Iceland in March: what tours still run
Nearly everything runs in March: about 1,300 of our tours on a mid-March day. Lights and ice caves are still at full strength, with far more daylight than January.
The short version
- About 1,300 of our tours show a departure on 15 March, against about 1,260 in mid-January and 1,330 in mid-April.
- Northern lights tours hold at about 140 through March, then drop to about 120 by mid-April.
- Ice cave tours stay at 76 all March. By mid-April it is down to 64.
- Reykjavík gets about ten hours of daylight on 1 March and about thirteen by the 31st.
- Puffins are not back yet. They arrive in April, and the boat tours start in May.
March is the best winter month for most visits. Almost every tour runs, the ice caves and northern lights are still in full season, and the days are twice as long as in January. What March does not give you is reliable weather. It is often the stormiest month of the year, snow is still normal, and the Highland roads stay shut until June.
What the calendars show
We hold the booking calendars for every tour we sell, so we counted. On 15 March about 1,300 of our tours show a departure. That is a little above mid-January, at about 1,260, and a little below mid-April, at about 1,330. Operators are still opening dates this far out, so the numbers may grow.
The mix is what matters. Through March the winter tours are all still there: about 140 northern lights tours, 76 ice cave tours and 38 snowmobile tours on a typical day. By mid-April lights tours are down to about 120 and ice caves to 64. March is the last month where you get the full winter menu.
Ice caves and snowmobiles
The ice caves under Vatnajökull, near Jökulsárlón, run all month. Blue Iceland’s Blue Ice Cave Adventure is from €161 and shows every day in March. It is a five-hour drive from Reykjavík, so sleep in the southeast. The caves close for the season in spring, and a warm spell can shut one early.
From Reykjavík, the Katla cave is the day-trip version. BusTravel Iceland’s South Coast & Katla Ice Cave is from €263, eleven hours, and runs every March day. Katla’s cave is darker and grittier than the crystal caves, but it is open all year and it fits in one day. Our ice caves guide compares the two properly.
For a glacier day near Reykjavík, Mountaineers of Iceland’s Ice Cave and Snowmobile Tour from Gullfoss is from €233, four hours from the Gullfoss car park, and shows every day in March. The minimum age is six. Langjökull is high and exposed, and wind cancels snowmobile days more often than anything else.
The snowcat opens
One tour starts its season in March. Glacier Paradise’s Snæfellsjökull Glacier Snow-cat Tour is from €132 and shows dates from 20 March. It is three hours from Arnarstapi, two and a half hours’ drive from Reykjavík, and it is the easy way onto a glacier. Our Snæfellsjökull guide has the detail.
Northern lights
The equinox, around 20 March, has a reputation for strong aurora activity, and there is some science behind it. It does not stop clouds. The nights are still long enough for a lights hunt every evening, though by the end of the month it is not properly dark until about half past nine.
The Northern Lights Bus Tour from Reykjavík is from €73 with a free retry if you see nothing. Book it for an early night in your trip so the retry has room. Our northern lights season guide explains the moon and cloud side of it.
Whales
Elding’s Reykjavík Classic Whale Watching is from €106 and runs every day in March, three hours from the Old Harbour. Sightings are possible all year but never certain, and March seas can be rough. Expect cancellations on windy days.
Daylight, roads and Easter
Reykjavík has about ten hours of daylight on 1 March, twelve at the equinox and about thirteen by the 31st. That is enough for a full South Coast day to Vík and back in daylight, which January never allows. Jökulsárlón still wants an overnight.
The roads are the catch. March storms close Hellisheiði and the roads in the north and east for hours at a time, and there is still ice on the ground most mornings. Read our winter driving guide before you hire a car.
Easter falls on 28 March in 2027. Book Easter week early, because it is a school holiday across Europe and Iceland.
Our honest take
Come in the second half of March. You get long days, the ice caves are still open, the lights tours are still running nightly, and the snowcat on Snæfellsjökull has just opened.
Book one glacier day, add a lights tour early in the trip, and leave a spare day for the weather. Do not come in March for puffins or Highland hiking. Both are months away.
