Our Itinerary (00:02)
Welcome to the Sunshine Travelers podcast, where we explore the world's most breathtaking destinations. In today's episode, we're taking you to the land of fire and ice, Iceland in the winter. From chasing the mesmerizing Northern Lights to soaking in steamy hot springs surrounded by snow-capped landscapes, Iceland offers a magical winter experience like no other. We'll share the planning that we have done and some of the experiences we are looking forward to.
So bundle up and join us as we uncover the wonders of Iceland in the winter.
Melissa, normally we try to interview someone who has recently been to a location while we're doing our research for a trip. Unfortunately, our schedules didn't work out. We had someone we wanted to talk to, but we just couldn't align the schedules this time. So what we want to do is just share our planning process with anyone who might be considering this trip in the future to help you jumpstart that process.
Yeah, and so we actually hope that this will be the first of trips. And then also because it is Iceland in the winter time, right? Which is very different from visiting it when you have like endless daylight as well. So, and one other thing that I wanted to point out as we kind of get into what, when we're going and what we're going be doing is that we're actually doing this as a stopover. So you may have heard of people talk about
you know, doing stopovers and Iceland is a very popular one with Iceland air. So we will be in London and then we have purchased a ticket that goes to Reykjavik and then comes back to the US and then you can choose how many days to stop over. And I think I mentioned somewhere else that
I priced it both ways just to see if like the two one ways. And it did come out to be a little bit cheaper. So they offer you a little bit of a break. And then you can also, I mean, they have it set up to where you could book other things if you wanted to. But that's how we are really doing this is kind of on a stopover on the way back.
Well, Matt, unless...
Well, Melissa, you kind of mentioned that Iceland is a year round destination and we do, we want to go back during the summer because there's like some great hikes that you can do in the summer, beautiful landscapes and not all covered in snow and cold. And so we want to go back at another time. But for us this trip, we really wanted to go in winter to have the best chance at seeing the Northern Lights. Yeah. Since this is supposed to be really the year.
when they're supposed to be super active and I've actually downloaded a couple of apps on my phone, and put in some locations in Iceland and they've been sending me alerts, sometimes in the evenings and through the night that they have said, if the sky is clear, you might be able to see them. So we're hoping that will continue. And of course it depends on if the sky is clear, but, like we have said in the past and in our Norway episode, when we talked to Lacey is that that is not like,
the main purpose. Like there's so many other things that we're going to get to see and experience. So that would really be, you know, that would be the icing cherry on top. Yeah. Well, you know, we're actually looking right now and there's going to be snow while we're there. And that means there's going to be overcast. So we're really going to temper our expectations on the lights, but we're just going to put it out there. We're going to manifest it that we will see the lights while we're there. So, well,
Let's talk a little bit about why we decided to go in winter. And for if you're visiting Iceland, they typically look at winter being December to February. We're going in March, so we're like right on that shoulder. And usually that's a really good time to go. It's not so crowded. And then typically the weather is improving. They're not having quite as much snow and things like that. So we'll see how it turns out. We still have.
a little bit of time before we actually get there. So maybe the weather will change, but, you know, some of the pros of going in the winter is that this is the time that you're going to see the Northern lights. If you go during the summer, the chance of seeing those lights are slim to none because especially if you go the time of year where it's like the midnight sun, you're not going to see anything because it's daylight. Yeah. June, right. When it's the absolute longest day of the year. So yeah.
And they say that the time to see those lights is September to mid-April. So even if you're still thinking about it, you still have time to go and try to chase those northern lights.
The other thing that you can really experience in the winter is some of the ice caves, some of the natural ice formations that are only accessible during winter. There's lots of tours for that. Now that is something that we did look at and thought about doing, but just due to our short duration, there's so many other things that we wanted to stop. And we also really wanted to kind of have some, almost some downtime, right? To be able to do some of this at our own pace.
So having said that, we've only actually booked one tour, which we'll talk about in a second, just to kind of give us some downtime and not rush, rush, rush. Now, unfortunately, we will probably miss out on, you know, I don't know, some of the explanation and stuff like that.
Unfortunately, we will probably miss out, um, you know, on some of the explanation and get to know a local. So we are looking forward to that one tour. Um, but, um, yeah, so we're super excited to kind of bring you, bring you that side of it. But I will say that doing renting vans and renting things like that, especially in the summertime is very common. So there's lots of different ways that you can do Iceland more on your own. Like we're going to do tours and there are even tours that you can book out of Reykjavik that go out.
for a day, but you can also book them for two and three days that include your accommodations and stuff like that. So you don't have to drive and rent a car and things like that. Well, some of the other winter activities that you can enjoy is snowmobiling, glacier hiking. Melissa mentioned that we had looked at one of those tours where you strap on the crampons and go out on the glacier, but we decided not to do that.
