Ireland and Scotland also included in this coming trip.  

I wanted to use London as my base and explore UK at the same time, but Finnair offers the cheapest fare and it gives the best travel time (only 2 hours transit and arrive Iceland in the morning) to Iceland. It's also not as convenient to transfer in between different airports in London. I gave up London in the end. Finnair is still the best (and most convenient) choice to travel if you want to go Iceland from Singapore.

Singapore – Iceland (transit via Helsinki) – Scotland Edinburgh – Ireland – UK Northern Ireland

Highlights

• Hike on beautiful glacier in Iceland 
• Visit to amazing ice cave in Iceland
• Viewing of northern lights in Iceland
• Horse riding in Iceland
• A night stay in charming private castle in Ireland  
• Visit to Game of Thrones filming locations in Ireland

Day 0
Day 11
Day trip from Killarney to Dingle Penisula
Stay overnight at airbnb private home stay

Day 12
Drive to Dublin. Visit Hore Abbey / Rock of Cashel / Dublin town
Stay overnight at airbnb private home stay

Day 13
Depart from Dublin to Singapore (9 hours transit in Helsinki)
Take airport bus to Helsinki town. Visit Temppeliaukio Church, market in Helsinki

Day 14
Arrive SG

I have been asked to share my northern lights hunting experience from time to time. I thought it would be a good idea to summarize all questions I got and share to everyone here.


What is northern lights?

It's one of the most incredible natural phenomenon. This is because electrically charged particles from sun collide with gaseous particles (oxygen, nitrogen) in earth's atmosphere when they enter earth. Aurora can be seen at northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere. The most well known and common aurora is green, there is also violet, red and blue. Aurora color changes depending the element interacted.

Green: oxygen, up to 240km
Blue: nitrogen, up to 100km
Red: oxygen and nitrogen, above 240km
Purple/ violet: nitrogen, above 100km


What is kp index?

Kp index goes from 0 to 9 where 0 means there is very little geomagnetic activity and 9 indicates extremely strong geomagnetic storm, the higher the better. This is the most important factor when you want to watch aurora. 

Kp index in map below (I drew it and it's not drawn to scale, please google one if you need something very accurate) tells you what kp index to look out for to be in where your location is. For example if the forecast says the kp index at this moment is 4 and you are now in Iceland, it means you will likely see aurora dancing above you. 


What are the forecast websites available?

- Aurora Service and their facebook page
- Geophysical Institute


When is the best time to see northern lights?

Aurora is a all year round phenomenon. Aurora can only be seen in a dark environment, therefore it is usually visible between September and April when nights are longer. From May to August, the midnight sun doesn't go far below horizon and daylight hours are much longer, it can be 24 hours. 11pm - 2am aurora activity is the most active, however I had spotted aurora from 7pm to 11pm, they can appear anytime.

You need luck to catch aurora. Sometimes even the forecast is good and clear sky above but aurora may not appear, so try to plan your trip as long as possible. The longer you stay in any one of these locations the higher chance you will see aurora, I would suggest minimum 3 - 4 nights. The 1st trip to Finland, I stayed 3 nights in Rovaniemi, aurora appeared the 1st night but faint, so that's 30%. 2nd trip to Iceland and Norway, I stayed 4 nights in Iceland, I saw the lights on the last night there then I also saw them dancing in the sky again both nights in Lofoten Island, that's 50%.


Where to see the lights?

NORTHERN lights, as the name suggests, they usually appear in northern polar region like northern Scandinavia, Alaska, Greenland and northern Canada. Inari or Ivalo in Finland, Tromso in Norway, Yellowknife in Canada, Kiruna in Sweden and Fairbank in Alaska are popular locations to hunt the lights in this region.

There are many places can spot aurora, your choice should be made based on your interest (what you expect from the place other than northern lights), accessibility and your budget. Some place may have higher chance to see aurora but you may have issue in transportation. Some place may not be a great place to chase the lights but it maybe a place where you can do a lot of activities. Some place maybe a very interesting place to visit but not within your budget. I have not been to those cities I mentioned above and I went Rovaniemi in Finland, Lofoten Island in Norway and Iceland instead.

