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Akureyri Iceland Tours › Akureyri in Winter: Northern Lights, Roads and What Still RunsUpdated 2026-09-23

Akureyri in Winter: Northern Lights, Roads and What Still Runs

Hours, prices and access verified by the Akureyri Iceland Tours team — last checked 2026-09-23.

Akureyri in winter is dark, cold and quiet, and it is the best time of year to see the northern lights. The days shrink to a few hours of light, some roads close and the seasonal tours stop. But the lagoon stays open until midnight, the day tours still run to the lake, and a guide will drive you out to a dark sky. This guide sets out what changes from October to March and what still runs. To book the lights, start with an Akureyri northern lights tour.

What changes in Akureyri between October and March?

Four things, and each affects a booking.

What stays: the town, the pool, the lagoon, the museums and the Christmas Garden, open all year. The snow stays too. In 2023 the Met Office counted 69 days with snow on the ground in Akureyri.

Green northern lights arcing over a snow-covered ridge at night
Green northern lights arcing over a snow-covered ridge at night

How much daylight is there?

Not much in the middle of winter, and a lot on either side. Around the June solstice Akureyri has close to 24 hours of daylight; in late December, only a few. The table gives the Met Office’s 1961–1990 averages for the town’s station, month by month. Recent decades run about a degree warmer.

MonthMean temperatureSunshine hoursWhat runs
October3.0 °C52Aurora season; lake days; food walks over
November−0.4 °C15Aurora; lake days; the lagoon
December−1.9 °C0Aurora; Advent in town; bonfire on New Year's Eve
January−2.2 °C7Aurora; the Dettifoss road out of service
February−1.5 °C36Aurora; lengthening days
March−1.3 °C77Aurora; the Dettifoss road still out
April1.6 °C130The last of the aurora; the road reopens

The short days change how a day tour feels more than whether it runs. You leave in the dark, see the stops in the middle of the day, and come home in the dark. The full year, month by month, is on the Akureyri weather page.

When is the northern lights season?

The tourist board puts it at September through April, on clear nights. What you need is dark and cloudless sky, and the darkness is guaranteed from October to March; the cloud is not. That is why a week gives you better odds than a night.

The Icelandic Met Office publishes an aurora forecast with a 0 to 9 activity scale and a cloud-cover map. Read the cloud map first: a strong forecast under full cloud shows you nothing. Its sunset and darkness times are for Reykjavík, so the north is a little different.

What happens if the lights don’t show?

The northern lights are a natural event, and no tour offers guaranteed northern lights. What the tour from town offers is the next best thing: if nothing shows, you get a second attempt the following night, free.

The tour runs three hours from $113. It collects you from select hotels in a climate-controlled van, drives about 20 minutes out of town to a dark viewpoint, and waits there for about an hour and a half. One traveller was clouded out on the first night, went out again the next evening and saw the lights. That is how the second night is meant to work. Book the tour for your first night, so that the second is still yours.

Do the whale boats still sail in winter?

The fjord is sailed all year: the regional tourist board calls Eyjafjörður a place for a boat ride all year long. But each boat keeps its own calendar. The Hauganes boat describes its sailing as a summer season, and a winter traveller on it advised being flexible, because the weather moves departures.

So check the date in the booking calendar rather than assuming. If a town ship is sailing, it is the warmest way to go out in winter: a heated saloon, thermal overalls on board, and a free second try if no whales are seen. Every boat is on Akureyri whale watching tours.

Can you still see Lake Mývatn and Goðafoss in winter?

Yes. The day tours with pickup keep running to Goðafoss and Lake Mývatn in the dark months. What changes is the margin. The days are short, the roads can ice, and a day tour’s timetable is the driver’s call on the day.

Earth Lagoon Mývatn stays open, 12:00 to 22:00 daily from 1 September, with entry from 7,900 ISK. A warm bath at the far end of a cold day is the best part of a winter lake tour. Dress for standing about outside at every stop. The stops are set out on Akureyri day tours.

