Best Time of Year to Visit Iceland

It can be tricky figuring out the best time of year to visit Iceland. Go in the dead of winter, and while the Northern Lights will be at their peak, you’ll only get four hours of daylight (No really, I’m serious!). Go in the middle of the summer, and you’ll find the opposite. My then boyfriend and I chose to make our week-long visit at the end of March, and it was perfect! Here’s why:

1. The weather isn’t [typically] as bad as it is during other times of the year.

I say typically here because Iceland’s weather is notoriously unpredictable. However, the weather at the end of March is usually much better than it is in the middle of winter. We did have some pretty cold days, but they were only in the twenties or thirties, and the wind was the biggest issue. We also had sunny days in the fifties where we had to strip down some of our layers as we seat hiking up a mountain. What a contrast!

2. March is still a good time of year to see the Northern Lights.

Unfortunately, we really dropped the ball on looking for Northern Lights and missed them the two times that we heard they had appeared. We did see them on the plane ride over though! Iceland is still pretty dark at the end of March, so it’s still a great time to see them without it being too cold.

3. Spring is one of the best times to go on a glacier hike.

Going on a glacier hike was hands down my #1 favorite part of my trip. During the hike, our guide was saying that this was one of the best times to go. In winter, the ice, while a beautiful blue color, is so frozen solid it is apparently very difficult to grip with crampons. Our guide shared that summer’s slushier glacier hikes cause more people to roll their ankles. March was the perfect in between and it was still cold enough for us to go in an ice cave!

4.  Better weather means better driving conditions!

I will admit that I was pretty nervous to drive in Iceland, but it wasn’t bad at all and is absolutely essential for getting around the country (Read more in my post on renting a car in Iceland). There were definitely parts of the country further north that had some winter-y weather that would have made driving difficult—sometimes roads are closed completely if the weather is bad enough. But overall, the ring road was fine, especially where we went along the South Coast and the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

We loved visiting Iceland in March and would absolutely recommend that time of year for anyone else taking their first trip to the beautifully natural country. Other times of year certainly have their own perks. I would love to visit Iceland again sometime during its warmer summer months with more daylight (also the only time you can drive on their interior F roads) or to take a quick trip in January for better Northern Lights viewing opportunities and whale watching. Also, early fall might have similar benefits as visiting in March, other than the possibility that the ice caves may not be frozen enough to explore at that time. But with all that being said, I truly believe that March is the best time to visit!

Have you been to Iceland? I’d love to hear from you in the comments about when you went and what you liked or didn’t like about going during that time of year!

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