Winter Adventure  

Yes you can for sure have a truly fantastic camping adventure in winter or autumn with KuKu Campers. You do not have to give any discount on comfort as our campers do have overnight heater so you can be really comfy even though outside you have a blizzard as our campers have a dual batteries for this purposes.

In winter the road conditions are gernerally pretty good as our amazing road service guys keep the main roads open all year round and when you arrive we give you a extensive overview on travelling in winter and show you how the camper works. You can easily take the full circle on road 1 during the winter. Just remember to check the weather forcast, the road conditions and also ask around at the campsites and all of the information centers where the staff welcomes you with warm coffee and something interesting to see. 

There are more than enough campsites (even a Reykjavik campsite..!) open all year round and also most of our fabulus warm water swimming pools all around the country. You only have to remember that during mid winter the daylight is a bit limited so you must take that into consideration when planning how much you intend to cover each day.

All our campervans are equipped for winter driving with winter tires and of course our all around the country road side assistance is open all year round.  

Autumn Campervan trip in Iceland

Fall arrives early in Iceland, starting in September and lasts to the end of October or early November. Autumn might even be the most pleasant time of the year to visit Iceland, the vegetation changing color from mid-September to vibrant shades of red, orange and yellow, making the contrasts in the landscape even more prominent. A perfect time for a fall campervan trip in Iceland.

The temperature is still mild during this season with monthly averages ranging between 7-12°C (45-55°F). As well this time of year offers around 11-13 hours of daylight, which means your days are not as short as the days in mid-winter, and thus giving you more time each day to explore Iceland. As well as you will not have to struggle with the midnight sun when you are trying to unwind and going to sleep at your campsite for the night. The crispness in the air combined with the days getting shorter offers another great opportunity; to see the Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis as they start to come out to play at the start of September. 

On top of mild temperatures, and long days, the tourist crowds of summer have diminished, giving you more arm and legroom at the most popular locations. So really the perfect time for you to enjoy a KuKu campervan trip in Iceland, as well as the campsites are quieter, leaving all the facilities for you and your KuKu camper to enjoy! As well as the summer campsites are open untill September 15th, after that date the winter campsites take over (see winter campsites further down). 

Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis in Iceland

The Northern Lights, also called Aurora Borealis, and Norðurljós in Icelandic, are one of the most spectacular shows on this earth and can frequently be seen in Iceland from September through March on clear and crisp nights. The Northern Lights occur high above the surface of the earth where the atmosphere has become extremely thin, at an altitude of 100-250 km. They are created by electrically charged particles that make the thin air shine, not unlike a fluorescent light. Auroras can be seen in auroral belts that form 20-25 degrees around the geomagnetic poles, both the north and the south.

The name Northern Lights was first chronicled in the original Old Norse, as “norðrljós”, in 1230; while the name Aurora Borealis (“Dawn of the North”) is jointly credited to have first been used by Galileo Galilei and Petrus Gassendus in the 17th century. Derived from Aurora, the Roman goddess of Dawn, and Boreas, the Greek god of the North Wind, the name evokes some of the majestic, otherworldly splendour of an auroral display. 

What causes this spectacular phenomenon, so characteristic of our northern skies here in Iceland? Well, it’s electricity that does it – and of course it all.

Here you can find the Northern Lights forecast

Warm baths in the Ice cold winter

Being outside in a bathing suit in the middle of Icelandic winter is one of many visitors favorite experience. Not only are you warm in the cold (contradiction in term) but usually there are few people around that gives you an opportunity to relax and listen to the winter silence while exploring the sky above.

There are both natural hot pots and the public swimming pools to be found all around the country.

Here you can find location of the bath that fits you travel schedule.

Weather in Iceland during winter

Iceland can be cold, windy, cloudy, rainy/snowy, and very unpredictable during winter. You may know the saying “The only thing constant is change” ?  Well it could have been written about the Icelandic winter weather so make sure to follow closely the forecast and do ask around, for example at the nearest information center.

That being said, the temperature in Iceland is relatively mild for it's latitude due to the Gulf stream that brings warmth with it from the Caribbean. Which means it is not was cold as you might expect, the average temperature in winter in south Iceland being around 0-2°C (32-35°F) and in the north the temperature averaging around -10°C (14 °F) in winter. 

To check the weather forecast click here

Road Conditions

Driving in Iceland during winter can be a challenge but if you just take care and drive according to the road condition you should be fine. The main roads are serviced all year round and at the most they are partially closed down for few hours if there is bad snow blizzard. You can travel all around the country except for the highlands that is close due to snow until late June.

For checking the road conditions you can click here

KuKu Campers favorite Winter Campsites