Iceland Public Holidays 2026–2027: Dates & Closures

Iceland has 16 public holidays a year, but most of them won't affect your road trip at all. Gas stations stay open, and towns along the Ring Road carry on as usual. The days that actually catch visitors off guard, when stores close and restaurants are hard to find, make up a much shorter list than the calendar suggests, and that's what this guide focuses on.

As a car rental company, we've written it the way we'd explain it to someone picking up their keys at Keflavík: which days matter for fuel, food, and getting where you're going, and which ones you can safely ignore.

• New year's day - Nýársdagur. One of those days when everything seems almost deserted for most people are just lying home, enjoying the entry of the new year.
• Maundy Thursday - Skírdagur. A christian holiday that falls on the Thursday before Easter. Again, most stores and services are closed.
• Good Friday- Föstudagurinn langi. The last Friday before Easter and could be one of the days where you'll find most places really closed.
• Easter Monday - Páskadagur. The Monday after the Good Friday. Again, most places will be closed.
• First day of summer - Sumardagurinn fyrsta. This day always appear on the first Thursday after the 18th of April. This is not a christian holiday. It's the first day of summer in the old Norse calendar. Legend say if the night of First day of summer freezes, it means winter and summer freezes together and means we get a good summer with great weather. You'll find some stores and services being open on this day, especially restaurants and such.
• 1st of May - 1. Maí. The international worker's day. Every year you'll see a big march going down Skólavörðustígur & Laugarvegur in Reykjavik, a very peaceful one. Not everything is shut down here and is usually like the First day of summer, you'll find places open here and there.
• Ascension Day- Uppstigningardagur. This day comes 40 days after Easter and always on a Thursday. Most places will be closed but a few restaurants will be open.
• Pentecost -Hvítasunnudagur Is on the 49th day after Easter day and is the tenth day after Ascension Day. One of those days when most stores are closed so plan ahead.
• Whit Monday - Annar í Hvítasunnu.  The second day after Pentecost. Another day when most stores and such are closed.
• 17th of June - Þjóðhátíðardagur Íslands. Iceland's national day, the day of independence, the birthday of Jóns Sigurðsson, the leader of the fight for independence.

• Commerce day (Tradesmen's Day) - Verslunarmannahelgi.  This is by far, the biggest camping weekend in Iceland. If you want to stay in a more busy place, you'll need to book in advance most likely or arrive very early when this weekend arrives. This weekend starts on the first weekend in August where Monday is the Commerce day. If your flight home is on that Monday, make sure you you are in Reykjavik/Keflavik very early or you drive to Reykjavik the day before the seriously HEAVY traffic Monday! If not, there is a big chance you'll miss your flight since you will be stuck in traffic.
• Culture night - Menningarnótt. This is not a holiday but tourists residing in Reykjavík needs to be aware of this one. It takes place roughly around the middle of August and the center of Reykjavík will be closed down for traffic early in the day. Not even people living there can't drive to their homes after the gates come up. This is important to have in mind if you are on a road trip and need to get back to your accommodation if it is downtown. It also means you can't get a taxi and have to walk outside of the gates. If your plane leaves late, you should leave well before the fireworks starts. After they are done, the traffic situation will be a nightmare for a few hours.

• Christmas eve - Aðfangadagur. After 12 o'clock on the 24th of December, most stores closes and that includes most restaurants too. You might find super expensive grocery stores like 10-11 to be open but that is not an certainty. There are a few restaurants that have decided to cater for the tourists and are open part of the evening but you will have to research to find out which those few might be. After 6pm almost everything will be closed.
• Christmas day- Jóladagur. The day when most people wear their pajamas the whole day and don't go anywhere and that includes all stores too. Opening times for places are roughly like on Christmas eve but it's the whole day instead.
• New year's eve- Gamlárskvöld.  Usually everything closes at 1pm but things are slowly changing for New year's eve. If you want to have a nice dinner during the evening, you will have to order it, the more popular restaurant, the earlier you have to order.  There is one event that takes place on New year's eve which one might call a phenomenon. At 22:30 (10:30pm), all roads in all towns and villages will be deserted, well almost! That is due to an annual TV show that comes on called Áramótaskaupið, the New year's comedy where the producers makes fun of events from the past year.

Two things stand out for a road trip. First, gas stations are the one category that almost never closes. Self-service pumps along the Ring Road and in every town keep running through every holiday on this list, including Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Our guide to gas stations in Iceland covers which brands run 24/7 if that's the part you're planning around. If you're worried about a holiday stranding you without fuel, that specific worry doesn't hold up.

Second, groceries and pharmacies are where holidays actually bite. The days to shop ahead for are Good Friday and Easter Sunday, plus the Christmas and New Year period: from Christmas Eve afternoon through December 26, and from New Year's Eve afternoon through New Year's Day. Supermarkets like Bónus and Krónan close on these days, and small-town stores outside Reykjavík often follow suit even earlier in the day.

Local tip: Iceland's state-run liquor stores, Vínbúðin, are closed on Sundays and public holidays, and supermarkets can't sell anything stronger than light beer. If you want a bottle of wine for Christmas or New Year's Eve, buy it a day or two before. 

