If I am honest, Iceland was never really high on my list of places to visit. This probably explained why it was up until last month amongst the last half or dozen or so countries I had left to step foot within Europe.
After all, being an island slap bang in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, it’s not a country you can stumble upon or through like a Liechtenstein (easily accessible from say Germany/Switzerland) or Luxembourg (likewise from Belgium/France) – you kind of want/have to go there as opposed to tick off because you are “in the area”.
Now I like travelling to islands – as I have written about multiple times in the past – there’s something quite comforting being surrounded by water. In fact nearly all my favourite places I’ve been fortunate enough to visit have been island nations – Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Barbados, Langkawi in Malaysia, Gili Trawangan in Bali, Indonesia – the namedrop list could be even more extensive than that, but given its December here in the UK, I will leave it there before I burst into tears at the prospect of another four months of cold, dark, miserable weather……
But Iceland, island nation and all, never really captured my imagination to visit.
Perhaps it was the habitually cold weather, the tales of expensive food/drink, the lack of golden sandy beaches that put me off?
However, every now and again travelling to new places really can surprise you. And Iceland really did just that.
Wow – what a place!
- Yes, the weather was cold.
- Yes, the food and drink a little more expensive than rip off Britain.
- And yes, there were no beach bars overlooking favoured clichéd tropical bays.
But my goodness, Iceland blew me away to an extent I probably have not felt since……well, I cannot remember when.
I’m not skilled enough at writing to describe the sights we saw during our day long road-trip from the outskirts of Reykjavík around the famous Golden Circle – from the picturesque walk through Thingvellir National Park, experiencing the breathtakingly awe-inspiring Gullfoss Falls – all the way through to watching Mila’s face stood in front of the exploding Geysirs – Iceland gave us one of the great days we have shared as a family.
When you throw in a half day splash around the magnificent Blue Lagoon and a stroll around the slightly bohemian capital city of Reykjavik – I’m convinced one month on that Iceland is the best place in Europe to fill several nights.
A big statement, that, for sure – but take a look at the snaps at the end of this blog – they kind of speak for themselves.
Now perhaps my gushing feelings on Iceland were helped by the simply stunning early-winter weather we experienced. All four days we were spoilt by clear blue skies and for the time of year, decent temperatures. I’m sure when the fog rolls in, the wind picks up or the blizzards close in, it can be a little Vilnius-in-nature (see last entry) – but really, you simply have to visit this unique, vast, friendly, beautiful and striking isle.
We struck lucky again with our Airbnb – staying in a lovely apartment in a quiet neighbourhood about fifteen minutes’ drive away from Reykjavik’s centre. It was the perfect base to explore the area, having a couple of decent restaurants nearby as well as a cracking little bakery – perfect for breakfast treats. I’ve linked the place we stayed here – Sunneva was a lovely host, meeting us on arrival and even letting us have a late check-out on the last day. This meant we felt we had an extra day’s holiday rather than being kicked out of a soulless hotel at 11.00am before waiting nine hours or more for a flight home.
The more I travel, the more I prefer Airbnb’s or homestays to hotels.
We hired a car – I would not say this is a must or a show-stopper in coming here and seeing all the attractions we did in a relatively short time period – after all, the Golden Circle area is geared up for tourism. There are plenty of bus companies ferrying people around. But for the price, the comfort and the freedom, the hire car wins out for me every time.
And finally a word on money – yes, Iceland is not a budget destination like a North Macedonia or Poland – but like other places, it’s only as expensive as you wish to make it.
Booze outside supermarkets (where beer can be bought at 90p a can!) is of course a little denting on the old wallet – but not much more than here in the UK. My eyes nearly popped out my head at a recent night out back home where I paid £7.80 for a beer and a bottle of fruit juice – the same sort of rate I was paying in Oslo and Reykjavik – the UK is a rip off, now more than ever!
So, as we approach Christmas – and given the title of this entry – it seems only fair to let Kerry Katona sign this entry off ……thanks for reading!
Hereford Rich 