supjourney
Christmas and New Year in Iceland: what is open, day by day

Christmas and New Year in Iceland: what is open, day by day

23 December to 1 January 2027 in one grid: pool hours, lagoon and Volcano Express closures, sunrise, sunset and the Christmas Eve full moon, as of 1 Nov 2026.

Christmas in Iceland runs on short days and short opening hours. On 24 December the Reykjavík pools close at 13:00. On the 25th they are shut, and so is Volcano Express. On the 26th the pools open 11:00–17:00. New Year's Eve is a 13:00 close again, and New Year's Day opens only from 13:00 to 17:00. The sun is up for about four hours each day, from roughly 11:20 to 15:30, and the moon is full in the early hours of Christmas Eve. The grid below has every day from 23 December to 1 January. The hours come from each operator's page, read on 1 November 2026, and the sun and moon are computed.

The grid

Pool hours are Reykjavíkurborg's published "holiday hours 2026" and are the same at all eight city pools: Árbæjarlaug, Breiðholtslaug, Dalslaug, Grafarvogslaug, Klébergslaug, Laugardalslaug, Sundhöllin and Vesturbæjarlaug. Sun times are for Reykjavík, NOAA solar equations.

DateDayReykjavík poolsVolcano ExpressSecret LagoonSunrise–sunsetDaylight
21 Dec 2026Mon, solstice06:30–22:0010:00–20:0010:00–19:0011:22–15:294 h 07
23 DecWed, Þorláksmessa06:30–18:0010:00–20:0010:00–19:0011:23–15:304 h 07
24 DecThu, Christmas Eve08:00–13:00holiday hours may vary10:00–18:0011:23–15:314 h 08
25 DecFri, Christmas Dayclosedclosednot stated11:23–15:324 h 09
26 DecSat11:00–17:00holiday hours may varynot stated11:23–15:334 h 10
31 DecThu, New Year's Eve08:00–13:00holiday hours may vary10:00–18:0011:21–15:414 h 20
1 Jan 2027Fri, New Year's Day13:00–17:00holiday hours may varynot stated11:20–15:434 h 23

Sources: reykjavik.is pool hours page, volcanoexpress.is (daily 10:00–20:00, closed 25 December and when Harpa is closed, holiday hours may vary) and secretlagoon.is (winter 10:00–19:00, 10:00–18:00 on 24 and 31 December), all read 1 November 2026. "Not stated" means the operator's page gives its normal winter hours and no holiday exception, so check before you drive.

The moon is full on 24 December 2026 at 01:28 UTC, by Meeus's lunar-phase algorithm. Christmas week is bright at night, which is good for walking home and poor for the northern lights. The next dark-moon week centres on 7 January 2027; the northern lights guide has the dark hours.

Advent in Reykjavík

The city's Christmas season starts on the first Sunday of Advent, which in 2026 falls on 29 November. Reykjavíkurborg's festival page says the lights on the Oslo tree are switched on that day. It also says Christmas lights hang on Austurvöllur and the Yule Cat appears on Lækjartorg, with a Christmas market and carol singing. The city was still taking applications for its December event fund on 1 November 2026, so the 2026 programme, with dates and market hours, was not yet published. The New Year's Eve bonfire list was not on reykjavik.is either; the old address returned HTTP 404. Check both pages in December.

Planning the week

Book Christmas Day indoors, and the day before early. With the pools and Volcano Express closed on the 25th and four hours of light, the day is for your hotel, a walk in the light between 11:30 and 15:30 and an early dinner you have booked well ahead. On the 24th everything closes early. Swim in the morning; the pools close at 13:00.

Do not plan a driving tour across Christmas. Daylight is 4 h 07 to 4 h 23 at the solstice and New Year. Reykjavík's December mean is 0.8 °C, with 95 mm of rain on average, the most of any month (1991–2020, computed from Veðurstofa's values). Passes close in storms, and the Norröna ferry does not sail to Iceland in December. The South Coast and Golden Circle ledger is the plan that runs in this month, on its shorter days, with Christmas itself in Reykjavík. The North ledger flies to Akureyri, where the 15 December daylight is 3 h 12 min.

Use the days between. On 27–30 December normal hours return at most places. Reykjavík's pools open 06:30–22:00 on weekdays, Volcano Express 10:00–20:00, and the National Museum 10:00–17:00, though it published no special holiday hours on 1 November 2026. The rainy-day routes work just as well in the Christmas dark.

Watch for the light. Sunrise at 11:23 and sunset at 15:30 make a single four-hour window. A day out of town, to Þingvellir or Seljalandsfoss, should leave Reykjavík by 10:00 to arrive in the light.

Questions

Is everything closed in Iceland at Christmas?

Not everything, but the 24th, 25th and 31st are short or closed days. The Reykjavík pools close at 13:00 on the 24th and 31st and all day on the 25th. Volcano Express is closed on the 25th. The Secret Lagoon closes at 18:00 on the 24th and 31st. Check each venue's own page for the rest.

How much daylight is there in Iceland at Christmas?

About four hours in Reykjavík: 4 h 07 min on the solstice and 4 h 09 min on Christmas Day, with sunrise at 11:23 and sunset at about 15:30 (NOAA solar equations, computed). Akureyri gets about an hour less.

Can I see the northern lights at Christmas?

Possibly, if the sky is clear and the sun is active, but the moon is full on 24 December 2026, which washes out faint displays. The week around 7 January 2027 is darker.

Sources

The ledgers this post refers to

  1. Iceland South Coast and Golden Circle in 5 days

    Reykjavík base, a Golden Circle day, then two south-coast days to Jökulsárlón with nights in Vík and Kirkjubæjarklaustur: about 1,125 km and 14 hours of driving.

    5 days · Iceland
    1,125 km · 14 h 10 driving
    Checked 1 Nov 2026
  2. North Iceland and the Diamond Circle in 5 days

    Fly to Akureyri, drive Goðafoss, Mývatn, Dettifoss, Ásbyrgi and Húsavík and fly back: about 360 km and 5 hours of driving, with the 380 km road alternative costed.

    5 days · Iceland
    357 km · 5 h driving
    Checked 1 Nov 2026