These popular bespoke breaks are perfect for those looking for a short break away to see the Northern Lights, and experience Iceland’s stunning volcanic highlights.
Classic Short Breaks in Iceland
Staying in some of the best places to see Aurora in Iceland you have the chance to self explore, as well as taking exciting super-jeep adventure tours to take you off the trodden path to some of the most dramatic and beautiful places in Iceland.
Stay in luxurious rural hotels, or celebrate a special occasion in your own private boutique wilderness cabin, with the Northern Lights dancing right outside your front door!
Explore our trips
Useful information
Our Classic range of breaks to Iceland are tried and tested Northern Lights Trips that we have been offering for 15 years. Over the years we have tweaked and crafted these breaks and truly believe they offer the very best opportunity to see the Northern Lights and experience the very best of Iceland.
We work with local small family run companies that care about your Northern Lights Trip and go out of their way to go above and beyond. Having built such a great relationship with them we are able to develop exclusive activities for Aurora Nights clients.
Our Northern Lights & Bonfire Trip is one of these where the guide will take you out to hunt down the Auroras. The guides have their favourite spots, one of them being near Porsmork. Surrounded by 3 Glaciers the dry air they create clears the skies which is what you need to see the Northern Lights. Often you will come back from a Northern Lights Tour in this remote region having had a marvellous display and then drive back into cloud with no possibility of seeing the Northern Lights.
We choose lodges and hotels situated in good areas for seeing the Northern Lights with Hotel Ranga in South West Iceland the most renown. They track Aurora sightings from the lodge and on any 3 nights stay you have about a 70% chance of seeing the Northern Lights. We think that is pretty good! Along with this enviable reputation for seeing the Aurora’s we can personally vouch for a very special experience sitting in one of their hot tubs, with a glass of wine, watching the Northern Lights dancing overhead. Don’t let the cold air put you off going into a hot tub as there is something pretty special about being toasty warm inside the hot tub as you watch the Auroras on a cold Arctic night.
For those who are not tempted by the hot tubs there is a superb observatory that Hotel Ranga has built a little way from the hotel. On clear nights an astrology expert will be on hand to show you how to use the highly sophisticated computerised telescopes, (and for those lucky enough to have the right type of camera hook up their camera to the telescope to take photos of the planets and Northern Lights in great detail) The Iconic Northern Lights Break is particularly popular for those wishing to stay at Hotel Ranga
In many of our choice accommodation we have an Aurora wake up call system in place so you don’t have to worry about going to sleep and missing the Northern Lights display! This is something that Hotel Ranga pioneered as they are so determined that your Aurora Trip lives up to your expectation.
For those celebrating a special occasion the Northern Lights Wilderness Iceland Escape is a wonderful break as you have your own private wilderness cabin. For many having this private space makes it the perfect location to propose, celebrate a big anniversary or birthday, or to take the family. There is a choice of 2 cabins and your food ingredients are pre bought and await your arrival in the cabin saving you precious time on not having to go shopping on your Northern Lights Trip. The first night the guide will cook for you, (we highly recommend his lamb sourced from a family farm- you don’t get more organic than in Iceland!), but of course vegetarian options are available. For those not wishing to cook on the other two nights there is the option to upgrade to eat at two local hotels, both of which offer excellent quality using locally sourced fresh ingredients. It may surprise many that the food in Iceland is superb, majoring on lamb and seafood and often presented in creative and delightful ways.
On these Classic Northern Lights Holidays Superjeep tours will take you off the tourist trail to visit stunning volcanic wonders away from the others. Glaciers, Geysers, Waterfalls, Volcanoes are all within reach on these tours and we balance our breaks so that you have time to self-explore the areas of Iceland that are easily accessible, and then invest instead in the superjeep tours to truly give you that wilderness adventure which you would not be able to reach yourself. It is a winning combination that has worked well for 15 years, but of course we can offer transfers and extra superjeep tours for those of you who don’t want to self-drive and who have a larger budget for your Northern Lights Trip. The beauty of what we do is that we can tailor your Northern Lights trip for you.
The Geothermal Blue Lagoon is considered a “must stop” for those visiting Iceland with its bright blue silica enriched waters. With in-water Massages, Spa treatments, Saunas and warm waterfalls what is there not to love? Increasingly people are looking to not just visit the Blue Lagoon but stay as well, relax and enjoy the peaceful surroundings. The Blue Lagoon Northern Lights Escape and the Northern Lights Paradise breaks are worth considering if that is of interest.
