We spent 4 weeks one June using Iceland’s complete ring avenue, and we were given rained on much more than we anticipated. No longer dramatic, storm-chasing rain. Simply stable, affected person, all-day rain, with occasional breaks so the wind may have a flip. That commute taught us so much about what belonged in our baggage, most commonly as a result of we’d came upon the laborious approach what we will have to have introduced.
That commute is what this packing record is constructed on, and it’s knowledgeable by means of the real downside of an Iceland summer season, which seems to be much less about bloodless than about moist. Issues get moist, then they want to dry, and you want a plan that handles that.
Fast word ahead of we commence: this information covers summer season journeys, more or less Might to September. Should you’re visiting between October and April, you wish to have our Iceland wintry weather packing record as an alternative. It’s a special record for what’s, in observe, a special nation.
I additionally wish to upload that Iceland is a terrific nation at no matter time of 12 months you discuss with. You simply want to pack and plan accordingly so that you’re no longer shivering in shorts and sandals as you’re battered by means of sideways rain and pondering you may have come on vacation by means of mistake.
What to Pack for Iceland in Summer time: The Fast Solution
Right here’s the core record. Pack a water-proof shell jacket and water-proof trousers, water-proof boots plus a 2d pair of trainers, 3 or 4 merino base layers (two in case your commute is beneath per week), a heat mid layer comparable to a fleece, a hat, gloves and a buff, a go well with and quick-dry towel, a snooze masks, an afternoon pack with a rain quilt, and a Eu Sort C/F shuttle adapter. Daylight hours highs within the lowlands run 13 to fifteen°C. You are going to no longer want shorts, and you are going to no doubt no longer want an umbrella.
It could no longer rain always, but when it does, you are going to be happy you packed for it.
Listed below are the 5 pieces in our revel in other folks maximum regularly skip, and maximum regularly feel sorry about skipping:
- Water resistant trousers (we made this error, extra on that underneath)
- A 2d pair of trainers, so the day past’s soaked pair can dry
- A snooze masks, as a result of June nights by no means get darkish
- A midge head internet if Mývatn is to your path
- A go well with, for the swimming pools and lagoons you’ll wish to get into
There’s a complete tick list on the finish you’ll be able to paintings thru, plus a printable model.
Pack for Drying, as A lot as for Rain
Bringing waterproofs is the straightforward a part of the packing record. The more difficult phase is what occurs once they get moist, which they’re going to, for the reason that that’s the level of bringing them. On a commute of various days, the query that makes a decision your convenience every morning is whether or not the day past’s moist package has dried, and no jacket specification solutions that one.
When it rains maximum days, the whole lot operates on a rotation. Boots take an afternoon or two to dry. A soaked base layer wishes a radiator or a drying room in a single day. Waterfall spray will get you even if the forecast doesn’t, and in case you stroll at the back of Seljalandsfoss (you will have to, it’s probably the most very best waterfalls in Iceland), you’ll pop out taking a look such as you swam there.
So the collection of base layers you want comes right down to a drying calculation. Guesthouses in Iceland are generally lovely excellent in this entrance, with radiators in each and every room and regularly a devoted drying room. We stayed in guesthouses and inns the entire approach spherical, and draping the day’s package over a radiator changed into as a lot part of the night regimen as dinner.
Yet another factor about rain jackets. Below sustained rain, the water-repellent coating at the outdoor of your jacket (the DWR) ultimately provides up, and the face material soaks. Your jacket has no longer began leaking. The water-proof membrane beneath remains to be doing its activity.
What fails is breathability, so your individual sweat condenses within the jacket, and you find yourself damp and bloodless from the interior whilst the membrane assists in keeping each and every drop of rain out. It’s a terrible sensation, and I will document from revel in that it feels precisely like a leak.
The repair is repairs moderately than a brand new jacket. Wash the jacket, tumble dry it on low to reactivate the coating, and if that forestalls running, use a wash-in re-proofer. We now shuttle with a small 100ml bottle of wash-in re-proofer on any commute longer than a few weeks. Two different pointers: blank the jacket ahead of re-proofing (re-proofing a grimy shell is the vintage mistake), and in case your jacket is new, word that the present PFAS-free coatings want this remedy extra regularly than the older chemistry did.