"Is Today a Holiday in Iceland?"

If you're trying to work this out for a specific date on your trip, the fixed dates are easy: 1 January, 1 May, 17 June, and the fixed December dates repeat every year. The movable ones; Easter and everything calculated from it, shift by weeks depending on the year, which is why we've included both 2026 and 2027 dates above rather than just one year. For a live, day-by-day check while you're actually traveling, timeanddate.com's Iceland page updates automatically and is the quickest way to confirm.

Commerce Day: The One That Actually Affects Your Booking

Of everything on this list, Commerce Day weekend (Verslunarmannahelgi, the first weekend in August) is the one that changes how you should plan a rental. It's Iceland's biggest domestic travel weekend: locals head to festivals and campsites across the country, accommodation books up weeks in advance, and Reykjavík traffic on the Monday itself can be genuinely heavy as everyone drives home at once.

If your trip includes the first weekend of August, book your car and accommodation earlier than you would for any other week of summer. If your flight home is on the Monday, plan to be near Keflavík the night before, or leave very early, so you're not caught in the return traffic. It's the closest thing on this list to a holiday with real logistical implications for a self-drive trip. Our Ring Road guide is worth a read if Commerce Day weekend falls inside your route.

Culture Night: Not a Holiday, but Worth Knowing About

Culture Night (Menningarnótt) isn't a public holiday, but it's one of Reykjavík's biggest events of the year, held on a Saturday in mid-to-late August. The next Culture Night is on Saturday, August 21, 2027. Downtown Reykjavík closes to traffic from early in the day, so if your accommodation is in the city center, plan to park outside the closed area or arrive before the roads shut. Traffic leaving the city after the evening fireworks can be slow for a few hours, so if you have a late flight, head to Keflavík before the fireworks start.

Planning note: The Reykjavík Marathon is held on the morning of Culture Night, so several roads in and around the city close even earlier than the downtown traffic restrictions. 

Planning a Road Trip Around a Holiday

A few habits cover almost every scenario on this list:

• Shop and fuel up the day before. The pumps won't close, but the few stores that do open get busy, and it's one less thing to think about. 
• Book restaurants ahead for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve if you want a sit-down meal. The ones that stay open fill up fast, precisely because so few others do. 
• Shop ahead of Easter and Christmas. If your itinerary has you in a small town rather than Reykjavík on one of the closure days above, do your grocery run the day before. Rural stores tend to close earlier and reopen later than those in the capital.
• Many guesthouses and smaller hotels in rural areas close over Christmas, so if you're traveling outside Reykjavík in late December, book accommodation early and confirm it's open.
• At around 10:30pm on New Year's Eve, Iceland's roads go almost completely empty. Nearly the whole country is watching Áramótaskaupið, an annual comedy show that pokes fun at the past year. After it ends, private fireworks start across Reykjavík, and the display at midnight is unlike anything most visitors have seen. 
• If you're driving through Commerce Day weekend, check road.is the morning of, same as any busy summer weekend. The roads aren't closed, just busier than usual.

None of this requires rearranging a trip around the Icelandic calendar. It just means the difference between finding out a supermarket is closed at 6pm on Christmas Eve and knowing it by breakfast.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will my rental car pickup or drop-off be affected by a public holiday?

No. GO Iceland's Keflavík pickup and drop-off run on their normal schedule on public holidays. If your flight lands on Christmas Day or New Year's Day, your rental proceeds as normal.

What's the best time of year to visit Iceland if I want to avoid holiday closures altogether?

Outside of Easter week, the Christmas and New Year period, and the first weekend of August, Icelandic holidays have almost no effect on tourist-facing services. See our guide to the best time to visit Iceland for a fuller seasonal breakdown.

Are shops in Iceland closed on Sundays generally, holiday or not?

Most supermarkets open on regular Sundays, often with slightly shorter hours than weekdays. It's only the specific holidays in the table above, not Sundays as a rule, when you'll find them closed.

What's the difference between a public holiday and a flag day in Iceland?

A public holiday is a non-working day by law. A flag day is a date when government buildings fly the Icelandic flag, whether or not it's also a day off. Several of Iceland's flag days overlap with public holidays, but flag days on their own don't affect opening hours.

Does winter weather make holiday travel in Iceland harder?

Only in the sense that any winter driving does. Christmas and New Year fall in Iceland's shortest-daylight, highest-risk driving window. See our guide to the best cars for winter in Iceland if your trip includes late December.

Is it worth visiting Iceland specifically during Commerce Day weekend to see the festivals?

It can be a genuinely good time to visit if you book well ahead, since Þjóðhátíð on the Westman Islands and similar festivals around the country are a real slice of Icelandic culture. Just don't expect to book a campsite or a rental car last minute for that weekend.

Do I need extra cash in case card payments are affected by a holiday?

No. Card payments work the same on holidays as on any other day, and Iceland is almost entirely cashless. See our gas stations guide for more on paying at the pump. 

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