Dettifoss and the roads that close

Dettifoss is the one to be careful with. Road 862, the paved western road, is not in winter service from January until the beginning of April. Road 864 on the eastern side is gravel, closed in winter and open again around the end of May. The small-group Dettifoss day runs only from 18 May to 31 October.

The other Dettifoss day runs later into the year, but the road decides. One traveller on it in the middle of winter found the road conditions too bad to reach Dettifoss at all; the guide turned the day into something else. If Dettifoss is the reason you are going, go between May and October.

Can you ski at Hlíðarfjall?

Yes. Hlíðarfjall is the ski area on the mountain above the town. Its winter lift hours are published in Icelandic on the ski area’s own site, so check them there before you go. The last week of April brings the town’s children’s ski competition to the mountain.

In summer the same lifts run for walkers and mountain bikers, with a day pass that anyone can buy at the mountain.

Forest Lagoon in the snow

The Forest Lagoon is at its best in winter. The water in both pools is 37 °C, the air is below zero, and on a clear night the sky above the fjord is dark. It opens 10:00 to midnight, from 09:00 in June to August, and you must be out of the water by 23:30. Under-12s leave by 20:00.

From 7 September to 31 May the free shuttle runs once each evening: 18:45 from Centrum Kitchen & Bar on Skipagata, back at 22:00, except on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January. The ticket at $80 covers entry, a towel, a locker and a drink at the swim-up bar. More on the lagoon and the town pool is on things to do in Akureyri.

What should you wear?

Layers, and more of them than you think. On the boats you are covered: the town ships supply thermal overalls, and the Húsavík RIB supplies warm overalls but not gloves and hats, so bring your own. On the aurora hunt you will stand still in the cold for an hour and a half, which is colder than walking. Wear a hat, gloves, boots with grip and a warm layer under a windproof one.

In town, the pavements ice, so pack shoes with grip as well as boots.

How should you plan a winter week?

Around the sky, first. Book the northern lights tour for your first night, so that a cloudy night still leaves you the free second attempt. Then fill the days around it.

Leave one day empty. Winter weather moves plans, and a spare day is what turns a cancelled tour into a postponed one.

What is on in town over winter?

December is the town’s own season, with Advent events and the Christmas holidays. The Christmas Garden, ten minutes’ drive south, opens 12:00 to 18:00 from September to December. On New Year’s Eve the town lights a bonfire at Jaðar at 20:30. What each month brings, all year, is on when to visit Akureyri.

Where these figures come from

Akureyri in winter: frequently asked questions

Is Akureyri worth visiting in winter?
Yes, if you come for the northern lights, the snow and a warm lagoon. The days are short and some roads close, but the day tours to the lake and the aurora tours keep running.
When can you see the northern lights in Akureyri?
From September through April on clear, dark nights. December and January are the darkest, but cloud decides more than the month does.
Are northern lights guaranteed on an Akureyri tour?
No. Nobody can promise the lights. The tour from town gives you a second attempt the following night, free, if nothing shows.
Do whale watching tours run in winter in Akureyri?
Some do. The fjord is sailed all year, but each boat keeps its own calendar, so check your date in the booking calendar.
Can you visit Dettifoss in winter?
It is hard. Road 862 is not in winter service from January until the beginning of April, and one winter tour could not reach the falls because of the roads. Go between May and October if you can.
Is Forest Lagoon open in winter?
Yes, every day until midnight. The free shuttle runs once each evening from the centre, at 18:45, returning at 22:00.
How cold is Akureyri in winter?
The long-run average is a little below zero from November to March, and January is the coldest month at about minus two. Wind makes it feel colder.

Tours that run in the dark months

Next: Plan the day without a booking in Akureyri without a tour, or see the fares in what each fare buys. Every tour sits side by side on Akureyri Iceland Tours.