What to Pack by means of Travel Sort
One record doesn’t are compatible each and every Iceland commute. A 3 day stopover, a complete ring avenue power, a campervan commute and a highlands discuss with are 4 other packing issues, and the variations topic greater than many of the item-level recommendation.
| Travel sort | What adjustments | Our information |
|---|---|---|
| 2 to 4 day stopover | Cabin bag territory. One shell, one base layer in line with day, skip the boots in case you’re staying on paved paths. Day journeys quilt so much from Reykjavik. | 3 day Iceland stopover itinerary and day journeys from Reykjavik |
| 5 to 7 days, southwest focal point | The entire clothes device, however laundry is not obligatory. Golden Circle and south coast manner waterfall spray, so water-proof trousers transfer from helpful to essential. | 5 day Iceland itinerary and Golden Circle information |
| 7 to twenty-eight days, complete ring avenue | The drying rotation turns into the entire sport. 2d shoes, 3 to 4 base layers, re-proofer. Your bag lives within the automotive, so a duffel or backpack beats a troublesome shell case. | Iceland ring avenue itinerary |
| Campervan | No radiators, so drying capability drops to regardless of the van’s heater manages in a single day. Upload a bathing line, extra base layers, and be extra ruthless about staying dry within the first position. | Using in Iceland pointers |
| Highlands add-on | More or less 4 to six°C chillier than the lowlands, no telephone sign, and the roads open overdue (extra underneath). Upload a heat insulated layer and sign up your plans at safetravel.is. | See the F-road phase underneath |
We did the 4 week model, staying in guesthouses and inns, with a superjeep day excursion into Landmannalaugar moderately than using the F-roads ourselves. Should you’re weighing up the choices, the hoop avenue itinerary connected above is the place we’d get started.
The Iceland Layering Device
Icelandic climate adjustments immediate sufficient that the forecast is extra of a temper board than a plan. Layers are the way you cope, and the device is discreet: a base layer in opposition to your pores and skin, a mid layer for heat, and a shell to stay the elements out.
The bottom layer does extra paintings than other folks be expecting, which is why we advise merino wool over cotton or affordable synthetics. Merino assists in keeping insulating when it’s damp, dries briefly on a radiator, and (the underrated phase) doesn’t scent after a few wears, which issues when laundry is per week away.
The mid layer is your heat, and a typical fleece or a mild insulated jacket is okay. The shell is your climate coverage, and it’s the place the cash is going. What you nearly by no means want in an Iceland summer season is a heavy wintry weather coat.
In fact, at the warmest July days you’ll be right down to the bottom layer and questioning why you’re sporting the remaining, and by means of night you’ll have all of it again on. That’s simply Iceland.
Rain Jacket and Water resistant Trousers
Those are the 2 pieces your commute in fact is determined by, so that they’re value getting proper.
For the jacket, you wish to have a completely water-proof laborious shell with taped seams and a hood that cinches down, as a result of Icelandic rain infrequently falls instantly down. It arrives sideways, with enthusiasm. Water-proof jackets, softshells and “bathe evidence” the rest could have a foul time.
I take advantage of the Bluffworks Faroe rain jacket, which has a 16,000mm water-proof score, absolutely taped seams, and packs into its personal pocket. It’s the jacket I purchased after the commute taught me what my previous one couldn’t do, and it’s been on each and every moist commute since.
On a tighter funds, the Columbia Watertight II (males’s) and Columbia Arcadia II (ladies’s) are each absolutely seam-sealed water-proof shells that pack down small, they usually’re a actually cast selection for a primary commute.
Now, water-proof trousers. We didn’t pack any on our ring avenue commute. This used to be a significant oversight that crammed me with feel sorry about, and it’s the one merchandise I’d maximum insist you convey. A excellent jacket assists in keeping your most sensible part dry whilst rain, waterfall spray and moist crops handle your legs, and moist climbing trousers in a 13°C wind are depressing in some way that’s laborious to realize till you’ve spent a protracted afternoon in them. Which I did.
We personal water-proof trousers now, they usually come on each and every commute like this.
You don’t want the rest fancy. A packable over-trouser that is going on over your customary strolling trousers is strictly proper, and the Marmot PreCip Eco rain trousers are a well-made water-proof pair with absolutely taped seams that pack right down to not anything in an afternoon bag. No, they don’t seem to be a way observation. Sure, they paintings.
Shoes: Water resistant Boots Plus a 2d Pair
Jess and I’ve each completed our Iceland miles in Scarpa strolling boots we’ve owned for years, and the necessities are easy to state: water-proof, ankle give a boost to, and a sole that grips on moist basalt, which is Iceland’s default floor.
