Iceland's winter coast hovers around freezing. That sounds mild, and it is — until you add 20m/s of wind and rain moving sideways.
This is the thing that catches out people who have packed for cold before. Visitors arriving from Canada, Scandinavia or the northern United States are frequently over-equipped for temperature and under-equipped for weather. A minus-thirty parka is useless here. What you need is a wind and water barrier that does not fail, worn over layers you can add to and remove as you get in and out of a car eleven times a day.
Everything below assumes wind, not cold, is the enemy.
The layering system
Four layers, each doing one job, and none of them cotton.
- Base layer. Merino wool, long sleeve and leggings. Merino keeps insulating when damp and does not develop a smell over a week, which matters when you are washing nothing. Synthetic base layers work and are cheaper; cotton is actively dangerous because it holds water against the skin and stops insulating entirely.
- Mid layer. Fleece or a light down sweater. Two thin mid layers beat one thick one, because the useful range on this trip runs from a heated car to a windy car park and back within ten minutes. Being able to remove half your insulation without removing your shell is worth more than warmth.
- Shell jacket. A hardshell rated at least 10,000mm with taped seams and, critically, a hood that cinches down and stays put in wind. A hood that blows off is a hood that does not exist. Check the wrist closures too — loose cuffs let water run down your arms every time you raise a camera.
- Waterproof trousers. Non-negotiable, and the item people most often skip. You will use them at waterfalls in fair weather, because the spray at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss does not care about the forecast.
The reason this system beats a single very warm coat is that Icelandic winter days involve constant transitions. You are warm in the car, cold in the wind, warm walking uphill, cold standing still to photograph something. A system you can adjust in fifteen seconds keeps you comfortable; a single garment keeps you either sweating or freezing.
Footwear, and the item that prevents the most common injury
Waterproof boots with ankle support and an aggressive sole. Ankle support matters more than usual here because so much of the walking is on frozen, uneven, rutted ground rather than on a trail.
Then add microspikes — elastic traction devices that pull over the boot like a rubber band with chains on the sole. They cost very little, weigh almost nothing, and prevent the injury that ends more Icelandic trips than anything else, which is a simple fall on flat ground. Car parks ice over. Path edges ice over. The short walk from the road to a viewpoint is where people go down, usually while looking at the view rather than at their feet.
Crampons are not needed and are the wrong tool. If you book a glacier walk, the operator provides proper crampons and an ice axe as part of the trip.
Two pairs of wool socks, worn alternately, is the right number. Bring a third if you are hiking.
The extremities
Wind takes heat from your head and hands faster than from anywhere else, and this is where most people are underequipped.
A hat that covers the ears completely and stays on in wind. A beanie that has to be held down with one hand is not a hat, it is a problem. A neck gaiter or buff is the highest-value small item on the list: it covers the gap at the collar, pulls up over the nose in driving rain, and takes no space.
Gloves are the one people get wrong. Woollen gloves are warm and useless the moment they get wet, which will be within an hour. You want waterproof shell gloves or mittens, ideally with a thin liner glove underneath so you can operate a phone or a camera without exposing bare skin. Mittens are warmer than gloves; liner-plus-shell gives you both options.
Pool etiquette, since you are bringing the swimwear
Worth knowing before you arrive at a municipal pool with a towel and confidence. Icelandic pools require a thorough shower without swimwear before entering the water, and the changing rooms have signs indicating the areas to wash. This is not negotiable, it is not optional for visitors, and attendants will say something. It is the reason Icelandic pools use very little chlorine and smell like water rather than a swimming bath.
Bring flip-flops if you dislike bare feet on tile, and a small microfibre towel — many pools rent towels but at a price that makes carrying your own sensible over a ten-day trip.
What to leave at home
- An umbrella. It will be destroyed within a day, and you will have carried a broken umbrella around Iceland.
- Jeans. They soak, then freeze, then take two days to dry in a guesthouse.
- A heavy tripod, unless you are shooting seriously. A light one plus a bean bag or a folded jacket on a wall covers most needs, and a heavy tripod in high wind is a lever, not a stabiliser.
- Multiple pairs of shoes. One waterproof pair plus something soft for indoors. Guesthouses generally expect outdoor shoes to come off at the door.
- A very heavy expedition parka. Bulky, hard to layer under, impossible to pack, and warmer than the conditions require.
The car kit
This is the part of the list that has nothing to do with clothing and is the part that matters if something goes wrong.
Keep a small bag in the car and do not unpack it: water, food that does not need preparation, a phone power bank, a head torch with working batteries, and a spare warm layer for each person. If a road closes — and in winter, roads close — you may wait several hours in a queue or turn back to a town two hours behind you. Rural fuel stations are far apart and many are unstaffed.
A phone mount and a charging cable are worth more than they sound, because you will be checking road.is and vedur.is constantly and doing it on a handheld phone in a moving car is not an option.
Camera gear in the cold
Two problems, both easily managed. Batteries lose apparent capacity fast in cold, so carry spares in an inside pocket where body heat keeps them usable. And condensation forms when a cold lens enters a warm car or guesthouse, so put the camera in a sealed bag before going inside and let it warm up gradually rather than wiping the lens, which does nothing about the moisture that has already formed internally.
A lens cloth in a zipped pocket, not a loose one. In spray and wind you will use it every few minutes.
The one-bag version
If you want the whole list in a form you can check against a suitcase: merino base layers, two mid layers, hardshell jacket, waterproof trousers, waterproof boots, microspikes, hat, buff, waterproof gloves with liners, three pairs of wool socks, swimwear, flip-flops, head torch, power bank, sunglasses for the low winter sun on snow, and a small dry bag for anything that must stay dry.
That is one carry-on and one hold bag for most people, and it covers everything from a glacier lagoon in a gale to a hot pot after dark.
For the driving itself and how winter changes the route, see the Iceland Ring Road guide. If the aurora is the reason you are going in winter, chasing the Northern Lights without wasting your week covers the forecasts that actually matter.