For those short of time Reykjavik is a good base and a great option for Whale Watching. Our Iceland Northern Lights and Whales Explorer is particularly popular as it combines hunting for the Northern Lights both by sea and superjeep, with whale watching and a superjeep to explore the Golden Circle.
For those looking to go Glacier snowmobiling then the Reykjavik Aurora Short Break should be top of your list.
Our Iceland New Year break books up fast and offers the contrast of the high energy celebration of Reykjavik’s stupendous fireworks with a 2 night stay in a rural retreat in the heart of what we call “Northern Lights Alley”. Having said that many of our clients have even been lucky enough to see the Northern Lights as well as the fireworks from the New Year’s Eve firework cruise we include on our Iceland New Year’s Eve Northern Lights Classic Break
Our Icelandic Aurora over the Golden Circle and the Fire and Ice Northern Lights Trip are the best value Iceland Northern Lights breaks and in include some dinners so it is easier for clients to estimate the total cost of their Aurora Holiday.
The Icelandic Aurora over the Golden Circle break is based in a super family run Hotel located on a working traditional family farm of around 300 hectares far away from artificial lights and therefore a great location for viewing the Northern Lights.
On the Fire and Ice Northern Lights Trip you will spend 2 nights at Hotel Ranga- celebrated for its high incidence of Aurora sightings, and have the option of choosing between a superjeep adventures or an exploration to a Secret Ice Cave.
See what our clients say
We had the most fabulous time and everything worked like clockwork. The guides were extremely knowledgeable and extremely competent. The food was excellent and the experiences, especially Husky Homes, were brilliant. We saw the aurora lights at the mountain top in Abisko where the photography tour will be an enduring memory of a wonderful time. I would very much recommend Weekend a la Carte as a proficient tour operator.
We did the aurora nights break and had a great time overall. Everything related to flights, hire car, and hotels ran smoothly. There were a few issues largely relating to the weather and driving conditions (we travelled in mid March), but what we did manage to do was amazing.
The blue lagoon was easy to access from the airport and was a brilliant experience. We booked the standard package and it came with a free drink and face mask. Facilities were clean and organised with free toiletries in the shower rooms, which helps if you’ve gone there straight from the airport.
The drive to Hotel Ranga afterwards was long but fine (check out the road on google streetview to know what to expect). The hotel and staff were great. We were limited to one option as vegetarians on the bar and a la carte menus, but the food was lovely and if you are a meat eater you will see options of unusual dishes like puffin and reindeer.
Our northern lights super jeep trip was cancelled on both nights due to a poor forecast, but we were lucky enough to get an aurora wake up call from Hotel Ranga the first night. We couldn’t use the hottubs as there are only a few and they were always taken in the limited time we spent at the hotel, so don’t go expecting to get lots of time in one and you won’t be disappointed. View them as an add on if you can time it right. We were travelling with an 11 year old, so we didn’t stay up really late. If you are a couple you probably have a better chance of getting one later on.
The glacier/volcano super jeep trip was outstanding. Our driver, Íbí was excellent. She went above and beyond and gave us such an awesome experience. We were also super lucky with the weather the first two days and had great views across Iceland.
The ice cave tour was also incredible and the guides running it were excellent. The group size was much bigger than expected (especially after the more exclusive volcano super jeep tour), but it was broken down into smaller groups that were managed well, with plenty of time factored in for photographs. There were several unexplained delays getting to the cave during the tour that meant we weren’t able to ‘mini tour’ the rest of the South Coast afterwards, so if you plan to do the ice cave don’t overplan for the afternoon as you may not have much time. Not a huge disappointment for us as we got to experience the cave, but I imagine someone who planned a full itinerary afterwards might be frustrated by the estamiated timings not always being right and subject to change with the weather (which was wicked that day).
Driving around Reykjavik was a horrible experience as we arrived around rush hour and weren’t prepared for all the traffic, having only experienced quiet roads along the south coast. It was difficult finding a parking space, so be prepared to drive around a little when you arrive. If you haven’t driven on the right before and are not a confident driver this could leave you feeling stressed. Again, check out the roads into Reykjavik on Google maps to get a sense of what awaits if you aren’t used to self-driving.
