Cozy Northern Lights Tour with Icelandic Treats

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Mara

January 09, 2026•

I do NOT recommend taking a tour with Reykjavik Out Luxury Tours. First, the tour itself was not as advertised. They talk about luxury transportation, hot chocolate & cinnamon rolls, lovely blankets, & professional photos. What we got was an old sprinter van with uncomfortably small seats, a small cup of oddly thick hot chocolate, and 1/4 of a cinnamon roll. We didn't see the lights, but since we had paid for photos, had kind of expected some cool night pictures of our family instead. But no photos were taken. The night of our tour was cloudy and there was no activity in the forecast - it would have been nice if we had been told that the chances of seeing the lights was slim to none so we could have had the option of cancelling. But we all piled into the van with high hopes that maybe our guide had a plan to catch some breaks in the clouds. Instead, we spent a good chunk of time waiting out the clouds at a gas station parking lot. We then drove to a spot near the airport - close enough that we could see light pollution from the airport and a nearby town (and the headlights from passing cars). Not sure why we went someplace with light pollution - we got excited at first that we were faintly seeing the lights, but our guide explained that it was just light pollution reflecting on the clouds. We waited in this same spot for over 90 minutes as the clouds became more and more thick. Finally, he had us pile back in the van to try a second location. We drove around for a bit to find another location but never found one - he finally just drove us back to Reykjavik. My biggest issue with this tour, though, was how unsafe I felt. My husband and daughter were sitting at the back of the van and talked about how they felt like he was driving erratically. I was sitting in the front of the van and could see why. The entire time he was driving he was looking at his phone to check the apps, taking phone calls, and while looking for a second location, turning his headlights off to check to see if he could see stars - often all 3 at the same time, all while driving full speed. Even after he decided to give up and drive back to Reykjavik he was on his phone. Had I known that our guide would be looking at his phone while he drove us, I would never have booked the tour. It's unsafe - and also breaks Icelandic laws regarding phone use while driving. There are so many companies offering northern lights tours - do not use this one.

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Jess

January 02, 2026•

We booked this Northern Lights tour on 25/12/25 because it was marketed as a premium, luxury experience. Unfortunately, it was nothing like that. We didn’t see the lights (which we fully understand can happen), but because we were leaving Iceland the next day, we couldn’t use the free re-try, meaning we paid the same as everyone else without the same opportunity to try again. The bus experience also wasn’t what we expected. There was a baby under 1 on board who cried and made noise throughout the journey, which meant we often struggled to hear the guide and it took away from what was meant to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The listing said children aged 5–9 could join, so we genuinely didn’t realise babies would be allowed on such a late tour. Overall, it didn’t feel “luxury” in any way, by the end, I honestly just wanted it to be over. What really disappointed me was the response when I raised this politely with the company afterward. Instead of acknowledging anything, The company, said the baby “didn’t cry” and was “cute”, and suggested I should have complained during the tour which isn’t realistic at 1am in a crowded bus on a trip we’d been excited about for months. It felt dismissive, with no accountability and no goodwill solution offered, even though we couldn’t rebook like others. We were so excited for this experience and left feeling let down. If you’re thinking you’re paying extra for something genuinely “luxury”, I’d think carefully!

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Marie

December 23, 2025•

This is the tour you want! Comfortable & clean van. Incredibly knowledgeable and friendly guide. Bjarni was a top notch tour guide, using the drive time to share Icelandic history, cultural facts & folklore. It can’t be easy entertaining 12 adults outside in cold temps at the witching hour, but Bjarni did great, feeding us pastries & hot cocoa to keep our spirits high while waiting for the show to start. We were very fortunate and Mother Nature delivered. A great time!!

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Matthew

December 21, 2025•

It’s understandable that seeing the lights are completely down to chance. After one cancellation due to poor conditions I rebooked the following day with BG. He was a great guide and found us a great spot, we were waiting a while but when the activity started after 3 hours we were not disappointed. Tripods were provided, hot chocolate and cinnamon buns. We got some excellent professional photos by BG as well as footage of the lights. Would absolutely recommend.

