Your guide to Iceland’s Midnight Sun: When and where to experience this jaw-dropping natural event

If you’ve ever wished that vacation days were longer so you had more time for sightseeing and activities without having to pack up and leave “before it gets dark”, then a trip to Iceland in summer to experience the Midnight Sun is perfect for you.

Here’s everything you need to know about this unusual phenomenon in Iceland and how you can best enjoy it.

Countries in the Northern Hemisphere experience longer daylight hours during summer when the upper half of the earth is tilted towards the sun. The further north you are, the longer these daylight hours are. The Midnight Sun phenomenon happens in countries far north enough that even in the wee hours when the sun should have set, the skies remain bright.

Iceland is one of the best places to see the Midnight Sun as it’s located on the edge of the Arctic Circle. You can also encounter the Midnight Sun in countries like Greenland, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Russia, and Canada.

As the days get warmer, they slowly get longer—the daily amount of daylight increases by about one to three minutes per day from December to June. While you can experience the Midnight Sun in Iceland from May to early August, the longest and brightest nights will happen around late June to early July.

The longest day of the year is the Summer Solstice or Sumarsólstöður, which falls on 21 June. Around this time of year, Iceland experiences up to 24 hours of daylight, where the sun never sets in its northernmost regions like Akureyri, Ísafjörður, and Grimsey. In the capital Reykjavik, which is towards the south, the sun does set at about midnight and rises barely three hours later, all without ever turning completely dark.

This also explains why Iceland’s winters have such short days, with the Winter Solstice on 21 December usually being the shortest day in the year. Despite the lack of sunlight, Iceland still sees many visitors during this time who come to catch the Northern Lights instead—you can’t see them during the summer because there’s just too much daylight!

Be ready to take full advantage of the extended daylight hours to pack in all the activities you want to do in Iceland. If it's too busy during the day, you can return at night when there are generally fewer tourists around. The Midnight Sun also means longer golden hours—you can get better-lit photos without the crowds.

The long summer days are perfect for all sorts of festivals. For avid runners, the annual Midnight Sun Run takes place around the Summer Solstice in Laugardalur Valley of Reykjavik, where runners can run a five-kilometer, ten-kilometer, or half marathon route while basking in the Midnight Sun.

Those who prefer water sports should check out the Midnight Sun Whitewater Festival, where you can do a little midnight rafting and kayaking in the twilight hours. Golfers up in Akureyri can join the Arctic Open Golf Championship and tee off under the Midnight Sun. Families can head up to the northernmost point on the island of Grímsey for their Solstice Festival.

Whale watching in Iceland is best done in Húsavík up north. With less boat activity during the night, the chances of spotting whales are even higher during the Midnight Sun—nothing is more special than watching these gentle giants surface against a glowing sky. Take a RIB boat for a more up-close experience.

You’ll probably never get to ride across the wild terrain at night in most places because it gets too dark to be safe. With Iceland’s Midnight Sun, you can safely rev across the landscape on an ATV while admiring the pink and gold sky all around you.

Or you can go on a leisurely kayaking tour to admire the twilight view at Mount Kirkjufell.

Soak in the beautiful scenery and Iceland’s famous geothermal hot spring baths all at once. Several hot springs, like the famous Blue Lagoon, extend their opening hours during summer so you can enjoy soaking in the healing waters under the Midnight Sun.

The Midnight Sun is a boon for avid photographers who usually wait for the ‘Golden Hour’ to take the best photos. This is usually right after sunrise and just before sunset, when the sun is low in the sky and casts a warm light and soft shadows—it’s considered the best natural lighting for landscape photography.

Golden hour typically lasts for 30 to 60 minutes in most places but during the Midnight Sun in Iceland, this elusive window is extended to several hours, giving photographers more time and opportunities to get those perfect shots. You’ll need to do some research to find the best times and locations or consider joining a photography tour for some professional help instead.

While the Midnight Sun lets you maximize your days with more daylight hours, you still need adequate sleep to rest and recharge. This perpetual daylight can be quite disruptive to your natural sleep cycle which usually follows a circadian rhythm—where you wake up when it’s light and sleep when it’s dark. The bright nights may make it hard for you to fall asleep naturally.

Some tips for sensitive sleepers: if your hotel has windows, make sure to shut the curtains at least 30 to 60 minutes before you usually sleep to simulate darkness falling. Alternatively, a good sleep mask is another way to block out the sunlight and get some good rest even when the sun is still out.