Grab your snowshoes and sunglasses, you’ll need them both in Iceland!

Iceland had been on the wanderlust list for some time, always seeming like one of those places that belongs on a far-away planet than a short plane ride away. So, instead of ‘lusting, I booked a weekend trip for my girlfriend and myself, for our first trip of the year!

Let's see how we got on!

(Above, Tjörnin Lake in Reykjavik) Roscatography ©

Heads up, Iceland in Winter is cold!

The average temperature during February is around freezing without the wind chill, so make sure you pack layers, sunglasses, something to cover your ears and good solid boots. Some folk may raise an eyebrow trading in the British Winter for, well, more Winter, but this time of year is prime to be able to see the Northern Lights.

When travelling, I do my best to book independent accommodation that is in-theme with the place we are going, with a personal preference to rustic over contemporary. We were only away for 4 days, so I decided to find a base in the capital city of Iceland, Reykjavik. This is where we stayed in Reykjavik Treasure B&B. The B&B is a short five minute walk from the Old Harbour area, 10 minutes down from Rainbow Street and situated in the city’s Old Town, a nice quite area yet in easy reach of everything you would need (shops, restaurants, trip meeting points ETC).

The B&B itself was built back in 1876, is one of the oldest houses in Reykjavik and was a bakery in a past life; the sleeping area of the room we slept in used to be the bakeries oven; now that’s pretty quirky! Our host Steinunn was very welcoming and accommodated dietary preferences, so be sure to expect home cooked breakfasts with a buffet continental selection at a communal table with other guests each morning, complete with Nordic pastries!
 
Our flight from the UK was around 6.30am that morning and took around 3.5 hours, so by the time we had landed, picked up a shuttle bus to the city through the vast lava fields, we didn’t get in and settled until early afternoon. It’s worth mentioning the main shuttle station is located a 30 minutes walk from the centre of Reykjavik (20 if you’re speedy, 40 with ice and poor footwear!).
 

We spent some time exploring a little of Reykjavik, from the Old Harbour, down to the Sun Voyager and back in to the town to Hallgrimskirkja cathedral, which is worth seeing all lit up at night. We grabbed some lunch at Kaffibrennslan, a great coffee and sandwich café that felt very Nordic; a candle can be found on each table with wooden chairs and a fire, a perfect setting when watching snow fall through the windows.
 
I don’t remember too much of the evening that followed, but we were wrapped up in bed like a Danish pastry pretty early on! 

(Above, Reykjavik Treasure B&B, Below, Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral at night) Roscatography ©

The first morning was our first full day.

We visited the National Museum of Iceland (it would have been rude not too!) which was a short walk past the Tjornin lake next to the city hall, the same route we walked in from the shuttle station, followed by a whale watching trip booked for that afternoon.

Depending on the time of year, trips can book up up in advance, especially the Northern Lights tours. The Lights tour was one we booked in advance, mainly due to the fact the weather conditions may be too poor to see them, so giving yourselves enough chanes to see them is a worthwhile move.

One of my main motivations to travel is to see and experience wildlife in their natural habitat, therefore whenever I book a wildlife expedition, It is important to me that I ensure the trip is ethical, sends out the right message and supports the right places.

Unfortunately, Iceland is still one of the few countries in the world that continues to commercially whale , mainly targeting Mink and Fin whales, the latter being on the IUCN endangered species list! This was a conflict for me when booking the trip, as I was not fully aware Iceland still partook in whaling until after I booked it, though by investing in the right organisations I hope that will send out a better message to support a more sustainable, healthier future for the whales than boycotting the country completely.
 
Ironically whale meat is not overly popular within the Icelandic community asmuch of it is exported abroad, yet whale meat is oftentimes not always listed on the menu as whale, it can come under generic fish or seafood.

Be sure to look out for the “Meet Us Don’t Eat Us” campaign signs which are a collaboration between IceWhale and IFAW, both who promote ethical tourism, and finding these on restaurant doors show the menu is whale free and they don’t support it!

(Above, Humpback Whales in Faxafloi Bay, Above Left, tail fluke behaviour) Roscatography ©

I the classic whale tour with Elding tours, departing from the Old Harbour with a cruise out in to Faxafloi bay which a lasted around three hours. They offer a free return ticket valid for two years if you don’t see whales or dolphins on the excursion, with a choice of sitting ‘up top’ or in one of the cabins on the boat, with a small bar on the ship.
 
