Winter Wonderland: An Iceland Stopover Itinerary
Thinking about Iceland? You don’t have to wait for the summer. Iceland is quickly becoming a popular tourist destination with cheap flights and unlimited stop overs. We took advantage of this on our way to Germany this year in December and January.
Below are pictures from our 18 stops to give you an idea of what to do in Iceland over the winter.
When we were planning our trip, we were expecting to only have 3 hrs of sunlight to do stuff while freezing our fingers off. To our pleasant surprise, you can plan for double the time at temperatures hovering around 0°C. This was especially nice for pictures because you have a 2 hrs of sunrise conditions and 2 hrs of sunset conditions that made the sky light up in pink. So enough about what to expect; let’s talk about what we did.
Stop 1: Blue Lagoon
Going to Iceland in the middle of winter: base layer — check, gloves — check, swimsuit — check !?!? Yes, you read it right, swimsuit. No matter what time of year you are visiting Iceland, swimsuit is a must pack item. Situated between the airport and Reykjavik on a lava field, the Blue Lagoon hot bath is a great way to begin a vacation.
Soaking in the 38°C blue water will make all your worries go away. Although there is a rotten egg smell from the sulfur, it is all worth it! Plus, there is a bar in the middle of the pool to clench your thirst. :)
One hint: if you can, I would get there a little before 10am to avoid the line. Nevertheless, if you get there after 10am, you can always pay for the higher priced package to skip the line. We learned this the hard way. We got there 15 minutes too early, so we wandered around to take pictures. Just when we turned around, we saw 3 bus loads of people coming off and waiting in line. Guess what we did afterwards? We paid the price to skip the line.
The good thing with the package is that you also get 2 drinks in the pool and a welcome bubbly at the fantastic restaurant. This time around, we learned our lesson and got to the restaurant early to get the best seat in the house and ate a delicious lunch before heading to our next spot.
Stop 2: Althing — Þingvellir National Park
There is quite some history to our next destination — Althing. You can read all about this unesco world heritage at this link.
Not being a big history buff, I came to see the crack between the European and North American tectonic plates. There is a nice path that you can take between the plates to get to the assembly area. And if you come during warmer weather, you can even dive between the plates.
Stop 3: Dinner at Lækjarbrekka
If you are foodies like us, you probably heard of a variety of “unique” Icelandic dishes. We tried to get a taste of them all. Some I want to have again (whale and horse), while others were more of a once in a lifetime thing to know how it tastes (fermented shark — they had to serve it in a sealed jar).
You can get a taste of all 3 at this traditional Icelandic restaurant with a nice, cozy atmosphere.
Stop 4: Random Stop to See the Horses Up Close and Personal
All refreshed on Day 2, we started our drive further into the national park. The views were gorgeous. I highly recommend starting the drive early to see the sunrise colors reflected on the white snow.
Along our drive, we saw many horses. So we stopped at one pack right by the fence to capture the “models”.
Stop 5: Geysir
Do I need to say more? It was awesome seeing the excitement every time the geyser erupted. Although there is only one active one, don’t worry if you miss an eruption when you get there because it erupts every 10–15 minutes. We had a ton of fun watching the eruptions and even got splashed on once — we survived.
Stop 6: Gullfoss
Next, we went to Iceland’s largest waterfall — Gullfoss. We highly recommend going. When you arrive, there are 2 parking lots. With the right shoes, we would definitely recommend checking out the bottom path because you walk much closer to the waterfall and feel the breeze.
Stop 7: Fish Market Dinner
Get ready for some food porn at this hip Icelandic asian fusion restaurant.
Part 2: Iceland with a Tour
I’ve got to preface this that we’ve never done a tour before this one, so our expectations were a little off. Because we wanted to see ice caves a few hours drive out from Reykjavik, we thought it was best to get a guide due to winter road conditions. But if we were to do it again, we would probably have kept the car and drove the ring road even in the winter. Having said that, once we adjusted to not having much control and the comfort of the vehicle, we had a lot of fun.
Stop 8: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
Stop 9: Skogafoss
You can climb the long stairway to the top of this fall — the view from the top is much worth it.
Stop 10: Black Sand Beach
This stop was one of our favorites! I could stand here for hours listening to the roar of the ocean.
Stop 11: Ice Caves — Next Day
This was the highlight of our entire trip! Taking a super jeep, we got carried over glaciers to find an ice cave. These caves are the result of pressure from thousands of years pushing the ice melt through canyons in the glacier to finally surface only to disappear after the winter. This temporary nature of “frozen” time brought me to awe. Check out the pictures below.
Stop 12: Glacier Lagoon
Chunks of ice breaks off of the glacier and float down the river. At a certain point, this river becomes more shallow and traps the icebergs. Once the icebergs melt enough to continue the journey, some gets carried back by the ocean waves to sit like gemstones on the black sand beach.
Stop 13: Vatnajökull Glacier Tongue
Due to weather, we couldn’t do a glacier hike. However, we still walked to this tongue. We were told that it was featured in many movies.
Stop 14: Aurora
We were lucky enough to spot the aurora on our way back to Reykjavik.
Stop 15: Hallgrímskirkja Church — Reykjavik
You can’t have a trip to Iceland without checking out their capital city and this church. On top, there is a great view of the city. Even though I have a slight fear of heights, I thought the view was worth it.
Stop 16: Dill for dinner
Thinking about this again is making me salivate. This modern Icelandic meal was my favorite on this trip. If you go, get the full tasting menu with the beverage pairing, post the pictures, send me the link and make me jealous!
Below are just a few things we tasted.
Last Stop: Sea Baron (Sægreifinn) for Lunch
Our next icy trip
Can you guess where this is?
