7 Essential Apps for Iceland in 2023

Iceland is going to deliver on being one of the best road trips in your life and thanks to the little computer in our pockets, it’s easier than ever. As you’re planning out your adventure, here are the essential apps for Iceland that you’ll want on your smartphone ahead of time.

In this list, we’ll be covering the handiest apps to help track the northern lights, fastest routes, hiking trails, cheap places to eat, and a ton more.

Top 7 Apps for Iceland

Back in the day, all you had were paper maps, printouts, Lonely Planet, and tourist office brochures to help you get around and plan your trip. With the smartphone, travel is so much easier with information at your finger tips.

You can answer any question you want in an instant and get access to what you need to know about Iceland in an instant.

The below are a breakdown of the best apps for Iceland that’ll make your life a lot easier.

#1 Vedur

Without a doubt, this is a must-have app for Iceland that you need on your phone because of how unpredictable the weather is.

As we covered in the what to wear to Iceland packing list, things can change from a bright sunny day to hurricane-like winds and rain. The old Icelandic saying, “If you don’t like the weather in Iceland, just wait five minutes”, rings true in most cases which is why you want to make sure you pack for almost all seasons.

Having a singular source of truth when it comes to weather will give you confidence for how to plan the day and what you might be heading into. Veður is an Iceland weather app run by the Icelandic Meteorological Office (Veðurstofa Íslands) so we’re talking about the most accurate data on the island’s weather conditions.

Why you need it: If you want the most accurate weather conditions, this is the source. Get the real-time updates on the forecast so you can be ready for what lies ahead.

What’s the best way to use this app?: As a free app, you should include this in your Iceland trip bundle of apps. You should rely on this versus your smartphone’s default weather app. Look ahead to the locations you’re driving to each day and see what to expect as it may be different from where you are.

#2 My Aurora Forecast

One of the most memorable things you’ll see in Iceland are the Northern Lights aka the Aurora Borealis. While a large part of seeing this incredibly show in the sky is luck and timing, you’ll want to give yourself the best chance to predict and plan for it.

On the browser, Vedur’s aurora forecast is very good but you’ll want an app like My Aurora Forecast that’s more optimized for your smartphone and has a few other nifty features like alerts, an interactive map that makes it clear, and geo-located recommendations of what percentage you have of seeing the Northern Lights.

For those that don’t know, the Northern Lights have two main requirements – dark/clear skies and auroral activity (Kp). You need both in favourable conditions or else you won’t see anything.

Auroral activity or Kp is a simple index from 0 to 9 that indicates the geomagnetic activity. Normally you’re looking for A Kp of 3 or higher to see a dynamic Northern Lights.

What this app does is take into consideration these factors and generates a probability of seeing the Northern Lights which is incredibly helpful.

Why you need it: Find out what your chances are to see the Northern Lights in Iceland on any given day.

What’s the best way to use it?: This will help you plan your evening and whether you want to drive to a specific location or walk outside your hotel at night to see if you can catch them. Future forecasts are also useful to guide you how you might want to adapt your itinerary to fit your own viewings or to book a Northern Lights excursion. As a free app and one that works anywhere in the world, this one might be worth keeping even after your trip to Iceland.

Read next: What to wear in Iceland

#3 Gaia GPS

If you’re looking to do any sort of hiking trail in Iceland, you absolutely need an app for Iceland that not only has incredibly detailed trail routes, but is also one that works offline.

Our go-to Iceland hiking app is Gaia GPS. While I know that many people are fans of AllTrails but in comparing the two, I find that Gaia has a better user interface, has way better tracking, and has reliable maps. The problem with AllTrails is that you have to browse through bad maps and it can be quite buggy.

Price wise, the free plan with Gaia provides a lot of features on its own, I encourage you to check out their “Premium Member” tier which is free for the first year and $39.99 afterwards.

The top hiking trail in Iceland is Landmannalaugar Loop but there are plenty of other ones that range from easy, moderate, and difficult.

Why you need it: You can’t find detailed hiking trail maps with your conventional Google Maps. Gaia GPS, is the go-to map app for all hikers so you’ll never get lost ever again.

What’s the best way to use it?: If you’re doing a multi-day backpacking trip, you will want to plan your route, stops, detours, and campsites with this. You’ll be able to import and export your maps.

#4 Reykjavik Appy Hour

The capital of Reykjavik is where you’ll find all of the nightlife in Iceland. As you might’ve heard of, quenching your thirst can become expensive because of the insanely high alcohol tax. This is where the app, Appy Hour comes in.

In this Iceland app you’ll have access to all the Happy Hour spots including their hours, prices, and reviews. This is the kind of information which is near impossible to find on your own so it’s definitely worth downloading.

Why you need it: After a day exploring Reykjavik, you’ll want to find the best Happy Hour discounts to save you a good amount of money.

