I can’t say for sure that December is the worst month to visit Iceland… but it sure felt like it. Rain, fog, and clouds interfered in our enjoyment of supposedly spectacular landscapes and wonders in this country. I know, some reading this will have had a fabulous time in the land of fire and ice in December. However, I think it’s definitely worth considering planning your trip either in October or March if you want to see northern lights, or summer so you can really enjoy hiking around the island.
Northern Lights – Not great in December due to clouds and rain.
It’s also colder and therefore less comfortable waiting outside for hours hoping they will appear. According to AroraReykjavik.is the fall or spring are better times to catch the lights. Check out their site if you really want to see the Northern Lights.
We arrived on Nov 28th… and it was a fairly nice day. We settled in and took the afternoon easy so that we could join a Northern Lights tour that night. We were SO excited to see this incredible phenomenon. On the bus, we heard how they had fabulous lights in the sky the night before. Then we got to a destination 45 minutes out of the city and waited… and waited… and waited. But no northern lights… just clouds rolling in. But all was good as GrayLine lets you join tours for no extra cost until you do see the lights. We rescheduled multiple times and they were repeatedly cancelled due to tons of clouds and poor weather leaving almost no chance for seeing the lights. Finally, we got to go out again on our last night (December 5th). It was finally supposed to be clear skies, but as we headed out of Reykjavik the clouds rolled in. We tried two locations almost an hour from each other but just more clouds. 🙁
Blue Lagoon – Ok in December!!
Checking out the Blue Lagoon was a fun activity even in the cold temperatures of December. Clouds and falling snow were no problem while sitting in the steamy hot water (rain may have been less fun). It’s a bit pricey to get in, so we allowed ourselves about 6 hours there to relax and really enjoy it. The Blue Lagoon is a magical setting if you don’t let the many other tourists bother you. Steam rises up from he blue water so that you cannot see the ends of the pool. I actually think the extra steam due to the colder outdoors temps likely made the experience more mystical. You also get a mud mask and a free drink while enjoying the steamy waters.
Decreased Daylight
The next issue with a month like December is that it has the least amount of sunlight per day… leaving limited time for sightseeing. The sun didn’t rise until after 10:30 am and set around 3:30 pm. Seeing the amazing landscapes was tough due to weather and decreased daylight. We chose to take tours instead of driving ourselves on the icy winter roads around the island.
Tours – Not enough daylight hours and poor weather in December.
Golden Circle Tour:
We went on the Golden Circle Tour, which was actually an ok tour to do in the winter as there are only a few sights and they are nearby. We visited Thingvellir National Park and had a great tour guide that told us of the history of politics in Iceland. This park held the original parliamentary assemblies starting in the year 930 AD. It’s also a place where the tectonic plates of North America and Europe meet up and are currently separating at a pace of 2 cm per year. Unfortunately, our guide didn’t point out where these drifting plates were.
Next along the Golden Circle was the Gullfoss Waterfall. This is a beautiful, large waterfall with nice viewing areas. There is a trail to go closer to the waterfall, but it is closed in the winter due to icy conditions.
Then we headed to the geothermic area with the Strokkur Geyser. This geyser is really cool because it goes off naturally about every 5-10 minutes. (Way better than the geyser we saw in New Zealand where the guide put surfactant into it to start the eruptions once a day at the designated time) An extended area around the geyser had steam rising from the land and some bubbling pools. It’s a cool sight to see if you have never been to a geothermic area before.
Our final stop of the Golden Circle tour was the “Secret Lagoon”. The lagoon of course is no longer a secret and many tourists go. It was the first natural hot spring turned into a bath in Iceland. The water was amazing and was a more relaxed atmosphere than the Blue Lagoon.
South Coast and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon Day Tour:
We debated doing a 2 day tour of the southern coast and Jokularlon Glacier Lagoon and we probably should have instead of squeezing it into one day. The cost was just so much more and some of the activities would likely not have been great for my mom to partake in. So, we went with the 1 day tour. The problem is, even with them cutting a national park and one of the famous waterfalls out of the tour during the winter, it still took 13-14 hours to complete. Of which less than 6 hours was daylight. And on top of this it rained like crazy that day, with so many clouds and fog that visibility was terrible. As we drove the minibus, we passed glaciers, volcanos, and Iceland’s largest lava field (amazing things!) but we couldn’t actually see any of them through the fog. We also got a guide that decided his microphone was broken and couldn’t tell us anything during the hours and hours of driving, yet when a new guide took over the last 6 hours, the mic worked just fine for him. But we did manage to see a few highlights.
Our first stop was the famous black sand at Reynisfjara Beach. This location has been used in movies and tv shows like Star Wars and Game of Thrones. The black basalt stacks were created from lava flow that was rapidly cooled by the ocean. The sand is black and the rocks and cave on the beach are a cool.
We saw Jokulsarlon Glaciar Lagoon. Sadly, there were decreased ice burgs in the lagoon that day and you could only see a couple due to the immense fog.
Diamond beach is located along the shore of the lagoon. This sight was awesome! Ice chunks form ice burgs wash ashore and slowly melt, looking like diamonds scattered across this black sand beach.
Our final stop was Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. It was already completely dark out but thankfully the waterfall is lit up so you can still see it. With a long exposure on my camera I was able to get a pic in the dim light.
Around Reykjavik – Good and bad in December, depends on the day.
Walking around Reykjavik was still mostly enjoyable during our poor weather vacation. The days with snow were definitely a nicer walk than those with rain as you feel much colder while damp with wind blowing. The city has a large village feel, very safe and cozy. The best thing about December is that the city has Christmas Lights all over. We also attended the Oslo Christmas Tree Lighting with Christmas Music and a couple “Yule Lads” performing.
Christmas Yule Lads – Positive of December in Iceland
Learning about the Christmas Yule Lads was fun! There is a troll lady named Gryla who has 13 son’s. These lads come to town one per night each night leading up to Christmas and each play tricks on the families but also leave treats for the kids (or raw potatoes if the kids are bad). They leave one by one after Christmas. The troll lady is not nice… she eats kids that are bad. And she has a cat who eats kids that don’t get new clothes for Christmas. Read more about the Chritmas Yule Lads “Meet the Thirteen Yule Lads”.
Museums in Reykjavik – Great in December as weather and daylight don’t matter
We visited the Aurora Reykjavik Museum where we learned about the northern lights and took pictures pretending we were actually seeing them.
We visited the Volcano House and learned about the various types of volcanos on the island along with some of the most famous eruptions.
We checked out the Icelandic Punk Museum. This may be my favorite museum. An Icleandic man, Johnny Rotten, converted the old public restrooms in downtown Reykjavik into a museum in 2016. You walk in and out of stalls to read the history of punk and see pictures. You also get to take pictures with instruments and punk jackets as well as listen to some of the music on hanging headphones. It may not be the best museum ever, but it’s definitely unique.
Our final museum is quite the niche, The Icelandic Phallological Museum! This local man started collecting the penises of various mammals of Iceland and eventually his wife told him he could no longer keep them in the house… so he started a museum. He now has one from every mammal that resides in Iceland as well as others. Here’s me with one from a juvenile Sperm whale.
To sum it all up…. I wouldn’t recommend Iceland in December if you want to see the landscape or northern lights. If I were to plan it again, I would maybe pick October or March so that the Northern Lights are still likely to occur, and a better chance of actually seeing them. Also, the longer daylight hours would be much better for sightseeing. Hoping any of you that head to Iceland have better luck than us!
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