Should you’re purchasing new for the commute, the Merrell Moab 3 Mid Water resistant (there’s a ladies’s model too) is the select we advise. It has a water-proof membrane, a Vibram sole, and it’s comfy out of the field with no lengthy breaking-in length, which issues when the commute is 3 weeks away. Jess wore Merrell’s on her hike up Kilimanjaro and had no lawsuits.
A 2d pair of trainers reads like an not obligatory convenience till you’re on a moist commute, after which it’s a need. Boots that were given soaked at a waterfall within the afternoon is probably not dry by means of morning, regardless of the radiator guarantees. You wish to have one thing to put on whilst they get better.
My 2d pair is the Vessi Weekend Vintage, a knit water-proof teacher I’ve used for a few years now. They’re comfy for cities and simple walks, they shrug off rain and puddles, they usually dry immediate once they do ultimately meet a deep sufficient puddle. Running shoes you already personal may even do the activity, so long as you settle for they will spend some days being the moist pair.
A Fast Phrase on Socks
Merino climbing socks, 4 or 5 pairs. Rainy toes are the quickest path to a ruined day, and cotton socks in damp boots are a blister manufacturing facility. Merino pairs additionally dry in a single day on a radiator, which cotton doesn’t reliably do, so 5 pairs is lots even for a month.
Base Layers and Mid Layers: How Many to Pack
For the rest as much as per week: two merino base layer tops, plus customary t-shirts to put on beneath them or by myself on heat days. For a hoop avenue commute of 2 weeks or extra: 3 or 4 base layers, at the assumption that at any given second one is being worn, one is drying, and one is in reserve. We ran that rotation for 4 weeks and it by no means broke down, even though it got here shut after back-to-back soakings within the east.
Our select here’s the Smartwool Vintage Thermal Merino Workforce, a 100% merino most sensible that’s heat for its weight. It’s no longer affordable, however a base layer is the only clothes merchandise the place the pricy model measurably outperforms. We personal quite a lot of Smartwool clothes together with their very good socks, they usually’ve no longer allow us to down but.
For mid layers, one fleece and one mild insulated jacket covers each and every summer season state of affairs, together with the highlands. Upload a heat hat, mild gloves and a buff. Sure, in July. The buff particularly will get used repeatedly, since the wind is the true climate in Iceland and a buff is the variation between a windy fail to remember being a laugh and being an staying power tournament.
For trousers, customary climbing trousers are splendid. Denims are effective for Reykjavik and dinner, however they’re a legal responsibility on trails, as a result of moist denim remains moist, heavy and bloodless for days. Extra on that within the FAQ.
The Tools We Counsel at a Look
The whole lot above and underneath in a single desk. Costs replace reside the place Amazon publishes them, and the whole lot right here used to be showed in inventory once we revealed.
| Merchandise | Our select | Why it issues in Iceland | Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rain jacket (top rate) | Bluffworks Faroe | 16,000mm water-proof score, taped seams, packable. The only I convey. | Test worth |
| Rain jacket (funds, males’s) | Columbia Watertight II | Absolutely seam-sealed water-proof shell, packs into its personal pocket. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Rain jacket (funds, ladies’s) | Columbia Arcadia II | Similar water-proof development because the Watertight II, ladies’s are compatible. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Water resistant trousers | Marmot PreCip Eco | Taped seams, packs to not anything. The object we maximum regretted no longer having. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Mountain climbing boots (males’s) | Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP | Water resistant membrane, Vibram grip for moist basalt, no breaking-in. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Mountain climbing boots (ladies’s) | Merrell Moab 3 Mid WP | Similar boot, ladies’s are compatible and sizing. | Test worth on Amazon |
| 2d pair of trainers | Vessi Weekend Vintage | Water resistant knit teacher, dries immediate. Covers the drying rotation. | Test worth |
| Base layer | Smartwool Thermal Merino Workforce | 100% merino. Insulates when damp, dries in a single day, no scent. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Day pack | Leading edge VEO Metro B20L | Water-proof with a rain quilt integrated, suits a digital camera setup. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Water bottle | Klean Kanteen Vintage | Icelandic faucet water is superb and unfastened. Fill from the bloodless faucet. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Shuttle adapter | Epicka Common Adapter | Covers Iceland’s Sort C/F sockets, expenses a number of units without delay. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Energy financial institution | INIU P63 | 25,000mAh, 100W. Lengthy days between sockets, telephones on navigation accountability. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Midge head internet | Sea to Summit Extremely-Mesh | 23 grams of sanity for Mývatn’s midge clouds. | Test worth on Amazon |
| Binoculars | Vortex Diamondback HD 8×42 | Puffins, whales and seabird cliffs. The pair I take advantage of maximum days at house. | Test worth on Amazon |
Iceland Summer time Climate: The Precise Numbers
Lowland Iceland runs daylight highs of 13 to fifteen°C (round 58F) and in a single day lows of five to 9°C (round 40F) throughout June, July and August. That unmarried truth settles maximum packing arguments, and revealed summer season figures for Iceland range sufficient that the supply issues. Those are Icelandic Met Place of job local weather averages, by means of vedur.is.
