Aurora Borealis Hunting / Nothern Lights Adventure
February and March are a great time to see aurora borealis ( northern lights ) in Iceland. The forecast for northern lights is for them to get stronger and stronger over the next 4 years. We are lucky in Iceland to be at the right latitude to get to see them often. We have also chosen these dates specifically when there is a new moon, as full moon will impair the viewing of northern lights. We have a schedule but want to also keep the itinerary open at times if we have to move because of cloud cover. Flexibility is important, and sometimes itinerary is subject to change, according to the northern lights forcast. In our experience Hjalteyri is a good place to be for a few nights, because the area allows us the flexibilty to move around.
Tour plan
Arrival to Keflavik International Airport. We will take you to Hotel Frón where we will have accomodation in Reykjavik in the heart of Laugarvegur. After check in and a little rest, we will have a city tour of Reykjavik, seeing the city highlights.
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Breakfast at 9:30. After breakfast we will head out of town, and up to the Golden Circle where we will see some nice sights including Geysir and Gullfoss. We will stay in Whale Fjord or Snæfellsness a beautiful place between Reykjavik and West Iceland. This is a nice rural area, where we will have chances to see northern lights in the evening perhaps catch a glimpse of the northern lights while enjoying the hot tubs at the hotel or wallking around rural areas. Important when on a nothern lights tour, we must go where the weather is clear. So we leave a couple of options open.
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After breakfast will then head toward Troll peninsula. One great stop on the way is Grettislaug, an amazing hot spring where we are likely to be swimming alone. After that we will check out the Troll peninsula and then check into Hotel Hjalteyri where you will spend the next three nights. On the way we will stop of to see some special sights. You will be provided a nice three course Icelandic Sampler for dinner at Eyri Restaurant. After dinner we will go north up Troll peninsula and do a couple of nature hikes looking for northern lights. It is also possible to go into the hot tubs either in Hauganes or Hjalteyri if there are good northern lights.
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After breakfast we will go toward the Mývatn area. Mývatn is geologically very alive. Our first stop will be Góðafoss waterfall, about 45 mintutes outside of Akureyri. Then we will head to Mývatn. We have the opportunity to visit Mývatn Nature Bath. ( costs roughly 40EUR extra) We will also visit Dimmuborgir, Krafla Volcano, and Hverir Geological area ( full of steam fumeroles and bubbling and steamy mud ) After spending the day in Mývatn we will head back to Troll peninsula stopping first in Akuyreyri for a walking tour of the „capital city“ of the north., then there will be some free time for shopping and coffee. Dinner will be at a Micro Brewery tonight. You will have different seafood specialities where beer is a main ingredient in in the food. This is also home of the beer spa. You can have a beer bath before dinner, for an extra but discounted cost. Beer spa experience takes about 1 hour 20 min.
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This Morning we will start with a tour of the old Herring Factory, which today has been repurposed. Today it houses an art gallery and some different working artists which we will get to meet. We will have a traditional icelandic food tasting with a story teller. After Hjalteyri we will head to the Island of Hrísey. This is Iceland´s second biggest island. On the way, we will have a whale watching tour. The tour will drop us off on Hrísey. On Hrísey we will have the opportunity to hike around. At 16:00 we meet at the natural pool on Hrísey for a swim or soak in the hot tub. Tonight´s dinner is served at a special place. We will have a local fish buffet. After dinner we have more opportunities for some northern light spotting. We use this opportunity while on the island, there is very little light pollution for best northern light viewing. We will take the last ferry back to the mainland and go back to Hotel Hjlateyri.
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Today we will head back to Reykjavik. We will depart early so we can arrive as early as possible. We will stay at Hótel Frón, but this is a free day. You can shop, visit museums, choose to do additional tours etc.
Departure Day. You will be transported from Hótel Frón to Keflavik Int Airport 3 hours before your flight.
Included
- all tranfers
- Domestic Airfare if flying between Reykjavik and Akureyri
- All transportation
- Full time guide
- All Breakfast and Dinner except last night in Reykjavik
Not included
- Mývatn Nature Bath ( costs roughly 40EUR extra)
- Alcohol with meals
- Beer Spa