Northern Lights? Tour?

A Northern Lights tour does a few things...

--decides whether to operate based on the likelihood of seeing the lights; If the the odds of the lights being low, they don't run.

--know, by looking at weather maps, where the best, dark viewing sites will be.

--some of these are remote and they know how to get there on roads that are not that well marked.

Yes, the tours are much more familiar with where the good spots are to see them, and what the chances are to see them. We have been many times to Iceland and seen the aurora a handful of times. We did a tour once, and it was excellent! Tours vary so much though, from the big buses with hundreds of your new best friends, to small groups to private. It all just depends on what you are looking for and your budget.

We used www.auroraexpoerts.is and were extremely pleased. He is a one man show, and loves what he does. He does small group or private (we did small group) and he does not follow the masses. You will not be in a field with other buses and hundreds of people, rather it will be just your group. He has all the usual Icelandic snacks, etc but he also has chairs and winter jumpsuits in case you get cold. The night we went, we saw the aurora, but it was getting stronger after the tour was supposed to end. He said in those situations, he is willing to stay out longer as long as the group wants to, and it has to be ok with everyone. We had a very early morning departure, so could stay out a bit longer, but not too late, so we did a compromise which we loved.

We almost always have a rental car in Iceland, but there is no way we are driving to go look for the aurora. The roads are narrow with no shoulders, and no street lights. I am not comfortable with driving on unfamiliar roads in the dark, and then trying to find a place to park. So that is something else to consider.

IME the tour we took was very much worth it, and we are booking it again for our upcoming trip.

I took a big bus tour and it was fine. As Frank noted they don't run if conditions are not amenable. Most companies will allow you to roll your reservation over to a future day if your scheduled day is a no go, so be sure to book the tour early in your stay and not the very last night. As has been noted, they go pretty far away from civilization and it was nice to be comfortably seated on a warm bus (with fast wifi and USB charging ports!). FWIW I also saw the lights on the flight on the way to Iceland as well as standing at the bus stop waiting for my big bus tour to see the lights. It is just sometimes luck.

If you're goal is to see the Northern lights, Iceland is not the best place to visit. There are many better options.

But what a tour offers is experience and local knowledge. They are probable tracking the weather and the aurora forecasts to try to find the best places to see them.