Planning your trip to Iceland for next summer? Looking for what you can’t miss on a trip to the island of ice and fire? In this post we reveal the keys to you!

Summer in Iceland. Must-seen places you should visit.

The first of all is to decide in which month you are going to travel to Iceland, depending on this you will have a different time and more or less hours of light, as well as there will be open roads and some that are not.

May:A perfect month to find little influx of travelers. Warm, not very rainy and with enough hours of light to enjoy the island. Most of the roads are open, although the Highlands are usually still closed. Possibility of finding snow in more isolated areas of the north, the west and east fjords. Puffins and whales have already arrived in Iceland. Perfect for our private tours.

June: June is usually a warm month with many hours of light. It depends on the year we can enjoy fresh occasional rains. Opening of the main Highland roads. Puffins, whales and all kinds of wildlife can be found on the island.

July: Almost 24 hours of daylight. Large groups of tourists are beginning to arrive. The perfect month to go on a hiking trip through Iceland and enjoy the Highlands as well as the wild nature. There is hardly any snow and the arctic lupine fields are in full bloom.

August: Little by little the rains are returning. It is the perfect month to combine adventure travel with a visit to the south coast of Iceland or go around the island. The hours of darkness return, and with them the northern lights. It is an unusual phenomenon on these dates, but it can occur at the end of the month. The puffins will be gone by the end of the month.

Septiembre: The end of summer. It is usually a much wetter month than the rest, from the middle of the month we can find snow and ice in the Highlands. A perfect month to visit Thórsmörk (the valley of the god of thunder) and see the first flower changes to make way for autumn.

Once you have decided the month in which you are going to travel, we recommend those attractions that you cannot miss.

Popular places & Secret places

Usually in Iceland there are always more famous places (like the Golden Circle or the south coast) and less known places (like the Highlands of Iceland or the mountains of the Eastern Fjords). Some argue that Iceland no longer has “places to discover”, and it is true, everything is already explored. However, we consider that there are places that are hidden and that few people can access them, therefore we consider them “hidden gems“.

Final advices: always check the weather website & road website.

• Golden Circle [Popular place]: The Golden Circle, is one of the most touristic and symbolic places in Iceland that includes: Thingvellir (separation of tectonic plates and seat of the old Icelandic parliament), Geysir (the famous geyser that has given its name to all of the world ) and Gullfoss (the Golden Falls).
• Icelandic Highlands [Hidden gem]: Many people know Landmannalaugar, but few venture to go a little further. Dusty roads, unpaved roads, colorful mountains and endless mossy slopes determine this landscape straight out of a sci-fi movie. Our always recommended Langisjór is one of the many hidden gems that we visit on our summer trips. Are you going to miss it?
• South Coast [Popular place]: The South Coast of Iceland encompasses several of the most spectacular attractions on the island. Black sand beaches (Reynisfjara and the cliffs of Dyrhólaey), waterfalls (Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Gljúfrabúi, among others) and glaciers (Sólheimajökull and Myrdalsjökull).
• Thórsmörk, the valley of Thor [Hidden gem]:One of our favorite places to get lost for several days is the Valley of the Thunder God. Birch forests, trekking through impossible landscapes and amazing views of the volcano that erupted in 2010. Even so, to get to Thórsmörk you have to ford the Krossá river and have experience and a good 4×4 XL (not just any 4×4). You can see our daytour to Thórsmörk with a guide and a modified vehicle.
• Vatnajökull National Park [Popular place]:Undoubtedly, something that you cannot miss on a trip to Iceland, are the impressive glacial tongues of Vatnajökull, as well as the spectacular glacial lagoons of Fjallsárlón and Jökulsárlón, or the Diamond Beach where all the icebergs are stranded. Also here we can enjoy the incredible trekkings offered by the Skaftafell National Park.
• Kerlingarfjöll [Hidden gem]: The “Old troll woman” mountain. A geothermal area, formerly a ski resort, in the heart of the Icelandic highlands. The access to Kerlingarfjöll is different from what we usually find to go to Landmannalaugar or Langisjór, it is found on the F35 road, also known as Kjölur. Orange and yellow mountains, mixed with sulfataras and small glaciers make this place a trekking paradise. Check our daytour to Kerlingarfjöll!
• Snæfellsnes National Park [Popular place]:Jules Verne’s inspiration for his novel Journey to the Center of the Earth. 100km of peninsula where all the island’s ecosystems are collected, a dream place framed in the incredible scenery of small fishing villages among ancient lava fields. Amazing!
• The forgotten obsidian valley [Hidden gem]: Lorry, this place is not going to be revealed in this place! Nor are we going to reveal which is the best natural hot spring in Iceland, where the red and green crater is located, or how to get to the turquoise lake. There are places that are better not on the internet, so that our guides are the only ones able to reveal the hidden wonders of Iceland 🙂

Check our adventure trips to Iceland!