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Northern Lights Holidays to Iceland

While waiting for the Northern Lights to potentially paint the sky for you in the evening, during the day, you will find yourself surrounded by Iceland’s otherworldly landscapes—majestic waterfalls like the powerful Gullfoss, the contrasting black sand beaches of Vik, geothermal wonders like the Blue Lagoon, and rugged volcanic terrains.

We have a number of self-drive tours, private tours, and escorted tours to take advantage of when visiting Iceland—and you can always combine it with multiple countries to make your journey specifically epic

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Our starter range of Classic Iceland Breaks are for first timers and include some of the “Must do” activities such as the Golden Circle. On the Golden Circle whether you are self-driving explorers or go on a superjeep tour you will witness the Strokkur Geyser, which erupts every 5 mins, the spellbinding Thingvellir mini rift valley where the Vikings set up their first parliament in the heart of the Rift and where any witches were drowned and the impressive Gullfoss Waterfall which sometimes can even freeze in the winter. We specialise in including some incredible superjeep tours on all of our Northern Lights Trips which get you off the main tourist route to explore more of Iceland’s volcanic wonders and true wilderness so you see more than what is offered on the bulk of tours.

Our Iconic Northern Lights Break in Iceland is a popular break with first timers to Iceland.

For those looking to explore further afield on an inspiring longer aurora trip then we would recommend combining a visit to the South of Iceland with the North of Iceland or with Sweden or Norway so you can experience more variety of landscapes and activities.

In the North of Iceland there is the most extraordinary superjeep experience to the Askja Volcano across Volcanic lava fields, Ash deserts and pumice fields to a geothermal caldera that you can swim in!. Who doesn’t want the story to tell their grandchildren that they swam in a volcano?! Askja is truly in the middle of nowhere and you have an excellent chance of seeing the Northern Lights as you travel back across the mesmerising Highland plains. However due its isolated location you would only be able to access this in the autumn (and in the summer), as thick snow will still be lying on the ground even in May.

A recommended activity when visiting the North of Iceland is to visit the warm geothermal Myvatn Baths and you even have a chance of swimming with the Northern Lights dancing overhead if you time it right. The beauty of Myvatn Baths is that it is much quieter than the Blue Lagoon in the South of Iceland so it is possible to be more spontaneous and visit when it suits your itinerary and the forecast.

When travelling with us in the North of Iceland we also include other superjeep tours so you can also explore the bizarre lava shapes of Dimmuborgir, Europe’s most powerful waterfall Dettifoss as well as the bubbling pools of Hverir. If travelling in early autumn you can self-drive many of these areas, but we would not recommend self-driving a visit to Askja, in the heart of the Highlands at any time of the year, including the autumn. In autumn we would recommend the Iceland Autumn Aurora Indulgence break which combines self-driving with a Superjeep tour to Askja and a Superjeep Northern Lights Hunt.

In winter the Ultimate North and South Iceland Encounter is an incredible break sharing with you the very best that Iceland has to offer with adventure tours and transfers throughout. It is a more expensive option as a result but very popular with those that don’t want to self-drive, who have a bit longer and want to see as much as possible of Iceland’s amazing and dramatic scenery.

We know of course that for many it’s all about seeing the Northern Lights and we would recommend you include one of the Northern Lights Superjeep tours that we offer in both North and South Iceland. Never fixed to one area, the guides will use their local knowledge as well as current forecast to try and track the Northern Lights down. Sometimes it feels like they are wizards as they get you to the perfect spot cloud-free to watch them whilst the clouds hide them only a mile away. There are mini microclimates with holes in the clouds so trust the Northern Lights guides-they know what they are doing! They will also try to choose locations with stunning foreground to complement the Northern Lights Display. Myvatn lake or a river crossing in the North of Iceland are popular spots, whilst waterfalls and the black volcanic beaches in the South are often chosen. It of course all depends on the Aurora Forecast that particular night.

Snowmobiling and Husky Sledding is available in the heart of the winter in the North of Iceland, whilst snowmobiling is available year round on the glaciers in the south. A surreal experience is snowmobiling with the Ocean beneath you, whilst in North Iceland it is possible to snowmobile and Husky Sled across the vast frozen lake of Myvatn! The Iceland Husky Sledding Aurora Adventure will give you a really good feel for how a Northern Lights break in the North of Iceland would look, but we are always able to tailor a break specific to you.

The local Iceland guides we work with are second to none with their passion, enthusiasm and ability to take you in their superjeeps to remote and beautiful places. For example we will take you up Eyjafjallajokull volcano (the one that erupted in 2010 and shut down the airlines) for incredible views across the Atlantic one way and the surrounding Glaciers the other. We will even take you up Eyjafjallajokull volcano at night so you can experience the Northern Lights “up close” feeling as if you can touch the Auroras! (Obviously the Auroras are not really that close but it will feel like it!)

If you want to feel like you are visiting Mordur, from Lord of the Rings, then a Porsmork Superjeep tour is a must. By the way when we say Superjeeps imagine a child’s toy with huge outsized tyres and you will have a pretty good picture in your mind of what it will be like. How much fun is that?!

For many combining these amazing superjeep tours with a stay in a private wilderness cabin exclusively to yourselves is the perfect break and our Northern Lights Wilderness Iceland Escape is the perfect solution.

If self-driving at any time of our year all of our breaks include a 4 Wheel Drive car. We also recommend when and where to go, and when it is better to have a fully guided break instead as the weather can get too severe in certain parts. Generally speaking North Iceland has more severe arctic conditions than in the South.

We also have created a select choice of Exclusive Iceland breaks that we can craft for you offering the opportunity to combine private accommodation in your own private cabin as well as the opportunity to upgrade to your own private guide with transfers and superjeep tours throughout. Everything we do is tailored to you but to give you a feel for how the itinerary could flow see our Iceland Aurora Mecca Break. These exclusive breaks are popular with those celebrating a special occasion such as an anniversary, birthday or even planning a proposal or honeymoon.

We are not trying to confuse you but we do have a range of Midnight Sun Holidays in Iceland where you are guaranteed NOT to see the Northern Lights but instead you will see the other Arctic Wonder the Midnight sun!

We offer a select range of incredible breaks to Iceland and Greenland under the 24hr sun in the summer. We just couldn’t resist offering this contrasting choice and a trip to Greenland to see calving glaciers and icebergs up close, which for many is the trip of a lifetime and bucket list experience. Take a boat out to Disko bay and watch fluking whales in front of icebergs under the pink glow of the midnight sunset at 11 o clock at night.

Greenland’s Icebergs under the midnight sun is a surreal, breathtaking beautiful break where you get to really experience wilderness whilst staying in the most northerly 4 star hotel on the planet. If you are in for a penny go in for a pound and combine with Iceland on the Greenland and Iceland Midnight Sun Wilderness Break

For those who don’t want to go all the way to Greenland but are still looking for a longer journey under the midnight sun then our Midnight Sun breaks In the Footsteps of the Astronauts and Iceland Whale and Volcano Extravaganza share the most spectacular scenery in Iceland as well as take you to where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin trained for their Moon landing as it was thought it was the most similar place on the planet. When you go you will understand why!

So now we have tempted you take a look at our full range of Iceland breaks to see which the perfect one for you is!

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We are experts in providing once in a lifetime northern lights holidays to Swedish Lapland, Iceland, Norway and Finland.