Iceland…winter or summer?

[BadActingParsley]

Like wildlife, hiking, scenery. I feel summer would be better. But…northern lights?obviously that’s winter but we might not see them. Basically what time of year is best to go?

You might see the northern lights in September or October when the weather and daylight is good for the wildlife, hiking and scenery but you could always go more than once at different times of year as the experience can be very different and I think that's something worth experiencing.

We went in January and I loved it, we weren’t lucky enough to see the Northern Lights but it was a fab holiday. We went to one of the municipal outdoor heated pools overlooking a fjord as the sun went down and it was incredible! Just bear in mind though there’s only about 6 hours of daylight so if you’re hiring a car you’d need to be quite confident as the roads are mainly unlit away from town centres. It’s easy driving though I would say.

We’ve been in both - loved it both times. The roads are geothermally heated so if it snows driving isn’t an issue. Depends what you want from your visit. I’ve seen the northern lights in the summer and winter it just depends if conditions are right.

I’ve been to Iceland in spring, loved it but it was cold! Yes I have seen the Northern Lights, but not in Iceland. I saw them once from home (Staffordshire) and once when away in Yorkshire….

If you want to genuinely do some decent hiking you can't go in winter. There is not enough daylight and a lot of the central parts in particular just aren't accessible.

Thanks all, lots to think about. In particular the driving, I'm not sure how confident I'd be in the winter....

We went twice a few years apart. Summer did a self drive 14 day and winter (4 or 5 nights) we did an Iceland air tour. It was fascinating to see some of the places in summer and winter. I wasn't brave enough to drive in winter but it would probably have been ok.

Definitely summer if you want to hike and enjoy the scenery and wildlife at their best. A lot of birds are migratory and only there in summer. Not to mention seals. I think summer is also best for whales and dolphins.

It's a lot easier to access all parts of the country in summer. The wildest, most stunning areas are in the highlands. The extra daylight also gives you much more freedom for day hikes. And of course you have a better chance of nice weather.

You can hike in winter but it's a much more extreme undertaking. You would need excellent equipment and ideally have experience of those kinds of conditions. The weather can turn in an instant so you also have to be very on top of storm warnings and so forth.

Driving in the winter is OK. Roads are not geothermally heated except in the very centre of 101 Reykjavík and some driveways. But they are usually ploughed fairly efficiently and when you have winter tyres it is not such a big deal to drive on snow/ice. Again, though, you need to keep abreast of storm warnings.

You can also see northern lights any time it's completely dark. So late August to early May is possible if you're willing to stay up late. But it's obviously much easier when there is more darkness.

September can be a fair compromise for hiking and northern lights but it's well past the peak for birds and seals. Foxes I believe you can see year round if you go to the right parts of the country and you have a bit of luck. Easier to spot them in the daylight, though.

We’ve been in Sept but had poor weather. Lots of wildlife isn’t around, eg puffins. We saw puffins this summer in July, but the whales were few and far between. Weather was good but the first two weeks of July were wet wet wet. On balance - June, July or August. Northern lights are hit or miss. Summer is much better! If you get one!

Went at Easter twice. Saw the northern lights 3 times first time and not at all second time (until a few weeks after we got home and could see them from our loft conversion bedroom in London!!)

We went early September and had gorgeous blue skies every day, and the hottest day they had that summer. We got to see the northern lights on our last night. We weren't focussed on wildlife as we have plentiful puffins and seals at the coast nearby.

@BadActingParsleyUnless you really want what the winter offers, summer is best. The weather is very variable at all times though. July this year very much so. However it won’t be freezing and you have long days. Plenty to see and do.

Driving in the summer is easier and if you get a decent 4x4, all roads will be open to you. In the winter probably not and we had snow and road closures in September a few years ago - we also spent several hours in a blizzard in a car park. No visibility! Not great.

You would get two very different experiences between summer and winter so I think I’d do some research and figure out what you really want to do/see and what season gives you the best chance of that.

We went in January a few years ago and loved it but we wanted a real winter wonderland vibe ( and we went to the northern coast of Iceland for that). We went for easy walks in the snow, saw frozen waterfalls, went to goethermal sea water pools (so amazing in the cold weather) and you can do husky sledding sledding etc. But if we went back we’d go in the summer as I’d love do do whale watching and get the benefit of the super long days.

I always say don’t plan your whole trip around the northern lights as it’s so hit and miss. Make sure there’s plenty of other stuff you’d want to see. We saw the northern lights in Iceland on our January trip but I’ve seen much much better displays at home in Scotland because I can just run out when there’s a really strong show.