We didn’t get to tour the golden circle because of road conditions/ice/road closures, so we spent the day in Reykjavik instead. This turned out okay for us as we did some of the attractions (Lava Centre and Fly Over Iceland – both hughly recommended), but it ended up being an extra expense and we missed out on the golden attractions. Again, not a big issue if you are aware this could happen. The weather is so changeable that having a plan B is a good approach.
Weekend a la Carte sent us a text warning us about the bad weather conditions, which we’d already seen on the Safe Iceland app, but we were grateful for anyway. It was good to know they were looking out for us!
All in all, a remarkable trip, with some unique experiences. If you book this in the knowledge that nature will have her own way, and you may not see everything you want (especially in winter), you will have a great time. Ranga is definitely the best place to maximise your chances of seeing the lights.
An amazing trip and excellent service provided by all involved. Great value for money too. Food was excellent. Accommodation was wonderful and the trips booked were outstanding. An amazing trip
What a fantastic trip! I booked this for myself and my husband to celebrate my 40th birthday and it didn’t disappoint! Booking was simple and we were kept up to date with all the details from the office team in the UK.
From the moment we arrived at Kiruna airport all the staff we encountered were so friendly and couldn’t do enough for us. We opted for the upgraded room at the Abisko Mountain Lodge which I would highly recommend. The cold weather clothing which was supplied was fantastic and kept us really warm in the sub-zero temperatures. The dog sledging, snowmobiling and the Northern Lights photography were all superb and the staff leading the trips were really friendly and so knowledgeable. Even though we weren’t able to do the sky station trip because of the weather, there was a lovely alternative evening organised for us which included a traditional dinner and a walk to the lake where we were able to see the lights. The food at the lodge was also exceptional and showcased some lovely traditional dishes using Moose and Reindeer which were wonderful to try.
I would like to send a massive thank you to all the staff at The Abisko Mountain Lodge as well as the guides we used for our guided walks, dog sledging and snowmobiling. I’d highly recommend the trip, it was our first visit to Sweden and we would definitely return. Thanks again to everyone (including the huskies) who made it so memorable!
Thoroughly enjoyed the trip. The Abisko Mountain Lodge was fantastic, every member of staff was friendly welcoming and charming. Accommodation, upgraded room was excellent. The food in the lodge definitely deserves the high reviews. Good breakfast, great hime made lunch soups and extremely tasty evening dinners.
The included trips were great. The only let down was the camera night, couldn’t see the lights no one fault, but we were walked through thigh high snow to be left on a frozen lake for the duration of the trip. There was no warning of the difficult walk and we had a 91 year old with us and I have hip problems! That said the guide was great, as were the ones on the skimobile and husky rides. We went up to the sky station in a snow storm with high winds, added to the experience!
Would go back in a heart beat.
We had little communication with Weekend a la carte, no need as all communications were clear and contained all the information we needed. Very informative emails
Would use again if going back
This was a bucket list trip. The company are specialists and I’ve valued their advice. Everything from the when to go for the best opportunity to see the lights and equipment needed and provided.Our activities included, the Ice Hotel, night photo shoot, snowmobiling, guided walk and the sky station meal. All excellent and well run by knowledgeable experts and guides. The Abisko Lodge is warm comfortable and relaxing the food is excellent and the staff welcoming, friendly and very helpful. I would highly recommend if you’re looking for a different and exciting experience.
My daughter and I had an amazing time on our trip, we didn’t want it to end! Everything went according to plan, each excursion was well organized and everyone involved with each activity, as well as everyone at the lodge was kind, friendly, positive and happy, which makes such a difference to your whole experience. The food at The Abisko Mountain Lodge was also incredibly good. Our room was large, comfortable and well-furnished. The bathroom too was also spacious and well-equipped. The outdoor clothing provided was of very good quality which kept us warm, and the staff members are happy to change items if they are not quite the right size for you. This is my second trip with Weekend a la carte and I’m sure there will be more as I have complete trust in them. I highly recommend Aurora Nights, it was fabulous.
A fantastic short break which fulfilled all expectations. Well organised with a polished delivery, we could not have asked for more. The accommodation was perfect for us and the guides knowledgeable and helpful. Every day was packed with adventure, each lasting longer than scheduled but we were never rushed; the guides took pride in showing and explaining their beautiful country. We would certainly use Weekend a la carte again and recommend them to others.
Ready to witness the Northern Lights?
We are experts in providing once in a lifetime northern lights holidays to Swedish Lapland, Iceland, Norway and Finland.