This is the first of a series of blog posts in which I will detail out my recent trip where I fulfilled a wishlist I have had for a while. This one is focused on early morning Reykjavik things to do. to start with though, let me note that visiting Iceland in 2021/now is definitely doable despite the current pandemic. The vaccination rates in Iceland are very high for the total population, and you can expect that the best things you want to see in Iceland are probably outdoors anyway. All visitors before they can get their ticket have to offer proof of a negative Covid-19 test (or proof of recovery from it) taken within 72 hours before even checking the luggage and boarding the plane, and this is true both ways. There is also an app that you must use when in Iceland to track your exposure and register- a barcode is required to show you have done this also to get your boarding pass.
If you go in October like I did, you will also not have the huge amounts of tourists that generally go during the summer when it is the land of the midnight sun (aka super long sunshine hours). That said, there is still plenty of daytime during our visit in mid-October – dawn was around 8:30m and sunset around 5:30pm so pretty respectable compared to what yo would experience in the US too. Temperatures are also not what I consider cold compared to my upbringing in Chicago – only in the mid 30s-40s F, and the only chill you really get is from strong arctic winds. The amount of wind, which varied during my visit, could be 10-20 miles per hour (converting from their weather reports which are in meter per second) to a crazy 90 miles per hour! If you add rain, which pretty much means you will get soaked, prepare waterproof layer along with layers.
Likely if you come from the US you will end up landing in the early morning hours of the Iceland day – for me this was around 5:30 AM. If you are lucky your hotel or AirBnB may allow you to have an early check-in if it is available, or at least store your luggage. If you are wondering what else might be open this early in the morning in Reykjavik – not much. Here are a few things to consider doing
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