What clothes to wear in Iceland in summer – the complete list for 8 days

Are you planning a summer vacation in Iceland and don't know what clothes to take with you? Plus, will you be sleeping in a camper van? Even if you go in August, the weather in Iceland can be unpredictable, with temperatures between 4°C and 12°C, frequent rain, and strong winds. In this article, I'll show you exactly what clothes I wore for 8 days in Iceland—each piece tested in real conditions, especially at night when it was very cold.

If you missed the article about our 8-day campervan itinerary through Iceland, you can click here.. It's good to have both handy when you're making your travel plans.

We only took a backpack each, and our travel companion since 2022, whether for city breaks or longer adventures, is CabinZero. Nu plecăm niciunde fără rucsacii noștii de suflet pentru că au văzut atâtea și încă arată ca noi. Îti pot garanta că sunt cei mai buni rucsaci de călătorie și sunt și cabin approved. Și în Sri Lanka am călătorit doar cu ei timp de 2 săptămâni (vezi here. the entire itinerary) If we have managed to convince you about backpacks, visit the website CabinZero and use this code IOANAFERDOSCHI for 15% discount on everything that is on the website.


Regardless of whether it is summer when you visit Iceland, you should be aware that the weather here is extremely changeable from one hour to the next and depends greatly on the area of the island you are in. Since we did a complete tour of the island, we had to cover all seasons to make sure we wouldn't be cold, especially since we slept in an unheated campervan. So what we had with us was strictly necessary and, in my opinion, essential:

  • 2-3 merino wool sweaters – the most affordable from Decathlon
  • technical T-shirts, specially designed for mountain trails (even made of merino wool, to quickly wick away sweat) – also from Decathlon
  • thin merino wool hat – the nights were extremely cold and I slept with a hat on my head – I have the trekking one, also from Decathlon
  • another thicker hat, preferably wool– mine has a band covering the forehead and ears made of merino wool and the rest has a small percentage of wool in it - mine is from here.
  • a fleece or softshell jacket with wind protection – I had exactly this one which was extremely good; it protected me very well from the wind, the fur lining kept me warm, and I wore another waterproof fleece over it when necessary.

  • for the last layer, I had a 2-in-1 jacket from TropicFeel, waterproof – it consists of an oversized, fairly thick fleece, and over it comes an expandable vest; both have self-packing inner pockets, which makes them much more convenient to carry; they can be worn together or separately, as you can see in my photos.
  • for your extremities, I definitely recommend wool socks and a pair of merino gloves - Decathlon has these too, and I have another pair of socks from Ortovox, bought from SportGuru which are very good.
  • 2 pairs of trekking pants – I had a thin pair for summer hiking, for days with pleasant temperatures, and a thick pair with wind protection from JackWolfskin, also bought from SportGuru (the pants are waterproof and stretchy because some evenings it was so cold that I wore tights under my pants and was perfectly fine)

  • as for footwear, I had a pair of summer hiking boots from Merrell, which have been my go-to shoes for over 6 years; the second time around, I would choose something with better ankle support, Vibram soles, and greater waterproofing, such as those from Lowa (Merrell shoes weren't very warm on very cold evenings, but otherwise they are very good)
  • also recommend a raincoat and rain pants – both available at Decathlon
  • preferably, a neck warmer to protect it from the strong wind
  • at night, we wore thermal leggings and thermal ski tops (we didn't have heating in the campervan, just sleeping bags and two duvets, which explains why we slept in our thermal ski clothes).
  • Other essentials: sunscreen, hats, moisturizers, and lip balm for constant hydration, lip balm with SPF, headlamps, a coffee filter holder for camping

I hope this list has helped you better plan what to pack for Iceland—you don't need a lot of stuff, just the right clothes to feel comfortable and plenty of energy and good spirits to experience as much as possible. Don't forget the code IOANAFERDOSCHI for a 15% discount on CabinZero backpacks and tell me in the comments what would you add extra in the luggage.

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