As much as I love Iceland in the winter there’s no denying that the summer in Iceland is quite magical. June is the first official summer month and even though it’s not as warm as July and August it tends to have less rain. Except the first summer I offered my walking tours – then it rained all days but three in June. I was basically soaked the whole month. But it was also the rainiest June in recorded history.

The best thing about June in Iceland is the midnight sun and the endless amount of daylight. This means you can do impossibly long day tours without having to worry about loosing light or you can enjoy the rays of the evening sun in town as you sip on some delicious local beers.

The downside to all this is the fact that everyone and their uncle wants to experience this so June is one of the busiest months of the year tourist wise. July and August are still busier I think but June is close third, I’m sure. This is also the time when it starts getting next to impossible to find accommodation in certain places and where tours with limited availability start booking out weeks in advance. The prices also start to get higher, especially for the accommodation and car rental. The prices of tours stay the same more or less all year.

Iceland in June is beautiful – just be prepared to share it with a lot of others.

Annual events and festivals in June worth checking out.

Festival of the Sea: An event honoring the sea and fishery in Iceland with a diverse program from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon.

The color run: A colorful 5k run where the times don’t matter but fun is the main aim

Reykjavík Midsummer Music: An award-winning chamber music festival founded by local pianist hero Víking Heiðar Ólafsson

The Suzuki Midnight Run: Running under the midnight sun with local runners.

Secret Solstice: A fairly new music festival held in the middle of Reykjavík city attracting legendary acts such as Radiohead.

Tours you might want to consider in June

In June many of the highland roads open again after the winter (the exact date depends on the year) which means day tours to places like Landmannalaugar become a possibility again. With the endless daylight, you a great value out of combo tours like Horse riding and the Golden Circle and the Snorkeling and Golden Circle for example. 

This post is part of a series about the best time to visit Iceland where we go through things to consider before visiting Iceland for each month of the year. All the weather related statistics come from the Icelandic Met Office but the rest is based on our feelings and experience.