Welcome to our five-day Northern Lights Explorer tour through North Iceland, blending world-class aurora hunting with daytime adventures far from the beaten path.
Each evening, your private driver-guide will whisk you to the best dark-sky vantage points—fjords, crater rims, beaches, and frozen waterfalls—while daytime excursions introduce geothermal marvels, rugged coastlines, hidden ice caves, and powerful cascades.
With flexible scheduling, comfortable pacing, and insider insights into local folklore and photography techniques, this itinerary maximizes your chances of witnessing the dancing lights while ensuring you savor every moment of Iceland’s dramatic landscapes.
Destinations on Our 5-Day Northern Lights Explorer Tour
Days 1–2: Akureyri & Lake Mývatn
Day 3: Arctic Coastline & Secluded Sky Camp
Day 4: Vatnajökull Ice Cave & Frozen Fall Lights
Day 5: Goðafoss & Fond Farewell
Day 1: Arrival in Akureyri & First Aurora Foray
Begin your adventure in Akureyri with a gentle introduction to North Iceland’s cultural hub, followed by your inaugural night under the Arctic sky.
This day is designed to acclimate you to local life and prepare you for aurora hunting without the rush of strenuous activities.
Orientation Stroll & Local Flavors
Wander through Akureyri’s flower-lined streets, popping into centuries-old bakeries where the scent of warm rye bread and cinnamon buns fill the air.
Your guide will point out hidden courtyards, artisan workshops crafting woolen goods, and the elegant Akureyri Church, whose spire offers a panoramic backdrop for your first photos. As you pause at a riverside café, sample a locally roasted coffee paired with skyr-based pastries and hear stories of how this town thrived amid fjord-side fishing and farming traditions.
Strolling across Lystigarðurinn—the town’s beloved botanical garden—you’ll discover Arctic flora and vibrant greenhouses that contrast dramatically with the surrounding snow-capped peaks.
Your guide will explain how Akureyri’s microclimate allows for unexpected bursts of color midwinter and why locals cherish these warm havens.
First Aurora Photography Session
As twilight deepens, board your vehicle for a short drive to a secluded hilltop offering uninterrupted northern views.
Here, your guide will set up tripods and hand out steaming cocoa, explaining the intricacies of long-exposure photography—how to balance ISO, aperture, and shutter speed to freeze the ethereal ribbons of green light.
Wrapped in insulated blankets and standing on frost-kissed grass, you’ll learn to anticipate the subtle glow that precedes each auroral flourish.
Your guide will share tips on composing the perfect shot—framing the fjord’s reflections beneath swirling curtains of light—and encourage experimentation with foreground elements, from silhouetted trees to snow-dusted rocks.
Day 2: Lake Mývatn’s Geothermal Wonders & Twilight Hunt
Venture east to Lake Mývatn’s surreal landscapes, where steaming vents and cratered plains feel plucked from another planet.
By evening, you’ll ascend to a high-elevation lookout, perfectly positioned for a second night of aurora-seeking.
Geothermal Explorations
Begin at Skútustaðagígar, where grassy pseudocraters pockmark the lake’s edge.
Your guide will explain that these “false” craters formed when molten lava met damp peat, causing steam-driven blasts that left gentle mounds in their wake. Wander between these grassy cones, pausing to spot wading birds drawn to nutrient-rich waters and to learn how each pseudocrater tells a chapter of Mývatn’s fiery past.
Next, immerse yourself in Hverir’s boiling mud pots and fumaroles, where acidic steam vents carve vivid patterns in ochre and rust. Traversing safe boardwalks, you’ll feel the ground tremble beneath your feet, inhaling the sulfur-laden air as your guide describes the subterranean plumbing—how groundwater superheats against hot rock before erupting skyward in a dramatic steam plume.
Crater-Rim Aurora Vigil
After sampling local fare in Reykjahlíð, ascend to the rim of the Hverfjall crater—a natural amphitheater under a vast, dark sky.
