Best time to visit Reykjavík
The month-by-month edit — when Reykjavík actually opens up, when to avoid it, and how crowds and hotel rates move through the year.
Editor's window: Jun, Sep Two nights in Reykjavík, three on the south coast.
The short answer
When Reykjavík is at its best
Reykjavík is the design capital — a small (130,000) North Atlantic city with a serious music and food scene, the best new-Nordic restaurants outside Copenhagen, and a hotel scene that's matured rapidly in the last five years. It's also the launchpad for everything else in Iceland.
Month by month
The Reykjavík calendar
Average daytime high, rain days, crowd pressure (1–5) and hotel-rate index (1–5). Verified against climate-data.org and our hotel-rate tracking.
| Month | Avg high | Rain days | Crowd | Rate idx |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3°C | 14 d | ||
| Feb | 3°C | 13 d | ||
| Mar | 4°C | 14 d | ||
| Apr | 6°C | 13 d | ||
| May | 9°C | 13 d | ||
| Jun | 12°C | 12 d | ||
| Jul | 14°C | 12 d | ||
| Aug | 13°C | 13 d | ||
| Sep | 10°C | 14 d | ||
| Oct | 7°C | 15 d | ||
| Nov | 4°C | 14 d | ||
| Dec | 3°C | 15 d |
Sources: Numbeo cost-of-living — Reykjavík · climate-data.org — Reykjavík