Best time to visit Iceland: seasons month by month
- 14 sources cited
- Last verified 2026-10-24
- Published 2026-10-24
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There is no single best month: summer brings long days and open highland roads, winter brings darkness, snow and the chance of northern lights. This page puts the official numbers side by side so you can decide. Visitor numbers are high year-round: 2.25 million foreign passengers departed through Keflavík in 2025, according to the Icelandic Tourist Board [1].
The year at a glance
- Usually open / favourable
- Variable: check on the day
- Usually closed / unfavourable
Colours summarise the sourced table below, one cell per month. Tap a month to jump to its row. Weather decides on the day, so green is not a promise: check umferdin.is and vedur.is.
Roads by month
Highland F-roads are usually closed from mid-September until June or July [2]; Vegagerðin calls the highland summer "only a month and a half" in places [3]. On the Ring Road, Visit Iceland flags three mountain passes as closure-prone from September to May [4]. The colours above summarise this table:
| Month | Highland F-roads (typical) | Ring Road mountain passes |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Feb | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Mar | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Apr | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| May | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Jun | Opening / closing month | Usually clear |
| Jul | Usually open (check each road) | Usually clear |
| Aug | Usually open (check each road) | Usually clear |
| Sep | Opening / closing month | Closure risk: check daily |
| Oct | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Nov | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
| Dec | Usually closed | Closure risk: check daily |
"Usually" is the key word. Opening dates vary by road and year: see the per-road dates on our car rental & F-roads page, and the live map on umferdin.is [5].
Temperature, rain and sunshine
Our calculation: the average of each month's values for 1991–2020 in the Icelandic Met Office's station files for Reykjavík (station 1) and Akureyri (station 422) [6] [7]. Temperatures in °C, precipitation in mm, sunshine in hours per month (Reykjavík).
| Month | Reykjavík mean | Reykjavík mean max | Reykjavík mean min | Akureyri mean | Reykjavík precipitation | Reykjavík sunshine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0.7 | 3.2 | −1.7 | −0.5 | 87 | 23 |
| Feb | 0.6 | 3.3 | −1.9 | −0.8 | 91 | 62 |
| Mar | 1.2 | 4.2 | −1.3 | 0.0 | 81 | 110 |
| Apr | 3.7 | 6.9 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 59 | 165 |
| May | 6.7 | 10.1 | 4.0 | 6.2 | 53 | 209 |
| Jun | 9.8 | 13.0 | 7.2 | 9.6 | 43 | 189 |
| Jul | 11.6 | 14.9 | 9.1 | 11.2 | 50 | 183 |
| Aug | 11.0 | 14.1 | 8.6 | 10.8 | 64 | 165 |
| Sep | 8.5 | 11.4 | 6.2 | 8.0 | 87 | 118 |
| Oct | 4.9 | 7.6 | 2.7 | 3.5 | 80 | 92 |
| Nov | 2.2 | 4.6 | −0.1 | 0.6 | 86 | 40 |
| Dec | 0.8 | 3.3 | −1.6 | −0.7 | 95 | 13 |
These are 30-year averages, not a forecast. Wind matters as much as temperature in Iceland; for your actual dates use the forecasts and warnings on vedur.is [8].
Daylight
According to the University of Iceland Almanac, Reykjavík has about 21 hours between sunrise and sunset at the summer solstice and about 4 hours at the winter solstice [9]. Further north the extremes are greater. Short winter days mean shorter driving days: plan stages that end before dark.
Seasons in brief
Summer (June to August)
The warmest months in both Reykjavík and Akureyri, with the longest days [6] [7]. Highland roads open during this period [3]. Also the busiest time: book beds on the South Coast early [4].
Autumn (September to October)
Days shorten fast and precipitation rises in Reykjavík [6]. F-roads typically close from mid-September [2], and the passes can see their first snow [4].
Winter (November to March)
Reykjavík's monthly means hover around or just above freezing, with the least sunshine in December [6]. Expect closures and keep your plans flexible [10]; some lower paths at Gullfoss may be closed [11]. A winter trip focused on the south-west avoids the northern passes.
Spring (April to May)
Sunshine in Reykjavík peaks in May in the 1991–2020 data, and May is one of its driest months [6]. Highland roads are still closed and mountain passes can still close [2] [4].
What we do not claim
We do not publish northern-lights "odds" by month, crowd levels by month or price seasons: we have not found official data we can cite for them. Ideas in our methodology.
FAQ
What is the warmest month in Iceland?
In our calculation from Icelandic Met Office monthly values for 1991–2020, July is the warmest month in Reykjavík (mean 11.6 °C) and in Akureyri (11.2 °C). [6] [7]
When do the highland F-roads open?
Usually in June or July, depending on snow. Vegagerðin's 2021–2025 averages range from 2 June (F208 to Landmannalaugar from Sigalda) to 7 July (F210, F821). They usually close again from mid-September. [3] [2]
How much daylight is there in winter?
At the winter solstice Reykjavík has about 4 hours of daylight between sunrise and sunset; at the summer solstice about 21 hours, according to the University of Iceland Almanac. [9]
Sources
- 2.25 million departures of foreign passengers in 2025
Ferðamálastofa (Icelandic Tourist Board) · published 2026-01-09 · accessed 2026-10-24 - Highland driving
Safetravel / ICE-SAR · accessed 2026-10-24 - Opening of mountain roads
Vegagerðin · accessed 2026-10-24 - The Ring Road – Route Number One
Visit Iceland · accessed 2026-10-24 - Umferdin.is: road conditions map (road.is redirects here)
Vegagerðin · accessed 2026-10-24 - Monthly values, station 1 Reykjavík (raw text file)
Icelandic Met Office (IMO) · in Icelandic · accessed 2026-10-24 · via curl (latin-1 text, converted) - Monthly values, station 422 Akureyri (raw text file)
Icelandic Met Office (IMO) · in Icelandic · accessed 2026-10-24 · via curl (latin-1 text, converted) - Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands), English site
Icelandic Met Office (IMO) · accessed 2026-10-24 - Hvernig má fá upplýsingar um sólargang ...? (citing the University of Iceland Almanac)
Vísindavefurinn, University of Iceland · in Icelandic · published 2001-05-22 · accessed 2026-10-24 - 5 golden rules for planning a trip to Iceland
Visit Iceland · accessed 2026-10-24 - What is the Golden Circle?
Visit Iceland (Icelandic Tourist Board / Business Iceland) · accessed 2026-10-24 - Travel conditions (alerts)
Safetravel / ICE-SAR · accessed 2026-10-24 - Travel plans
Safetravel / ICE-SAR · accessed 2026-10-24 - 112 – When in need of assistance
Neyðarlínan (112 Iceland) · accessed 2026-10-24