Stargazing in Borgarfjörður: A Dark-Sky Basics Guide for Truck Guests

Most people book a night in an expedition truck on the Hvítá riverbank for the aurora. But there is a quieter show overhead that runs on more nights than the northern lights do: the stars themselves. Rural West Iceland sits under some of the darkest skies you can reach without a serious drive, and the bank at Hvítárbakki is dark enough to see the Milky Way with your own eyes.

Why the sky here is genuinely dark

Light pollution is measured on the Bortle scale, from 1 (perfectly dark) to 9 (inner city). Reykjavík runs about Bortle 7-8. The countryside around Borgarfjörður sits at roughly Bortle 2-3 — dark enough that the Milky Way is not a faint smudge but a visible band across the sky on a clear, moonless night. The trucks sit away from town lights, so you get this on your doorstep. No headlamp-lit hike to a “dark spot” required; you walk from the truck to the riverbank and look up.

When it actually gets dark enough

This is the catch that surprises summer visitors: from about mid-May to early August, Iceland’s midnight sun means there is no true darkness, so stargazing is off. Real starry nights return as the nights lengthen — roughly September through April — with the deepest, longest darkness around the winter solstice on December 21. If stars are your goal, book the dark months.

A few things worth timing around:

• Getting there: Hvítárbakki is in Borgarfjörður, about an hour’s drive (roughly 90 km) north of Reykjavík up Route 1 — but no drive at all once you’re at the trucks; the viewing spot is the riverbank itself.
• Best window: September to April for true darkness. Aim for a clear night with little or no moon.
• Meteor showers: the Geminids peak around 13-14 December, one of the year’s strongest — dozens of meteors an hour under a dark, clear sky.
• What to bring: warm layers (you’ll be standing still in the cold), a red-light torch or your phone on its dimmest red setting, and patience — let your eyes adjust for about 20 minutes.

What to look for, with no equipment

You need nothing but your eyes. The single most important habit is dark adaptation: give your eyes about 20 minutes away from any white light — phone screens included — and far more detail appears. One glance at a bright screen resets the clock, so switch devices to red light or keep them pocketed. On a clear moonless night you can pick out the Milky Way as a pale arch, plus major constellations and, in December, Geminid meteors streaking across. Binoculars help if you have them, but they are a bonus, not a requirement. And because the aurora and the stars share the same clear night, a strong solar night can hand you both at once — meteors, the Milky Way, and green curtains in the same look up.

Where to Stay

The whole point of the trucks is that the dark sky is already where you’re sleeping. Hvítá Trucks sits right on the bank at Hvítárbakki in Borgarfjörður, well away from town glow, so you step out of a converted expedition truck straight onto a Bortle 2-3 riverbank — no night drive, no chasing a viewpoint. Wait for a clear, moonless night in the dark season and the show is directly overhead. Book direct on Ourhotels.is for the best rate.

Photo: Fernando Garcia via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0.