5 Things You Don’t Want to Forget When You Go to Iceland in Summer!

At the end of my trip with my two bags in my authentic Icelandic Lopapeysa! 

Sorry for the extremely long title of this post, but I really wasn’t sure how else to name it. This really is all about the things that you SERIOUSLY DO NOT want to forget to bring with you if you visit Iceland in the summer months!

Side note: Iceland is an amazing and extremely different culture from that of the United States (for starters: it’s super safe. They have an average of 2 homicides per year) and for that fact alone, I LOVED it.

I only forgot 2 out of these 5 items so I’m extremely proud of myself. But here are the things that you NEED in your carry on luggage if you’re going to Iceland in the summer:

1. Eyemask: This one is obvious. There are almost 24 hours of daylight and not every hotel or hostel might have good blackout curtains so you NEED this if you want to go to sleep while you there. The blackout curtains at the Loft Hostel in downtown Reykjavik were amazing but I sleep with an eye mask every night anyway, so I had it all ready to go. Pro-tip: If you forget yours, go to the Flying Tiger to pick up a cheap one!
2. Conditioner: I’m not talking some Suave dollar store stuff. I’m talking something a little bit more effective. Invest in some of it and maybe bring two travel size bottles of it. The water is really hard and if you plan on going to the Blue Lagoon, you’re going to need it when you shower at your hotel (after you’ve already showered at the Blue Lagoon). I’m serious. My hair was ridiculously tangled and matted every single day because I only brought a little bottle of free shitty conditioner that I got from a hotel once.
3. Moisturizer: Kind of the same thing as above but yeah, the climate is cooler (and dryer, with no humidity) and the water is different than in America so you’re REALLY going to want a good moisturizer to put on after your shower. I 100% forgot to bring some and my jojoba oil was not doing the trick. Do not make the same mistake as me.
4. Water Bottle: This is not specific to summer but yeah, bring a water bottle. You can fill it up in any sink anywhere and you’ll save so much money, plus you’ll be saving the planet (and the whales and turtles, etc). Win, win.
5. A Jacket (or 2): Summer in Iceland! Woohoo! Yeah, but it’s not really that warm. For starters, they’re expecting a heat wave where it’s going to get ALL THE WAY up to 64*. Yeah, so you’re going to want to bring a jacket with you. I bought a windbreaker and a puff jacket and they both came in handy. The mornings are especially cold and I wore four layers on my tour around the Golden Circle for that reason. It ended up being a layer or two too many, but better to be prepared and take layers off than be freezing, right?

If you also stay at the Loft Hostel, I think you want to add ‘really good earplugs’ to that list as well because there’s a club next door that will prevent you from sleeping if you don’t have really good earplugs, but if you’re not staying there, you should be fine.

This was just my experience, but if I forgot anything (sic, haha…), let me know in the comments below!