Iceland Photography Locations by the Numbers
What 121 field-photography locations look like in aggregate: how far they sit from Reykjavík, when they work, how you reach them, and how many nights a year are dark enough for aurora.
Every figure on this page is computed from the open CC-BY dataset and from each location's own coordinates. Nothing is estimated or rounded up for effect. If you want to check a number, the CSV is a download away and the solar maths is in the repository.
The headline figures
How far from Reykjavík
Most trips start at Keflavík. Half the catalog sits beyond 259 km, which is the number that decides whether a location is a day trip or a night away.
| Band | Locations | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Under 100 km — day trip | 13 | |
| 100–250 km — long day | 46 | |
| 250–450 km — overnight | 28 | |
| 450 km and beyond — multi-day | 33 |
How you get in
- Drive/Hike77 locations (64%)
- Drive27 locations (22%)
- Hike10 locations (8%)
- Ferry4 locations (3%)
- Ferry/Hike3 locations (2%)
7 locations need a boat. That is the figure most trip plans discover late.
Light and darkness
- Longest June day24 hours of daylight
- Average June day22 hours
- Darkest December night13.1 hours of astronomical darkness
- Aurora-capable monthsSeptember to March
- Months aurora is impossibleApril to August — the sky never gets dark enough
Computed per location from its own latitude and longitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm — see the northern lights page for the month-by-month view.
Using these figures
The dataset is CC-BY 4.0. Quote any number here, chart it, or rebuild it from the raw file — attribution to Iceland Photo Map with a link is all that is asked. If you want the coordinates behind the aggregates, the CSV is free; the paid GPS map files add the per-location light windows and field notes.