Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavik
4
Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavik
By BusTravel Iceland
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About
The northern lights are famously tricky to see, so increase your chances by booking this tour from Reykjavik led by an experienced aurora hunter. Leave nighttime driving to the experts and travel outside the city, away from light pollution, to a location specially selected for its optimal aurora-viewing qualities. Avoid disappointment with the knowledge that if you don't see the lights, you can join the tour another night for free.
from per adult
£51.94
Lowest price guaranteeReserve now & pay laterFree cancellation
Ages 8-99, max of 65 per group
Duration: 4h
Start time: Check availability
Mobile ticket
Live guide: English
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Highlights
- Take a free second tour if you don't see the lights
- Warm up with hot drinks while waiting
- WiFi on board
What's not included- Dinner
- After pickup from your Reykjavik hotel or other designated departure point at the prearranged time, meet your guide and settle into the vehicle for the journey out of the city and into the countryside. Your exact destination depends upon the conditions and the informed decisions of your aurora hunter-guide, who takes you to where their experience tells them you have the best chance of seeing the lights. Enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate as you wait for the aurora to make its appearance. With luck, the lights will soon appear to dance across the sky in colors of green, pink, and violet. Your guide can take souvenir photos for you to capture the moment (additional cost). If, however, the lights do not appear, join the tour again on another night at no additional cost. Afterward, the tour returns to drop you off at your original departure point.
- Start:Multiple pickup locations offered.
- Bus Stop #12 Höfðatorg, Þórunnartún 6, 105 Reykjavík, IcelandTour Bus Stop 12, Höfðatorg, Þórunnartún 1 (64.144389,-21.910327)
Pickup details- Our pickup can take up to 30 minutes so please wait at your pickup location from the time written on your ticket.
Hotel pickup offeredDuring checkout you will be able to select from the list of included hotels.Port pickup offeredDuring checkout you will be able to select from the list of included ports.- Skarfabakki Harbour, Reykjavik
Additional pickup optionsDuring checkout you will be able to select from the list of included pickup points.- Bus stop #1 - Ráðhúsið - City Hall, Vonarstræti 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #2 Tjörnin The Pond, 43W6+7JR, Lækjargata, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #3 Lækjargata, Lækjargata 4, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus stop #4 Miðbakki, 5325+4PG, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus stop #5 Harpa, Sculpture & Shore Walk 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #6 - Safnahúsið The Culture House, Ingólfsstræti 1, 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #9 Snorrabraut, Snorrabraut 24, 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus stop #11 Austurbær, Snorrabraut 37, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #12 Höfðatorg, Þórunnartún 6, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #13 Rauðarárstígur, Laugavegur 120, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop #14 - Skúlagata, Klapparstígur 5, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Bus Stop#15 - Vesturbugt, Mýrargata 101, 101 Reykjavík, Iceland
- Perlan, 105 Reykjavík, Iceland
- BSI á Íslandi, Skútuvogur 1d, 104 Reykjavík, Iceland
End:This activity ends back at the meeting point. - Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
If you have questions about accessibility, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 16698P7- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
- Most travellers can participate
- Minimum age is 8 years old
- Dress in warm, wind and waterproof clothing and footwear.
- If you don´t see the northern lights during the tour, you can join again for free on one other night.
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s cancelled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 65 travellers
- For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.
- If you have questions about this tour or need help making your booking, we’d be happy to help. Just call the number below and reference the product code: 16698P7
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Similar experiences
Itinerary
- 1Our tour takes you to the countryside away from the city lights. Clear, cloud-free skies are an essential componant of any succesful aurora tour. We may need to try a few different locations before finding success. While you await the aurora, our guide will entertain you with tales of old Iceland and the folklore and tall tales used at the time to explain this once mysterious phenomenon.