We wrapped up and manned it out on the top deck as snow started to fall; there was something kind of magical about the snow, the sea and scouting for whales with the backdrop of the Mountains to the North.
 
After around half an hour I thought I spotted something back towards the capital, just in front of Grotta Island lighthouse which was facing he opposite direct to which we were heading. I took the photo I captured (slightly ashamed by the poor framing and lack of zoom) to the scout. They confirmed it was a Humpback Whale and the first time they’ve seen one in that area.
 
We were very lucky to see four individual Humpback Whales overall, including some tail fluke behaviour.  It was also great to see the captain adhere to ethics by turning off the engine when the whales came within a certain distance of the boat.
 
When we were returning back to port, the captain sent a message over the tannoid for the ‘lad with the cool whale shot to report to the cabin’; I gave it a few minutes before heading down for them to look at my shots so I wasn’t overly eyeballed by everyone on the ship. They thought it was a pretty cool shot and the jesty compliment of offering me a spotters job one the ship was appreciated (I think they were jesting, I never completed an application form!)
 
There is an add on available to the whale watching tour to also visit the whale museum. The museum is effectively a large warehouse with life-size plastic models of different whale species with information on each, and some on Iceland whaling history. It does not take long to walk around so if you do get it included in a ticket, make use of it, however I personally would say the price for the time and exhibits is not worth the expense separately.

We tried out a nice resteraunt 
 

(Above, Humpback Whales in Faxafloi Bay through a snow flurry) Roscatography ©

The second morning was an early start. Today we planned to drive the Golden Circle route to visit Þingvellir National Park, Geysir geothermal area and Gullfoss waterfall, all ‘tick-list tourist hotspots’, before hopefully heading out on a Northern Lights tour later tonight.
 
Fate was not entirely with us for this idea, as there had been bad weather coming in overnight (Icelandic weather can get quite bad, quickly) and snow was flurrying before we had even set off at our lower altitude; driving into Iceland's volcanic centre means heading up, up and up!
 
I had hired a small Toyota roller-skate of a car which we had picked up yesterday, which happened to be white; perfect camouflage should we do some impromptu off-roading! In hindsight it may have been more sensible to not of been so cheap and hire out a bigger car, but the roads ice Iceland are very good and I didn’t think we’d need a 4X wheel drive..

Wrong!
 
We made it as far as Pingvellir NP from Reykjavick, which should be around a 55 minute drive (yes you guessed, it took a little longer!). Within that distance I lost track of how many times the loss of traction warning flashed on the dashboard; the roads were white over, the edge was hard to see and most of the drive was uphill, with a few precarious bends thrown in for the adrenaline/death junkies; a white knuckle drive at 25MPH!
 

(Pingvillir National Park, Above, the walk between two continental plates, Below, a landscape view from the visitor centre viewpoint)

By the time we made it to Pingvellir the snow was not as heavy, so we decided to explore some areas of the National Park seeing as we had made it there.

Pingvillir is quite a vast place to explore over the many boardwalks. It is one of the few place on earth where where you can walk and swim between both the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, which is pretty awesome! As far as the eye could see was blanketed in snow which made it look picturesque, though featureless; I feel it would have been even better to see in the Summer!
 
When we returned from hiking a loop to the visitor centre there were multiple warnings on the screens for roads closing due to the on-going weather conditions.

So, decisions; did we follow some of the buses to the next stop, or head back to the city?
 
My gut was to follow the buses to the next stop which would have been the Geyser and to try and tick them off the list, but I went with the overly sensible option and drive back down to the city, which was just as precarious as coming.
 
To this day I still feel we would of made the golden circle and made it back in the day!
 
As the Lights tour was on for tonight, we found an awesome plant-based cuisine restaurant called Mama’s at the end of Rainbow Street; this is a must visit, the food and atmosphere is awesome, very chilled out with a boho vibe (excellent oatmeal lattes by the way!).
 
