The Biggest Tourist Summer Ever in Iceland - Tips to Avoid Other Tourists

[@palantir135]

I know a few places that are now overcrowded by tourists like Drei Zinnen in the Dolomites. It was fun to go there 25 years ago. You are a lucky guy to live in such a beautiful country.

[@JustIcelandic]

Thank you :)

[@cinavik]

Tourism is a challenging issue. It's good to have business, but when the lack of development is the reason people want to see it, then too many coming and all the infrastructure needed to support their presence does diminish the appeal. I hope Iceland can show off its wonders while keeping them relatively intact in the future.

[@randallgvideos]

A few years ago I spent 4 days driving in the Westfjords, it was spectacular. Don't miss the botanical garden Skrúður. This year I drove the Ring Road, and made a detour in the northeast to drive road 370 and visit the northernmost lighthouse and the most remote village of Raufarhöfn. I would have spent more time in the Eastfjords but the weather sucked, but the drive from Höfn to Reykjavik with nice weather was awesome. There is nothing like the Glacial Lagoon.

[@danielparrott8339]

Great advice here! We had great fun exploring the touristy areas at night in the summer. We went to Geysir at 2.00am and we're the only people there. We also often visit in February and Iceland has always been kind to us, with some beautiful days of sunshine and nights of Northern lights between the gales, rainstorms and blizzards.When we visited the Vestmannaeyja in Feb, we were literally the only tourists on the island. Your area is great- we stayed by the Eyjafjörðir and want to come back to explore to the Northwest and even the mysterious Northeast peninsular you did a video on. I only wish Niceair would fly direct to the UK as it originally planned. Finally, even in Feb, the amount of people wearing a groove in the golden circle was a bit depressing, but even then, you don't need to go far to get away from this traffic, as the tours aren't very imaginative! Thank you for all your video work and thanks to Icelanders for their patience in having us as visitors. We try and be respectful, by hiding away in a nice isolated summer house on a lava field somewhere, cooking lamb stew and enjoying whatever the weather throws at us! Maybe one day you will visit Wales in the UK and bring your drone to film our mountains!

[@bbbb6066]

I have been to Iceland 8 time and planning my 9 visit now. One thing I learned is that the weather can be bad in one area and beautiful in another area a short drive away. A lot of tourist go to eat about 6 or 7 pm. Parking lots that are full at 3 pm are almost empty at 7 pm. My way of traveling in Iceland is that if there is a road that you have not taken take it and see what is down the road. Ben

[@johnbradshaw7525]

I went to Iceland in Mid September & went on a tour around the ring road. It wasn't too busy until we went to the Golden Circle.

[@JustIcelandic]

Yes mid September is just fine to travel 😊

[@Sally4th_]

I'm surprised the south-east doesn't get more visitors, it was so wild and beautiful when hubby and I visited 9 years ago. There's no "hot spot" nightlife but it was perfect for a couple of older Brits who wanted a quiet getaway without being too "intrepid" and was very accessible. I did fall in love with the north and Highlands, but Myvatn is under terrible pressure from tourism so I'd avoid that other than to pass through.

[@cproteus]

Agreed with Mývatn, Akureryi is a must.

[@JustIcelandic]

As for geology and other reasons, Mývatn cannot be bypassed, but i agree, the tourism there, and the flies, wow, but it's a pure summer night and winter place as well

[@cproteus]

@@JustIcelandic I visited when going from Akureryi through Egillstaðir and I have decided after trying two of the “tourist pools” that I will stick exclusively to the local ones. The behaviour at the baths was abhorrent. I was there in the winter, I need darkness - so I have never visited Iceland in the Summer.

[@18robsmith]

When on holiday I try to drive along a main road twice, first to see what it's like, then the second time to take turning that looks interesting, and not many people are taking. Over the years I've found some fabulous places, and a rubbish dump or two.....

[@JustIcelandic]

Good way to discover Iceland, and i kind of like some of the dumps i find :) make you appreciate the rest eve more

[@Bajaja59]

As an helvítis utlendingar living in Iceland for 4 years I can agree with most of the points in video. South coast have most of the atractive "things" on one side of the island - glaciers/ geysír/waterfalls/ that "one and only BlAcK sANd BeAcH" there are more and better ones... So I understand why most people chose south coast. I enjoyed East fjords and Westfjords aswell and would recommend not to skip them.