1. Finland

Finland uses euro as official currency so it's the cheapest Scandinavia country among all, it's more affordable compare to Norway, Sweden and Iceland. Not only you can hunt the lights there, Finland is also the hometown of Santa Claus, you can visit Santa Claus village in Rovaniemi (see my Rovaniemi day 6 trip report here), you can also try out these activities such as reindeer sludge, husky sludge (see my Rovaniemi day 6 trip report here), snowmobile or ice fishing if you are there during winter time. Don't put all eggs in one basket, try to plan your trip together with these winter excursions else you may get disappointed if you didn't manage to catch the lights. Like my 1st lights chasing trip in Finland, I was so upset that I couldn't see anything, Rovaniemi had been cloudy for weeks during my visit. I was really sad and I planned another trip as soon as I was back to Singapore. 

It was a cloudy night and this was the best aurora my camera could spot (see my Rovaniemi day 5 trip report here). I couldn't see this with my naked eyes.



Rovaniemi is not the best place to see aurora in Finland. I didn't travel further up north because accessibility is an issue for me and Rovaniemi has everything I want to see. Check Rovaniemi sunset sunrise time here, moon phase, live radar of cloud cover in Rovaniemi and aurora forecast in Europe.

Rovaniemi is the largest city in Europe, in terms of area size. Rovaniemi city centre is pretty small. You can rent a car and drive out of Rovaniemi to hunt the lights. Click here to find out the best place to see northern lights in Rovaniemi.

I signed up northern lights tour with Lapland Safaris at 99 euros per pax. I would recommend you to join the lights tour ONLY IF you are not driving and staying in city. This kind of tour can be very touristy, there are at least 30 people in the group. It is very popular among tourists since everyone is there for aurora. If you are a serious lights hunter, forget about this, spend a bit more money to sign up with people like aurora service tour. Alternatively, you can also choose not to stay in city and find a log cabin in forest. If you have the budget and want to experience something which can only find in Scandinavia, spend a night in glass igloo (Arctic snow hotel or Kakslauttanen Arctic Resort) instead. Snow hotel is another good choice if you are adventurous enough. 

Arctic Snow Hotel is a great remote place to see aurora but I was not lucky enough. However, I still enjoy my stay there. It's a fantastic experience. See my snow hotel trip report here.

I spent 469 euro a night in one of these glass igloos.



Snow chapel


Want to see the lights in Finland? Check out my Finland and Sweden trip itinerary here.

2. Sweden

Abisko national park and Kiruna are two popular places to see northern lights in Sweden. I did not chase the lights in northern part of Sweden, I only spent 2 nights in Stockholm. See my Stockholm trip report here.

The first snow hotel in the world is actually originated from Sweden, the ICEHOTEL. If you feel that snow hotel is too common, try Tree hotel.

3. Iceland

Though everything in Iceland is expensive, it is still quite pocket friendly to hunt northern lights in this country. If you don’t mind to mind to cook your own meal, comfortable to drive around Iceland on your own without guide, don't mind staying in non hotel standard airbnb accommodation or even build your own tent, then you should be able to keep your budget within SGD5000 or much lesser.

It's also probably the easiest place to plan. Just rent a car, grab a map and drive along the Ring Road. Iceland is a beautiful country, you will be tempted to pull over for photo constantly. Do not pull over to side of the road for quick photo even though there is no car around, it's very dangerous!!! There are many farm entrance, side road or information stop where you can pull off your car there. Drive slow and safe if you are not familiar with the place. There was a time we drove on the opposite side after right turn and oncoming traffic was approaching, we were so panic!!!

As I learned from Finland trip, I did not sign up any lights hunting tour. I got myself a holiday cabin and farm house from airbnb. They are located in a secluded place, away from city light, aurora can be seen from bedroom.

There is tree hotel in Sweden, snow hotel in Finland, what about Iceland? Bubble hotel in the forest. It's another perfect choice to view aurora and stars gazing.

If you have a bit of budget and looking for a northern lights' date with professional photographer, you can engage Pall. I was looking for a local photographer who knows where the best place to take photo and someone can teach me a few photography tips, so I hired Pall 2 days during my stay in south Iceland.

Northern lights right behind the farm house I stayed near Reykjavik.







Here is our Iceland trip video.