What’s the best way to use it?: This is the kind of app for Iceland where you pull it open as you’re walking through the city and feeling like taking a break. Pull this open to find out which restaurants near you have happy hour and go.

#5 Parka

The traditional way of paying for parking is to go to a kiosk or parking machine. As a matter of convenience, many countries are offering the ability to pay for spots with a mobile app. Parka is an Icelandic app that allows you to quickly pay through your phone.

Parka allows you to pay for parking throughout Reykjavik, Icelandic national parks, and the new Volcano Fagradalsfjall. They also have access to campsites throughout Iceland that are suitable for tents and campervans.

When it comes to apps in Iceland, this one is really simple to use. All you need to enter is your Iceland rental car license plate and a credit card. Select the area that you want to park, start the meter, end the meter when you leave, and that’s it!

Something that’s helpful is that it has a clear map of the different parking zones within Reykjavik. This is something you’ll want to know because each zone (P1-P4) has a different rate.

Why you need it: Parking in Reykjavik and other parts of Iceland that Parka works in can be confusing. This app allows you to pay from your phone and prevents you from having to deal with any parking machine.

What’s the best way to use it?: Once you’ve parked at a designated spot that Parka works in, simply pull out the app, start your parking meter, and when you’re done, you hit the “pay” button and that is when they will charge your credit card.

#6 Straeto

The public transport authority for the Greater Reykjavik area and Icelandic public transportation is Strætó bs., and this is a must-have app for anyone that’s planning on taking the public bus.

In Iceland, there aren’t any kiosks that sell tickets near bus stops and on the bus, you have to pay the exact fare by cash (they don’t provide change). Since we’ve always recommended that you rely in credit cards according to our travel guide within the 8 day Iceland itinerary, the smarter way to go is to use their app to pay for fare and also plan your trip.

Why you need it: This is the easiest way to pay for bus fare in Iceland. This works for buses in the capital and also those that go around the island.

What’s the best way to use it?: Set up the app beforehand at home by connecting it with your credit card and when you need it, pay for the necessary fare. The app is also useful to check live maps and timetables.

#7 Waze

Iceland is very much a road trip type of destination which means you’ll be driving a ton whether it’s around Southern Iceland, Snaefellsnes, or the Golden Circle. Thanks to your smartphone, you won’t need to rely on your car rental’s GPS unit.

The best GPS app for Iceland is Waze and for those that have used it in your own city, it also works incredibly well in Iceland.

You have to remember that Waze is owned by Google so you get the benefit of Google Maps data but you also get the added functionality of the community of Waze users marking things like police traps, pot holes, closures, detours, and other hazards.

Why you need it: This is an excellent map app for the roads of Iceland where speed cameras and police traps are highlighted.

What’s the best way to use it?: You can either use this as a primary navigation app or use this in conjunction with Google Maps.

Best Web Apps for Iceland

You’ll notice that many other articles list apps that don’t exist anymore. The reason is because many companies realized that 1) maintaining apps is a lot of work and 2) web apps for the browser are capable of much of the same functionality.

As a result, here are a few web apps for Iceland that we didn’t want to leave out.

Vegagerðin (Road.is)

This was one of the must-download apps but they’ve since revamped their website to work just as well as their app.

Run by the Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration, they have insane amounts of detail on all the major roadways in Iceland, integrating weather information, their live-feed of webcams, road work, and closures.

With the app converting to website-only, we’ve lost is the capability of calculating routes but all of the road information is still here.

What’s the best way to use it?: Prior to the trip and during your trip, it’s good practice to periodically check to see if there are any unforeseen changes in the road especially if you face poor weather. This is a great Iceland road guide.

SafeTravel.is

Similar to Vegagerdin, this is a website by another government body that is intended to make sure you’re aware of overall conditions in Iceland and to be travel safe.

Run by the Icelandic Association for Search and Rescue, this was never an app but is just a really good resource for anyone going to Iceland.

Tied into weather and road conditions, they have a Iceland Conditions Map with a focus on major notices and warnings. Also, when you first open the site, it’ll immediately pop up their current alerts and warnings.

Two other important features of SafeTravel.is are the ability to sign up for SMS alerts so you get timely notices and you can also submit a travel plan with them. I’m not sure if this is necessary for everyone but I can see this being a really good idea if you’re doing any sort of backcountry hiking.

You can also rent a personal location beacon through them.

What’s the best way to use it?: Use this website for mostly your pre-trip prep. You can also use their weather and road conditions map while in Iceland.

Gasvaktin

Are you a bargain hunter? A bargain hunter for gas that is? Well, there’s a web app for that.

Gasvaktin is an app for Iceland that simply keeps track of all gas prices in Iceland and delivers them on a map and sorts them either by distance from you or by who has the cheapest rate.

What’s the best way to use it?: If you’re in Reykjavik and need to fill up, you can pop in here to do a quick check of what the best fuel prices are and see if it make sense to detour to that station.

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