The Northern Lights are a magical experience in Iceland. They can usually be seen from September - April. The northern lights are always there but in the summer time it becomes too bright to see them.

In order to see the northern lights you need a couple things: clear skies, dark skies, and activity level in the Aurora and a little bit of luck. If you have all these things then you are sure to see the northern lights! They come and go so sometimes waiting in one spot is also helpful or driving around until you see them. There is no magic spot in Iceland to find northern lights.

Clear Skies: I use www.en.vedur.is to see the cloud forecast. Click on weather, cloud coverage forecast, composite. This allows you to see where the clouds will be. Do not confuse the green lower clouds with aurora, the color shows where clouds WILL be.

You can also just look up when you are outside, if you can see stars, that is a good sign!

Dark Skies: If you are in the city, it might be best to drive a little bit out of the city and look north, some spots near the city where I have spotted them before are Grotta Light House, Hljómskálagarður, and the Sun Voyager. I have also seen them just walking down main streets and even from my bedroom window. Your best bet will be to drive a little out of town or to Grotta Light House. Then look to the north for dancing green lights. Preferably drive somewhere that has no clouds. Remember that it is unsafe to pull over on the side of the road main road.

Activity level: I use the Aurora App to help find the northern lights activity. There is a lot of information in this app and it can be confusing but I only two things. 1. The map of aurora forecast 2. KP forecast graphs under Forecast Tab.

Any KP level with 2 or higher is standard for Iceland and it is likely you will see them if the skies are clear. Anything above 3 is HIGH chance of a great northern lights show.

Take a Tour from Reykjavik with a guide to find the Northern Lights. You get to sit back while a local guide will drive you around chasing the northern lights so you don't have to do any of the work. You can use the code KYANA10 to get 10% off your tour booking.

Aurora Base Camp is a great place to see and learn more about the northern lights near Reykjavik. You can use the code KYANA10 to get 10% off when booking.