After having a rest back at the B&B, we prepped for tonight's tour. The Northern Lights tours generally tend to start early evening around 7/8pm at a generic pick-up point outside the City Hall, with a drop off around midnight. You can go looking for the lights on your own, but there is no guarantee you will see them or find them as they move around the sky, so for a safe bet given our short stay and wishing to see them, we booked a trip with Gray Line Iceland - Day Tours and Airport Transfers.

We were driven to Gardur Old Lighthouse on the Keflavik Peninsula, which happened to be where a few other tour buses had also arrived; this sounded to be a good routine spot for watching the lights due to the lack of light pollution, so if you are thinking of heading to see them solo, this could be a spot to pick.
 
After an hour the lights began to appear and increased in brightness. The Northern Lights must be one of the best things I have ever seen; there is an energy to them you can’t describe with words, you just have to be there to feel them. There is something about them as they move with different intensities through the sky that make them ethereal in nature. I could watch them for hours.

Starlight photography is not my strong point, so I was pleased with a few of the images I was able to capture that night. Though a little tip, look for the lights with your eyes and also through your lens..

This surely was THE best way to finish off our final night in Iceland.
 

(Above, The Northern Lights captured from Gardur Old Lighthouse on the Keflavik Peninsula) Roscatography ©

February 20th was our last day, with a  flight booked for late afternoon. We took a drive out in the morning to visit the town of Selfoss on the way to Eldestar Icelandic Horses, where we had organised to go on a trek near the Reykjadalur valley and geothermal area to experience and learn a little more about the Icelandic Horses.
 
Just like with wildlife excursions, I’m hesitant to book anything where welfare may be compromised. I always look for numerous things on the website; reviews, how the horse is carrying themselves, contact and how well the tack is fitting/kept. Reading about how places care for animals on their website is always helpful, but If ever in doubt or if you have concerns about booking something, always send them a message, I feel reputable businesses will always be authentic in their answers.
 
The horses were chosen well on voiced experience (I never say what I do as a profession, just that I can ride and I don’t mind too much about the type of temperament I do ride). Due to that there is a trend I get offered the ‘spicey’ ones; I always raise a smile at this, as most spicey horses are mislabelled because they have poor riders; the lovely little mare I was with was as quiet as a mouse, but definitely had some rocket fuel in her if you wanted to 'ride'.
 
We were out for around 3 hours and rode up through a small forest (Iceland is very bare of any form of woodland and they do take offence if you speak negative of that which they have, much like referring to their horses as ponies!) and through a geysers field.
 
As we got speaking to the trail guide we spoke about what I did as a horse trainer (Tasha dropped that one in, not me!) and she did ask if I had some suggestions for some of the training of the horses. On the flipside, it was also interesting to learn about their management on the island and what sort of training and care they receive.
 
The Icelandic Horse itself is a gaited breed, meaning they have movements biomechanically different to most horse breeds; for the Icelandic this is the famous Tolt and Flying Pace.. I’ve worked with quite a few gaited horses in the past and find them easy to sit and comfortable to ride, which is why they can be sought after, especially for those with back problems.

The horses were relatively well cared for and rotated to have time off through the year, with limited rides a day!, though I do feel there could be improvements made to improve comfort and longevity. Those subjects are always tricky, horses in many countries still primarily serve a business-centred purpose, and the accessibility we have to different treatments and training approaches here in the UK.. we forget how much we take that for granted!
 

So, waiting for the plane to be dowsed in anti-freeze, the question is; would I go back?

(Above, Below, Icelandic Horses with Eldestar Icelandic Horses) Roscatography ©

Possibly.
 
I never go to a country or place with an expectation, my experience is what is. Many people I know have loved their trips to Iceland and said what a spiritual feel you get from the place, however that feeling I personally didn’t get. and I wouldn’t rush to go back.
 
Iceland itself is such an unusual place, with it's many volcanoes, lava fields and outdoor excursion's; there is so much to do. The people are friendly, the place is quirky and the landscape was of course beautiful, but for me something was missing; perhaps there was a bleak and desolate beauty which did not resonate with me, sometimes made featureless by the blanket of snow.
 
In hindsight I would of booked us a longer stay and travelled around the Island to see more outside of the city and of the country itself as opposed to stay in one place, but with the experiences we had in our time, if I never returned I feel I would not miss out.

With perhaps an inclination to go for Summer if I was to return, with more vibrancy, greenery and colour that might, for me, bring the world of ice and fire to life.