About the operator
Don’t take it from us – here’s what people have to say about this operator:
- ashley123451960 contributions1st guide (South Iceland) a girl, she is nice and professional ;2nd guide(golden circle) is a man, he less professionalEverything is good. They pick me up on time. They designed a good schedule of every trip. I love it. I experienced Iceland very good with them. However, the second guide of golden circle (I can't remember his name), he is not professional enough. He talks a lot, so we can't get the most important information from him. This is not professional. Overall it's good.Written 7 September 2024
- amberroses80 contributionsBest tour of my vacation!Addi was super knowledgeable friendly and accommodating. We had a wheelchair user in my party and he accommodate him with a smile and way so helpful and knew all about how to best do the attractions! My dad had 8 million questions and Addi had an answer for every single one. He went above and beyond for us but I think that might just be who he is as a person. Fantastic trip full of culture knowledge great food and beautiful sights. 11/10Written 7 September 2024
- Munzkath0 contributionsFantastic adventure!Addi was a wonderful tour guide on our Golden Circle tour. He was incredibly informative and had such a passion for Iceland and its geography and history. Would 10000% book with him again!Written 7 September 2024
- AllyLambie750 contributionsBrilliant Golden Circle Tour!This tour was the absolute highlight of our trip to Iceland. Bryndis was a wonderful guide who was very friendly and had great knowledge which she shared with our small group. Everything was so interesting and picturesque from the volcanic crater, waterfall & geysir to the Icelandic horses and tomato greenhouses at fridheimar. The tomato soup is a must have for lunch here! Our day was rounded off with a heavenly trip to the Sky Lagoon, so relaxing! I would highly recommend this activity and company to anyone thinking of doing this whilst in Iceland.Written 7 September 2024
- 314kay20240 contributionsGolden circle blue lagoonOur guide/driver Tony has a great amount of knowledge and was very helpful and entertaining. Would do this againWritten 7 September 2024
- lisev8130 contributionsPerfect guided tourHad an amaaaaazing trip with the sweetest and coolest guide Roman (Zack)! He took us safely (!) to places we’ve never seen before and told us some nice fact about Iceland and gave us extra information to continue our trip! Really worth the price if you want to see Roman in action! :)Written 6 September 2024
- 509mitche0 contributionsGolden CircleThe Golden Circle was a blast! Our guide, Addi, was very knowledgable and taught us so much about the history and geology of Iceland.Written 6 September 2024
- Thalassini C0 contributionsA great tour!The tour to the south coast was amazing! We were lucky enough to be only 4 people + the guide, ziggy! Ziggy was an excellent guide, he really is passionate about his job and clearly loves Iceland so much! Also he is really talkative so you don't get bored and an extremely kind person ! Overall a great experience that I totally recommend!Written 6 September 2024
- 558nanometres0 contributionsDaytrip around Snaefellsnes peninsulaPlanning and communication with the company was easy. Guide and driver Tony was attentive, adaptable, entertained us with information and knew the best way to get to the good spots. It was a wild (!) blustery stormy day, but Tony planned it all like clockwork. He was able to bring us to Kirkufjell just as the weather cleared up (slightly) and the sun broke through - magical timing. Most of all, Tony is "safety first" on treacherous icelandic back roads and rough terrain, therefore everyone felt secure with his guidance. Highly recommend this guide and the bus travel company.Written 5 September 2024
- M6716KWandreah0 contributionsExcellentAmazing trip with the best guide Roman (Zack)! He gave us many interesting details about the history, geography and much more about Iceland. The views were incredible, the recommended food was really good and the experience is absolutelly worth it.Written 5 September 2024
- Ross C0 contributionsBus Travel Iceland toursWent on 2 tours in Iceland on 31st August and 2nd September. Brilliantly managed. Guides very informative, funny and professionalWritten 5 September 2024
- D103DCvictoriat0 contributionsAmazing Golden circle and Blue lagoon.Except for some glitches, the tour was great . Wished that there was a better communication between the driver and the some of the passengers. Thank youWritten 5 September 2024
- loriw2580 contributionsGreat day trip of Golden Circle, enhanced by the extra stop at Kerid CraterTook this tour on one of my days back from an Iceland/Greenland cruise before heading back home. It was the BEST tour of the whole 2 weeks in this area! We had the right amount of time at each stop on the classic Golden Circle tour. The extra stop at beautiful Kerid Crater and lake was such a great addition to the standard tour. Joanna and Tomrik (spelling?) were our guide and driver and they were terrific. Joanna was so friendly and animated in her narration that it really added to the whole experience.Written 4 September 2024