| Area (station) | June top / low | July top / low | August top / low | Reference length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southwest (Reykjavik) | 13.0 / 7.2°C | 14.9 / 9.1°C | 14.1 / 8.6°C | 1991 to 2020 |
| North (Akureyri) | 13.7 / 6.6°C | 15.1 / 8.5°C | 14.8 / 7.9°C | 1991 to 2020 |
| East (Egilsstadir) | 13.1 / 5.0°C | 14.8 / 6.6°C | 13.9 / 6.2°C | 1961 to 1990 |
| Highlands (Hveravellir, 650m) | 9.1 / 1.9°C | 11.5 / 4.2°C | 10.6 / 3.7°C | 1965 to 2004 |
Two notes on that desk. The east’s figures come from an older reference length, so present summers there are probably a slightly hotter than proven. And the highlands row is the only to take significantly: more or less 4 to six°C chillier than the coast, with in a single day lows close to freezing in June and nonetheless solely 4°C in July. Summer time tenting at altitude in Iceland is a cold-weather process.
There’s a reason why lots of my footage nonetheless have snow in them, and the rustic is named Iceland for a reason why.
On rain, Reykjavik averages about 9 to twelve days per thirty days in summer season with no less than 1mm of rain (43mm falling in June emerging to 65mm in August), whilst Akureyri within the north is noticeably drier, with round 5 rain days and 21mm in June. Two issues the ones figures forget to say.
August is the wettest summer season month all over the place. And that 1mm threshold doesn’t rely the sunshine, continual drizzle that Iceland does so properly, which soaks package simply as successfully as an actual rain day. The authentic rely says it rained “correctly” on ten days; your drying rotation will document the next quantity.
And sunlight. Across the June solstice, Reykjavik will get 21 hours and 16 mins of sunlight, and the few last hours are twilight moderately than darkness. You’ll learn the word “nighttime solar” all over the place, and for mainland Iceland it isn’t somewhat true: Reykjavik sits south of the Arctic Circle, so the solar does in brief set.
Most effective the island of Grímsey, at the Circle itself, will get the solar for a complete 24 hours. What you in fact revel in from overdue Might to overdue July is that it by no means will get darkish, which for packing functions is similar factor. Therefore the sleep masks.
Non-Clothes Necessities
The package past garments, in tough order of ways a lot you’d leave out it.
Sleep Masks
The most cost effective merchandise in this record and in all probability essentially the most used. Icelandic lodging has were given a bit of higher at blackout curtains through the years, however quite a few guesthouse rooms nonetheless have curtains that in a well mannered way clear out the 11pm sunshine moderately than blocking off it.
A contoured sleep masks weighs not anything and rescues each and every evening of the commute. Deliver one in line with individual, since the individual with out one will try to thieve the opposite’s by means of day 3.
We personal and love Manta Sleep Mask, they’re the one ones we’ve discovered that in fact ship 100% blackout and don’t contact our eyes or eyelashes in any respect. They’re a bit of costlier however we’ve had ours for round a decade at this level and it’s greater than paid again our funding.
Go well with, Fast-Dry Towel and Turn-Flops
Swimming is likely one of the very best issues you’ll be able to do in Iceland, and the well-known lagoons are solely part of it. Just about each and every the town has a geothermal pool with scorching tubs, generally costing a fragment of the large lagoons.
The Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are each working in most cases as of summer season 2026 (the Reykjanes peninsula stays in an lively volcanic length, and the Icelandic Met Place of job publishes an up to date danger review on its information feed, so it’s value a look close to your dates). Pack the go well with, a quick-dry towel, and flip-flops for the converting rooms. You’ll in fact hire a towel at maximum swimming pools, however it provides up immediate.
