Kavey

Is this a good time to go or is it better to stick to summer? <BR> <BR>I figure it will be cold anyway so we will be wrapping up warm but wondering whether it is a destination which you only visit at certain times of year or is better at a particular time or is OK all year round? <BR> <BR>Thanks for any advice... <BR>Kavey

Escritora

Kavey: Have you thought about hours of daylight? Friends in my much-loved Stockholm tell me the sun rises around 8:30 and sets around 3:30 in the dead of winter. Iceland is north of Stockholm and so would be worse. So if you go, bring your night-vision goggles!

Martha

Kavey, I just took a trip there in July and loved it so much I want to go back. From where I live there are great air fares in the winter months and I too have been thinking about returning. I brought home with me local tour books from different companies and most tours are only June through Aug. That includes whale watching. There are things year round like the Blue Lagoon(which I did not get to, the reason I want to return) and also some trips to Geysir and surrounding area. Reykjavik also has alot to see and do all year round. The Icelandic tourist board has a website you can sign up for brochures that will help. Hope this helps.

Sandi

Kavey, <BR> <BR>I am interested in going to Iceland also, and was hoping to do it in March, 2002, but probably won't be able to do it that soon now. I'm going with a friend on a Carribean cruise in January instead. <BR> <BR>But I have some very helpful vacation planning brochures, etc. that Icelandair Holidays sent to me. Call 1-800-779-2899 and they will send you the same stuff. <BR> <BR>In January, February and March they have really great specials called Mid-week Madness, with round trip flights from the east coast and two nights hotel stay for under $400. You have to travel on a Tuesday or Thursday. <BR> <BR>The daylight thing is an issue. I think sunrise in Iceland is something like 9:00 or 10:00 in Jan-Feb and sunset around 3:00. Can't remember what the brochure said exactly, but it does tell you that. Temps should be right around freezing but the wind is supposed to be something else. <BR> <BR>If you do go I'd love to hear what kinds of things you got to see and do during that time of year. <BR> <BR>Happy planning! <BR> <BR>Sandi Maier

kavey

DOH <BR> <BR>Didn't think of the daylight hours, only temperature! <BR> <BR>Thanks guys!!! <BR> <BR>Sandi, thanks for the number and tip, but I am in the UK so fares and phone numbers will be different for me, however I will check whether they offer good deals from UK too... <BR> <BR>Escritora, Martha, thank you also. <BR> <BR>Kavey.... <BR> <BR>(I can wait till a summer slot opens... so many places to go to I will just pick another off my list!)

Maribel

Kavey, <BR>It's a wonderful destination even in winter. A friend went in Jan., highly recommended it to us, and we made our trip in mid-March. We had sunlight from around 7:30 to 4 and a high of 32 F. everyday-bought those wonderful Icelandic sweaters which really do the trick. However, as Sandi says, the ever-constant wind was brutal. And we only had one windless day. I believe in the Icelandic language there are at least 8 (or more?) words for wind, depending on its ferocity! But in winter you can keep warm and soothed in the Blue Lagoon (loved it!) or the public pools in the city, take a snowmobile ride on a glacier, go pony trekking (although I shouldn't call the sweet, gentle, small Icelandic horses ponies), have a Viking Feast, take the Golden Circle tour plus go way off the beaten path on a Jeep safari or take a trip to see the Northern Lights-your hotel will have all the brochures. I was suprised at the number of tours offered in the winter. And the weekend nightlife is, well, insane year round, as you've probably heard!

Kavey

Maribel <BR> <BR>Yes I have def heard of the nightlife... although I must admit my years of living it up as the sun goes down (or "larging it" as it seems to be referred to these days) are long gone! <BR> <BR>I prefer to go out for a nice meal and then go home/ hotel to bed!!! <BR> <BR>I think I will consider leaving this till summer as I really, really hate the darkness, I am a sufferer of SAD, though this has generally been combatted at home by a great sunlight clock, which starts slowly getting lighter from half an hour before your alarm time, to reach full brightness at the exact time... <BR> <BR>I cant believe the daylight hours hadn't occured to me, I was thinking only of temperature/ weather! <BR>Kavey

Jim Rosenberg

Another thing that changes in summer is the cost. The days lengthen rapidly in the subarctic and when we went at the end of March, there were already 14 hours of daylight with very L-O-N-G twilight periods before dawn and after sundown as a bonus. At night, you'll never know there were so many stars and the Northern Lights displays can be awesome. Check out the "Midweek Madness" package at www.icelandair.com -- it's an absolute steal! Happy Contrails!