- R8356VCkathyt0 contributionsDo it! Outsatanding!What an outstanding day! Do this trip! I’m so glad I did. I can’t even begin to express how much we enjoyed our day. Our guide Perla and driver Peter were amazing and genuinely kind and helpful! We were so fortunate to have phenomenal weather, but the care the guide took to be sure we enjoyed ourselves was top notch! We saw some amazing sights and learned so much about Iceland. On the way back to town, our guide Perla sang us an Islander lullaby and it was so beautiful and a perfect way to end a perfect day! Thank you for the experience. This organization is first class!Written 4 September 2024
- nareshko0 contributionsA great tour with a great guide.A great tour with a great guide who had a good knowledge of Iceland. He explained very well all the places that were visited during the tour.Written 4 September 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinions of Tripadvisor members and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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4.0
396 reviews
Excellent
237
Very good
58
Average
28
Poor
14
Terrible
59
Mihai B
London, UK17 contributions
This is an exceptional company to book with. They are trustworthy, knowledgeable, very professional and most importantly they all seem to absolutely love what they do. Went on the Northern Lights Tour twice as first time we didn't manage to see anything but still managed to get a nice experience out of it - drivers set up a nice bonfire while serving hot chocolate and Icelandic chocolates to everyone, keeping us warm with blankets, telling us stories of Iceland and Northern lights and teaching us great photography tips for the next trial. Although the tour was 4h long we ended up staying more than 5h altogether as they were really keen on us seeing the lights. On the 2nd try I felt like I just wanted to get it over with and go home as it was really cold but the drivers who do this every day went above and beyond to ensure we see as much as possible. The fact that they are so keen and passionate says it all. Not to mention great communication via phone and email with the office at all times. Could not praise enough, and both Simon and Siggi, our guides the first and second time around, were absolutely fabulous and have a wealth of knowledge they are ready to share. 10 out of 5!
Written 1 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
2007todate
Ireland513 contributions
Feb 2020 • Friends
Booked 2 tours with this company on their website and was very happy to get a discount of 30% as was a January special offer code.
Northern lights small group tour- had the pleasure of Gauti as our driver / guide. He was very informative, pleasant and passionate about the tour. He stopped numerous times to check if the lights were visable. After driving over 2 hours with stops he parked and said this would be the best viewing point. We were delighted and privileged to see them. We were the only bus parked there. Didn't feel rushed, had plenty of time to enjoy them, served hot chocolate which was the nicest hot chocolate ever on a freezing cold windy night. Best part was Gauti took a photo with his professional camera and emailed us photos ( no charge) . Tour started at 9.30pm and we returned to our hotel at 2.30am.
Golden circle small group tour - great tour and driver / guide ( cannot remember name but had a English accent) . Weather was great which added to the enjoyment of the tour. Has plenty of time in each stop, the scenery was amazing, the waterfall was my high light.
I would highly recommend Bus Travel Iceland.
Northern lights small group tour- had the pleasure of Gauti as our driver / guide. He was very informative, pleasant and passionate about the tour. He stopped numerous times to check if the lights were visable. After driving over 2 hours with stops he parked and said this would be the best viewing point. We were delighted and privileged to see them. We were the only bus parked there. Didn't feel rushed, had plenty of time to enjoy them, served hot chocolate which was the nicest hot chocolate ever on a freezing cold windy night. Best part was Gauti took a photo with his professional camera and emailed us photos ( no charge) . Tour started at 9.30pm and we returned to our hotel at 2.30am.
Golden circle small group tour - great tour and driver / guide ( cannot remember name but had a English accent) . Weather was great which added to the enjoyment of the tour. Has plenty of time in each stop, the scenery was amazing, the waterfall was my high light.
I would highly recommend Bus Travel Iceland.
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
mad_max555
Leffrinckoucke, France54 contributions
Jan 2023
Let me start with the positives. Our guide was Daniel (Aurora whisperer) who was excellent and very amusing. He was very knowledgeable and explained why the aurora happens. He’s also a keen photographer so was very helpful to those trying to take photographs with the camera settings and phone settings to get the best results. Unfortunately my iPhone XR does not have the capability to take photos with an exposure time of 15 seconds. He also lit a fire and provided hot chocolate to warm us. Take note standing for an hour in negative degrees with a strong wind and you will get cold. Many layers and little exposed skin is essential. Seeing the Aurora with the naked eye is quite often somewhat underwhelming as we don't have the ability to compound what we see over 15 seconds. So a photo over 15 seconds will be so much more impressive.
