Total eclipse books out hotels and rental cars in western Iceland

All hotel rooms and rental cars in western Iceland have been booked ahead of Wednesday’s total solar eclipse, mbl.is reports. The eclipse will pass over the Reykjanes Peninsula in the afternoon, drawing travellers who have made arrangements well in advance to see the event in the Suðurnes region.

“It is the reason we knew in the spring that all hotel rooms and all rental cars would be booked,” said Berglind Kristinsdóttir, managing director of Hekla, a regional development association in Suðurnes, in an interview with mbl.is.

Preparations have been under way for almost a year. Berglind said organisers had known since April that not only local rooms, but all hotel rooms in the western part of Iceland, would be fully booked.

“We have heard that people are renting out their houses,” she said.

The total eclipse on August 12 will be clearly visible in Suðurnes, the capital region, Mýrar, Snæfellsnes and the western Westfjords. The outlook is for cloudy weather that day, but the total eclipse will still bring a very brief period of darkness.

In Reykjanesbær, the partial eclipse will begin at 4:47:11 p.m. Totality will begin at 5:48:04 p.m., reach its peak at 5:48:54 p.m. and end at 5:49:44 p.m. The partial eclipse will end at 6:47:52 p.m. The municipality has published further information about the eclipse on its website.