Iceland Weatherwise - August or September? And Using Public Transportation in Iceland.

I would pick August for the extremely long hours of daylight. Look at monthly daylight hours and temps charts - I doubt you'll have any issues coming from SF in either month. It will mess you up not to have the sun come down in August but it's an interesting experience. I have not used buses in Reykjavik but they do have a rather extensive system within the city itself (I only recently learned that they go everywhere else too!). The Iceland visitor and Reykjavik visitor/tourist websites are excellent resources for anything, as is the Lonely Planet Iceland book. When I was in Iceland I took tours every day to different parts of the country because I didn't want to rent a rugged vehicle...but next time, I would not hesitate to rent a car. All the tours were through Reykjavik Excursions (they were quite expensive)...it didn't dawn on me to check whether I could have gotten to some of these places by bus but some were so remote that it would have been really inefficient.

Best of luck and please report back on your trip...I would be really curious as to what your experience with buses is (based on that, I would be open to traveling that way too). If you do need to get somewhere a bus doesn't go, you will have plenty of outfitters available to take you there. Iceland's tourist infrastructure is very well-developed and impressive.

Climate statistics for the Capital Region:

http://m.yr.no/place/Iceland/Capital_Region/Reykjavik/statistics.html

August to September temperature transitions to single digit Celsius but keep ind mind averages mean cooler half the time.

Climate statistics for the Capital Region:

http://m.yr.no/place/Iceland/Capital_Region/Reykjavik/statistics.html

August to September mean temperature transitions to single digit Celsius but keep in mind averages mean cooler days half the time.

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences Agnes! Yes, I have the latest edition of the Lonely Planet Iceland guidebook, and thus far it's been helpful (loads of information). From the guidebook and internet searches I know there are other tour companies and outfitters besides Reykjavík Excursions. And from the research I've done so far there are numerous buses that go from Reykjavík to other towns, some more frequently than others, though at least some routes run at least twice a day or so.

Thanks so much Edgar for sharing the Reykjavík climate chart! The more I think about it I'm leaning more towards August (mid or late August).

I was in Iceland last summer from August 15th through the 23rd. First, the weather was already cool. It was frequently sunny during the morning and early afternoon but would get cloudy after that. The temp was in the 50s and 60s, so you need to have layers and shoes that can hold up in the rain. Second, are you totally against renting a car? Reykjavik is great via public transportation but to really enjoy and see the rest, you can achieve more with the freedom of your own wheels. I visited most of the southwestern region. These towns are relatively small so I assume you plan on using one as a sleeping base and visiting areas around it. The bus will get you from one main area to another but that could include a lot of waiting and walking when you want to visit something spectacular. In other parts of the world public transportation is the way to go, but in Iceland, a car may be more efficient. If you do decide to rent a car don't worry about a getting something with 4 wheel drive. Rent the cheapest, smallest car you can find. That's what I did and in my week there, I drove more than 500 miles, including back roads and never needed anything more. Iceland is all about the scenery. The car gave me time to see more of it.

Honestly, we are not typically car renters either, but it is really worthwhile in Iceland. Reykjavik is really walkable, but it's also really tiny by city standards, and I don't think you would find more than a couple of days' worth of activities in the city itself. No disrespect to Reykjavik, of course, I loved it, but the main draw in Iceland really is its outlying areas. If I were planning another trip, I would like to rent a car and drive to the east coast. A friend of mine spent a few months living there and has nothing but great things to say about it.

I visited last summer at the end of August and the weather was mainly in the 50s, lower 60s with quite a bit of rain/fog. The thing I learned about the weather in Iceland is it doesn't matter when you are there (in summer), it's going to do what it wants to do. I'm not sure how much the weather changes by early September, but there are pros and cons of going at each time. There will probably be less tourists in September (and better prices) and perhaps the colors will be starting to change a bit. In August you can take advantage of the days being longer (we had light until about 9:30, on average). And you'll want as much light as possible because the things to drive to and see are endless! My husband and I had 12 hour touring days and still wished we could have seen more. I highly recommend Snæfellsnes because there is so much to see there. Take your time with it! I saw it in about 4 hours on my way back to Reykjavik and I wish I would have had more time to take it in.