Now the negative aspects. Bus travel Iceland, as the name implies, involves running buses. So, when they organise a tour you would expect enough buses would arrive in time for the hundreds of people booked on that tour. Oh no. We arrived, as instucted, at 20.00 for a 20.30 tour at bus stop no.12 along with hundreds of people not booked with Bus Travel Iceland. Bus stop no. 12 is just that, a bus stop. There is no shelter from the elements and BTI buses did not start to arrive until after 21.00 and then only two. The tour guide would then call out names for their bus (56 per bus) and assured us that other buses are two minutes behind. This is an Islandic 2 minutes that can represent half an hour.
Nobody knew which bus they were on (why?) so we all crowded round every BTI bus that arrived in the hope of getting out of the cold. When Daniel's bus arrived he could not access the list of people on his bus due to software or connection problems, resulting in more delays. Note that other tour operators also use bus stop 12 for their pick ups so you can imagine the chaos every time a bus arrives with little or no identification. Considering how late this tour normally finishes, a delayed start is not helpful.
Now the negative aspects. Bus travel Iceland, as the name implies, involves running buses. So, when they organise a tour you would expect enough buses would arrive in time for the hundreds of people booked on that tour. Oh no. We arrived, as instucted, at 20.00 for a 20.30 tour at bus stop no.12 along with hundreds of people not booked with Bus Travel Iceland. Bus stop no. 12 is just that, a bus stop. There is no shelter from the elements and BTI buses did not start to arrive until after 21.00 and then only two. The tour guide would then call out names for their bus (56 per bus) and assured us that other buses are two minutes behind. This is an Islandic 2 minutes that can represent half an hour.
Nobody knew which bus they were on (why?) so we all crowded round every BTI bus that arrived in the hope of getting out of the cold. When Daniel's bus arrived he could not access the list of people on his bus due to software or connection problems, resulting in more delays. Note that other tour operators also use bus stop 12 for their pick ups so you can imagine the chaos every time a bus arrives with little or no identification. Considering how late this tour normally finishes, a delayed start is not helpful.
Written 1 February 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear mad_max555,
We are very sorry that your experience with us was not pleasant. We're always working to improve our tours and how we deliver them, so we appreciate your constructive feedback. We appreciate both positive and negative feedback as it helps us grow and improve the quality of our products and services.
We are very happy that you enjoyed our tour with our guide Daniel. We will pass this message on to him.
We kindly ask you to forward more details on what has gone wrong to info@bustravel.is We apologize for any inconvenience caused and look forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Andrius
Written 5 February 2023
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Marc T
Leeds, UK11 contributions
I have been to Iceland before & have seen the Northern Lights, so coming back I was really excited to bring my girlfriend & go on a Northern Lights excursion. We were told to be there at 8:30, so we arrived at 8:30 and we were stood freezing cold at the bus stop until 9:10.
We then got on the bus and travelled for around 10 minutes & then stopped off for a toilet break for around 35 minutes (not sure why we stopped off for the toilet break as we had just left, but y’know we were buzzing for the northern lights) we took the drive & talked about a man that turned into a whale & then we drove through the largest tunnel in Iceland (probs the highlight of the excursion).
We parked up in only what I can describe as a quarry to then be told that there was aurora there. Now I wear glasses, but you decide if you can see aurora in the picture below...
When I went before we went to a beautiful location with a waterfall, but this just felt like we were parked in an industrial estate - even when there was no aurora (and there was) there was still beautiful scenery to look at. It was fairly obvious that there wasn’t going to be any activity early on, yet we stayed there for TWO HOURS (FREEZING). Then to make the evening even better he cracked out the fermented shark that smelt like cat pee. He did say we could go back the next night for free, but we took a hard pass.
We then got on the bus and travelled for around 10 minutes & then stopped off for a toilet break for around 35 minutes (not sure why we stopped off for the toilet break as we had just left, but y’know we were buzzing for the northern lights) we took the drive & talked about a man that turned into a whale & then we drove through the largest tunnel in Iceland (probs the highlight of the excursion).
We parked up in only what I can describe as a quarry to then be told that there was aurora there. Now I wear glasses, but you decide if you can see aurora in the picture below...
When I went before we went to a beautiful location with a waterfall, but this just felt like we were parked in an industrial estate - even when there was no aurora (and there was) there was still beautiful scenery to look at. It was fairly obvious that there wasn’t going to be any activity early on, yet we stayed there for TWO HOURS (FREEZING). Then to make the evening even better he cracked out the fermented shark that smelt like cat pee. He did say we could go back the next night for free, but we took a hard pass.