Brenda

Been there in February and loved it. The nightlife is awesome and for all ages. The sunset lasts for an hour and half. When I arrived there was no snow on the ground. It snowed that night and there was a light cover which melted during the day. Wind yes. Bitter cold temperatures no. The Blue Lagoon is worth moving there for. I loved Iceland and will return in any season.

Amy

Hi, Kavey! <BR>I love all that Iceland has to offer, but if you do have the option of summer or winter you might want summer for your first trip. One of my greatest joys was the long hours of beautiful clear sunshine in July and August. <BR>On the other hand, if it's winter or never... <BR>Go, go, go!!!

Jim Rosenberg

Here's my quick & dirty travel journal on it: <BR> <BR>http://www.igougo.com/planning/journ...JournalID=1983 <BR> <BR>(Yes, I "borrowed" the hotel pics off their site, but the Blue Lagoon pic is mine.)

Escritora

Kavey, you troublemaker! <BR> <BR>All these enthusiastic responses about Iceland got me wondering, so I ambled over to the Iceland Air site. Turns out the $399 offer (that's for RT airfare from NYC, airport transfers, 2 nights hotel, breakfast) runs through April 24--by which time hours of daylight no longer would be an issue. Hmmm... <BR> <BR>Really, Kavey, is it right to be an enabler to someone with no self-control? ;-&gt; <BR> <BR>PS: an interesting aside--on a run through the New York Iceland Tourist Board list of Reykjavik museums, I learned that the city has a Phallological Museum with "a collection of phallic specimens belonging to all the various types of mammal". I really did just *have* to share that with y'all! <BR> <BR>

Linda

Escritora, LOL. Why do I think only you would have the luck of finding that one?!?

Kavey

Escritora <BR> <BR>Sounds like my kind of museum!!! <BR> <BR>I am already booked for Venice over Easter so am trying to decide where to go in Jan/ Feb. <BR> <BR>I think with the daylight hours issue I might wait to go to Iceland in summer, as recommended by a number of you! <BR> <BR>Escritora, as for the "enabler" bit... I find myself getting tempted by pretty much most of the (real travel) threads on this forum <BR> <BR>I have 5 days leave, and I am thinking to split it into 2 + weekend and 3+ weekend. <BR> <BR>In the shorter trip I want to take my neice to France. She has a school trip to France this year, which her mum, my sister in law, cant afford (since when did SCHOOL trips to France cost £400 per person?) and we can't really give her £400 so I thought I might organise a cheap trip to France and take her with us... <BR> <BR>France isnt at its best in Jan/ Feb but its not bad either!! <BR> <BR>Kavey <BR> <BR>PS As always, thanks for all the friendly advice, and for those pics, Jim...

Maribel

Kavey, <BR>I thought you might enjoy this article I just read this morning on Iceland's Westman Islands, "In the Land of the Puffins". <BR>http://inq.philly.com/content/inquir.../09/09/travel/ <BR> <BR>Jim, <BR>What a great piece of travel writing! I really enjoyed your well crafted journal, the best one so far that I've read on igougo.

Kavey

Thanks Mirabel, <BR>Just read it... <BR>There was a programme on TV about Keiko today, I saw the title of it as I was flicking through the channels eating lunch, wondered idly what it was about and then flicked on without checking... <BR> <BR>Kavey

Tony

Just did a check at http://www.arachnoid.com/lutusp/sunrise/ and, for example, the lenght of sun for Jan 10 is 4 hours 57 minutes at Reykjavik. Average temperature for Jan at http://www.worldclimate.com/ indicates 31 degress F., or about the same average temperature as Pittsburgh, PA.

Kavey

Thank you! <BR> <BR>So many kind and helpful people... <BR> <BR>I hate the dark so your excellent help has helped me avoid my dreaded SAD on holiday! <BR> <BR>Kavey <BR>

Jen

GO. <BR> <BR>I was in Iceland last March, and it was wonderful! <BR> <BR>Yes, it's cold. Yes, it's dark (moreso in Jan and Feb), but it's beautiful. In March (March 2-5th), it's more like a long dawn and a long dusk...not pitch black. <BR> <BR>The hotels have connections to lots of tours for you to go on, the nightlife is lots of fun, and it's so friendly. You could see the Northern Lights, go to the Blue Lagoon, take a tour of the Golden Circle. <BR> <BR>I'd like to go back in the summer for a longer visit and to drive the 'ring road', but winter offers something entirely different!

Escritora

Well, now that I've stuck my foot in it and actually am thinking of going, does anyone know whether you still get the Northern Lights in late winter/early spring?