Shuttle Adapter
Iceland makes use of the usual Eu two-pin sockets (Sort C and F) at 230V. UK and US guests want an adapter; telephone chargers and pc bricks are nearly universally twin voltage, so an adapter is all you want, no longer a converter. We shuttle with the Epicka common adapter, a 45W GaN unit that expenses a telephone, pc and digital camera batteries from one socket, which issues in guesthouse rooms that may be a bit of stingy with sockets.
Reusable Water Bottle
Icelandic bloodless faucet water is one of the very best on this planet, filtered thru volcanic rock, secure all over the place, and unfastened. Purchasing bottled water in Iceland is paying for one thing that comes out of each and every faucet. One caution: the new faucet is geothermal and scents of sulphur (suppose eggs). It’s innocuous, however fill your bottle from the bloodless faucet until you experience egg water. We feature Klean Kanteen Vintage bottles, single-wall stainless-steel that’s survived years of being dropped on rocks.
Day Pack With a Rain Quilt
You wish to have a bag for on a daily basis out that may take waterfall spray and a rain bathe with out soaking your digital camera, snacks and spare layer. Our present select is the Leading edge VEO Metro B20L, a 20 litre pack that swallows a digital camera plus the day’s package. To be transparent concerning the spec, since this issues in Iceland: the bag itself is water-proof with a DWR coating, no longer water-proof, and it comes with a rain quilt within the field for when the elements will get severe. That aggregate is strictly proper; it’s the quilt that does the heavy lifting in actual rain. I’ve been a Leading edge ambassador for years, so issue that during as you want, however I used to be sporting their baggage round Iceland lengthy ahead of that association existed. You’ll additionally purchase it direct from Leading edge, the place the code FindingTheUniverse takes 20% off.
Energy Financial institution
Iceland summer season days are lengthy, your telephone is the navigator, the digital camera, and the “is that this avenue open” checker, and sockets are anyplace you slept closing. A large energy financial institution eliminates the entire downside. I convey the INIU P63, a 25,000mAh unit that fast-charges a pc in addition to telephones.
In case your path touches the highlands, the place there’s no sign on any community, a charged energy financial institution strikes from comfort to protection package.
Shades and Sunscreen
I recognize I’ve talked so much about rain, however don’t get me unsuitable, Iceland does get solar. Which you are going to actually recognize when it arrives.
Alternatively, when it does seem it has a tendency to sits low for hours at a time, instantly into your eyes on a westbound power, and 20 hour days upload as much as quite a few UV publicity even thru cloud.
A small sunscreen and first rate shades take no area and get used greater than you’d suppose.
Binoculars
The not obligatory merchandise I’d argue you pack anyway. June and July are top puffin season, the seabird cliffs hang extra birds than you’ll be able to absorb with the bare eye, and there’s an affordable probability of whales from shore within the north, by no means thoughts on a whale observing commute.
I take advantage of binoculars maximum days at house for birdwatching, and the pair I succeed in for is the Vortex Diamondback HD 8×42, which is water-proof, fog evidence, and about the most efficient glass you’ll be able to get ahead of costs pass foolish. Inventory comes and is going on Amazon, so if the record is unavailable, OpticsPlanet is the fallback. 8×42 is the spec to shop for for flora and fauna.
Midges at Mývatn (and What If truth be told Bites)
In case your path contains Lake Mývatn within the north, and on a hoop avenue commute it will have to, pack a head internet. The lake’s identify actually manner “midge lake”, and on heat, nonetheless summer season days the midge clouds there should be observed to be believed. We drove into them in June and the sound by myself used to be memorable.
There are two separate insect issues right here, they usually want other package. The clouds at Mývatn are lake midges (chironomids), they usually don’t chunk. There’s not anything to repel, so repellent is the unsuitable device; the issue is sheer density to your eyes, nostril and mouth, and a fine-mesh head internet solves it utterly.
The Sea to Summit Extremely-Mesh head internet weighs 23 grams and its mesh is okay sufficient for the smallest bugs. It seems to be ridiculous. Everybody dressed in one at Mývatn is having a greater day than everybody who isn’t.
However don’t let any individual let you know not anything in Iceland bites. Blackflies, which Icelanders name bitmý (“biting midge”), thrive round fast-flowing water just like the River Laxá proper subsequent to Mývatn. And biting midges of the no-see-um sort arrived in Iceland in 2015 and feature been spreading since, with showed unearths so far as the northeast. The honour issues in your package: the top internet handles the swarms that destroy your footage, and lengthy sleeves maintain the small collection of issues that may wish to chunk you. Neither requires drenching your self in repellent.
