64°N · 15 to 19 December 2026
Five days, two very different hideaways, a glacier, a sauna every single night, and not one work email.
Getting there
Express laneStraight from the booking
Our wheels
Collected at Keflavík at 10:30 on Tuesday and handed back at 08:30 on Saturday. Dual-motor all-wheel drive, winter tyres, and the heater switched on from a phone before every frozen morning. Quiet enough to hear the aurora. (You can't hear the aurora.)
Four long nights
Iceland in December gets about 20 hours of darkness. Clear skies plus a little solar activity and the whole sky moves. Check the forecast every evening.
Day by day
Mid-December daylight runs from about 11:15 to 15:30, so the days are slow and the nights do the work.
⭐ KEF RestaurantHotel Keflavík · 10 min from the airportSmart and by the sea. Lunch daily 11:30–15:00: steak sandwich, KEF burger, confit duck, pork belly, baked brie with serrano. Book on 420 7011.Lunch menu ↗
🛋️ LiBRARY Bistro/BarHafnargata 57, KeflavíkCosy and relaxed, open from 11:30. Christmas lunch platters from 15 November, including meat and game (cured lamb, reindeer pâté). Tel 421 5220.Christmas menu ↗
Light and weather · Reykjavík
The sun barely clears the mountains. Either side of it come long stretches of twilight, the soft blue hours that make Iceland look painted. Hover or tap a band for exact times. Sunglasses optional; patience with Dave stopping for photos, essential.
Night · 15 hours of it. Aurora time.
Nautical twilight · deep blue, first stars.
Civil twilight · the best photo light.
Daylight · low sun, long golden shadows.
| Day | Nautical dawn | Civil dawn | Sunrise | Sunset | Civil dusk | Nautical dusk | Daylight |
|---|
Iceland stays on UK winter time all year.
What to expect · a typical mid-December
Typical December, not a forecast. Check vedur.is from 8 December.
Where we sleep
Reykjanes peninsula · southwest Iceland · 25 minutes from the plane
📍 Norðurljósavegur, 240 GrindavíkDirections from the airportCheck in 15:00 · out 11:00
Built into an 800-year-old lava field, moss on every rock, with milky blue water running between them. Our suite is on the upper level, with its own balcony looking out to the horizon: aurora-watching without getting out of a dressing gown.
Laugavegur 28 · Reykjavík's main street · pedestrian, Christmas lights
📍 Laugavegur 28, 101 ReykjavíkDirections from the RetreatTwo nights, Thursday and Friday
Right on Laugavegur, so dinner, bars and the Christmas lights are a few steps away. The Junior Suite comes with a 17 square metre balcony, and on that balcony is our own glass-fronted sauna looking out over the rooftops.
Locals
Icelandic horses grow thick winter coats and stand about in the snow looking unbothered. Expect to stop the Tesla for them at least once.
Next time
Three places that didn't fit into four short December days. They're all a long way from Reykjavík, and with barely four hours of daylight we'd have spent the trip driving in the dark.
Kirkjufell, black-sand beaches and a glacier on a volcano. Needs a long summer day, or a night out west.
Icebergs washed up on black sand at Jökulsárlón. Too far for a day trip; best with a night or two on the south coast.
Inside Vatnajökull, open roughly November to March. Next winter, with a couple of nights near the glacier.
Megan's turn · multiple choice
Tuesday and Wednesday are at the Retreat, all sorted. Thursday and Friday in and around Reykjavík are up for grabs: tap one card in each round (open "Details" for the how, when and how much), then send the answers to Dave.
Status
Every big booking is done. All that's left are Megan's evening picks, and most of those need no booking at all. Dave has now read this list more often than any referral letter.
Also in Reykjavík
Winter, properly
The far-flung south coast is saved for the summer trip, but December Iceland looks like this even from the roadside.
Tuesday, 13:10 · Bónus, Reykjanesbær
Luxury hotels charge luxury prices for a can of Coke. We will not be beaten. (Small print: at the Retreat the wine and beer are free, so the first two nights are sorted. ION City's is complimentary too, but nobody's minibar runs to a crate of Red Bull.) Bónus is the one with the pink pig logo (no relation to the hot dogs), open 09:00 to 21:00, about ten minutes from the airport. Tick things off as they go in the trolley.
Label words to dodge:
Pack · three bags each
Each of us has a small cabin bag, a large cabin bag and a hold bag. Row 1 has no seat in front, so both cabin bags go in the overhead locker. Tick things off as they go in; ticks are saved on each phone.
🧳 Hold bag. Coming home, wet swimwear goes in the wet bag.
🧳 Large cabin bag (56×45×25): dinner clothes, jumpers, trousers, underwear and nightwear for 5 days. Thin layers beat one huge jumper: hot car, cold glacier, sweltering restaurants.
🧳 Large cabin bag (56×45×25), with the smart boots. Layers, not one huge jumper.
✈️ Wear the heavy boots on the plane: heaviest item, zero bag space.
✈️ Wear the coat and thickest jumper on the plane. Thermals, waterproofs, gloves and hats go in the hold bag.
🧳 Liquids bag and meds in the small cabin bag; big bottles and conditioner in the hold.
🧳 Small cabin bag (45×36×20): phones, chargers, headphones.
🧳 Cabin bags only: never put cameras or batteries in the hold.
🧳 Small cabin bag: passports, licences, wallet, snacks for the drive. Coming home, fill the empty space with snacks and wool.
Unlocked · three rides, three clues