Interested to visit Iceland? See my Iceland and Norway trip itinerary here.

4. Norway

Lofoten Island is known as the most beautiful island in the world. I spent 2 nights there and I saw the most stunning aurora show in my life. 

Same like Iceland, not much planning is required to visit this island. Public transport is available but the easiest way to explore the island is by car. I went there in October and it's low season in Lofoten, most accommodation reception has flexible opening hours and is only open on request. Reception was closed when I was there but Eliassen Rorbuer's staff had email me the access code earlier. Cabin key was placed in the key safe in front of cabin door which access code is required to get the key out. 

The cabin in Hamnoy I stayed in Lofoten has a fantastic view facing north. I could see northern lights right outside cabin's living room. See my Lofoten day 1 trip report here.  

Aurora appeared as early as 7pm when the sun was still not yet set completely. The show lasted for an hour. 








Aurora at south direction.



Our cabin and rental car. 


Here is our Norway trip video.



Interested to visit Norway? See my Iceland and Norway trip itinerary here.


How did I buy my air ticket?

Book ticket online and pay with credit card? No no no no, I'm not sharing something so straightforward here. This requires a bit of planning.

Example 1: 

When I was planning my trip to Finland and Sweden, I compared a few routes (from Singapore to Stockholm, from Singapore to Helsinki, from Singapore to London and etc) on skyscanner and in the end I chose Helsinki (Finnair) as my base as it appeared to be the cheapest option.

1st destination - Singapore to Stockholm (2 hours transit via Helsinki), stopped over 2 nights
2nd destination - Stockholm to Helsinki, stopped over 5 nights
3rd destination - Helsinki to Singapore

1st, 2nd and 3rd were all purchased under one itinerary, one booking number. I bought another separate return ticket from Helsinki to Rovaniemi.

Example 2: 

As for my trip to Norway and Iceland, I flew with Finnair again but I used Oslo as base city.

1st destination - Singapore to Reykjavik (8 hours transit via Helsinki), stopped over 4 nights
2nd destination - Oslo to Singapore (2 hours transit via Helsinki)

They were all planned under one air ticket and I purchased one way ticket from Reykjavik to Oslo and a few one way domestic ticket from budget airline within Norway. 

Try to combine multiple trip in one single ticket, this will save quite a bit of money.


What camera set up I used to photograph northern lights?

You need a good camera to capture the stunning northern lights. Good camera I mean, not your iPhone, not your Samsung note, at least a camera which can do long exposure photography. So tripod is essential. I used Nikon D800 with 28mm f1.4 lens. Actually 28mm still not wide enough, probably should use something wider like 17-35mm f2.8 or 14mm f1.8

Hope these tips help in planning your upcoming northern lights holiday! 

Click here to read day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 6, day 7, day 9 & 10 trip report

Day 3

We engaged a local Icelandic photographer Páll Jökull Pétursson. He drove his 4WD brought us exploring south Iceland in 2D1N. The reason why I would like to engage an Icelandic photographer is because being a local, I expect this photographer knew where to see Iceland's famous and classic landmarks at the right timing under the right amount of sunlight, also there are some place where only the local know how to access to it. Pall did a fantastic job on this.

The weather continue as bad as yesterday, sometimes it was raining heavily, sometimes it was so windy that the wind was strong enough to blow me away. Just another gloomy day.




Foss á Siðu

Waterfall along ring road near Kirkjubaejarklaustur. This is a very small waterfall, what makes it noticeable is probably because its location which just right beside road number 1.

No entry further so this is the nearest shoot I could get.




This is the place where Hollywood movies Batman, James Bond, Tomb Raider were filmed. Series Game of Thrones scenes were also taken here.


You can take boat tour if you want to get closer look of the glacier, Ice Lagoon Boat Tour.


Diamond on black sand beach.



Soft moss

Thick blanket of woolly fringe moss covers the whole area.


It's SOFT moss. Despite been raining the whole day but the moss was not wet at all when I touched it.



Dinner in Kirkjubaejarklaistur

As the weather was bad and cold and wet, we decided to end our day early.

We had dinner in a restaurant in Kirkjubaejarklaistur. Kirkjubaejarklaistur is a small town, not much restaurants there but this is a great restaurant.

