An unexpected Christmas present found me in Iceland in early January on a five-day adventure. It may seem that all planes lead to Iceland at the moment, but if you find your chance to hop on one, I’d thoroughly recommend it.

Normally, I’d tell you to do your research/ watch TV travel programmes before you commit but this time I would say DON’T. Don’t watch Travel Man (either edition) because quite frankly, on watching them in preparation, my heart sank and the impression they gave, was of a crazy country obsessed with elves, but there is so much more to Iceland.

An ink splat of a country, sitting precariously on the Mid Atlantic Ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean, marking the boundary of the American plate and the Eurasian plate, it only has a population of just over 340,000 with 118,000 of them living in the capital Reykjavik.  Its interior consists of lava fields, mountains and glaciers and it is these you will want to see, along with bathing in hot springs, geysers shooting up into the sky every 3-8 minutes, black beaches and wild, tempestuous seas.

Try not to arrive, like we did, in the worst storm the country has witnessed for decades…

causing a power cut at the hotel even before you have found your room. But never fear, most building are a maximum of five storeys high, so not too many stairs to puff your way up, bags in hand. And once you’ve conquered them, taking the lift will seem lame. If you’re lucky, the friendly bar man will take pity on you and give you a restorative beer even when you have no cash and his card machine is not working.

There are many tours and just as many tour companies on offer. We plumped for Reykjavik Excursions/Flybus. Day 2 found us up wrapped (the temperature only gets as high as 14 Celsius in the summer, so just imagine the winter temperature, and then take it a few degrees lower) and ready for our 8.30 pickup. It was just a shame no one had told the sun a lie in wasn’t permissible. It didn’t show up until 10.00 and then sloped off about 16.30.

The first stop on the Golden Circle Tour took us to where the North American and the Eurasian plates are seen above ground.

If you get a good tour guide, they will fill the journey with so many interesting snippets you will eventually become a walking encyclopaedia yourself. The plates are moving away from each other, and the gap is getting bigger all the time – not enough to worry about in my lifetime but nevertheless, fascinating.

Then it’s on to the Gullfoss waterfall ( Golden Waterfall) at 32 m high. Known for its multi-step cascade along a  bend of the Hvitá River.

Finishing up to watch the bubbling water of the hot springs and the Strokkur geyser shoot it stuff at Haukadalur.

After that we chose an add-on tour to the Fontana Wellness spa. Here they showed you how they made and buried the traditional bread in the hot sand for 24 hours before digging it up. In true Blue Peter style they had one they’d made earlier for us to taste.  It didn’t take long to get wrinkly lying around afterwards in the hot baths, but a dip in the lake soon sharpened the senses and made you go running to the sauna to warm up.

Returning to the hotel, The Marina, we had time to grab some (very expensive) food from the bar before wrapping up again to go Northern Lights hunting. These beauties are temperamental. A lot rides on their showing up to the party and no amount of wishing by you or the tour guide will make them appear if the conditions aren’t right. At 24.00 we called it a day and the coach took us wearily and a little disappointedly back to the hotel and bed.

Day 3 saw us up, without the sun again, for a South Shore Adventure. This started out at Skogafoss Waterfall and ended up at Seljalandfoss Waterfall, (which you can walk behind in the summer,) with a trip to the Solheimajokull Glacier and the Black Sand beach in between where the waves are so ferocious the undercurrent can sweep you out in seconds AND according to our very, safety conscious guide, has indeed done to one poor tourist.

This was a LOOOONG, but worth it day,

 ending with us returning to the hotel at 19.30.

But the best was yet to come. The next day after a morning wandering Reykjavik, we went to the Sky Lagoon. One of two, with its rival the Blue Lagoon, the Sky Lagoon, an oceanside, geothermal lagoon with the North Atlantic Ocean stretching out in front of you, will blow your mind. Especially if the sunset plays its part and puts on its best technicolour dreamcoat for you.

Push the boat out while you’re there and take the 7-step relaxation ritual, if only to experience the most amazing sauna known to man.

And as if Iceland wanted to send us off the next day with a final hurrah, our postponed Northern Lights tour that evening ( if you don’t see if the first time you can join another tour another night free of charge)  produced a dazzling Corona of a show. Corona or crown, not because they’re trying to keep up with the times, but because we could see the lights all around us, not just in the Northern sky.

You can add many other adventures to your  trip like, snowmobiling, glacier hiking or black sand beach horse riding, so make sure you do your research and pick the tours that float your boat.

Just one last thought, if you are lucky enough to fly home in the jet stream, remember to hold onto your hats (and stomach) because on the plus side, you may arrive a whole 40 minutes early but you will have bumped your way across the Atlantic, sick bag to hand.

If the opportunity comes your way to get your arse to Iceland… do not hesitate.

Love

Teresa x