Iceland has around sixty golf courses and a playing season that lasts four months. None of those courses appear in the world top 100. The green fees, measured in Icelandic krónur, are reasonable by Northern European standards. Yet an Iceland golf trip is one of the genuinely irreplaceable experiences in golf travel, and the reason is simple: you can play eighteen holes at midnight with the sun still above the horizon. That is not something you can replicate anywhere in continental Europe or the British Isles.
I played my first Iceland round on an evening in late June, teeing off at 10 pm at Keilir Golf Club near Reykjavik. By the time we reached the 18th green it was approaching 1 am. The light was the same as it had been at 10. The sky was pale gold over the lava fields and the mountain. Nobody on the course was in a hurry. You never are, when there is no sunset coming. Iceland golf has a particular atmosphere that no other destination I have sent clients to quite replicates.
That said, setting your expectations correctly matters. Iceland is not the Algarve. The courses are generally shorter and less grand in architectural ambition than Portugal, Spain, or Ireland. The playing season runs from approximately mid-May to mid-September, weather permitting. Summer temperatures average 10–15°C, which means waterproofs are not optional even in July. A car is essential — there are no golf resort shuttles or course-hopping transfer services. And the overall trip cost is high: Reykjavik is one of the most expensive cities in Europe for accommodation, restaurants, and car hire.
What Iceland offers in return is unmatchable. Lava-field layouts, fjord backdrops, puffin colonies on the clifftop holes at Vestmannaeyjar, the Arctic Open at Akureyri where you tee off under the midnight sun with a field of international amateur golfers. These are not experiences that belong in the same category as a week in Vilamoura. They are in a category of their own.
Keilir Golf Club
Iceland's finest 18-hole layout and not particularly close. Keilir opened in 2006 on classic Icelandic terrain in Hafnarfjörður — the town of lava — where ancient lava fields border every other fairway and geothermal steam sometimes drifts across the lower holes in cool morning air. The course is named after the conical mountain that dominates the skyline to the south. At 6,282 metres from the championship tees, it is long enough to test scratch golfers without becoming a forced-carry slog. The routing is imaginative: dramatic elevation changes, lava rock waste areas that function as natural hazards, and some of the fastest greens in the country. Unlike many Icelandic courses that trade on the novelty of location alone, Keilir would hold its own in any European comparison on pure design merit.
Best for: Golfers who want the best layout Iceland has to offer. Combine with a Reykjavik-base trip.
Reykjavik Golf Club — Korpa
The newer of the two Reykjavik Golf Club courses, Korpa opened in 2002 alongside the Korpa river on the eastern fringe of the capital. The routing uses natural water features well — the river comes into play on several holes and the wetland margins add genuine strategic interest rather than arbitrary penalties. Korpa plays longer and more demanding than the club's older Grafarholt course, with more elevation change and a tighter finishing stretch. The conditioning is consistently the best in the Reykjavik area; the greenkeeping team benefits from the club's resources and profile. Mount Esja provides the backdrop on clear days. Worth noting: Korpa's tee sheet fills fast in June and July, book six weeks out minimum if you want choice of time.
Best for: Golfers wanting the best-conditioned course in the Reykjavik area with real design substance.
Akureyri Golf Club
At latitude 65°42' North, Akureyri Golf Club is one of the northernmost 18-hole courses in the world. That alone makes it memorable. What makes it genuinely great golf is the valley setting: the course sits in Eyjafjörður, Iceland's longest fjord, sheltered from the Atlantic winds that batter the coasts, with the fjord visible from the higher holes. The layout uses the natural contours of the hillside intelligently, rewarding precision over power. Every June the club hosts the Arctic Open — an evening event where the final tee times go off at 11 pm under full daylight. Players tee off at midnight and finish their rounds as the clock ticks past 1 am with the sun hanging above the horizon. It sounds gimmicky until you actually do it, at which point it becomes one of the most unusual and genuinely memorable rounds of golf you will ever play. The drive from Reykjavik takes around four and a half hours; the combination with the Akureyri whale-watching and the Myvatn geothermal lake region makes it a natural two- or three-night side trip.
Best for: The Arctic Open experience. Anyone willing to drive north for golf unlike anywhere else on Earth.
Reykjavik Golf Club — Grafarholt
Founded in 1934, Grafarholt is the oldest golf course in Iceland and the original home of Reykjavik Golf Club. It plays shorter and more forgiving than Korpa, which makes it a natural starting point for golfers arriving in Iceland without warm-up rounds. The layout occupies a hillside above the capital with views across the city to the sea — Hallgrímskirkja church is visible from several fairways on a clear day. The conditioning is less immaculate than Korpa but the character is appealing in a different way: a proper old course feel, with mature rough lines and a rhythm that rewards course management over raw hitting. A good choice for a second or third round to balance Keilir or Korpa on the same trip.
Best for: First round after arrival. Golfers who prefer an older, more character-driven layout.