[@JustIcelandic]

Thanks for sharing and welcome :)

[@tomweiss9600]

At some point, Iceland will either have to limit access or greatly improve its infrastructure/hire more staff for its main attractions. We went to Reynisfjara Beach in February and the crowds taking selfies near the water and leaving garbage on the beach were pretty bad. Can't imagine what this summer will be like.

[@JustIcelandic]

Reynisfjara Beach is a symbol of everything thats gone wrong in the tourist industry.

[@kissanruokaa]

​@@JustIcelandic Thats sad to hear and good to know, maybe i'll go check it out offseason :) Also i greatly appreciate your channel :) Ég að læra íslensku, og ég elskar þetta fiskibollur! :D The fish gratin is sooo good here hehehehe :D

[@adamabele785]

The easiest way to control the numbers of visitors is to limit the numbers of flights.

[@ezmepetersen2503]

We visited in spring 2022. I expected it to be cold, it was, but when you're dressed for the weather that's half the battle. As well as the usual tourist attractions we visited the Lava Centre on the road to Vik. I can't recommend it highly enough. It was full of interactive exhibits. In one room you stand on special pads on the floor and experience an earthquake for example along with other things. There was a huge 270 degree screen with information as well as motion sensors that give additional info. In another room there were hands on consoles which tell the story of the major eruptions as well as a short docu/film. It was my only 'must do' of the trip and I wasn't disappointed but it doesn't really feature on the attractions websites, I found it after searching for something less popular, it took a while but I'm glad we took the time to go before heading to the black sand beach at Vik. Great cafe with exhibition centre there too, we paid for a bowl of soup with free top ups, lava bread, rolls and coffee. I won't complain about the price because this is about the immersive experience and you can't put a price on that.

[@Chorge1972]

100%!!! Even around the Ringroad you‘ll find the most visited spots in summer without people, when you drive anticyclic. Best is camping - gives you most flexibility! And November is great, too! No people, nice colors! Polar lights sometimes! Skitouring at Easter time is also still a great idea! Not many people around! You can do the touristic Hotspots in the south first, then head north to Dalvík. On your way back, you can visit Snaefellsness peninsula!

[@bartjes2509]

Nice, having had 4 trips to your country since 2017 I am just waiting for the next tourist eruption to book tickets again. Concerning the hotspots, just make sure you're there at crazy ó clock (when everyone is still asleep or the tourist busses are have not yet arrived or the last one had already left). From my own experience, East of Vik is less traffic than West of Vík and the same again for Jökullsárlon.

[@JustIcelandic]

Yes it's right, the traffic drops after Vík, and even more after Jökulsárlón, like it drops also on the northwest route in Borgarnes....it's only when i'm out of Borgarnes when i feel as i'm out of the city

[@adventuregrammy9979]

I love Iceland; been twice so far. Thank you for this suggestion. I think I’ll try to come next summer and explore some of the lesser known areas.

[@JustIcelandic]

Always welcome to iceland :)

[@Bedlamite23]

I feel kinda bad that I've been to Iceland 5 times and although I've ventured to the west, I've yet to make it all the way up. Next trip is Akureyri for sure.

[@JustIcelandic]

Always welcome to Akureyri :)

[@jan-ovepedersen5764]

Hi, me and my family are arriving at June 19th, and return back to Norway at the end of the month. Looking forward to visit Iceland, thanks for all your travel recommodations. We will for sure visit Northern Iceland, want to see the midnight sun in Iceland. I know we're strange, where we live in Lakselv, Finnmark, Norway, we have midnight sun for 62 days straight. We will try to see as much as possible, and not only drive the ringroad 🙂

[@JustIcelandic]

I recommend the arctic coast way :) arcticcoastway.is and welcome to Iceland 😊

[@hoser7706]

Wow, now I am alarmed about our July visit and stay in Reykjavik!!! Looks horrifying! We should have stuck with a campervan and northern tour

[@CaSuMog]

„The tourist destroys what he is looking for by finding it“….

