ISSelfoss and the south, Iceland
The aurora over the Golden Circle
The easiest aurora on earth to reach, and a waterfall every hour.
Watch it live firstWhen the light is best
April, December, October
Computed from five years of daily cloud, rain and temperature at 64.32, -20.90. Some cloud is what makes a sky burn, so this is not the same as the driest month and often disagrees with one.
- Cloud then
- 76%
- Wet days
- 15
- Daytime high
- 3°C
When to actually go
September to March for darkness. The equinoxes in late September and late March are statistically the most active weeks of the year.
This is the window for the reason you are going, and it is a different question from the light. Where the two disagree, this one wins. An empty river under a perfect sky is still an empty river.
- Nights
- 5
- Getting in
- Keflavik, forty minutes from Reykjavik
- From, per person
- $3,100
Why here
Iceland is the only aurora destination you can fly to directly from both sides of the Atlantic and be under a dark sky within an hour of landing. Five nights is the right number, because the aurora is weather, and three clear nights out of five is a normal result.
What you actually do
- Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss in one loop
- The south coast: Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Reynisfjara
- A night with no plan, watching the forecast and driving to the gap in the cloud
- Reykjavik for one night at the end, for the food
However many of you
On your own
Iceland is one of the safest and simplest solo trips anywhere. Hire a small car and you owe nobody an explanation at two in the morning.
Two to six
Four in a car and a cottage outside Selfoss. Being outside town is the entire point, because the sky is darker.
Seven or more
Take a guesthouse whole. A large group in Iceland should hire a driver, because chasing clear sky at night on ice is not the moment to be learning.
Book it
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