What to Do in Iceland in the Winter Part I (Outside of Reykjavik)

 Sometimes you find a good price for travel and book it spontaneously. That usually doesn't happen to me, though, as I have a list of places I'd like to go - and also, I book way, way, way in advance so I'm already booked for another trip when I find a good deal. But last year I found an incredible price on Icelandair to fly to Reykjavik in the winter. Since the Northern Lights have been on my travel wish list for a long time, I decided to spontaneously book a trip to Iceland at the beginning of February of this year. The gamble is that you don't know if you'll actually see the lights during your time there. Will it happen? Will it be worth the gamble? What will Iceland be like in the winter? Let's see....

Exploring Reykjanes Peninsula

Keflavik Airport sits 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The Peninsula is a good place to start exploring, especially if your flight arrives early and your check in time for your lodging is later in the afternoon. These are a few things you can do here...

A Bridge Between Two Continents

A 50 foot pedestrian footbridge where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates come together. The bridge is free to visit and there is a small parking lot nearby.

Gunnuhver Hot Springs

A geothermal area featuring bubbling mud pots, steam vents and fumaroles (NOT a hot springs for soaking)

Brimketill Lava Rock Pool

A natural marine pool with lots of wave action (Of course, since it was winter we didn't get in the water but did get splashed but the giant waves)

Grindavik

A coastal fishing village that was evacuated due to volcanic activity in December 2023. There are walks you can do to see see the steam vents, and a informational area with signs that detail the explosion. Despite all 3,800 residents being evacuated there is still a pizza restaurant and gas stations open.

From an informational exhibition about the volcanic explosion

Residents quickly evacuating

Fighting the lava

What it looked like - you can still see the lava line

How close it was to Grindavik

Gardskagi Lighthouses

This is a unique site as there are two lighthouses here together - the Gardur Old Lighthouse, the second oldest in Iceland, and the second Gardskagi Lighthouse, built in 1944. They both have a fantastic vantage point of the ocean and the mountains in the distance. And some Northern Lights tours end here to see if you can see the dancing lights from the observatory.

 Viking World

This is a small museum "preserving authentic Viking heritage in Iceland." The main attraction is the Viking ship, Islendingur - The Icelander. It's a full-size replica of a Viking ship that you can walk out onto. Built in 1996, it's an exact replica of the famous Gokstad ship, a remarkable archealogical find of a completely intact Viking ship found in Norway in 1882. This replica sailed from Iceland to Newfoundland in 2000 to celebrate Leif Eriksson's famous voyage.  There is also history of the Vikings settling in Iceland and giving you ideas of where they settled, what they ate and how they lived.

Located in the town of Reykjanes about 10 minutes from Keflavik airport, this museum recommends about 60 to 90 minutes for your visit - I think we were there for about an hour.

Hvammsvik Hot Springs

One of the things that Iceland is known for - besides the Northern Lights - is it's abundance of hot springs. The most well known is the Blue Lagoon and a new one that's getting lots of attention is Sky Lagoon. This visit we decided to try Hvammsik Hot Springs and boy, was it wonderful.

The offices, restaurants and changing rooms are in an old army barracks

The lobby and restaurant

Outdoor space for nice weather

Located in Hvalfjordur, about 45 minutes from Reykjavik, Hvammsik has eight geothermal hot springs of varying size and temperature next to the Atlantic Ocean in Whale Fjord. (Though no whales were spotted during our soak) What an incredible setting it is! We thoroughly enjoyed our afternoon here and can see why it gets the highest rated hot spring experience in Iceland on Google Reviews. 

Your entry price includes enjoyment of the hot springs for as long as you wish, changing rooms including showers, a steam room, a swim-up bar, a cold plunge and a cold plunge into the ocean if you so wish. There is a also a restaurant plus twelve houses on site if you'd like to stay there. And if you don't have a rental car, you can get a transfer - via coach - from Reykjavik to Hvammsik.

I can't recommend this hot spring enough! I agree with one reviewer who said "This could be the most magical place in all of Iceland!"

Fridheimar Greenhouse Restaurant

If you live on a volcanic island, it's tough to get fruit and veg to grow. Enter Fridheimar Tomato Farm. Located outside of Selfoss, this family run farm grows tomatoes year round under artificial lighting in greenhouses and invite visitors to see the greenhouses and taste the crop. 

We arrived here as it was getting dark - without reservations - and were able to secure a table at the wine bar despite a concert being scheduled for later. Located in one of the oldest greenhouses on the property, the menu features their famous tomato soup, bruschetta, pasta, and a bit of dessert (this is a smaller menu as compared to the regular greenhouse restaurant) and all feature tomatoes in the recipe. The food was delicious and it is such a unique setting. I loved everything about it - and I highly recommend eating and visiting here if you are in the area. (Selfoss is located approximately 100 kilometers from Reykjavik)

Cheesecake topped with tomato jam

The Geothermal Exhibition

The Hellisheidi Power Plant, 25 kilometers from Reykjavik,  is one of the world's largest geothermal plants. It produces green, sustainable energy to power Iceland. And you can do a self-guided tour at the Geothermal Exhibition to learn about it.  You will start with an overview of Iceland's unique geological and geothermal landscapes and work your way to learning about ON energy and Carbfix, the carbon storage method developed in Iceland.  After you finish with the self-guided tour, you can visit the cafe or browse the gift shop or if you're here in warmer weather, there is a series of hikes sponsored by the power plant that you can get directions to. (You can, also, charge your car here) I found it to be a very interesting hour long stop!

The Northern Lights

Of course, the piece de resistance is the Northern Lights. Iceland is one of the most popular places to see the Aurora Borealis(especially for Americans as it's just a hop, skip and a jump to get there, relatively speaking) and it's big business here.  There are Northern Lights tours and even boat tours to see this natural phenomenon - and you get your money back or another chance to see them if there's no sightings.  There is a nightly forecast and an app to predict if there's a good - or non existent - night to see them. (Your best bet is for a cold, clear night with solar flares happening)

Since we had a week, we opted to try to see them on our own. The cabin we rented sat about 20 minutes drive from Reykjavik so we hoped that would give us a much darker viewing area away from light pollution. And we spent every evening of the week we were there plotting to find a way to see them. We sat in the geothermal hot tub at our cabin searching the skies, we spent several hours in a parking lot in a national park looking for them and we went to a restaurant outside of Reykjavik, with a long line of other people, that was considered a good place to see them. In the end, our best sightings were the last two nights that we were there - once from the hot tub and lastly, starting at the restaurant and on our drive back to the cabin. And it was every bit as thrilling as I'd thought it'd be - maybe more so! If you really want to experience a bit of awe and wonder, go see the Northern Lights - you'll be glad you did!

How about you? Have you experienced winter in Iceland?