How To Prepare To See The Northern Lights

Just a few weeks ago, an epic natural phenomenon exploded across the skies, casting beautiful colors as far south as Florida and Alabama. This gorgeous event, known as the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, is something that many people dream of seeing for years. And if you weren’t one of the lucky ones to see it in May of 2024, this may still be on your bucket list.

If that’s the case, you’re back in the boat with the “classic” Northern Lights seekers, who often travel to northern countries like Iceland, Norway, and Sweden in the winter months for a glimpse of this nighttime rainbow.

In the spring of 2024, Daniel and I had the opportunity to catch the end of the typical Northern Lights season in Iceland, and I’m really glad we did. As luck would have it, our area was plagued by rain during May’s incredible show, so we didn’t get to see anything during the geomagnetic storm! I was more than a bit bummed, but so glad we were able to see them (even on a smaller scale) in Iceland just a month before.

If you also find yourself chasing the Northern Lights “out in the wild,” there are some very important things to keep in mind. It will rarely be as easy as stepping out onto your back porch and snapping a pic, so you’ll need to put some thought and preparation into your excursion to get the most enjoyment out of it. Based on our two Northern Lights trips in April, here are the top things to keep in mind.

Top Tips for Chasing the Northern Lights

Visit Aurora Reykjavík – The Northern Lights Center

*You can take a souvenir Northern Lights photo at Aurora Reykjavik*

If you happen to be basing your adventures out of Reykjavik, Iceland, I highly recommend spending some time at Aurora Reykjavik–The Northern Lights Center. This cool science center gives you lots of fun information about the Aurora Borealis, from folklore to the science behind this natural phenomenon.

It only takes about an hour to go through, but you’ll learn so much about the Northern Lights through a great mix of videos, educational signs, and hands-on experiments. I also appreciated that they had an in-depth tutorial on how to capture the lights on your phone, with specific setting recommendations.

Last but not least, they have a green screen where you can snap a pic and have the lights photoshopped behind you (above) and a VR headset experience to wrap things up.

Embrace the Darkness…

Northern Lights near Reykjavik, Iceland — *Dark skies let you detect even faint glows*

Now, for the environmental factors behind your Northern Lights experience. One of the biggest things is to get away from any sort of artificial light. Unfortunately, Reykjavik is pretty much the worst place to be in Iceland because it has light from more than half the country’s population.

Similar to stargazing, you need dark skies to see the Northern Lights well. Other lights will not only make them fainter but also affect your ability to detect the colors.

If you have a car, I recommend driving to one of the national parks or any other isolated pull-off point. Keep in mind that outside of winter, Iceland can have very long days, so it may not get dark until 11 pm or later, even during “peak” Northern Lights season.

Seek Clear Skies

Northern Lights outside Reykjavik, Iceland — *Some clouds are okay, but clearer skies are always best!*

The most important factor in seeing the Northern Lights is clear skies. Our atmosphere has three levels of clouds, and the worst ones for this activity are the low-level clouds because they will completely block the lights. Some mid-level clouds are okay, but you really want the skies to be as clear as possible.

Iceland’s cloud cover can change rapidly, which can either work in your favor or against you. I recommend checking the weather forecast before you go and choosing a location that’s supposed to be clear when you arrive.

Keep an Eye on Solar Activity

If you didn’t know, the Aurora Borealis is caused by solar activity. These solar flares take about 18 hours to reach Earth, travel along the magnetic poles, and then interact with the oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere to create the colors. So, your best chance to see the lights will be about 18 hours after strong solar activity. (Hence the incredible lights in North America after the geomagnetic storm in May.

You can use several websites to track this activity, but I’ll share my favorite source in a moment.

Pile on the Layers

*Before our tour, we went back to the hotel and added another layer to our outfits*

The most important tip I can give you is to dress about 3x warmer than you think you’re going to need. After being painfully cold during our first Northern Lights tour, I learned my lesson and wore 3 layers. I cannot emphasize enough how much the cold seeps into your bones once the sun goes down. It’s crazy, and you really do not want to be standing outside, shivering for hours on end.

If you’re uncertain whether you have the right layers, I recommend renting an outfit from a store in Reykjavik. They have a number of shops that rent outdoor gear to visitors because they know we will probably be unprepared, haha! So if you really want to guarantee you’ll be nice and toasty, I’d go with that option.

Temper Your Expectations

The first piece of advice our tour guide gave us was to temper our expectations. While it would be great if every Northern Lights display was a panoramic rainbow of colors dancing across the light sky, that’s actually pretty rare.

More often than not, the Aurora Borealis appears as a glow, a quick flash, or a smaller display. I was very disappointed to hear that, but the lights are still very cool, even on a smaller scale.

As you can tell from our pictures, we got all three of those “lesser” displays. Obviously, I would have loved to see them in all their glory, but it was still exciting to see them for the very first time.

Download My Aurora Forecast & Alerts

We downloaded the My Aurora Forecast & Alerts app to help us keep an eye on the weather, solar activity, KP index, and more during our trip. This free app has tons of cool features, including predictions on your chances to see the lights in a given location, a reporting feature that shows you where others are actively seeing the lights near you, and even links to camera feeds around the world where you can watch past and live Northern Lights.

Should You Book a Northern Lights Tour?

Because we didn’t have a car, we did not have the opportunity to go hunt for the lights on our own. This was a huge bummer because there were incredible lights just down the road from us while we were in South Coast. We saw them later on one of the camera feeds, and it was so disappointing.

So, if you’re in the same boat as us, yes, you’ll need to book a tour to go see the lights. These are readily available in Reykjavik, so you’ll have plenty to choose from. I’m a big fan of Viator, so I went on there and booked a tour with Bus Travel Iceland. They had good rates, provided hot chocolate and photos, included tickets to the Aurora Reykjavik for the day of your tour, and had a free rescheduling policy if you didn’t get to see the lights. Each tour also had a dedicated bus driver and English-speaking guide.

We were scheduled to go on a tour on our first night in Iceland, but the trip was canceled due to heavy cloud cover. They quickly rescheduled us for a few nights later, and we had no problem finding the pickup point and joining the tour. It was professionally run, and the hot chocolate was delicious!

Unfortunately, we didn’t see any lights, so I contacted them to use their free rescheduling policy. They quickly responded and told me we were good to go for the following night. However, when we arrived, our name was not on any of the three bus lists. Thankfully, the last bus had two extra seats, but I would have been very upset if we’d waited in the cold and missed our last chance to see the lights. That was my only complaint with the company. I’d still generally recommend them, but if I had to use their rebooking policy again, I’d press harder to ensure that our names were confirmed on a list.

If you have your own car…I’d say go on your own. Download that app and just drive. You’ll be able to do things on your own time frame, stay toasty in your car rather than stand outside a bus, and have more flexibility to switch locations if the weather turns.

*The links above are affiliate links to Viator. If you make a purchase through these links, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you. It’s just an easy way to support the blog while getting the tours you need to round out your trip. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me or check out my Privacy Policy page for more details.

Closing Thoughts on Chasing the Northern Lights

Good news for anyone who didn’t get to see the lights earlier this month: we may get another chance on June 6, 2024, when the sun makes its next rotation. I hope we all get to experience a great show this time around. But if not, you now know how to see them yourself if you make it to one of the most popular viewing locations next winter.

I hope this guide was helpful for you as you prepare to chase the lights! If you have questions or comments, don’t be shy! I love hearing from my readers, so please feel free to drop those below. And don’t forget to check out my other posts about our adventures in Iceland. I have more coming throughout the next few months, so you’ll want to stay tuned. (Hint, hint: make sure your name’s on my email list! 😉)

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