Iceland runs on daylight. Book the half you came for.
From November the island gives you four hours of light and the sky does the rest. By June the sun barely sets and the highland roads finally open. What you can book here depends entirely on which half you land in.
Aurora, ice caves and empty roads.
Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavik★★★★★★★★★★ 4.1 · from $73Every northern lights night →
Whales, puffins and light at midnight.
Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · from $87Every whale sailing →Geysir, the south coast waterfalls, a green sky, the plate rift, a fin.
Five bookings hold up almost every Iceland itinerary. What each one costs, and what the people who went say about it.
01The first full dayGolden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid CraterÞingvellir, the Geysir field and Gullfoss in one loop, back in Reykjavík for dinner. Every itinerary starts here for a reason.
02The long south daySouth Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier TourSeljalandsfoss, Skógafoss, the black sand at Reynisfjara. Twelve hours out and the one day nobody regrets.- 03The night huntNorthern Lights Bus Tour from ReykjavikBuses leave when the forecast says go and drive until they find a hole in the cloud. Cancelled nights come back as another night.
04The two-degree swimSilfra: Snorkeling Between Tectonic Plates – Meet on LocationA dry suit, a lake between two continents, and water clear enough to see a hundred metres down it.- 05The harbour morningWhale Watching and Marine Life CruiseOut of the old harbour into Faxaflói Bay. Minke, humpback and white-beaked dolphins, from a boat that sails all year.
Nearly every Iceland day starts on a coach out of Reykjavík.
Three roads leave the capital and they make three completely different days. One is a short loop, one is a long haul down the coast, one is a peninsula that fits the whole island into an afternoon. Pick by how long you can sit still.
Reykjavík holds most of it. The rest is worth the drive.
The capital runs day trips to half the country. North of it there are whales and a fjord town, east there is a glacier lagoon and a black coast, and out west the fjords almost nobody reaches.
Nobody sells you the aurora. They sell you the drive to find it.
From September the sky is dark enough by nine, and the hunt begins: coaches, minibuses and boats chasing a break in the cloud, sometimes two hours inland. A blank night is normal and most operators put you on the next one for free.
Iceland keeps eleven per cent of itself under a glacier.
A cave is a winter thing, cut fresh by meltwater and safe only when the ice is cold and still. A glacier walk runs all year with crampons and a guide who reads the crevasses. The lagoon at Jökulsárlón calves icebergs into the sea whatever the month.
- 1Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon Full-Day Guided Tripfrom $203
- 2Katla Ice Cave and Super Jeep Tourfrom $194
- 3Ice Cave Tour and Glacier Hikefrom $165
The days out more people book than anything else in Iceland.
Every Icelandic tour we have reviewed →These carry the heaviest traveller counts on the island, and what earns each one the slot.
1
Golden Circle Full-Day Tour with Kerid Crater
See Iceland’s Golden Circle on a full-day bus tour from Reykjavik, with Gullfoss, Strokkur, Þingvellir, and Kerið crater.
From · $82
Read our review →
2
Reykjavik Food Walk – Local Foodie Adventure in Iceland
from $146
3
Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavik
from $73
4
South Coast Waterfalls, Black Sand & Glacier Tour
from $126
5
Whale Watching and Marine Life Cruise
from $87
6
Sky Lagoon Entrance Pass With 7-Step Spa Ritual
from $111
7
Golden Circle, Kerid, & Secret Lagoon Tour
from $132
8
Iceland South Coast Full Day Small-Group Tour from Reykjavik
from $139
What a day in Iceland actually costs.
Iceland has a reputation and most of it is earned, but the spread is wider than people expect. Every tour on the site, grouped by price.
City walks, museum entries, the lava show and the pools. Half a day, and the cheapest way to fill a weather day.
The standard coach days: Golden Circle, the south coast, whale sailings and the aurora hunt.
Ice caves, glacier walks, Silfra dry suits, helicopters and the small-group days that leave the coaches behind.
Four Icelandic bookings that will not wait for you.
Most of the island can be sorted from a hostel kitchen the night before. These four run on seasons, dry suits and a permit count, and they close long before you land.
- 01Katla Ice Cave and Super Jeep TourNatural caves are a winter product. They open when the ice goes cold and close when the melt makes them unsafe, roughly November to March.
- 02Silfra: Snorkeling Between Tectonic Plates – Meet on LocationDry suits come in fixed sizes and the fissure has a daily cap. There are height and weight limits, and every operator wants the paperwork in advance.
- 03Small-Group Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon with Ticket & Kerid CraterEntry is timed and the slots either side of an airport run go first. Turning up without a booking is not a plan.
- 04Sólheimajökull: Guided Glacier HikeGuided groups are small because the crevasse field decides the size. Summer mornings on Sólheimajökull sell out days ahead.
Iceland cancels tours. Have the second plan ready.
Wind closes roads, swell keeps the whale boats tied up and a white-out ends a glacier day before it starts. Operators refund or move you, so the only thing you lose is the day. These run whatever the sky is doing, and most of them are indoors or underground.
Reykjavík, the Golden Circle, the south coast, the lagoon, the north.
Vík
Skaftafell
AkureyriBy place, capital to Westfjords
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