If I could describe my travels to Iceland back in December 2014 in one word it would be cold. If I were to use a second word it would be incredible. But the incredibleness of it, unfortunately did not diminish the freeze factor. I remember distinctly several times on the trip, finding myself looking at some of the most awe-inspiring sights of nature that I had ever seen and mentally saying to myself, ‘Appreciate this – Appreciate this -Appreciate this,’ in an attempt to distract myself from my stinging fingertips and my numb face.
The sun is out for only about 4 hours during the month of December in Iceland so for a majority of the time you are bundled up in approximately 8 layers of clothing. Now while this might sound like a big whine fest, I absolutely loved Iceland and am dying to return. I am hoping to travel back potentially this year but, this time around, I’d like to aim to go during their summer months when the sun is out for approximately 20 hours a day!
While thinking about planning this trip, I began reminiscing about my trip from 5 years ago and realized there was some things I was truly going to miss about Iceland in the winter. So here’s why booking a trip to Iceland in the winter is totally worth it even if you constantly have to wonder whether frostbite is entering your extremities.
Christmas
The Christmas decorations in Reykjavik are amazing and make it seem as though Santa’s workshop could be right around the corner. While some traditional images of Santa exist in Iceland, their version of the jolly elf is a little darker. They have the 13 Yule Lads who essentially act as 13 Santas. The mountain-dwelling creatures descend down on the 13 days leading up to Christmas Day, one Yule Lad each night. Each Yule Lad has their own name and description and they deliver both treats and pranks depending on a child’s behavior. They are depicted in much of the Christmas decorations in Iceland which only adds to the mythical nature of Iceland. Even outside of the Christmas season, elves and trolls living in the mountains are talked about as if they are fact, not folklore. Something I truly appreciated about the place. We also visited an Icelandic cemetery during a one of our tours that was decorated in crosses made of lights in honor of the Christmas season.
Northern Lights
Obviously the northern lights are a huge attraction of traveling to Iceland and due to the enormous amount of hours of darkness, winter is the time to see them! We were lucky enough to get to experience them and I’ll never forget it. In prep for the trip, I bought myself a “nice” camera with thoughts of being this amazing nature photographer that would nail incredible shots of the aureus borealis. But then reality set in. We took a bus tour that took us to this coastal spot where the wind was blowing so hard that even holding my camera with my double-layered gloves was impossible. Let alone, setting up a tripod and allowing for long exposure. So I had to give up on my photography fantasy and just enjoy the incredible view the old fashioned way: with my eyes.
Blue Lagoon in the snow
While the Blue Lagoon is always a recommended stop while in Iceland, doing it in winter was something special. Cold air, hot spring, snow flurries. Not really sure it needs anymore of an explanation than that. Not to mention that both the Blue Lagoon and other locations on our trip were relatively quiet and empty which for me is a real perk in traveling.
We learned on our trip that NASA sent Neil Armstrong the entire Apollo 11 crew to practice moon walking in Iceland because they believed Iceland was the one place on Earth that most resembled the surface of the moon. I loved my visit to the moon and looking forward to go back… but this time, in its summer.
Lauren Hans 