What's open (and closed) on public holidays in Iceland?

Short answer for the worried traveller: you will not starve, and you can still get to the airport. But Iceland does take its biggest holidays seriously, and on a handful of days each year most shops close and the country slows down noticeably. Here is what that actually means on the ground.

The days that matter most

The quietest days of the Icelandic year are Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Whit Sunday, Christmas Day - plus Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve from around noon, when the country goes home to celebrate. A law once required shops to close on the major church holidays; those provisions were repealed in 2019, but most businesses still close by tradition - and because holiday wages are steep. On the other public holidays (Easter Monday, Ascension Day, 1 May, 17 June and the rest) many shops run shortened hours but tourist life largely carries on.

What typically closes

• Supermarkets and most shops - closed on the major days above; convenience stores and some small grocers are the exception.
• Vínbúðin, the state liquor store, closes on every public holiday - stock up beforehand, as supermarkets only sell low-alcohol beer.
• Banks and public offices - closed on all public holidays.
• Swimming pools and museums - usually closed or on short hours on the major days; many pools open in the morning even on holidays. Check individual opening hours.

What stays open

• Keflavík Airport and flights operate every day of the year, and airport transfers run with them.
• Petrol stations and their grills - the classic Icelandic holiday fallback meal.
• Many restaurants, cafés and bars in Reykjavík and tourist towns, often with holiday menus around Christmas and Easter - booking ahead is wise.
• Tours and nature - most operators run on holidays, and the waterfalls have never heard of them. Pharmacies keep an on-duty rotation in the capital.

Plan around the calendar

Every Icelandic public holiday, with dates for any year, is on the public holidays page - and the full calendar shows how they land around your travel dates. Two culture notes worth knowing: on 23 DecemberIcelanders eat fermented skate and do their last shopping late into the evening, and on New Year's Eve the whole country erupts in private fireworks around midnight.