When is the best time to visit Iceland?

When is the best time to visit Iceland?

• I really want to go to ICeland for a short break, 10 days or so, and wondered whether anyone had any suggestions when and where to go, and what I definiately have to see whilst I'm there. Thanks

• Answer:

  Iceland can be rather cold and windy, and therefore I think that summer is the best time to visit the country for a 10 day trip. Also, because the country is so far north, the days are very long in summer and very short during winter time. I have been to Iceland 4 times. The nature is very exciting with the vulcanic landshape, the geysirs, waterfalls. If you have not been to Iceland before I recommend you at least to include Pingvellir National Park, the Gullfoss waterfall and the geothermal area Geysir (if you join a tour company, they call this combination of some of the most famous sights the golden circle).. A swim in the blue lagoon (http://www.bluelagoon.com/) is also a must. You can go there from the airport or from Reykjavik. One of my trips was a week. We rented a car and drove up to Akureyri in the north and back the same way. With 10 days to spend, I think you will have time to drive around the Iceland on the ringroad with enough time to do some nice activities and visit the sights along the way. Some of the things I would recommend is for instance joining a boat trip wiht whale watching outside Akureyri and to try horseriding on the icelandic horse. If you are not used to horseriding, a short trip to try it out (a few hours) is nice the first time. Visiting some of the waterfalls and glaiciers is also nice. Because of the glaciers you can also do some fun winter activities in the summer, for instance riding a snowmobile. We booked our hotel in Reykjavik and the car before we came, and the rest of the trip was decided along the way, calling the hotels the day before or in the morning to make sure that rooms were available. We had a really nice trip. Nightlife in Reykjavik is known to be good, and I agree. I have enjoyed it every time I have been there. Kaffibarinn and Sólon are 2 nice bars. One populare nightclubs when I was there (a couple of years ago) was Nasa. Thorvaldsen Bar and Rex were also nice. Because of the price of beverages at bars/clubs most people start off in private houses and don't arrive downtown until midnight or later. I hope you will have a fantastic trip to Iceland!