With minimal light pollution, the crater rim provides an ideal canvas for viewing the Northern Lights. Your guide will encourage you to scan the stars, teaching you to distinguish between aurora arcs and meteor streaks. Hours can pass in companionable silence, broken only by gasps of delight when the sky ignites in green and violet waves—moments you’ll capture and cherish long after returning to Akureyri.
Day 3: Arctic Coast & Secluded Sky Camp
Set off northward along the fjord-etched shoreline, where rugged cliffs meet the restless Atlantic. As evening falls, you’ll trade ocean vistas for a private beach camp, combining coastal exploration with an intimate aurora experience.
Coastal Wildlife & Village Dining
Your morning begins amid screeching seabird colonies at Siglunes or Ingólfshöfði.
With binoculars in hand, you’ll pick out fulmars and kittiwakes darting around basalt outcrops, their calls punctuating the salt-tanged air. Afterward, your guide will lead you to a tucked-away fishing village café, where the day’s freshest cod or langoustine is served over harbor views. Between bites of creamy chowder and buttery brown bread, you’ll hear stories of generations who eked out a living from these cold waves.
As the tide retreats, wander the rocky shoreline in search of sculpted lava formations and tide pools brimming with starfish and anemones.
Your guide will point out rare lichens clinging to wind-swept stone, explaining how this northern coast’s microclimates nurture unexpected pockets of life. Each turn reveals a new vignette: an isolated sea stack, a swirling current, or the faint outline of distant icebergs on the horizon.
Beachfront Northern Lights Camp
When twilight deepens, roll out wool blankets and pour hot cocoa at your private beach camp, secluded from any stray light.
Using driftwood and natural dunes, your guide constructs a snug windbreak, creating a sheltered enclave for sky-gazing. As the stars emerge, you’ll learn to read auroral forecasts and watch for the first pale swathes of green arching above the surf.
Day 4: Ice Cave Immersion & Midnight Waterfall Aurora Chase
Journey onto Vatnajökull’s glacier tongue by day, then pursue auroras beside a frozen cascade at midnight. This day pairs the realm beneath the ice with the ethereal glow dancing above winter’s sculpted falls.
Illuminated Ice Cave Tour
Clad in crampons and helmets, you’ll step into an ice cathedral carved over centuries.
Headlamps reveal swirling blue walls layered with ash from bygone eruptions, while your guide explains how geothermal upwellings keep these chambers open despite summer melt. You’ll traverse narrow passages and vaulted caverns, pausing to photograph light refracting through ice crystals and to touch walls that hold millennia of glacial history.
Frozen Waterfall Aurora Chase
As night approaches, drive to a remote waterfall where winter’s chill has frozen its lash into sculptural columns of ice.
Beneath moonlight—you’ll share tales of Norse spirits said to inhabit these falls—while toasting marshmallows over a portable stove. Wrapped in thermal gear, you’ll scan the sky until ribbons of green and purple appear, weaving between icicles and shadowed cliffs.
Day 5: Waterfall Finale & Fond Farewell
Cap off your Northern Lights Explorer journey with the “Waterfall of the Gods” at first light, then savor one last chance to witness the aurora—if skies and schedules align.
This final day blends Iceland’s elemental power in both water and sky, leaving you with memories to last a lifetime.
Goðafoss at Dawn
Rise early for a tranquil drive to Goðafoss.
From the central viewing platform, watch the torrent plunge into a misty gorge, then follow a short path downstream for alternative vantage points—each revealing new textures of churning water and sculpted basalt.
Your guide will recount the waterfall’s storied role in Iceland’s conversion to Christianity, pointing out the historic ring settlements carved into the surrounding cliffs. As the sun climbs, capture photographs of rainbow arcs forming in the spray, and breathe in the crisp air scented with freshwater and moss.
Optional Late-Night Vigil
Should your flight or ferry schedule permit, reunite with the night sky for a final aurora outing—perhaps from a quiet hotel rooftop or a fjord-side overlook.
Wrapped in wool blankets and sipping herbal tea, you’ll reflect on five nights of celestial displays as stars wheel overhead. Your guide will consult the latest KP-index forecasts, helping you anticipate any last-minute bursts of green and purple light.