[@peter8605]

Not if you have respect for people and nature...unconditionally

[@JustIcelandic]

Iceland is big :) and there are still places that we keep for our selves and the elves

[@cproteus]

Happy to see that in the nearly six months I spent there, I managed to spend it in the least visited places. ❤

[@JustIcelandic]

Good idea :)

[@cproteus]

I was mostly in a little place called Núp in the west fjords, a little place called stoðvardfjarðar in the east fjords and a little farm outside Akureryi. I highly recommend all three places. You can just go out for a hike and see all the little places (like the rock museum in the east fjords which is just a short walk down the street) and of course, taking time to enjoy the local pools and the Icelanders’ conversation. But then, I also wasn’t getting pictures for social media and I did *slow* travel, over a month in each place. Húsavík is also worth visiting. It makes me kind of sad for people who only spend four days in Reykjavík, or only see the country through a tour bus. You really miss out on the little pleasures.

[@marcelasantander7457]

...and us! -3:19- We all fascinated flying around your drones!

[@JustIcelandic]

Thanks and welcome :)

[@franziskabertram3286]

Well, Niceair cancelled all flights to Germany. So that was not so easy for us. (I`m a travel agent selling Iceland.) But I totally agree with all you said. My favourite up to now was September for the colours. Thank you for your videos.

[@JustIcelandic]

Thanks for sharing😊 and welcome

[@kissanruokaa]

I just moved to Iceland last month and i can say i was amazed how beautiful this country is :) i will go drive around Iceland this wednesday, or should I say, we will start the journey wednesday hehe, will be sleeping in the car and take our time to see everything we can :) I am so happy i moved here and even more happier that i did it in the winter so the summer is coming up soon and i can work before that and enjoy the summer :)

[@JustIcelandic]

This winter was the coldest since 1994/5 so we hope for a good summer and welcome to us to stay :) and have a fantastic travel summer :)

[@kissanruokaa]

@@JustIcelandic Oh okay, i hope the summer will be nice too :) im from Finland so cold winters are normal for me and i like it that way hehe :) thank you! :) the snowstorms are crazy here haha, in Finland we dont have storms like that, even near that level that Iceland has. Have a great day and enjoy the Páska holidays :)

[@abs0lutelyn0t]

thank goodness we are going to the west fjords this year...thanks so much for your helpful insights

[@JustIcelandic]

Glad it was helpful!

[@peter8605]

Our beloved place in Iceland 😊

[@krissullivan6313]

I would love to be a part of that huge crowd this summer! But alas, it is not to be. Your wedding dress waterfalls is breathtaking!

[@JustIcelandic]

👍 Thank you, we have many fabulous waterfall

[@Bigfoot1962]

I'm in Iceland every year. Summer and Christmas this year. Love it. I'd move there if they were open to it.

[@JustIcelandic]

Always welcome :)

[@stephanieparker1250]

Maybe some day I can go.. I would love to see Iceland so much 🥰🥰🥰

[@JustIcelandic]

I wish you luck with that and greetings from Iceland 😊

[@craigmccann1028]

Sometime in the morning of Sept. 28th. were you at the Gardur old lighthouse. My Daughter and I saw someone, look's a lot like you, with a drone. Did you look at "Our 1st day in Iceland"? I thought it was a bit windy for a drone flight.

[@sylviayong]

We did think about travelling in the night rather than the day in order to avoid the crowds. However we couldn't go around 2 weeks without supermarkets and food places open😂 , and the check-in and check-out timing allowed by all the lodgings could'nt support late night travelling as well.

[@michaelripley4528]

Great trick to explore at night😁

[@JustIcelandic]

Definitely!

[@forthedisenfranchised4366]

Very interesting to know about the International Airport up there in the North. I hope to visit again in the next 12 months, and will definitely fly to the north, and to catch winter too.

[@JustIcelandic]

Yes it was about time to make this happen and the winter around here can be pure magic :)

[@robyngrieve9665]

Thanks for this. I'm looking at visiting in late summer/early autumn 2024.🐨🇭🇲

[@JustIcelandic]

Welcome to Iceland :)

[@SkysaxonDragonslayer]

Staying in Dalvik 14-28 September and come with my own car with the ferry… Seems I choose the right time and place to avoid the big crowds…

[@angelosassariotakis7014]

Thanks for your tips and advice

[@utoddl]

Beautiful as always. Thanks. At 4:57 on the horizon there was a nearly vertical jet of water / steam / cloud just below and to the right of the sun. What caused it?