Icelandic fish and chips. The fish was formed into a tofu like shape, very unique.




Here is our Iceland trip video.


Interested to visit Iceland? Check out my itinerary and click here to read day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 6, day 7, day 9 & 10 trip report

Click here to read day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 6, day 7, day 9 & 10 trip report

Day 4

Today is the last night in Iceland. We were heading back to Reykjavik from Kirkjubaejarklaistur, we need to spend a night in Reykjavik since we were taking early flight the next day.

There are many attractions along road number 1, just pay attention to the road signs. One tip for you, typical Singaporeans always say, as long as got queue, I also join in the queue. In Iceland, as long as got crowd, I follow too! So if you see any tour bus or few cars make a stop somewhere, just follow them!





Laufskálavarða

A quick stop along road number 1. Travellers supposed to pile stones to make a cairn which would bring good luck on the journey. I have seen something similar when I was in Bhutan.




Just as the name, the beach is completely black. You will also see crystal ice on the beach from Jokursarlon. That's Reynisdrangar at the far end.



Beautiful unique basalt rock columns


Vik

Pall drove us up to a hill which somewhere near a petrol station in Vik, we could overlook black sand beach from the top of the hill. We went up with Pall's 4WD, you definitely need a 4WD to go up, it's uphill, steep and not possible to go up with a 2WD.

Baa baa black sheep.


Dyrhólaey

Dyrhólaey is one of the classic attraction sight along road number 1. view from the top. The track is not too bad for a 2WD, I guess, I have seen many 2WD drove up there.



Light house

There is a toilet up there but it did not open when I was there in October. I think it only open during peak season.


DC3 plane crashed site

It's a great place for photo shoot especially with blue sky, snow scene or aurora borealis even better. It is not far from black sand beach, you should make a stop to this place along road number if you are moving between Reykjavik and Vik. The journey is about 20km from Vik, you should see a not-so-obvious gate on your left from Vik towards Reykjavik. Then you will see this signboard (see picture below), follow the marker along the way, you should see the plane wreckage after 4km drive. I have seen 2WD car drove all the way but some 2WD may park their car beside signboard and walk 4km instead.


Skógafoss waterfall

A magnificent waterfall in Iceland. It's a short walk from car park. Don't forget to wear raincoat if you want to get closer, you can walk up the right side of the waterfall to the top. You can even go behind of the waterfall, walk behind the water curtain. It's very interesting. This place can be crowded and it's always crowded, so getting a picture without bunch of tourists is difficult unless you be there early or late in the evening.


First aurora show we saw for this trip

We reached the airbnb we stayed in Reykjavik at about 8pm. The first thing I did upon reaching there was rushing to the courtyard and took aurora pictures. I was so happy to see this as finally I get to see aurora after my second visit to northern Europe.


The show lasted a few hours. Amazing.





Here is our Iceland trip video.


Interested to visit Iceland? Check out my itinerary and click here to read day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 6, day 7, day 9 & 10 trip report

Click here to read day 1, day 2, day 3, day 4, day 6, day 7, day 9 & 10 trip report

Day 2

Baejarins Beztu Pylsur, known as the best hotdog in Iceland. Even former US president Bill Clinton visited this place in August 2004 while he was in Iceland for a conference.

I expected more from this hotdog stall after reading all high rating reviews but it was just so so.



I went to the Tryggvagata outlet. This outlet has longer operating hours. There is table and bench and you can sit there to enjoy your hot dog bread. It was drizzling so I just walked to my rental car and finish it in the car.

It is usually packed with tourists and locals but there was no queue when I was there.


I asked to have everything in it since there were no display explaining available topping. I guess there were mayo, ketchup, mustard, fried crispy onion, raw onion and hotdog (duh!!!!!!). It is sold at 400 krona each.

Though the hotdog taste all right to me, but this is definitely one of the iconic food in Iceland. You should try it if you happen to be in Iceland.

It's great for a quick bite and they accept credit card payment. 


After hotdog breakfast, I continued my journey to the super duper popular Golden Circle route. Many tourists will do a day trip from Reykjavik. This famous 300km route covers a few awesome landmarks such as Thingvellir National Park, Strokkur Geyser, Gullfoss Waterfall and Kerio Crater Lake.