, a waterfall inside the park surrounded by dark lava columns. There are plenty of signs from the entrance to guide tourists. The hike was easy and takes about two hours, round trip.
If you drive east from the park entrance you’ll come upon a road that takes you down to Svinafellsjokull. This spot was simply stunning. You can walk along the edge of the mountain and discover where the glacier and mountain ties together. Even though the water was visibly muddy and aged glaciers covered in grime, I still found this park lovely. You could actually watch the glacier melt away. Next time I’d definitely book a tour to hike on this glacier – it was simply stunning
