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
Fantastic service, with every detail taken care of and communicated to your agencies and hotels. Would definitely recommend and will be using again.
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.
A well organised trip which was tailored to our specific requests. The arrangements all ran perfectly and any queries prior to the holiday were handled very quickly and professionally. The standard of accommodation and organised tours was very high. I would use this company again and recommend them.
This vacation has without without doubt, has been the best experience we have ever had. The organisation from the minute we landed in Kiruna until we departed at the close of our trip was second to none. The transition between hotels was always seamless and punctual. Everywhere we stayed was beautifully clean and the meals were top quality. Every driver was polite, entertaining and very knowledgeable, furnishing us with invaluable information about Sweden and the activities in which we were to participate. The snowmobiling was wonderful giving access via our guide, to stunning panoramic views of the mountain whilst viewing reindeer in their natural habitat.
Our guide demonstrated how to use the snowmobile safely he was pleasant and informative. When visiting the reindeer on the Sami reservation; we found the brother and sister team who hosted lovely. Again they were so hospitable and helpful and feeding the reindeer up close was a wonderful experience.
They provided additional activities for us to try and we were treated to a traditional Sami lunch in their hut. They provided us with invaluable information appertaining to their culture and caring for their reindeer. The reindeer were in superb condition and happy in their environment. Similarly, when out with the dog sleds the experience was magical. Two hours of beautiful scenery, and frozen lakes, finishing with a one-on-one experience massaging the dogs. Magic! We were so impressed with the care that was placed upon ensuring the dogs were comfortable, well-nourished and so loved by their owners/handlers.
Now to the photographic experience. A large group of us were treated to a demonstration of how to operate some serious camera equipment with tripod. Each of us was loaned the camera and given assistance setting up the camera on a frozen lake in preparation for the appearance of the Northern Lights. We were taken to this lake on large wooden sleighs pulled by a snowmobile. We cannot speak too highly of the two young men who accompanied us on this experience. They could not do enough for us. They were there to offer assistance with our cameras throughout the two-plus hours we were on this beautiful lake.
They advised where to position the camera and when the Lights appeared, what a performance. We had a two-hour display of this most breathtaking phenomenon. We were so fortunate to be able to experience this once-in-a-lifetime occurrence for which we are so grateful. We will never forget this memorable holiday and cannot thank you and everyone who assisted in making a lifetime dream come true. Karen & Andrew Adamson
Cannot thank this company enough. Our break to Iceland was the second time we’ve let them organise everything for us and once again they didn’t disappoint. Everything ran seamlessly and the organised tours were wonderful. This company knows what they are doing. If you want to experience the geysers, the volcano, the northern lights and all the other exciting things that Iceland has to offer then this is the company to use.
Fantastic trip with great hosts & made even more special by seeing the Northern Lights twice!!
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.
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.
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