View of the midnight sun behind Seljalandsfoss waterfall near the south coast of Iceland

© Tom Mackie/plainpictur

Land of the midnight sun

Days of seemingly endless sunlight are especially dramatic here at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall on the south coast of Iceland, less than a two-hour drive from its capital, Reykjavik. Intrepid types can explore the walkways behind those raging walls of water.

The peak of Iceland’s famous midnight sun occurs in the days around the summer solstice, when the sun reaches its highest and northernmost points in the sky. At this time of year, the sun never seems to set here, delivering up to 21 full hours of sunlight and three hours of twilight. Iceland experiences the long days of midnight sun between mid-May and mid-August. Then the days become shorter, with the entire country plunging into a dark polar night around winter solstice in December.