[@JustIcelandic]

It was a whale :)

[@frajoladellagato]

Gylfi, your videos keep getting better and better. I am about to visit in April and in a weird way I am excited to see it at its “ugliest.” :) it’s my 4th visit to your beautiful country and I’ll be staying in a “boring” part of West Iceland. I hope all of these factors will allow me to get to know the “real Iceland” that tourists miss out on.

[@kevinbartlett1017]

We are going to visit in September to do the ring road (Nordic Traveller). Have already done the south east of Iceland in 2018. Loved the place, we like remote areas, we spend every year visiting the north of Scotland. We are not looking for “tourist” spots, just space and local people

[@kariknight6287]

Great info. Thank you.

[@JustIcelandic]

My pleasure!

[@snapcrackleangela]

excellent video and content! i just stumbled across your channel while looking for videos about the westfjords and i'm really enjoying your stuff :) my husband is a transportation engineer also and found your recent video about the increasing highway temperature very interesting. i'm planning our third trip to visit iceland in august, and we'll be mostly visiting the westfjords, for maybe 5 or 6 days? unsure. our second trip was may 2021... it'll be a bit different from that trip, i'm sure lol

[@JustIcelandic]

5-6 is good time idea for the west fjord, you can do them pretty well and include some hiking and such. it's a place that we need to go around slowly :) and welcome to Iceland :)

[@indrajukame]

I was at Gullfoss and Stokkur in the evening in the beginning of March- also no tourists!! The only problem was instant brain freeze at Gullfoss from the wind. 😂😂😂 And, yes, I was lucky to see marvellous Northern lights!!! 😍 I actually fell in love with Iceland in Reykjavík in February a year ago. That probably wasn't the views as much as the vibe of your country. ❤

[@JustIcelandic]

😊 thank you for sharing and always welcome to Iceland

[@iskandera1783]

Awesome!! Where is best to watch orcas??

[@zeebok]

Just finished planning a trip in August! Focus is on the West Fjords, North, and East sides. A couple of us plan to go out in the evening to get photos. Sounds like I made a good choice! My previous visits in March have been quite nice and one time visiting in September was nothing but rain so it's interesting to hear you say spring is bad. Either way thanks for the video. Maybe we'll run into each other grabbing photos and video in the middle of the night, and I can offer you coffee from a thermos.

[@JustIcelandic]

Sounds like a great plan 😊 and my secret rain trick is simple, just drive between regions, follow the light :)

[@FlowerPower-bl7qp]

Gylfi for Head of Iceland's tourism or even better... President of Iceland😊

[@JustIcelandic]

I have a way better job now :) but thanks :)

[@jangoosen5407]

We last visited in summer - lovely. I think next time we will come in late autumn or early winter.

[@JustIcelandic]

Sounds great :) always welcome

[@martinbeverley9536]

Thank you for this. At 4:57, your video shows what looks like a jet of steam on the horizon, just to the right of the sun. Do you know what this is?

[@ferreiraslva.gabriel]

I wish I could visit your country someday. For those who want to see the volcano's systems(acitves or not), which is the best month of the season? And wich locations? Thanks!

[@zasa14]

I love with North Iceland ❤ it's a beautiful landscape and very varied!

[@JustIcelandic]

I totally agree!

[@usainengland]

PS Looking forward to next video!

[@JustIcelandic]

Coming soon!

[@purpletc1]

Excellent video…arriving June 21.. 9 day holiday

[@JustIcelandic]

Wonderful 😊 welcome to Iceland

[@jannekehelle1865]

Gylfi: I'll be driving around Iceland this september and I promise to get off the ringroad as much as possible 😁. Can you tell me where I can get those delicious looking burgers and hotdogs you sometimes show us in your video's?

[@JustIcelandic]

I would recommend the burger joints by the highway in/out of Akureyri, located at the north and south end of town, terribly unhealthy and extremely tasty, like they should be 😊 and welcome to Iceland

[@jannekehelle1865]

Takk fyrir 👍

[@jonhewitt3]

I'm in Iceland in September, the last time I was there, it was the beginning of May, oops, we had an artic plume hit us, -20°c

[@Vulcano7965]

now I'm curious: why is there a lack of trains in Iceland? Wouldn't that be a good way to bring tourists and commuters from the Reykjavik metropol region up and back to the north to Akureyri? Instead of constructing a whole new airport. Or are the winters simply to harsh on the train infrastructure?