Written 15 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We are sorry you did not enjoy your Northern Lights tour. We go to the best location to see the Northern Lights, and so sadly there is not always an option to take passengers somewhere where there might also be a waterfall. Although these tours are at night and in the winter we do try and take passengers to interesting locations where we can tell you about the history and folklore etc. Unfortunately during the night it is not possible to see extensive scenery, due to the darkness.
We are sorry you did not enjoy the traditional Icelandic snacks offered on your tour. Whilst fermented shark is not for everyone the feedback we receive from our guests is that they enjoy the opportunity to experience a truly Icelandic cultural delicacy. We also provide hot chocolate and candy which you did not mention in your review.
We go above and beyond on our Northern Lights hunts to make these tours an experience. We offer expert guides, stories, information, advice on setting up cameras as well as blankets and traditional Icelandic snacks. We want all our guests to enjoy their time in our beautiful country. We care deeply about the experience, so we are surprised to hear you did not enjoy it. We would like to investigate further and encourage you to send us a direct message so we can improve our services.
Written 16 March 2020
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Becky G
4 contributions
Tour on Friday 28th Feb with Tomme
While we were not expecting great things, given the weather, we were more unhappy with the fact that we were congratulated on the way back as we had ‘successfully’ seen the lights.
To see them was impossible with the naked eye.. only a pro camera could pick up greenish tinges in the sky.
The guide on the return journey clearly knew he was fooling nobody with the great success story! As he remained silent on the return.
Just one stop.. no other options provided or chasing to get a better viewpoint.
I would have just preferred a little honesty about the whole experience.
Here is what an ordinary camera captured!
While we were not expecting great things, given the weather, we were more unhappy with the fact that we were congratulated on the way back as we had ‘successfully’ seen the lights.
To see them was impossible with the naked eye.. only a pro camera could pick up greenish tinges in the sky.
The guide on the return journey clearly knew he was fooling nobody with the great success story! As he remained silent on the return.
Just one stop.. no other options provided or chasing to get a better viewpoint.
I would have just preferred a little honesty about the whole experience.
Here is what an ordinary camera captured!
Written 2 March 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alice D
Torquay, UK70 contributions
Dec 2022
We arrived in Reykjavik late afternoon but decided to take a chance and pre-book with BusTravel on their large group coach Northern Lights tour that same evening, as the aurora forecast looked promising.
Our pick up was very smooth from bus stop #13 and the smaller bus took us to meet the larger coaches that we would travel on. There was an unforeseen system mix up with another driver's pick up, meaning that we were delayed from leaving central Reykjavik for an hour. However this did work to our advantage in the end...
The tour guide on our coach, a lovely chap called Thor, was very apologetic about the delay and provided lots of useful info while we drove out of the city to get away from the light pollution. After about a 45 minute drive north, we stopped at a place with just one other coach. It only took around 20 minutes and then the Northern Lights went crazy - we had a spectacular display right above us! This was around 11:30pm when the Lights appeared and remained dancing for at least half an hour. It was remarked that this was the best display of the season so far, and we know we were extremely lucky to see them this well.
As long as you have patience and understanding that the Lights are not guaranteed to appear on the night that you book for and that something may pop up (system issue, bad weather etc.), BusTravel is a great option for searching for the Northern Lights!
Our pick up was very smooth from bus stop #13 and the smaller bus took us to meet the larger coaches that we would travel on. There was an unforeseen system mix up with another driver's pick up, meaning that we were delayed from leaving central Reykjavik for an hour. However this did work to our advantage in the end...
The tour guide on our coach, a lovely chap called Thor, was very apologetic about the delay and provided lots of useful info while we drove out of the city to get away from the light pollution. After about a 45 minute drive north, we stopped at a place with just one other coach. It only took around 20 minutes and then the Northern Lights went crazy - we had a spectacular display right above us! This was around 11:30pm when the Lights appeared and remained dancing for at least half an hour. It was remarked that this was the best display of the season so far, and we know we were extremely lucky to see them this well.
As long as you have patience and understanding that the Lights are not guaranteed to appear on the night that you book for and that something may pop up (system issue, bad weather etc.), BusTravel is a great option for searching for the Northern Lights!
