Garður Old Lighthouse
Garður Old Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Reykjavik Area, Iceland — about 60 km from Reykjavik and reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Shoot it year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list, then use the GPS coordinates, parking notes, and nearby waypoints below to fold this stop into a longer photography route.
Overview
The old Garðskagi Lighthouse was built in 1897
As a photography stop, Garður Old Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Reykjavik Area, roughly 60 km from Reykjavik, reached by a straightforward drive from the nearest highway turnoff. Plan the shoot year-round, though winter wind, ice, and short daylight rework the shot list. The downloadable Lighthouse map pins exact GPS coordinates, parking, and nearby waypoints so you can fold it into a wider route instead of hunting for the pull-off on arrival.
Garður Old Lighthouse sits inside the lighthouse photography map for Iceland, alongside the other spots worth routing a day around.
Notes on this location
Compiled from published sources rather than a visit. Sources are listed below.
Two lighthouses stand together at Garðskagi: the 1897 tower at 11.4 m — the second-oldest concrete structure in Iceland — and its 1944 replacement at 28.6 m, built in three months.
- The old tower
- Built 1897, 11.4 m, the second-oldest concrete structure in Iceland
- The new tower
- Built 1944 in three months; 28.6 m from foundation to top
- The museum
- A Heritage and Maritime Museum opened in the old outbuildings in 1995 — 60 restored engines, maritime artefacts including a nine-metre six-oared boat of 1887, and farming and fishing exhibits; the 1933 lighthouse keeper’s residence is part of it
- Not in the source
- The cited article does not say either tower is the tallest lighthouse in Iceland, and does not mention any use as a bird observatory
Two towers of very different height standing together is the composition, and the pairing is what makes it worth stopping for rather than either one alone — a short white tower and one nearly three times its height, in the same frame, with the same sea behind them. That relationship needs an angle that keeps both, which is a different problem from photographing a single lighthouse.
SourcesGarðskagaviti — Wikipedia
Light & aurora at this spot
Calculated from this location’s coordinates (64.083, -22.725). Iceland stays on UTC year-round, so these are local times.
- Summer
- June: sun up 03:02–00:01 (21 h). Evening golden hour 22:07–00:01, light coming from the NNW.
- Winter
- December: only 4.3 h of daylight (11:19–15:34), but the sun never climbs above 2.6° — the entire day is golden hour. Sunrise bears SSE, sunset SSW.
- Aurora
- Aurora-grade darkness Sep–Mar, peaking at 12.9 h a night in December. Not possible Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug — the sky never gets dark enough.
Bar height is daylight hours. Months marked • have enough astronomical darkness for aurora; the rest do not.
Questions & answers
Garður Old Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Reykjavik Area, Iceland, approximately 60 km from Reykjavik. Exact GPS coordinates are included in the downloadable Lighthouse map.
The recommended season for Garður Old Lighthouse is All. For light, plan around blue hour and the first hour after sunrise; Iceland's long shoulder-season twilight extends usable conditions on either side.
Drive access. A standard rental car works in most seasons; check road status in winter before committing. The downloadable GPS map puts the waypoint on your phone; your own app routes you to it from wherever you are.
Yes — Garður Old Lighthouse can be visited year-round, though winter conditions may require a 4x4 or storm-tolerant plans.