[@JustIcelandic]

It's many reasons, the mountains and valleys, winters and it's not a big country 😊

[@Vulcano7965]

@@JustIcelandic Yes, I can see that a few 100k population country can't easily supprot a relative fast intra-country train line. Maybe the continued tourism industry might one day. What's the policy of electrifying the icelandic car market? Any political goals or is it not really discussed?

[@joanneolsen5635]

With all the volcanic activity comes earthquakes so not great for a train

[@Vulcano7965]

@@joanneolsen5635 depends. north west is more stable

[@usainengland]

How is public transit from Reykjavik to the North? I don’t drive cars or drones which is why I like your photography. You take the lovely photos that I can’t. Thank you. I hope you have a pleasant tourist season. Hopefully I polite tourist someday.

[@danielparrott8339]

You can fly from Reykjavik or take the bus.

[@CarKey369]

This is VR in my screen which makes me peaceful :)

[@JustIcelandic]

Welcome 😊

[@MutleyJane100]

Nobody’s expecting you to be impressed! But also, your country isn’t cheap. All the forums I’m on for Iceland travel tips seem to suggest you need 12+ days to do the route comfortably. Not everybody can spare that many days or might be on a tight budget. It’s an expensive trip if you’re adding activities such as horse riding, whale watching and the spa lagoons.

[@craigmccann1028]

cool!

[@JustIcelandic]

Welcome

[@ramonastrempel9200]

just started your video and stopped at 0:13. You expected 2,3 mil tourists in 2023? I have been among those tourist in 2023. Is any figure available already about how many tourists it became in 2023?

[@JustIcelandic]

2.266.000, you included :) and welcome back

[@ramonastrempel9200]

@@JustIcelandic Takk fyrir! I am nearly on my way 🙂 kveðja

[@DisVietVetUSA]

You are you own best tourist Gilfi, you need a incline tram or a narrow gage railway for tourists in the spring, summer and into autumn

[@stephanieparker1250]

Build a yurt in your front yard and rent it to a tourist, you’ll be rich! 😊🎉

[@JustIcelandic]

😊

[@caerdwyn7467]

The tension between wanting to allow everyone who visits who wants to (therefore causing overcrowding, damage to what tourists come to see, and harming full-time residents' quality of life), vs. limiting numbers (and therefore ending up with "rich classes of people can come because they can just buy their way to the front of the line, middle class and lower class not allowed") is not easy to solve. It is important to remember that Iceland is a sovereign nation, and non-Icelanders' opinions are not enforceable. I can only hope that Icelanders' quality of life, including those not becoming wealthier than others who aren't profiting from the tourism industry, comes before all. I would love to visit someday, but I am by no means entitled to do so, nor is anybody else.

[@wifinomad8105]

.❤.

[@JustIcelandic]

❤

[@alasdairblackmore2592]

I paused your video @2:51 to say that surely, it depends on your understanding of the meaning of the word "tourist" .. Did you hike to the waterfall for pleasure ? Did you fly your drone over the waterfall for pleasure ? Did you video it for pleasure ? Did it please you to edit the video ? Did you upload that video for our pleasure ? Tourist [as a word] means : a person who is travelling or visiting a place for pleasure ... If your motives in going there to that waterfall were for pleasure then your claim that there were no tourists at the waterfall is 100% incorrect. You were there ... proving that tourism has changed / altered / evolved ! I'm visiting your KZbin channel [a place] for pleasure ... does that not make me subscribed to tourism ?

[@MyMy-tv7fd]

just raise your prices, you will make as much money but get a better quality of (richer) tourist, with fewer numbers

[@jangoosen5407]

A harsh measure and hardly likely to improve quality. There is not always a direct correlation between wealth and good manners😮

[@AnnaMaria-zm8cv]

They listened already to implement more toll boots here and there like at Jökullsárlón.

[@davidsigurthorsson1119]

Don't mean to shit on your parade, but this awesome New Year's fireworks footage isn't from "wonderful" Akureyril but from "shitty" Reykjavik! Just sayin´. 😀

[@JustIcelandic]

the weather in Rekjavik sucks big time the whole winter, I'm not a tourist brochure, I'm just being brutally honest

[@peter8605]

To visit the tourist hotspots is indeed best at early morning or late afternoon 👀

[@JustIcelandic]

I agree, and of course during the bright summer nights :)