Iceland - again - the definitive list of what should be seen

[Ray Singh]

All,

Apologies for yet another Iceland thread....

My wife and two children have saved for a long time and are treating ourselves to our 40th birthdays in Iceland. We are flying out to Reykjavik on the 27th December and have a small hire car booked. We are staying in some apartments just outside of the capital.

I have been in contact with a tour company called Grayline and will book the Northern lights tour as well as the Golden Circle Tour. However, Iceland has so much more to offer and we have a car and a desire to Do it ourselves!

What other attractions shouldn't we miss....? It seems that there is so much to see, but I just need a list of the best places.

Thanks

[andy-xr]

I think it depends on whether you want a tourist holiday or not. I kind of like finding my own way around places, sometimes you stumble onto things you might not necessarily find. The obvious things for you would be the Blue Lagoon and some skiddoes or something, but that's not the only reason to go there (to be honest, it's the sort of thing to do in the morning on the way back to the airport for an afternoon flight)

Have a look at the Perlan; http://www.visitreykjavik.is/perlan-restaurant

And check the weather forecast for flurries, but if all is clear there's some amazing views to be had less than 5 miles out of Reykjavik http://www.budgettravel.com/slideshow/budget-trave...

Pinterest will have a ton of stuff as well, it'd be worth looking at what people are pinning and then deciding a route to any you like the look of

[JQ]

Are you there for New Year? If so, make sure you're in Reykjavik for midnight, it's quite spectacular. Fireworks are sold by charities and so the Icelanders spend a small fortune on them and all set them off at exactly midnight. All the local communities hold bonfire parties, we went to a lovely one in Seltjarnarnes (within walking distance of Reykjavik) and met the President of Iceland. I suspect there'll be a bonfire in downtown Reykjavik somewhere, ask at your hotel.

It will be cold and it will be dark. Standard tourist things will be Blue lagoon and Golden Circle. Exploring further into the island may be more difficult at that time of the year as you'll be looking at maybe 5 hours of daylight, but plenty of stuff close to Reykjavik to do.

As above - Perlan is worth a visit - you don't have to eat at the restaurant to head up to the viewing platform which affords a great view of Reykjavik. There's also a museum in the ground floor, although this may have now moved to the harbour. There's also a manmade geyser and if you take a walk down to the sea from Perlan you'll find a beach into which them pump hot water so you can bathe in the water. They won't be pumping water at that time of the ear though.

A visit to the harbour is good - lots of boats to see, there's an old war boat on which you can take a tour, there's a good museum and a lovely ice cream shop.

A trip to the Jokulsarlon Lagoon (lake of ice) is good if you can do it in a day, you'd go past Selfoss (waterfall) and the drive along Road 1 affords some beautifull views. If not possible in a day you could stay the night in Vik.

Lots of adrenaline based stuff to do, just have a look here to get some inspiration - https://www.re.is/day-tours/?gclid=CIjst_armskCFQv...

Exploring the island yourself is brilliant and it's how we've always done it, but if your time is limited organised tours are a good way of making sure you get to the best places. The Blue lagoon and Golden Circle are popular for good reason.

Oh - don't forget to go swimming - pretty much all swimming pools in Iceland are outdoor have lots of other facilities, expect slides for the kids and hot pots - these are a series of hot pools to sit in relax, the idea being you go in the really hot one first, then in really really hot one next, then go in the fk me my skin is burning one last. Great to go swimming when it's snowing. We swim every day when we're there.