Garðabær Golf Club
The most approachable full-length course in the greater Reykjavik area and typically the easiest to get a same-week tee time. Garðabær's 18-hole layout is flatter than Keilir or Korpa, less dramatic, and less demanding, which makes it an excellent option for higher handicappers or for a relaxed round on an arrival or departure day. Green fees are the lowest of any 18-hole course in the capital region, and the club has a perfectly functional clubhouse with reasonable food. Not the reason you fly to Iceland, but a reliable and enjoyable round when your schedule or legs demand something easier.
Best for: Higher handicappers, arrival or departure day golf, budget-conscious rounds.
Vestmannaeyjar Golf Club
The most dramatic setting of any golf course in Iceland and one of the most extraordinary in Europe. Vestmannaeyjar sits on Heimaey, the largest of the Westman Islands volcanic archipelago, reached by a 35-minute ferry from Landeyjahöfn on the south coast. The island was partially buried under lava in 1973 when Eldfell volcano erupted overnight — a section of the town still lies under solidified lava. The golf course plays across grassland that drops to ocean cliffs on one side, with puffin colonies visible from several tees in June and July, and Eldfell's cone looming above the back nine. The layout itself is honest and playable, but you are not coming here for architecture. You are coming for an experience you will describe for the rest of your life. Worth the ferry and the extra night.
Best for: The most unforgettable setting of any round you will play in Iceland. Two-night Westman Islands side trip.
When to go
The golf season in Iceland runs from roughly 15 May to 15 September. Outside those dates most courses are closed or partially restricted. The peak of the midnight sun falls between 12 June and 2 July, when the sun barely dips below the horizon in Reykjavik and does not set at all in Akureyri. If the midnight sun experience is the primary draw, plan around this window.
Late May and early September are quieter, cheaper, and easier for tee times. The courses are in good condition by late May after winter recovery, and September brings the first autumn colours on the hillsides above Reykjavik. August is the warmest month (average highs of 13–14°C) and the busiest for tourism generally, though golf courses rarely feel overcrowded.
Whatever month you go, pack for all weather. A round that starts in sunshine can end in horizontal sleet in Iceland; the Atlantic weather systems arrive quickly and the wind can be severe, particularly on exposed coastal or hillside courses. Bring a proper waterproof top and trousers, thermal base layer, and a hat. Do not underpack for warmth on the assumption that summer means shorts and short sleeves — it almost never does.
How to plan an Iceland golf trip
The standard structure for an Iceland golf trip is 5–7 nights, based in Reykjavik for three to four nights and then either flying or driving north to Akureyri for two nights. This gives you access to Keilir, Korpa, Grafarholt, and Garðabær in the capital region, plus Akureyri Golf Club and the Arctic Open atmosphere in the north.
A car is not optional — it is essential. The courses are spread across the greater Reykjavik municipality and none are walkable from the city centre. Car hire in Iceland is among the most expensive in Europe; a standard small car costs approximately €80–120 per day including insurance in peak season. A 4x4 is unnecessary unless you are travelling the highland interior, but do take the gravel road surcharge on your insurance to avoid liability if you venture off the Ring Road.
Golf bags typically fly for free or at low cost on Icelandair and on the domestic Air Iceland Connect service between Reykjavik City Airport and Akureyri. Confirm your airline's equipment policy before booking. There is no club hire at most Icelandic courses, so bringing your own set is strongly recommended unless you are arriving without time to pick up bags.
The Arctic Open at Akureyri Golf Club runs annually in mid-June. Entry is open to amateur golfers with a handicap index of 36.0 or better. The evening round format sees players tee off from approximately 8 pm through midnight, with the late starters finishing their rounds under full Arctic daylight around 1–2 am. The atmosphere is entirely unlike any amateur golf event held in conventional daylight. Registration fills early — by January for a June event — so if this is a target, plan your trip around the event date, not the other way around.
Budget context: a 5-night Iceland golf trip for two players, including return flights from London, car hire, accommodation (mid-range hotel), five rounds of golf, and meals, typically lands between €2,800 and €3,800 per person. This is substantially more than the Algarve or Andalusia for the same number of rounds, and the golf itself is not at the same architectural level. The premium is for an experience that does not exist anywhere else.
Combining golf with Iceland's non-golf highlights
Iceland works particularly well as a multi-interest trip where golf is the centrepiece rather than the only activity. From a Reykjavik base, the Golden Circle (Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss) is a half-day drive. The South Coast — black sand beaches at Reynisfjara, Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss waterfalls, the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon — is a full day. Whale watching from the Reykjavik old harbour takes two to three hours and runs daily from April to October.
In the north, Akureyri is Iceland's second city and a genuinely pleasant base. Lake Mývatn — geothermal pools, pseudo-craters, bird colonies — is 45 minutes east and one of Iceland's most spectacular natural areas. A golfer who plays Akureyri in the evening and spends the following morning at Mývatn is using Iceland well.
For golfers travelling with non-golfing partners, Iceland is probably the easiest sell in the DGE portfolio. The non-golf offering is so strong — and so genuinely different from any other European destination — that the trip rarely needs defending on golfing merit alone.