Getting On-line in Iceland
The sensible resolution for many guests is an eSIM, purchased and put in ahead of you fly. We use and counsel Airalo, which sells Iceland records plans from a couple of greenbacks; our complete Airalo assessment covers the way it works, and our information to the most efficient shuttle eSIMs compares the choices. Be aware that those plans are data-only, so calls occur over WhatsApp and pals.
Protection-wise, you’ll have a sign for many of the ring avenue and in each and every the town. Be expecting it to drop within the East Fjords between Höfn and Egilsstadir, in some far off valleys, and, utterly and on each and every community, within the highlands. That closing one is why offline maps and a charged energy financial institution belong to your package, and why any individual heading into the inner will have to record a shuttle plan at safetravel.is first.
Digital camera Tools for Iceland in Summer time
As a certified shuttle photographer I may fill 3 articles in this, and in reality I’ve, so I’ll stay this to what an Iceland summer season particularly calls for and level you at our Iceland pictures places information for the the place.
The 2 issues Iceland throws at digital camera tools are spray and wind. Pack extra lens cloths than you suppose is affordable; on the giant waterfalls you’ll wipe the entrance part between each and every few frames, and a fabric that’s already damp simply redistributes the issue. A rain quilt for the bag is non-negotiable (see the day pack phase above), and an easy dry bag or perhaps a bin liner is value packing for the stroll at the back of Seljalandsfoss.
On our ring avenue commute I carried the whole lot in a Leading edge Alta Sky 49, which did 4 moist weeks with out grievance. That specific type has since been discontinued, and our information to the most efficient digital camera baggage for shuttle covers what we’d make a selection as of late. The lengthy sunlight, by means of the best way, is a combined blessing: you get 21 hours to shoot, however “golden hour” occurs round nighttime, which calls for both dedication or a nap-based technique. We attempted each.
What NOT to Pack for Iceland
Area issues, so right here’s what to expectantly go away at house.
An umbrella. Iceland’s rain is horizontal and its wind is a certified. An umbrella lasts more or less one automotive park ahead of it turns into trendy artwork. Each native you meet might be wearing a shell jacket, and none of them might be protecting an umbrella.
Cotton for the outside. Cotton t-shirts for the town and sleep are effective. Cotton as a climbing layer is an issue, as a result of as soon as damp it remains damp, stops insulating, and drags your drying rotation down with it. Denims are the worst culprit right here.
A “summer season” cloth wardrobe. Shorts, sundresses and linen shirts describe a summer season Iceland doesn’t have. One warm-day outfit is a effective guess for a fortunate afternoon; 5 of them is baggage you’ll convey across the ring avenue unworn.
A heavy wintry weather parka. The other mistake. A base layer, fleece and shell handles each and every lowland summer season state of affairs, and a large parka simply eats a 3rd of your bag.
Bottled-water funds. No longer an merchandise precisely, however convey the reusable bottle and skip purchasing water totally.
Should you’re looking to squeeze all this right into a carry-on, packing cubes assist greater than some other unmarried trick; we’ve examined a pile of them in our packing cubes information.
Iceland Packing by means of Month: Might to September
The core record above works for the entire season. Right here’s what shifts on the edges.
Might: chillier nights, fewer crowds, and a few highland roads nonetheless close. Upload an additional mid layer; hang any highland plans loosely till the street experiences say differently.
June: the longest days and, within the north, the driest stretch of the summer season. The sleep masks does its heaviest paintings now. Height puffin viewing starts.
July: the warmest month all over the place, and the month a fortunate traveller wears a t-shirt at Mývatn whilst swatting midges. The entire record applies as written.
August: the wettest summer season month at each and every station, so the drying-rotation good judgment issues maximum now. Actual darkness returns overdue within the month, which additionally manner the primary aurora sightings of the season turn out to be imaginable proper on the finish.
September: shoulder season. Storms select up, highland roads start remaining, and also you will have to upload again a hotter mid layer and hotter gloves. In trade: autumn colors, aurora possibilities, and part the guests.
A Be aware at the Highlands and F-Roads
If Landmannalaugar, Askja or any path marked with an F is to your record, timing is a part of packing. The mountain roads open when the snow and river ranges permit, no longer on a agenda. During the last 5 years the earliest routes (like Kjölur) have opened across the get started of June on moderate, whilst Sprengisandur and the southern Fjallabak path have waited till early July. The ones are five-year averages and snow quilt makes a decision the real date, so test present standing at umferdin.is ahead of committing.