Written 4 January 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
GOLFF
Exeter51 contributions
Nov 2021
Belatedly but as i am planning another trip to Beautiful Iceland, I felt that i had better let other readers know of our experiences having already reported on the lovely hotel we stayed in.
Disappointing trip this was…virtually from start to finish.
Disorganised chaos at the ‘bus stop’ where the pick up was. we weren’t advised beforehand that there would be so many other groups being picked up by other bus companies of varying sizes!
We weren’t expecting over 50 people on the same bus as ours…especially during CoVid times, very few people wearing masks. The Tour rep announced the mask rule once, then her duty was done.
Therefore we double masked ourselves…we couldn’t afford the risk.
Then we were off, no we weren’t because we had two more pick up places to go to. With the ‘suffocation’ of passengers i was already wanting to get off, but this was my wife’s treat during our short holiday. She paid around £75 each so by my calculations was £3750 for the operators evening…nice work when you can get it.
It was driving and driving into virtually nowhere…quick toilet stop then onto somewhere else. Then a stop off for the Luke warm chocolate and a couple of bite size lava chocolates. Eventually back on board and long trip back to the city, listening to the snoring behind. Sadly the commentary was poor and couldn’t disguise the snoring. Even though we were offered another trip the following evening, we weren’t going to waste another six hours when we could enjoy something better.
Would i recommend to others…NO…unless it was more of sensible price like £25pp.
BE WARNED and PREPARED
Disappointing trip this was…virtually from start to finish.
Disorganised chaos at the ‘bus stop’ where the pick up was. we weren’t advised beforehand that there would be so many other groups being picked up by other bus companies of varying sizes!
We weren’t expecting over 50 people on the same bus as ours…especially during CoVid times, very few people wearing masks. The Tour rep announced the mask rule once, then her duty was done.
Therefore we double masked ourselves…we couldn’t afford the risk.
Then we were off, no we weren’t because we had two more pick up places to go to. With the ‘suffocation’ of passengers i was already wanting to get off, but this was my wife’s treat during our short holiday. She paid around £75 each so by my calculations was £3750 for the operators evening…nice work when you can get it.
It was driving and driving into virtually nowhere…quick toilet stop then onto somewhere else. Then a stop off for the Luke warm chocolate and a couple of bite size lava chocolates. Eventually back on board and long trip back to the city, listening to the snoring behind. Sadly the commentary was poor and couldn’t disguise the snoring. Even though we were offered another trip the following evening, we weren’t going to waste another six hours when we could enjoy something better.
Would i recommend to others…NO…unless it was more of sensible price like £25pp.
BE WARNED and PREPARED
Written 22 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Dear Golff,
Thank you for your feedback and we are sorry to hear you did not enjoy our tour.
Regarding the pick up, indeed there are more then just one tour company in Iceland and since the city has created the official tour bus stops for tour companies like us to pick up our guests from, there will also be other companies around. We are sorry that this confused you.
Regarding the tour itself, we indeed take you out into the nowhere where you have the best chances to see the Northern Lights. As they are a natural phenomenon we can not guarantee sighting as mentioned online. However we offer all our guests to reschedule their tour free of charge for up to 3 years until they see the Northern Lights :)
We are sorry to hear that you were not interested in this offer.
It is also sad to hear that you did not enjoy our extra of hot chocolate and lava chocolate bites, of course you were not forced to try them :)
We hope you still enjoyed your trip to Iceland!
Written 23 March 2022
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
Mark J
Burton upon Trent, UK4 contributions
Feb 2022 • Couples
We booked onto this trip after two others were cancelled due to poor conditions . The first night with this company was also cancelled due to the pesky weather . However on our final night with snow falling we set out with low expectations .
Our guide Daniel “the Aurora Whisperer “ took us out to find gaps in the cloud cover .
And find them he did with upto date equipment downloading real time data from satellites measuring the solar wind he presented us with a magical 20 minute display of dazzling dancing Northern lights .
Not only that he patiently helped everyone set up phones and cameras to take the best possible pictures.
My Tips
Make sure you have plenty of layers by gum does it get cold
For best photography take a tripod for the 3-10 second exposures .
Go with Daniel the other buses seemed to follow him arround which tells its own story. Nothing is for certain with the Northers Lights but with Daniel “the Aurora Whisperer “ I’m certain you have the best chance of seeing them.
Highly recommended Thank you
Oh and there was hot chocolate 😋
Our guide Daniel “the Aurora Whisperer “ took us out to find gaps in the cloud cover .
