In short, everywhere. Iceland is located right under the Auroral Zone, which is the circle where the Northern Lights are most often seen. The middle of this zone lies somewhere along the north coast of Iceland so theoretically the lights are more common in the north of the country but keeping in mind that this zone is usually hundreds of kilometres wide the difference is minimal. Other factors, such as accessibility, quietness, and natural beauty, not to mention the weather and cloud cover are much more important when deciding where to go, cloud cover being the most important of all.

The Solar Wind is always present and therefore the Northern Lights can form at any time. However, during the summer months from mid-April through mid-August there is not enough darkness to see the Northern Lights even if they are forming overhead. From the middle of August to middle of April it is possible to see the Northern Lights if the sky is clear and it is dark outside.

The Northern Lights are visible from the middle of August to the middle of April. Due to reasons not fully understood yet, there activity seem to be a little stronger during the Equinoxes, around the 20th of March and September. Additionally, the weather is usually better during spring and fall, although there is no guarantee. There are, however, great displays during the dark winter months and then there is the added benefit of having more hours of darkness as the Northern lights can form early in the evening and late into the night. Also, there are interesting winter activities to be found in the deep of winter. Either way the whole of winter is a great time to hunt for the Northern Lights.

Best time in a day to watch the Northern Lights should be at midnight, 12:00 at night. That is when, in most places, your location is directly downwind from the Sun and in the darkest area on the night side of earth. However, in Iceland we follow GMT time (London time zone, Longitude 0°) which means when Iceland is directly downwind from the Sun and the time should be 12:00 it is 01:00, one hour ahead of "correct" time. This should then mean that the strongest Northern Lights appear around 01:00 o'clock. This obviously moves the whole timeframe of the best daily viewing period one hour later in Iceland compared to other places with the "right" time. BUT the magnetic field is not perfect straight lines but spirals upwards trailing the counterclockwise rotation of Earth. The centre of the magnetic field and therefore the Auroral Zone is not the North Pole but the Geomagnetic North Pole, the Solar Wind carries the Sun's magnetic field which hits the Earth at an angle and the Earth travels perpendicularly around the Sun at about 107.000 km/h. All these things, and many more, affect where the strongest area of the Auroral Oval is located above us and it is not always the same. Confused yet? Our decades long experience tells us that the best time is generally between 10:00 and 01:00. Rarely do they form before 19:00 and after 04:00. When conditions are decent it is worth it to go out early but usually not as productive to stay out late.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office publishes a special Northern Lights forecast. https://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/ This is an interactive map of Iceland where it is possible to see the predicted cloud cover in hourly increments for the next 3 days. This map is generally quite good, especially for the next few hours. If the current weather system is slow and stable, the better the map is but bear in mind that weather in Iceland is rather unpredictable and can change rapidly. This map is better, the larger clear areas it shows but for days with clouds scattered over the sky it is pretty much useless.

For very short-term cloud forecast there is a must have mobile app, Live Aurora Network. This app show is a network of Aurora cameras situated around Iceland. These are highest quality, Sony A7sii cameras, the best camera to capture the Northern Lights in real time. The control software can detect colour and movement and the app sends you notifications when Northern Lights are detected in the sky. It is also possible to share photos on social media from the app to friends. This mobile app is one of the few best tools when hunting for the Northern Lights. It can be difficult to decide where to go when darkness falls. A 20-40 minutes’ drive in either direction can make or break the night, so it is particularly important to get the best information available. This app does just that. It has cameras in 60 - 100 kilometres from Reykjavík along the 3 main roads out of Reykjavík. And 1 camera in Akureyri in the North. The cameras show very clearly if the stars are visible and how much cloud cover there is in the area. Invaluable information for a successful Northern Lights hunt. The app can be downloaded for free from your app store.

While the Icelandic Meteorological Office's web site is available in English and is quite good and informative the same thing cannot be said about their mobile app. It is Icelandic only and not particularly good. There is however, a good weather app, yr.no, that has proven to be reasonably accurate for 2-4 days forcasts. It is Norwegian and is usually more accurate for Iceland than other popular weather apps. The YR app can be downloaded for free from your app store.

Here, lets go to the source. NASA. There is one absolute best app here. Downloadable from your app store. SpaceWeatherLive It has all the information on solar and auroral activity needed to maximize our chances to find the Northern Lights.

Here are links to information about how to go about driving around in Iceland, which can be a little different from what many visitors are used to. And here is, "How to drive in Iceland" flyer from The Icelandic Transport Authority. Click this link.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office publishes a special Northern Lights forecast. https://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/ This is an interactive map of Iceland where it is possible to see the predicted cloud cover in hourly increments for the next 3 days.

The rign road around Iceland and most of the main roads are open throughout the year and are usually clear and safe. Every year sees different conditions but the highland roads and lesser travelled country roads should be considered off limits, unless conditions are unusually good and visitors come well prepared. There are also, quite often storms passing over different parts of the country and therefore it is neccessary to check the weather forecasts and be prepared to change plans in case of foul weather. Even the main roads can become unpassable and/or dangerous in a very short time, often withour much warning. The Icelandic Road and Costal Administration has a great website http://www.road.is/ that has detailed information in real time about road conditions and also any closed roads. There is information for travellers, web cameras, interactive road info viwer and weather info there as well.

You can check the road conditions on www.road.is and see what roads are closed and whether there is icing or snow on the roads. If roads are closed, don't try your luck, they are closed for a reason. You can call the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration at (+354) 1777 for information about what the conditions on your intended route are like.

It meand goddes of the dawn.

You have a very good chance of seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland.

