Reykjavik
Iceland
A tiny capital at the edge of a volcanic island
Photo by Einar H. Reynis on Unsplash
Photos by Yanshu Lee, Michael Held, Mike Swigunski and Rose Breen on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Iceland
June to August for daylight, September to March for northern lights
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 86mm in Oct
Where it is
64.15°N, 21.94°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Several days- Drive the Golden Circle
- Soak in the Blue Lagoon or the cheaper Sky Lagoon
- Chase the northern lights in winter
- Climb Hallgrímskirkja tower
- Whale watching from the old harbour
- Swim in a geothermal neighbourhood pool
Reykjavik travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Iceland
Very expensiveIceland uses the króna and is genuinely cashless — you can complete an entire trip without withdrawing a single note. Do not bother exchanging money before you arrive.
ATMs & cards
Landsbankinn and Arion banki machines exist but you will rarely need one. Cards work at petrol pumps, campsites and remote cafes. Decline conversion if prompted.
Avoid these
- airport exchange desks and their machines
Use these instead
- Landsbankinn
- Arion banki
- Íslandsbanki
You will barely need cash at all — cards work at petrol pumps, campsites and remote cafes.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Iceland
Very safeExtremely low crime, but nature is the danger. Never walk on glaciers unguided, respect closed road signs, check road.is and vedur.is daily in winter, and stay well back from sneaker waves at Reynisfjara beach.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (3 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Reykjavik — the entire city
Worth more attention
- Laugavegur — at three on a Saturday, for drunkenness rather than crime
- Icelandic weather and single-lane roads, which is what actually hurts visitors here
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Iceland visa rules
No visa needed
Freedom of movement — no time limit, and no visa. Bring a passport or national ID card.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 90 days
90 days within any 180-day period, counted across the whole Schengen area, not per country. ETIAS, a paid online authorisation, is being introduced for these passports — check the official link for whether it applies to your travel dates.
Visa required in advance€90 (Schengen short-stay visa)
A Schengen short-stay visa is applied for before travel, at the consulate of your main destination.
How to get it: Apply at the consulate or visa centre of the country you will spend most time in, typically 15 working days ahead and no more than six months before travel.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Health & emergencies all of Iceland
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
Excellent and centralised, but almost all of it is in Reykjavík. In the interior you may be hours from a road, let alone a hospital, and search and rescue is volunteer-run — register your travel plans at safetravel.is.
Exposure and vehicle accidents on ice are the real risks. There are no dangerous animals and the tap water is among the cleanest anywhere.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
GoodEating out is expensive — the famous hot dog stand Bæjarins Beztu is a genuine local institution and costs a fraction of a restaurant. Supermarket chains Bónus and Krónan are far cheaper than 10-11.
Nightlife
A famous weekend and almost nothing on a weeknight. The whole city goes out on Friday and Saturday, and starts at midnight after drinking at home.
- Laugavegur — the one street, and the streets off it
- Austurstræti — the late end of the same crawl
Closing: 04:30 at the weekend, 01:00 midweek.
A beer in a bar: 1,200–1,800 ISK
Alcohol is only sold at the state Vínbúðin shops, which close at 18:00 and are shut on Sunday — buy before you need it.
Getting around
Limited- HreyfillWorks here
- UberNot here
- BoltNot here
Hreyfill the taxi firm, by app
- From the airport
- Keflavík to Reykjavík 18,000–22,000 kr by taxi, against 3,500 kr on the Flybus
- Against a taxi
- There is no ride-hailing in Iceland — the law has kept Uber and Bolt out, and taxis are metered and dear.
Book the Flybus or hire a car. A taxi from the airport is a genuinely painful number.
Time zone and your working day
Atlantic/Reykjavik — 4 hours ahead of you
4 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 09:00–13:00 your time, 13:00–17:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 05:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 05:00–13:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Iceland
Ookla publishes no mobile median for Iceland, so there is no figure here for what a phone gets.
Why these are Iceland's numbers and not Reykjavik's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 2.2× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Reykjavik, so these are medians for all of Iceland. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Iceland, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Icelandic
- HelloHalló / Góðan dagha-LO / GO-than dahg
- PleaseTakk fyrirtak FI-rir
- Thank youTakktak
- Yes / NoJá / Neiyow / nay
4 more phrases
- Excuse meAfsakiðAF-sa-kith
- How much is it?Hvað kostar þetta?kvath KOS-tar THET-ta
- The bill, pleaseReikninginn, takkRAYK-ning-in
- Cheers!Skál!skowl
Religion
Lutheran, and largely secular
The national church is Lutheran. Old Norse belief has a small formal revival, Ásatrú, which is officially recognised.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Shower thoroughly and naked before entering any public pool — this is strictly enforced and not negotiable
- Take shoes off indoors
- Respect closed roads and warning signs absolutely; people die ignoring them
- Use first names — Icelanders do not use surnames as we do, and the phone book is by first name
Don't
- Do not walk on moss; it takes decades to regrow and off-road driving is illegal
- Do not tip — it is not expected and can confuse
- Do not ask about elves expecting a joke, or expecting a serious answer either
- Do not underestimate the weather; conditions change within the hour
Where to stay in Reykjavik
No Holistay rentals in Reykjavik yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Reykjavik on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Keflavík KEF
45 minfrom the airport· 37 km as the crow flies
Flybus, 45 min — the airport is nowhere near the city.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
