Iceland at Christmas in the snow and ice.

4 days in Iceland to tour Reykjavik, visit the Golden Circle in the snow and see the Northern Lights

Music :

http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Aunt_Jamamas_Big_Band_Vigilantes/Live_on_KEXP_Seattle/WM106-01

Some things to do in Iceland in the Winter

Northern Lights tour

I booked onto was a Northern Lights tour with Reykjavik Excursions. This was very good value at £40 for a four hour tour. I was picked up from the hostel and taken to the tour company’s bus station to transfer onto the tour bus. The guide had a very idiosyncratic delivery but had most of the bus chuckling at his dialogue. He warned us that we would be on the tour for 4 hours and there would be no toilet breaks, so make sure we went before leaving the bus station.

We drove out into the Þingvellir National Park to get away from the city lights. As it got dark around the coach, we traveled through snow fields, with hills showing in the dark to the left of the coach. After we had been driving for around 3/4 hour the guide told us to look to the left above the hills where he could see a creamy white line above the hills. He said we were in luck and this was an aurora. It was difficult to see through the coach windows but after about 20 minutes the coach pulled over and we could get out. The aurora was clearly visible to the naked eye. Mainly a greenish sweep of colour above the snowy hills. At one point the aurora started moving and changing colours. We were seeing the Northern Lights.

Golden Circle tour

A second tour I booked onto (once there) was the winter Golden Circle tour. This is the most popular tourist tour in summer and I had done it on my first trip to Iceland ten years back. I wanted to get out into the landscape and see what Iceland looked like in winter. Seeing the three sites again – Geysir, Þingvellir lookout and Gulfoss a bonus.

Even saying that seeing Geysir again still blew me away the first time Strokkur went off up close. I didn’t shriek like some of the tourists, but there was a shriek in my head.

Gulfoss was awesome with large parts of the cascades frozen with more water pouring over the top, and the view from the Þingvellir lookout across Þingvallavatn lake stunning. Even surrounded by tourists these places are incredible and I was happy to be there again.

The sun was low all day but beautiful on the horizon. It was showing from around 11.30am to 4pm so booking on the slightly cheaper shortened Golden Circle tour made sense and there was daylight for all three of the attractions.

Reykjavik

There are many things to do in the city, but I chose to go to the Reykjavík Museum of Photography where I had seen good exhibitions before. This time they were showing a quality exhibition about a famous Icelandic murder. Very good photography and worth the admission price. I would choose between this and the Reykjavik Art Museum depending on whether you prefer photography or art.

A second museum was the tiny Icelandic Punk Museum. It was entertaining as the proprietor was making visitors dress up in punk gear and pose for photos playing instruments for souvenir photos which he took on your phone and later posted on the museum Facebook page. There was several small rooms showing memorabilia and history of punk music in Iceland.

Laugevegur main street is somewhere to check out at any time of year, the Hallgrímskirkja church was beautiful from a distance in the snow with all the Christmas lights, and Harpa concert hall offers some stunning views across the fjord and town.

One morning I wandered round the city in the dark between 8am and 11am shooting long exposures of the harbour area and street lit back streets. All the houses looking beautiful with Christmas lights and candles in the windows.

Another thing you can do is a walking tour of Reykjavik but get away from the main tourist areas. I walked out to the Nauthólsvík thermal beach and considered taking a dip in the freezing water with some hardy Icelanders. The open air hot tub looked more inviting but I chickened. I walked back through the Perlan woods and a beautiful church yard with Christmas lights on the grave stones. Then onto Perlan, which has fantastic views across the town, the fjords around and snowy mountains in the distance. There are some other tourist facilities in Perlan, such as a panoramic restaurant and ice cave, and there was some good volcanic activity photos in an exhibition before you enter the ice cave.

Видео Iceland at Christmas in the snow and ice. канала Northern bloke travels