The Auroral Oval is moves over Iceland from the north or rather, Iceland moves under The Auroral Oval as the Earth rotates. The Northern Lights can usually be seen in the north earlier in the evening but as Iceland moves under the widest part of The Auroral Oval they extend more to the south. Most common direction in the south during the most common viewing times it to he north but The Northern Lights can be seen in all directions and often directly overhead.

No, The Northern Lights don't care about temperature on Earth and are not controlled by it. However, it is more often cold when the skies are clear due to reasons controlled by the weather which causes many to think the cold has something to do with The Northern Lights forming. It hasn't.

The less light pollution, the better. Our eyes adjust better to the dark when there is less light and we are able to see better in lower light and therefore we can see The Northern Lights better. Still, when The Northern Lights are strong they can easily be seen in spite of some light pollution, even inside cities or towns with strong lights.

Moonlight does light up our surroundings a little so our eye pupils don't open up quite as much as in total darkness. On the upside, everything is much nicer in the moonlight and we can see the world better which for many gives a better viewing experience. It is also much better to photograph The Northern Lights when the moon lights up the surroundings so he camera can capture the whole scene more evenly.

Northern Lights just above the horizon are 600-900 km away from the viewer, Northern Lights seen about 45 degrees up in the sky are about 100-130 km away and of course they can be directly overhead, in which case they are 100-130 km high above the viewer.

No, they can vary in color from faint white or gray to strong white or gray, green or yellow, orange, magenta or purple, pink, red and cyan or even blue. The color depends on what gases the charged particles hit and at what height. Also strength, distance and viewing angle can change how we perceive the colors to some extent.

No, not really. Many photographers, amateurs and professional, expose longer than is neccessary to capture tha Northern Lights as they are seen in real life, and therefore paint the lights much stronger in the photo than than they actually are. The lights can, however be very strong and visible all over the sky even if they are not usually as strong as most internet photos. A good indication of the exposure is how bright the surroundings in the photo is, if it looks like night chances are they are close to reality but brighter surroundings indicate too long an exposure and consequently too bright Northern Lights.

No.

Yes, absolutely. It is a magnificent experience.

No, not really. Not with modern digital cameras or even phone cameras.

Depends on what you're after. It is possible to get decent photos for personal use and social media with the newest phones but for high quality photos better quality SLR or mirrorless cameras are still needed.

Basically all cameras, but older cameras can be challanging. Most newer digital cameras can adjust exposure time and ISO sensitivity so photographing the Northern Lights is possible.

With the newest models about 2020 or newer entirely possible.

Never and better phones have a night mode that can capture nice photos, With conventional cameras a tripod is neccessary so exposure time can be a few seconds without moving or shaking the camera.

If you feel up to it and plan to rent a car during your stay, we recommend you do. It gives you the freedom to venture out looking for the Northern Lights when it suits you and when predictions are good. But it requires much more planning on your part. It is not very difficult to search for the Northern Lights, it basically only requires clear skies and half-decent weather. The ones who try - succeed! Prepare for the weather and locations. It's a good idea to use available daylight to drive around in the countryside and take in the scenery and experience Iceland in the wintertime while scouting for nice places to go to look for the Northern Lights when darkness falls. There are many places where it is possible to park your car, never stop on the side of the road unless in designated parking lots. Be prepared to drive up to 100 km in any direction to maximize your chances of clear skies. If going out on your own is not your thing, there are many tour operators that can take care of your Aurora hunt, both in small groups and also on bus tours with tens or hundreds of people.

If you want to have the search for the Northern Lights planned for you and not bother with all the details, then definitely. They do it all the time and know their stuff. The bigger ones are not as flexible if the conditions change as they often do in Iceland and you should keep in mind that they tend to go even if the changes are minimal. They have learned the hard way that those who do, - succeed. - Often.

There are bus tours readily available where the number of participants are from a few dozen to a few hundred. These tours are the least expensive starting at 50 Euros and they usually offer a second tour, free of charge in case the first one is unsuccessful. This is by far the cheapest and easiest way to go if you don't want to do much work yourself. Downside is, you have no control over anything and not everyone enjoys traveling with such large groups. Another option is small group operators, which are more specified and generally offer better services like pickup and some consultation on where to go. These guides also have more time to educate their clients about the Northern Lights and even history, geology, etc. This is a very convenient way to hunt for the Northern Lights and a good compromise between the tour busses and complete freedom, - the only downside being that it's much more expensive.

No, and neither does nature. There are never any guarantees, but an experienced tour operator obviously draws on his or her knowledge when deciding if and where to go searching for the Northern Lights. That in itself makes it a little more likely to catch them in the act. Many if not most operators also offer another tour, free of charge, in the coming days if the first one was unsuccessful.

No, not really. The Northern Lights can be seen from hundreds of kilometres away. But it is better to go to a place that has little or no light pollution. Strong shows are frequently seen from within the city of Reykjavík or the surrounding towns but the light pollution makes our eyes less light sensitive plus the city lights seem to sometimes light up the sky above in a strange way, maybe it's the moisture in the air, but the result is that even from a dark place on the other side of the light pollution the Northern lights are less visible than if there is no light pollution in the way. This means it is usually better to drive to a place where light pollution is behind us when looking at the Northern Lights and better yet, drive away from light sources where light pollution is minimal.

Pros are that they have the knowledge, they do all the planning, and you don’t have to do anything except show up and pay. Those tours are relatively cheap. Cons are that you have no control over your experience, you might go when the chances are almost none existent, and might not be so pleasurable for some to be with a large group of strangers. Specialized small operators are really the best options and offer the best of both worlds, except they are usually the most expensive.

Big bus tours where there is no limit to the number of participants, start at 50 Euros. Smaller tours are progressively more expensive and also, usually include better services. Personalized special tours can cost many times that of the bus tours but offer personalized services, assistance with taking photos, and even include other activities and generally much more enjoyable experience.