Private Northern Lights Tour

Aurora chasing with Christian

Went aurora chasing with Christian (who’s the #1 local expert), along with my family including a toddler. What a chase it was! Along the way I learnt so much from knowledgeable and passionate Christian regarding the science and art behind the aurora. He took so much delight in sharing and his love for the aurora was both infectious and inspiring. He took the extra trouble and time to seek out the right phase of the aurora display - and how rewarding that was! He took great care of us too, with creature comforts like hot chocolate and blankets. Definitely take a tour with Christian if you get the chance - it’s the experience of a lifetime!

Response from the operator: Thank you for trusting us with your tour, and for your kind words. We will share this with Christian. We are fortunate to have him as part of our team.

via Tripadvisor

Shame

This so-called "tour" turned out to be a complete scam for tourists. Despite the promises, the reality was disappointing. A tour was announced with multiple strategic stops to spot the northern lights in the best conditions, but in practice, they took us to a single destination, widely known by tourists and affected by the light pollution and hustle and bustle of Reykjavik: the Grotta lighthouse (Seltjörn). It seems that gasoline is expensive... The "search" was limited to waiting for hours inside the bus, without the possibility of moving or exploring the places we were promised to visit. The duration of the prank was not even close to 5 hours, including pick-up and drop-off. To say that this point was appreciated, since the cold or heat, when the bus was started, was unbearable. And your search technology? Nothing more than the Aurora application, yes, the same one we all use. The result was a complete failure and a waste of time and opportunity to witness the northern lights. To make matters worse, their supposed "fantastic chocolate" was nothing more than a mixture of cocoa powder with warm water. One more mockery for the unsuspecting tourists who trusted in his deception. Your only solution is to offer the possibility of repeating this waste of time, but my response will be to report this scam and demand the corresponding refund. Let's remember that it is a tour of more than €100.

Response from the operator: This tour depends on nature, and we can not guarantee what will happen, despite our tracking. We acknowledge the frustration, but this tour is based on natural occurrences. We also offered a free tour which you declined-our policy is the same as other tour operators. You also wrote this same review on two different booking platforms- and you did NOT have a private tour.

via Tripadvisor (translated)

Fairly well organised tour but too many people

'Private tour' is a bit of a misnomer. There were 3 busses from the company who went out that night so that was about 120 people. We didn't get to see the northern lights but that was nobody's fault. We did get an offer to go out again another night but as it happened that week there were no sightings of the aurora..

Response from the operator: Hi, if you could email us if you have not- a private tour should have had its own transport, and not be placed on a large bus- unless we were offering you to join our group tour if your private tour was unsuccessful.

via Tripadvisor

Wonderful light show!

My friend and I had an amazing experience on the Northern Lights tour with Ania! It was a perfect first night in Iceland. We sleepily boarded the bus at 10 PM, and Ania was super friendly and welcoming to us. The soft radio, blankets, hot cocoa, and Northern Lights facts made it both a cozy and adventurous environment. Ania was dedicated to making sure we had the best light show possible, and we were able to get plenty of high-quality photos and time adjusting our eyesight to the dark to watch the lights. Thank you for the wonderful tour!

via Tripadvisor

Comms needed to improve with the guests

We pre-booked the Northern Lights Guided Tour with Photos through GetYourGuide prior to arriving in Iceland and were impressed with the communications prior to our tour from the provider. We were picked up by coach from Bus Stop No1 in Reykjavik as it was not possible to pick up from our hotel. There are loads of trips going from Bus Stop No1 and it was a bit chaotic as hordes of tourists are looking for their transport, but to be fair our guide Norris did make it clear when he arrived which company he worked for. After a couple of more pick up stops we proceeded to make our way out towards the airport as Norris had informed us this was possibly going to be the area to see the lights. During the journey Norris interestingly explained how and why the Northern Lights are created but also made it clear that seeing them wasn't guaranteed. After about an hour's drive we parked up in an a remote area away from man made lights, however, we weren't the only groups there - everyone seems to be in contact and checking web apps which inform the areas where you have the best chance of seeing the lights. After around 40 mins and no sighting, Norris got us back on the bus to head out to another area which he thought maybe could provide a sighting. After another no-show of the lights we headed to an area with a lighthouse near the coast, again there were several groups already here. We spent quite a long time at this location and some hot chocolate was provided to the group, but yet again no sign of the lights. As the temperature had really dropped now and it was approaching midnight, most of the group had retreated to the coach, and I got the feeling that most of the group wanted to return back to their hotels. The coach driver was asked to approach Norris who remained outside with another guide to see if we could return back to the hotels but nothing seemed to happen. In the end I took the decision to speak to Norris myself and explained there was a bit of discontent appearing on the coach. Norris then came onto the coach and the guests explained that that they would prefer to leave as several had other trips arranged for the morning. It was agreed we would head back to Reykjavik but Norris wanted to make one further stop on the way to just see if the lights appeared there. This added an extra 20 mins to the journey but yet again no sighting. So why the 3 star rating. Everyone was aware before the trip that a sighting of the lights was not guaranteed, but I think that Norris just needed to be a bit more in tune with the mood of his guests. It was great that he was really keen for us to see the lights and he didn't want to give up, but people were really tired and early starts the next morning. We got back to our hotel at 2am. He just needed to communicate better with the guests. Obviously this trip came with the added bonus of a photograph with the Northern Lights if they had appeared, but as they didn't a few couples had photos taken with the lighthouse at the last location. These photos were sent out by the company a day or so after the trip and to be honest were pretty poor quality so not sure it was worth the extra cost. To be fair the company did send out vouchers for a free return excursion due to the non-sighting. Would I do this trip again - maybe but I would opt for a smaller group tour rather than a coach.

via Tripadvisor