Last updated: October 2026
Here's the December fact that changes your whole plan: the sun rises around 11:20 and sets around 15:30. Visitors who fight it have a bad day; visitors who plan around it have one of the best travel days of their year — because Reykjavík in December is really two cities: a brief, golden-blue daylight one, and a long, lit-up, cozy dark one.
This itinerary uses both.
December daylight in Reykjavík, date by date (approx.):
| Date | Sunrise | Sunset | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 1 | ~10:45 | ~15:47 | ~5 h 02 m |
| Dec 15 | ~11:14 | ~15:29 | ~4 h 15 m |
| Dec 21 (solstice) | ~11:22 | ~15:29 | ~4 h 07 m |
| Dec 31 | ~11:19 | ~15:42 | ~4 h 23 m |
Print that table in your head: it is the real map of your day.
09:00 — Dark morning: breakfast and fire
The city wakes slowly in the dark; join it. Coffee and a pastry downtown, then walk the lit streets to Harpa as the sky turns deep blue. Start with Volcano Express (opens 10:00, shows every 15 minutes) — eruptions, heat, and a live earthquake monitor make an ideal first act while it's still dark outside, and you'll have the morning shows nearly to yourself. Out by 11, exactly as the light arrives.
11:20–15:30 — The daylight window: use every minute outside
This is your outdoors budget — spend it ruthlessly:
- Sun Voyager and the waterfront in the low golden light that photographers fly here for (the December sun never climbs high, so the "golden hour" lasts for hours).
- Skólavörðustígur (Rainbow Street) up to Hallgrímskirkja, and the tower view while visibility lasts.
- Lunch mid-window — Icelandic lamb soup was invented for this month.
- If it's a weekend, Kolaportið flea market by the harbor for wool sweaters at non-boutique prices.
15:30 — Dusk: into the hot water
As the light fades, do what Reykjavík does: get in the water. Sundhöllin's rooftop hot tubs steam against the dark sky, or book Sky Lagoon's dusk slot — watching the last light die over the Atlantic from 39-degree water is a December-only experience.
18:00 — The lit-up city
December is Reykjavík's most decorated month: Christmas lights on every street, the Yule Lads (Iceland's thirteen mischievous Santas) arriving one per night from December 12, and seasonal markets around Ingólfstorg square. Dinner at a food hall or, with a reservation, somewhere warm on Laugavegur.
21:00 — The second sky show
Clear night? December darkness is aurora prime time, and the 2026–27 season is forecast as the last reliably strong one of this solar cycle. Check en.vedur.is for the cloud map, then Grótta lighthouse or any dark shoreline. Cloudy night? Harpa's December concert calendar is the warmest plan B in the city.
The honest December packing note
Weather changes hourly: waterproof layer, proper shoes, and the local rule — there's no bad weather, only the wrong clothes and a hot tub afterward. Every indoor anchor in this plan (Volcano Express, pools, food halls, Harpa) runs regardless of what the sky decides.
