Northern lights over Iceland

Glass cabins and igloos in South Iceland

4 places where you sleep under glass, each checked on its own website on 14 November 2026: the room to book, heated glass, aurora alarm, sauna and hot tub. Iceland has few true glass igloos. What it has are glass-roofed cabins and domes along Route 1, between Hella and Seljalandsfoss, about 90 minutes from Reykjavík.

Photo: northern lights over Iceland. This is the area, not a property. Carl Young, CC BY-SA 4.0.

The 4 glass-roof stays

Only show rooms with

  1. 01

    Harmony Seljalandsfoss

    31 km from Hella · Google 4.9 (36 reviews)

    BookGlass lodge

    • Private sauna
    • Private hot tub

    “Three glass walls, a glass ceiling and 26 square metres on the open tundra.”

    Check pricesRoom details

  2. 02

    Panorama Glass Lodge

    4 km from Hella · Google 4.9 (573 reviews)

    BookStandard Lodge

    • Private hot tub

    “Our Lodges were the first houses in Iceland (in 2017) where it is possible to sleep under a glass ceiling.”

    Check pricesRoom details

  3. 03

    Glass Cottages Iceland

    16 km from Hella · Google 5 (57 reviews)

    BookGlass Cottage

    • Private hot tub

    “Relax in your private hot tub amidst the lava fields or enjoy a starlit shower in a glass-enclosed bathroom.”

    Check pricesRoom details

  4. 04

    Aurora Igloo

    20 km from Hella · Google 4.3 (235 reviews)

    BookPrivate igloo (geodesic dome)

    “Private igloos come with an exclusive bathroom, offering added privacy and convenience.”

    Check pricesRoom details

Side by side

"Not stated" means the property's own website doesn't say. It may still have it.

StayHeated or defrosting glassAurora alarmPrivate saunaPrivate hot tubOwn bathroom
Harmony SeljalandsfossNot statedNot statedYesYesYes
Panorama Glass LodgeNot statedNot statedShared with one lodgeYesYes
Glass Cottages IcelandNot statedNot statedNot statedYesYes
Aurora IglooNot statedNot statedNot statedNot statedPrivate igloo only

When to go for the northern lights

2.6hours

Clear, dark sky on an average night in the three weeks from 19 November, the clearest stretch of the season in South Iceland.

Dark hours and clear dark hours, night by night

Each bar is one week. The pale bar is how long the sky is dark. The green part is how much of that dark time is clear in a typical year (2 oktas of cloud or less at the nearest weather station, 2015 to 2025).

Dark hours and clear dark hours per night, late August to April, South Iceland0h5h10h15hWeek of 20 Aug: 3.7 dark hours a night, 0.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 27 Aug: 5.0 dark hours a night, 0.7 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 3 Sep: 6.1 dark hours a night, 0.8 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 10 Sep: 7.1 dark hours a night, 1.0 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 17 Sep: 8.0 dark hours a night, 1.3 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 24 Sep: 8.8 dark hours a night, 1.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 1 Oct: 9.6 dark hours a night, 1.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 8 Oct: 10.3 dark hours a night, 1.2 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 15 Oct: 11.0 dark hours a night, 1.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 22 Oct: 11.7 dark hours a night, 1.8 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 29 Oct: 12.4 dark hours a night, 1.8 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 5 Nov: 13.0 dark hours a night, 1.7 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 12 Nov: 13.5 dark hours a night, 1.9 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 19 Nov: 14.0 dark hours a night, 2.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 26 Nov: 14.4 dark hours a night, 2.8 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 3 Dec: 14.6 dark hours a night, 2.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 10 Dec: 14.9 dark hours a night, 2.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 17 Dec: 14.8 dark hours a night, 2.1 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 24 Dec: 14.8 dark hours a night, 2.2 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 31 Dec: 14.7 dark hours a night, 2.3 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 7 Jan: 14.4 dark hours a night, 2.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 14 Jan: 14.0 dark hours a night, 2.1 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 21 Jan: 13.6 dark hours a night, 2.3 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 28 Jan: 13.0 dark hours a night, 2.1 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 4 Feb: 12.5 dark hours a night, 2.0 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 11 Feb: 11.9 dark hours a night, 1.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 18 Feb: 11.2 dark hours a night, 1.3 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 25 Feb: 10.5 dark hours a night, 1.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 4 Mar: 9.7 dark hours a night, 1.6 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 11 Mar: 8.9 dark hours a night, 1.4 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 18 Mar: 8.1 dark hours a night, 1.1 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 25 Mar: 7.2 dark hours a night, 0.9 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 1 Apr: 6.2 dark hours a night, 0.9 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 8 Apr: 5.1 dark hours a night, 0.7 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 15 Apr: 3.8 dark hours a night, 0.5 of them clear in a typical yearWeek of 22 Apr: 1.6 dark hours a night, 0.2 of them clear in a typical yearSepOctNovDecJanFebMarApr
  • Sep1.1
  • Oct1.5
  • Nov2.1
  • Dec2.3
  • Jan2.2
  • Feb1.7
  • Mar1.3
  • Apr0.6

Clear, dark hours per night by month. Cloud: hourly observations at Reykjavík weather station, NOAA Integrated Surface Database (Icelandic Met Office reports), public domain. Dark = sun 12° or more below the horizon. Each stay's own page has a night-by-night calendar. Method

Questions

When is the best time to see the northern lights from a glass igloo in South Iceland?

On 10 seasons of weather-station cloud records, the three weeks from 19 November have the most clear, dark sky: 2.6 hours a night on average. December has the longest nights (14.8 dark hours) but only 2.1 of them are clear in a typical year in the week before Christmas.

Do the igloo roofs frost over?

Glass collects snow and frost. 0 of the 4 places here say their glass is heated or has a defrost button. The rest don't say. Ask before you book if this matters to you.

Will someone wake me if the aurora appears?

0 of the 4 have an alarm in the room. Some others give you a phone app instead, which only works if your phone is on and loud.

Can I see the northern lights in summer?

No. From late April to mid-August the sky at South Iceland never gets dark enough. Our chart shows 0 dark hours in those weeks.

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