We visited Landmannalaugar by means of superjeep day excursion moderately than self-driving, which I’d counsel for a primary commute: the river crossings are significantly past a standard rent automotive (and rent automotive insurance policy doesn’t prolong to river crossings), and the excursion operators pass them day by day.
Packing-wise the highlands imply the insulated layer, hat and gloves pop out in July, plus that no-signal caution from the connectivity phase.
What We’d Pack Otherwise Subsequent Time
4 weeks of Icelandic June rain is a radical audit of a packing record, and ours failed it in two explicit puts. I’m sharing each so you’ll be able to skip the sector trying out.
First, we introduced no water-proof trousers. I’ve discussed this above however it merits its personal paragraph, as a result of not anything else we were given unsuitable price us as a lot convenience. Each waterfall discuss with, each and every showery stroll, each and every windy headland put water on our legs, and climbing trousers in that local weather dry on more or less a geological timescale. We now personal water-proof trousers they usually shuttle with us on each and every wet-country commute. Purchase the over-trouser sort, stay them within the day pack, and also you’ll use them inside of 48 hours of touchdown.
2d, my rain jacket used to be an previous one whose water repellency had silently retired some years previous. In sustained rain the outer material soaked, the breathability collapsed, and I were given the overall wet-from-the-inside revel in described previous on this information, time and again, ahead of I understood what used to be going down. The jacket wasn’t leaking; it simply couldn’t breathe.
A more moderen shell, and even that previous one with a wash and re-proof ahead of the commute, would have made an actual distinction. Test your jacket ahead of you fly: if water now not beads at the floor, handle it at house the place the washer is.
What we were given proper, for stability: the merino rotation, the second one pair of trainers, and the verdict to base ourselves in lodging with radiators and drying rooms. The ones 3 carried the commute.
Iceland Summer time Packing Tick list
The entire record in checkable shape. There’s additionally a printable Iceland summer season packing tick list PDF, no e mail cope with required.
Clothes
- Water resistant shell jacket (taped seams, cinching hood)
- Water resistant over-trousers
- 3 to 4 merino base layer tops (2 for journeys beneath per week)
- Fleece or mild insulated mid layer
- Mountain climbing trousers x2
- T-shirts and lingerie in line with your laundry plans
- Heat hat, mild gloves, buff
- 4 to five pairs merino climbing socks
- One the town/night outfit
- Sleepwear
Shoes
- Water resistant climbing boots
- 2d pair of trainers (water-proof running shoes splendid)
- Turn-flops for pool converting rooms
Package
- Day pack with rain quilt
- Go well with and quick-dry towel
- Sleep masks (one every!)
- Sort C/F shuttle adapter
- Energy financial institution
- Reusable water bottle
- Shades and sunscreen
- Midge head internet (Mývatn routes)
- Binoculars (puffin season)
- Digital camera, lens cloths, dry bag
- Wash-in re-proofer, 100ml (journeys over 2 weeks)
- eSIM put in ahead of departure
Paperwork and Admin
- Using licence (all named drivers)
- Shuttle insurance coverage main points
- Offline maps downloaded
- Shuttle plan filed at safetravel.is (highland routes)
Steadily Requested Questions
What will have to I pack for Iceland?
For many of the 12 months, the summer season record in this web page is the solution: a water-proof shell jacket and trousers, water-proof boots plus a 2d pair of trainers, merino base layers, a fleece, hat and gloves, a go well with, a snooze masks and an afternoon pack with a rain quilt.
Should you’re travelling between October and April, the record adjustments considerably, with severe insulation, ice grips and thermal layers. Our Iceland wintry weather packing record covers that model.
Do I actually want water-proof trousers for Iceland in summer season?
Sure, and we are saying that as individuals who skipped them as soon as and regretted it for 4 weeks. Rain, waterfall spray and moist crops all goal your legs, and customary climbing trousers take days to dry as soon as soaked.
A packable over-trouser just like the Marmot PreCip Eco lives within the day pack and is going on in beneath a minute when the elements turns.
What number of base layers do I would like for per week in Iceland?
Two merino base layer tops for per week, worn in rotation with one drying in a single day. For 2 weeks or extra, take 3 or 4.
The rationale it’s that few: merino dries in a single day on a radiator and doesn’t hang scent, so the rotation works. With cotton you’d want way more, which is one among a number of causes to not convey cotton.
Can I put on denims in Iceland?
In Reykjavik, at dinner, and round the town, denims are in fact effective. On trails and at waterfalls, we’d advise in opposition to it. Rainy denim is heavy, bloodless, and will take days to dry, which in Iceland’s local weather makes it the worst material you need to make a selection for the outside.
