Atlas of Icelandic glaciers (opens in new tab)

Travelling here in winter can be quite dangerous. Just this winter I left my car on a turn off on the main road from Keflavik to Reykjavik picking up my parents from the airport because there was an insanely icy section. The rear tyres were at the end of their life and it just wasn’t safe to drive. We got picked up by my father in law and drove passed five separate crashes in the space of 1km. I rolled a Nissan Patrol off the side of route one exiting Reykjavik towards the south hitting a patch of ice with good, studded tyres on, narrowly missing traffic going both ways. Driving back from a weekend away, my wife and I were driving to the back route up onto the same mountain pass. It’d been very sunny so the south facing road was clear of snow and we narrowly avoided getting hit by a driver coming down it who hadn’t noticed the snow drift on the road and was coming way too fast. They shot off into a field and after an extremely bumpy few seconds managed to steer back. And that’s just the highlights of the last ten years. I ski tour quite a bit so travel often in the winter and have seen unending stupidity and dumb decision making that wasn’t quite as terrifying. In particular common tourist routes like the Golden Circle can become impassable or dangerous to attempt if you don’t have a proper vehicle.

The trick is choosing when to travel and as a tourist you’re often uniquely compelled to try to drive in dangerous conditions. Coming here in winter is very much an exercise in adjusting plans to the conditions, taking note of the road condition information and driving very carefully.

As a foreigner myself, the winter is my favorite time of the year in Iceland. The landscape is beautiful and the glacier lagoon is quite full of icebergs and excursions like [into the glacier](https://intotheglacier.is) or snowmobiling are very enjoyable on a clear day.

30 days on either side of the peak of winter (21st of December) daylight is limited and that can make seeing things more difficult. The sun rises not very far from the horizon between 11am and 4pm but enjoyment of most activities will primarily depend on what you plan on doing and how lucky you get with the weather. It’s very unpredictable, even hour by hour, so you’re at the mercy of nature to have good visibility from frequent snow storms.

As a tourist in Winter, you’re probably best to be taking guided excursions from Reykjavík and not backpacking the highlands or driving the ring road in a camper van. Those activities could in fact be very dangerous if you aren’t prepared.

Not Icelandic but been there a couple of times. In winter you can actually go on the glaciers with guided tours (costly but nice), in summer there are a couple of spots you can drive towards them in a normal rental car.

They are nice everytime of the year so, and quite spectacular. Road conditions in winter can be trickey, but manageable.

My opinion, you have to visit Iceland at least twice: once in winter and once in summer, it is completely different! In case you want to go to the highlands, go in August or late July. A Dacia Duster rental will get you there. Winter trips can be shorter so, in summer you go around Iceland or cross it which takes more time.

Not GP nor an Icelander, but I literally just left Keflavik this morning, my first time in the country. Had a great stay there. My Airbnb host said that August to April is peak aurora borealis time, but May to August is the warmest weather - likely 50-60°F most days. He said 8-10 days for the ring road is good. Don't do much less than that or you'll be rushed.