Chasing the Northern Lights in Iceland - Why a Camper Rental is Your Best Bet

Renting a camper van gives you flexibility

Hiring your own camper van gives you the flexibility to go as you please. You can create your own itinerary and adjust your plans as the mood takes you. When it comes to searching for the Northern Lights, such spontaneity is a big advantage. Take a look not only at the aurora forecast but also the maps of cloud cover on the Icelandic Met Office’s website. If you get lucky with a strong likelihood of an appearance from the aurora, you can plan a route to drive where there’s the greatest chance of clear skies and maximise your odds of an encounter. That might be close to where you were planning to spend the night or a little further afield - it doesn’t matter.

You can carry as much gear as you like

Preparing for a Northern Lights hunt means gathering up a fair amount of stuff. You’ll need to figure out which clothes to put on and how many layers it will take to keep you warm while you’re outside watching the sky. You’ll most likely want to record the experience, and even if you’re doing so on a smartphone your images are going to be a whole lot better if you’ve used a tripod sturdy enough to be stable if it’s windy. Then there are the extras - a flask of coffee, hand warmers, spare batteries and so on. Instead of carrying everything around, you can keep it in the camper van until you need it.

You’ll have somewhere warm to wait for the aurora to show up

Statistically, the best time to catch the Northern Lights is either side of midnight, but the reality is that the aurora doesn’t work to a regular schedule. Often therefore, for those intent on experiencing this remarkable natural phenomenon, that means there’ll be a long wait. If you’re lucky it will be interspersed with periods of magical displays as green, purple and red curtains dance across the heavens. Rather than stand around in the cold, if you’ve rented a camper you can stay out of the cold and hang out in your van until there looks like there’s going to be some action.

A camper van is an affordable way to see the Northern Lights

Even if you’ve made only a cursory search of the internet you’ll know that there is a plethora of Northern Lights tours on offer. Some travellers prefer to leave the hunt to a guide, but such a strategy comes at a cost - such tours can be pricey, particularly if you’re travelling as a couple or group when you’ve each got to pay separately. In contrast, if you’re planning to rent a camper van, you’ve already made the investment so driving around at night as well as during the day is no big deal and won’t cost you extra if you have unlimited mileage. All your aurora hunt will cost you is the price of fuel - a small price to pay for memories that will last a lifetime. 

 If you’re keen to see the Northern Lights during your trip, having a camper van could make the experience more comfortable and enjoyable. Why not take a look at the selection of vehicles Konvin offers and choose the one that best fits your needs?