Chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland (A Tinggly Moment)

Northern Lights are truly magical, a memory that will last a lifetime!

I’ve always wanted to see the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis, it has been in my travel bucket list for as long as I can remember. Growing up in the Philippines makes this impossible, but luckily I got the opportunity to see them!

My husband and I visited Iceland for my birthday and I included the Northern Lights tour on the sea with Tinggly.com in our itinerary. September is the start of the Northern Lights season in Europe, especially in the Scandinavian region. This is one of the main highlights during the Autumn and Winter months(Related Article: What to do In Iceland?).

The Northern Lights are not always guaranteed as it depends on the Sun’s charged gaseous particles (normally released from the solar explosions and flares) and the Earth’s magnetic activity. If the conditions are right, this creates the Aurora Oval. The Aurora Borealis  literally means in Latin “the Northern Dawn”.  The Northern Lights can be seen in different shapes, forms and colours ( red, green, yellow, pink & blue). During the primitive times, the Inuit people believed this to be the spirits of their dead loved ones and during the medieval times, they believed this to be the divine intervention.

Chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland (A Tinggly Moment)

The Northern Lights are actually present all year round, however, the ideal season to see this is during the winter months because the daylight is shorter and it is seen better in dark surroundings. It is rare to see the Aurora Borealis in the Midnight Sun in Northern Europe. The best way to enjoy this amazing lights show is to avoid the city lights.

This phenomenon can also be seen in the Southern Hemisphere of the globe. This is called the Aurora Australis. It can be seen in Antarctica and in the southern parts of Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Falkland Islands and South Georgia.

I did not hold out too much hope as it was a little bit cloudy in Reykjavik when we set out. We were picked up by the shuttle bus around 9 pm from the BUS hostel Reykjavik. We picked up other passengers along the way before we headed to Reykjavik harbour to board our ship.

Check out some of the cool and cheap tours you could do in Reykjavik.

The ship has a café where you can buy food and drinks while you’re cruising on the Atlantic Ocean. There is also a short film about the Northern Lights on the lower deck. It was a cold night so we were all geared up with warm clothing. We sat on the top deck of the boat to witness the spectacular show of nature.

Our tour guide briefed us about the safety onboard and gave some helpful insights about the Northern Lights and the trip. After a few minutes we started to sail away from Reykjavik, we were so pleased and excited when the Northern Lights unfold  across the sky sitting just above Mount Esja.

It was really cold and windy in the Atlantic Ocean, but we didn’t mind the cold and wind. We were bedazzled by the beauty of the Northern Lights. We considered ourselves to be very lucky to see this natural display as some travellers hang around for days or even weeks just to see the Northern Lights but fail. I advise that you book this tour on the beginning of your trip in Iceland because if the Northern Lights fail to show up, the tour company will give you another free Northern Lights trip the following evening.

The amazing Northern Lights experience was superb!  I will definitely cherish it for the rest of my life. Give yourself or your special someone a Tinggly experience and start building lots of Tinggly Moments.

BUY EXPERIENCE NOT THINGS!

Two Monkeys Travel Group would like to thank Tinggly.com for the complimentary Northern Lights Tour. Opinions in this article are my own.

Here’re the other paid trips you can do in Iceland, the cost is below $120.

About the Writer

Ryazan Tristram is named after a Russian city near Moscow. The Miss Zan-shine of Everything Zany – A Photography, Lifestyle and Dual Citizen Travel Blog. She likes to travel, history, meet people & try exotic foods! Planning to explore more countries with her D.I.Y trips as a Dual Citizen (British – Filipina). Follow her travels on Facebook and Instagram.