Northern Lights Forecast for Reykjavík

Northern Lights in Reykjavík

Reykjavík lies at 64°N on the south shore of Faxaflói bay, and the capital region around it holds about 250,000 people, close to two-thirds of Iceland. The city’s own light hides all but the stronger displays. The season runs from late August to mid-April, and from early December to about 10 January the sun is up for less than five hours, so on clear evenings the aurora can show from around 16:00. Clear evenings are the hard part: December averages about 13 hours of sunshine in the whole month.

Grótta lighthouse and the Kvika footbath

The usual spot in the capital area is Grótta, at the western tip of Seltjarnarnes, about 5 km from the center, with open sea to the north and west. Its white lighthouse, in use since 1947, stands on a tidal island whose sandy causeway floods quickly when the tide comes in, so in the dark stay on the mainland side unless you have checked the tide. There is a car park, and buses from the center stop about 1 km away. On the shore nearby, Kvika is a free stone footbath of warm geothermal water made by the artist Ólöf Nordal.

Öskjuhlíð, the Old Harbour and Elliðavatn

Around Harpa and the Old Harbour the shore faces north with no buildings in the way, only the bay and Esja (914 m) on the far side. Öskjuhlíð, the wooded hill just south of downtown, has trees that screen the nearest streetlamps, and the deck of Perlan on its summit looks over the city to Esja. Both are inside the city’s glow, so they work when the aurora is high and bright, not for a faint arc low in the north.

Lake Elliðavatn, on the edge of the Heiðmörk reserve on the south-east side of the capital, is about 15 minutes by car from downtown and much darker.

Þingvellir, Reykjanes and the road from Keflavík

Two drives get you clear of the glow. North-east, Þingvellir is about 45 km away over the Mosfellsheiði heath. South-west lies the Reykjanes peninsula, mostly lava field, where the regional tourist board points aurora watchers to Garðskagi, with its two lighthouses at the north-western tip, and to the Krýsuvík area, about 35 km from the city, where Route 42 follows the shore of Kleifarvatn.

Keflavík International Airport is on the same peninsula, about 50 km west-south-west of the city. Reykjanes is volcanically active, and roads around Grindavík have been closed during eruptions; Safetravel.is posts what is open. The cloud map on the Icelandic Met Office’s aurora page at vedur.is, whose darkness and moonrise times are calculated for Reykjavík, is what decides which way to drive.