The Promise of Northern Lights in Iceland

Those green lights that swirl and dance to their own beat

We planned our trip to Iceland during March last year specifically with the hopes of seeing the northern lights.

We knew it was a bit of a gamble because as everyone says, they are unpredictable, and there are absolutely no guarantees. But on this trip, we felt like the dancing green lights might have a little extra inspiration to reveal themselves to us. Let me explain.

My friend, John, had been planning a 50th birthday trip to view the aurora borealis for several years. But there were a few obstacles and twists that made this plan a little more difficult than originally expected. In the winter of ’22 the world was just re-opening to travel, and there were still COVID restrictions to contend with. But for John, there was also the recent loss of his wife, Minde, who had planned to be with him on this trip.

Minde was my best friend and John’s wife for over 20 years, and in the summer of 2021 she died after a long battle with breast cancer. When it became clear that she wouldn’t be making this trip to celebrate his 50th birthday, she made me promise to go with him. We had all vacationed together for many years, so when she said to both of us, “I’ll be there with you, and I’ll send you a sign,” it was an easy promise to keep.

Planning the trip was a good way for me to deal with my grief and keep busy in the months after Minde’s death. I dug into the research for the best places in Iceland to stay, hike, and with luck view the northern lights. On our first and last nights I booked our rooms at the optimistically named, Northern Lights Inn. It was not far from Reykjavík or the airport, but was remote enough to avoid any light pollution that may hinder our night sky viewing.

I bookmarked NOAA’s space-weather forecasting website. I downloaded Aurora Alerts and AllTrails apps, hoping they would guide us to the best places and timing to view the lights.

I learned a lot about the aurora borealis through all this research. The green color that we typically see dancing across the sky when they reveal themselves is created by solar particles, blown toward Earth from the Sun. These electrically charged particles are repelled by Earth’s magnetic field except toward the poles where the magnetic fields are weakest, and some solar particles are able to enter our atmosphere.

At altitudes of 50–150 miles above Earth there is a high concentration of oxygen, and it’s that collision between oxygen and the solar particles that creates the green lights. At lower points in the atmosphere the lights collide with nitrogen and appear purple or red, but it’s the green flashes and swirls that are most commonly seen with the naked eye.

Ultimately though it’s the Icelandic weather that is the biggest factor to viewing the aurora borealis. Clear skies come and go quickly in the volatile north Atlantic winter. We spoke to other tourists who had been waiting for weeks to catch the show, and we were starting to run out of time. After a week of hiking up volcanoes and exploring the southeastern coast of the island, we returned to The Northern Lights Inn, and would be flying home in just a couple more days.

Even though we had set-up phone alerts to notify us when the lights were active, we kept looking out windows for storms to pass, and lights to flash. Until finally, around midnight the night before John’s birthday our phones rang! The northern lights had been spotted near us. We bundled up quickly and headed outside.

Just a few feet beyond the hotel’s parking lot, there they were in spectacular motion on the horizon. We walked out into the frozen lava fields that surrounded us and watched the green waves of light dance for over an hour.

Pictures don’t do them justice because they really do move and swirl through the sky. And scientific explanations about oxygen and solar particles do not convey the magical atmosphere they create.

It may have just been lucky timing that John got his wish to see the aurora borealis for his birthday. But, I’ll always be convinced that it was Minde’s promise that if we took the trip, if we decided to keep traveling and keep living, that she’d be there with us too.

Linda Ng wrote about her highlights in Iceland and it’s worth taking a look as her suggestions are spot on!

KL Simmons features some of my favorite hot springs in her Iceland report.

My own article on this trip with more info. about hikes, hot pools, and where to stay.