Deliver one pair for evenings in case you like, and do your strolling in climbing trousers.
Do I would like climbing boots for Iceland, or will running shoes do?
For many journeys, sure, boots. Icelandic terrain is moist basalt, unfastened gravel and boggy grass, and widespread trails are rougher than their reputation suggests.
For a town stopover with paved-path sightseeing, water-proof running shoes are sufficient. For the rest involving waterfalls, coastlines or actual walks, water-proof boots with ankle give a boost to are the suitable name.
Do I desire a heat coat or down jacket in Iceland in summer season?
No longer a heavy one, within the lowlands. A merino base layer, a fleece and a water-proof shell layered in combination maintain 13 to fifteen°C days and windy overlooks conveniently.
The exception is the highlands, which run 4 to six°C chillier, with in a single day lows close to 2°C in June and round 4°C in July. In case your path is going up there, upload a mild insulated jacket.
Is it value bringing an umbrella to Iceland?
No. Iceland’s rain nearly all the time comes with wind, regularly sideways, and umbrellas don’t live to tell the tale touch with it. You’ll understand locals don’t convey them.
A hooded water-proof shell does the umbrella’s activity whilst leaving each your fingers unfastened.
Do I desire a sleep masks in Iceland in summer season?
Sure, and it’s the very best value-per-gram merchandise at the record. Round midsummer Reykjavik will get over 21 hours of sunlight, or even the “evening” is twilight moderately than darkness.
Blackout curtains exist however aren’t assured, particularly in guesthouses. A contoured masks solves it for a couple of kilos.
Must I pack a go well with for Iceland?
Unquestionably. Geothermal swimming is a core Iceland revel in, from the well-known lagoons (Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon are each working in most cases as of summer season 2026) to the inexpensive and very good municipal swimming pools in nearly each and every the town.
Upload a quick-dry towel and flip-flops, and also you’ll skip the towel condo queue at each and every forestall.
Do I would like insect repellent for the midges at Mývatn?
Repellent is the unsuitable device for Mývatn’s well-known swarms. The ones clouds are non-biting lake midges, so there’s not anything to repel; the issue is density, and a fine-mesh head internet solves it.
Iceland does have some biting bugs (blackflies close to rivers just like the Laxá, and biting midges that arrived in 2015 and are spreading), however lengthy sleeves quilt that. Pack the online, skip the spray.
Are you able to drink the faucet water in Iceland?
Sure, all over the place, and it’s very good. Fill your bottle from the bloodless faucet.
The new faucet smells of sulphur as it’s geothermal water; it’s innocuous however no longer what you wish to have in a consuming bottle. Chilly faucet solely.
What plug adapter do I would like for Iceland?
Iceland makes use of the Eu Sort C and Sort F sockets at 230V, 50Hz. UK and US guests desire a plug adapter.
Fashionable telephone and pc chargers are twin voltage, so that you don’t desire a voltage converter, simply the adapter. One with a couple of USB ports covers a pair’s units from a unmarried socket.
Will my telephone have sign at the ring avenue?
For many of it, sure, and in each and every the town. Protection drops within the East Fjords between Höfn and Egilsstadir and in some far off valleys, and there’s no sign in any respect within the highlands on any community.
Obtain offline maps ahead of you pass, and in case you’re heading into the inner, record a shuttle plan at safetravel.is.
What footwear will have to I pack but even so climbing boots?
A 2d closed pair for the times your boots are drying, preferably water-proof running shoes, plus flip-flops for pool and lagoon converting rooms.
The second one pair isn’t a luxurious on a moist commute. Boots soaked by means of afternoon waterfall spray is probably not dry by means of morning, and any person needs to be dressed in footwear at breakfast.
What’s the variation between packing for summer season and wintry weather in Iceland?
Summer time packing is set rain and drying capability at 13 to fifteen°C; wintry weather packing is set actual bloodless, ice and storm-force wind, because of this insulated boots, ice grips, thermal layers and a major coat.
The 2 lists percentage strangely little past the go well with and the adapter. This web page covers summer season; our wintry weather packing record covers the remaining.
Additional Studying for Your Iceland Travel
That’s the whole lot we’d put within the bag. Should you’re nonetheless within the drawing board, those guides proceed the place this one stops:
Questions on what to pack in your specific commute? Ask within the feedback and we’ll resolution from revel in, or no less than from the drier aspect of it now.
