Discovering New Years Eve in Reykjavik 2024
Reykjavik – the capital city of Iceland – has been voted among top ten destinations in the world for celebrating New Years Eve 2024. Let’s discover the capital city of Iceland for its NYE events and Christmas celebrations.
Dinner
Most Icelandic people at house with their friends and families on New Year celebration and it is special that people dine out in restaurants. Until a few years ago most restaurants were stop working on New Year night because of this. Still today lots of restaurants are closed on the evening but visit Reykjavik generally publishes a list of restaurants that are both on New Year and Christmas.
They are however generally late with this list if you want to eat at the favorite restaurant you should likely contact them soon and make an advance booking because they tend to book out.
I understand that there are unique new years eve dinners offered at Hilton and Perlan and more hotels and Nordic tourist has some program as well but according to those who have been sending me e-mail lately these locations are all already booked out.
Bonfires
The bonfires are special and fairly unorganized matters. They are lid up at a precise hour. Then persons combine around the fire and some ring while others let their children light some shines and little flares. Some bonfires then close with a fireworks display and then persons head how to get settled before the Aramotaskaup begins.
Where to go
The numbers of bonfires and their places have been replacing a bit in the past few years but there is generally a list of published in newspapers a few days before 31st December with detail about all the bonfires in the city. The most famous bonfire for tourists that come to Reykjavik, and also one of the large ones, is the Aegissioa bonfire. It is also fairly simple to find the tour firms provides tours that take you there so that is probably your top bet.
Top places to watch the fireworks
There are 2 places that are most convenient for tourists in Reykjavik to experience the madness that takes place at midnight. The initial one is Perlan and the other is Hallgrimskirkja. Hallgrimsirkja is remarkable for atmosphere, meeting people and the place is best if you are staying downtown. A lot of people also have iconic images of fireworks with the tower of Hallgrimsirkja in the background.
What Hallgrimskirkja is not best for though is panoramic views of the Reykjavik. Perlan on the other hand provides actually because you can literally see the full city from there. This is also a famous location for the tour buses. Don’t hesitate though; Oskjuhlio hill is large enough for all of you.
Hotels for NYE
Top ten most booked hotels in Reykjavik are listed below:
- Radisson Blu 1919 Hotel, Reykjavik
- Hilton Reykjavik NordicaReykjavik Residence Hotel
- Reykjavik Residence Hotel
- CenterHotel Thingholt Reykjavik
- Borg Hotel Reykjavik’
- Black Pearl – Reykjavik Finest Apartments
- Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura
- TOP CityLine Hotel Reykjavik Centrum
- Hotel Reykjavik Centrum
- Castle House Luxury Apartments
If you are planning your trip to Iceland on New Year holiday, early booking is highly recommended.