And find them he did with upto date equipment downloading real time data from satellites measuring the solar wind he presented us with a magical 20 minute display of dazzling dancing Northern lights .
Not only that he patiently helped everyone set up phones and cameras to take the best possible pictures.
My Tips
Make sure you have plenty of layers by gum does it get cold
For best photography take a tripod for the 3-10 second exposures .
Go with Daniel the other buses seemed to follow him arround which tells its own story. Nothing is for certain with the Northers Lights but with Daniel “the Aurora Whisperer “ I’m certain you have the best chance of seeing them.
Highly recommended Thank you
Oh and there was hot chocolate 😋
Written 4 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Madeleine
New York City, NY27 contributions
This was our first trip to Iceland and we were lucky enough to see the Lights on our first try! I was so impressed with the professionalism, flexibility, and compassion of the company—due to unforeseen circumstances, we had to change our reservation just an hour out from the scheduled departure. They were so kind and understanding, and very generously offered to switch our reservation to the later tour that evening. It took what was a very stressful situation and made it much better. If you want to try see the Northern Lights, this is a straightforward, no frills way to do it. Our guide, Mr. A was kind and very informative. We were successful at our first hot spot thanks to the intel from earlier groups that had gone out (they recommend a later tour time because the lights and more developed and earlier groups have gone through the trial and error). A great experience!
Written 23 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Leh
5 contributions
We did the Small Group Northern Lights tour and were so impressed!
The first night of our trip we did this tour with Omar, it was snowing so unlikely to see anything. Tried 3 places just in case but no lights.
We rebooked and was cancelled due to bad weather, the next day rebooked - most tours cancelled this evening but BusTravel didn’t…and we saw the lights! Kristinn was our guide and he was brilliant, really happy and approachable. He bought his camera too so we had some professional pictures of the lights and us with the lights!
Both times we were given hot chocolate and a little sweet.
Would definitely recommend this company, and hopefully you get Kristinn as your guide too!
The first night of our trip we did this tour with Omar, it was snowing so unlikely to see anything. Tried 3 places just in case but no lights.
We rebooked and was cancelled due to bad weather, the next day rebooked - most tours cancelled this evening but BusTravel didn’t…and we saw the lights! Kristinn was our guide and he was brilliant, really happy and approachable. He bought his camera too so we had some professional pictures of the lights and us with the lights!
Both times we were given hot chocolate and a little sweet.
Would definitely recommend this company, and hopefully you get Kristinn as your guide too!
Written 28 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Are there toilets available on the coach/toilet stops?
Written 7 January 2024
We were on a mini bus tour, so no toilets. We stopped on the way out at the Aurora centre and then that was it!
Written 23 February 2024
I booked a few days ago and am still awaiting email confirmation ( the booking number is 1303504944.). I didn’t realise when I booked it that we would have to make our way to a designated bus stop - could you confirm that this is the case, we are arriving at the cruise terminal the afternoon of the 27/09/22.
Written 6 August 2022
1) will you pickup and drop off passengers from the cruise ship pier?
2)I understand that if we don't see the Northern Lights during the Bus Tour, we can go again the next night for free, but our cruise ship will be leaving by then, so we won't be able to join you again. Can we get our money back?
3) Similarly, if your bus tour is cancelled due to weather, do we get our money back(for passengers from the cruise ship)?
4)Finally, how do you refund the money?
Written 9 June 2022
What is the latest time we can do the tour? Our flight lands I Reykjavik at 6.50pm
Written 7 March 2022
I don’t know for sure but from memory we were picked up from our hotel around 8:30-9:00pm. Check with the tour operators. Enjoy and good luck finding them!
Written 9 March 2022
Hi, are there toilet breaks on this trip?
Written 31 January 2022
We did our northern lights trip 27th Dec we were picked up at 8.30pm from our hotel then went on to pick up a few others from the bus stops.We got back about 1.30am ish
Written 11 January 2022
CarmenJ
Romania
Hello, please, when is the best period, month for see norhern lights?
Written 19 May 2019
Didn't see the northern lights very few do. Iceland is generally a load of marketing hype in my experience. Would go again. If you want to see the northern lights check the predictor Web site on the the day if it's high get the first flight out of Manchester on that day see them if your lucky and come home.
Written 28 September 2019
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