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Lystra

October 31, 2025•

We booked the Northern Lights Tour with Pro Photos. IT WAS AWESOME! There was a record breaking snowfall the day of our tour. We were certain that our tour would be cancelled but a couple of hours before our tour started we received a message that the tour was on! There were several other groups at our hotel who had booked tours with other groups that were cancelled. Our guide BG was one of the few tours who was brave enough to attempt it! He picked us up and drove us through 2-foot-deep snow and told us that while there are no guarantees he had a good feeling and he was not wrong! As soon as we got off the van the skies lit up! It was the pinnacle experience in Iceland. In addition to his bravery, our guide was funny and very personable, gave us lots of history and information on the Northern Lights. He made sure we had good pointers on how to best photograph the lights with our own equipment. He set up his camera and took some AMAZING photos of us as well. He fed us traditional Islander doughnuts and delicious hot chocolate as we bathed in the breathtaking beauty. BG's courage made my wife's long time dream come true. The photos attached are our photos. The PRO photos were even better! I would recommend Reykjavik Out to anyone wanting to see the lights.

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Hjørdis

November 17, 2023•

God tur, hurtig afhentning, fantastisk guide. Vi så lidt nordlys, men turen havde været perfekt med mere aktivitet.

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Lisa

October 29, 2023•

We spent 5 hours driving around looking for the northern lights when a quick Google search would've (and did) tell us there was a less than 10% chance of seeing them. A decision to cancel should've been taken. The tour guide extended the tour time without telling us meaning we were driving around needlessly in the middle of nowhere when we should've been back at the hotel. There was no consideration for passengers, so we didn't get back til past 2am with a 10 year old and a 8am start for our next excursion - the guide said she sometimes she doesn't get back til 3-4am, so don't plan a next day activity like we did! The minibus was uncomfortable especially on the off road tracks. She nearly went off the road several times, hitting the rumble strips whilst checking her phone and looking at the sky. We felt unsafe. The only comfort was the hot chocolate but this felt like an after thought... we missed the pastries as she was too interested in setting up her camera. Disappointed.

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GetYourGuide

October 4, 2023•

Ich muss leider nur einen Stern geben - für die schlechte Kommunikation mit dem Anbieter selbst und weil für mich die Tour nicht stattfand. Für meinen ersten Termin wurde die Tour abgesagt - nur bekam ich darüber keine Info (auch nicht im Spam-Ordner) und stand über eine Stunde vergebens am Abholpunkt. Und telefonisch war natürlich niemand zu erreichen. Per E-Mail nachgefragt und anscheinend mit dem Reykjavik Tourist Information Center kommuniziert (?), die mich dann für den darauf folgenden Tag sofort umgebucht haben. An dem zweiten Tag erhielt ich dann auch 2 (!) Bestätigungs-E-Mails, dass meine Tour stattfindet. Ja was soll ich sagen...diesmal stand ich 2 Stunden vergebens. Und da ich am nächsten Morgen zurückflog war es das von wegen Nordlichter-Tour. Das einzig positive war die Tatsache, dass ich anstandslos mein Geld zurück bekomme.

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Giulia

September 16, 2023•

Prima cosa, siamo stati molto fortunati con il meteo che ci ha permesso di vedere questa meraviglia. La nostra guida, Michela, è stata molto simpatica, gentile e ci ha dato un sacco di nozioni sull'aurora e in generale. Ci sono state scattate anche foto ricordo. La cioccolata e i dolcetti sono stati quel tocco in più. In dotazione erano comprese anche coperte per riscaldarsi dal freddo. Assolutamente soddisfatti!

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Estefania

March 5, 2023•

It was perfect! They cancelled us just a few hours before the start of the tour because bad weather conditions, but they reschedule us at the next day and the experience was awesome!!