Iceland 2017 - New Years Eve

Iceland is such an amazing country with lots to see and so for this visit we did a few different things from last time. We stayed at the same hotel as before – the Fron, as the location is excellent, right in the heart of town and walking distance to shops, bars, restaurants and the Hallgrímskirkja Church. You can enter the church and walk to the viewing tower at the top to get some great views of the city.

The hotel staff are friendly, they provide a breakfast and will help with confirming tours and transfer arrangements. We stayed in a studio deluxe apartment, so you get kitchen facilities as well as a larger room and sofa bed.

Tip: Iceland can be an expensive place to eat so having a studio apartment gives you a microwave where you can heat up soups, etc and you can take a flask out with you.

We visited the Secret Lagoon, which is not so secret anymore, however it is a natural geothermal spring with spouting geysers as opposed to the man-made Blue Lagoon. If you want more of an authentic encounter this is it. The Blue Lagoon is amazing though, it is much bigger, and the milky blue waters offer a different experience. Included with our Secret Lagoon excursion was a buffet meal at a nearby restaurant, which was excellent, good quality food and friendly staff. After this we went on a Northern Lights hunt, unfortunately the weather wasn’t right for us to see a display this time.

On another day we hired quad bikes and went up into the Reykjavik mountains. The scenery on this tour is breath-taking, you can see frozen lakes where light aircraft actually land and people ice-fishing. You can view Reykjavik and the surrounding mountains and also tackle some rough terrain which gets the adrenalin pumping.

I also always wanted to walk on a glacier, so this is another adventure we had. They kit you out with crampons, helmets, ice picks and safety harnesses and they lead you out onto the glacier where the guides tell you how they are formed and show you the crevasses, etc. The weather was kind to us, so we had a good two hours or so on the ice before heading back in. As part of this tour on the south coast we also visited the Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls (this is the one you can walk behind although not in the winter as its too dangerous).

The waterfalls really are something and at the Skogafoss waterfall, you can walk up to the top and look down on it. If you don’t mind quite a few steps to the top, then this is well worth doing.

New Year’s Eve is a massive party in Reykjavik and we have a favourite spot that we go to which is much less crowded than in the town itself, it is approx. a 35-minute walk from town but to see the fireworks all around you and across the bay is something you won’t forget.

If you do go on New Year’s Eve, then be prepared for some restaurants and shops to close in the evenings as this is their family time and on New Year’s Day, there are not too many shops open.

I am now looking forward to visiting Iceland in the summer for different experiences so watch out for that blog in the future.