And then obviously soaking in the hot springs that are surrounded by snow. So you've got this beautiful landscape that's all snow covered and you're in those geothermal hot springs that we'll talk about in just a little bit. Now let's talk a little bit about some of the cons of going in winter. Obviously it's colder there and you can get really cold temperatures, lots of snow. know, driving conditions can be really
difficult in the, in the winter. they do try to like the ring road. I was looking today to see if that was actually closed during the winter, but they actually try to maintain that, throughout the winter. so, you know, driving is possible. One thing to think about is the days are shorter during the winter. So only four to six hours of daylight during the winter time. So you're going to want to get up and get started on your day.
once the sun comes up and make the use of that time. especially if you are in that winter timeframe, right? When it's absolutely the shortest day of the year. We actually talked to somebody today who had been in December and I think she said what? Three, three and a half hours is kind of, closer to three and a half hours, but that's really short. And she said it was just, it was just really odd because it's like, it's almost like it's, you know, the dawn and dusk almost the whole time. So definitely keep that in mind.
Yeah, you know, we had the travel squad podcast on our podcast previously and Kim from the travel squad went to Iceland at Christmas and said she had taken several pairs of sunglasses and didn't use a single one, but we're going during March and the days are a little bit longer. We're going to have a daylight from like 8 45 AM to around six 40 in the evening, assuming the weather is decent. And so, um, you know,
planning on taking my sunglasses. Yeah. It's amazing when you're in a place like that, how much more daylight, how quickly that changes. And we had even looked at that when we were starting to book it because that was a concern. and looking at that in early March and I was like, wow. Like it really is going to still be, you know, light till, you know, I guess what we're used to getting where when it gets dark, like in our, you know, December, guess here. So.
And so if you want to go on the shoulder seasons when it's not so crowded and not so expensive, think about either September or March. Like I said, we're going here in March and so we'll have more information on this shortly and we'll talk about that later. And the other thing that I would say too is that if you go in the high season, definitely plan earlier and further in advance.
We have only been planning this starting really in January and even booked the last hotel just only a couple of weeks ago. We just had made a decision. And there were still things available, but I don't think that's really the case in the summertime. So make sure you plan in plenty of time. Yeah. So let's talk a little bit about the itinerary that we're doing. We're going to be there for four days. We're doing this as a stopover. We're going to be in the UK and
We're going to go to Iceland on our way back to the States. And so we'll have four days there. And so we're going to arrive in Reykjavik late at night, you know, coming in from London. And so we're going to stay at the courtyard by Marriott that's near the airport. It's very convenient. And if you're coming in on a late flight, it's just a few minutes to the airport. And so you can get in, get checked in, get a good night's sleep, and then get up the next day.
and get started on your adventure. And the airport is not like right there in Reykjavik either. I think it's like an hour or maybe a little bit more away. So keep, you know, keeping that in mind. And so that was one thing when we were just like, okay, we want to get there. We'll get to the hotel, we'll get to bed and then we'll get up and get going. Yeah, I was looking at it today. It's actually like out on a little peninsula. So, well, our first day we're going to get up early, pick up the car that we rented from Ice rental four by four.
It's highly recommended to rent a four by four or an all wheel drive vehicle for better control and safety on the snowy and icy roads We also opted for the platinum insurance plan And this came highly recommended because it includes and covers, you know your standard collision but then also That includes gravel protection and we're gonna be driving driving on roads that have a lot of gravel on them potentially
sand and ash protection. So we're going to land to fire and ice. Sand and ash is a real thing there on Iceland. And it also included the free use of a GPS.
And like I said before, you know, remember if you're going in winter, the days are short. So plan your drives during the daylight hours. And I've also read that you want to have a reliable GPS or use offline maps. We've talked about this before. You can go into Google maps. You can select that area of where you're going to be, and you can save that offline. And then that way it works on your phone, using the GPS on your phone.
but it doesn't need internet connection. Yeah. And I think that's probably why they have that free use of GPS, right? That's something that you don't, you know, a of times, um, several years ago you'd rent a car, you know, you'd rent the GPS or whatever too. Um, but I think here it's just a little bit different. So yeah, I think that'll be a nice feature. Yeah. And it's good to remember that cellular coverage in the winter can also be spotty, uh, because of the cloud coverage and stuff like that and the storm. uh, just keep that in mind. Um, and then,
After we pick up the car, hopefully we're going to go and find some coffee. That'll be a big thing coming in late and getting up early and getting started. But we have an early reservation at the Blue Lagoon. And this is the lagoon that you've seen pictures of with the blue waters when you look at Iceland. Yeah. So we spend a lot of time looking at people's videos.
spent some time on YouTube and watching people's videos and the big ones in the area that we're going are the blue lagoon, the sky lagoon, which is closer to Reykjavik. And then also, there's another one.
Yeah, I didn't have it in here. I thought you did. Okay. Nope. Okay. And then there's another one that is on the golden circle. So we decided that is kind of like, think it's called the secret lagoon. Yeah. Yeah, maybe so, but we were just thinking, you know, after looking at all that, of course people have
a lot of opinions, but this one's just kind of iconic. is also, it's closer to that airport. So again, it is not in Reykjavik. So, you know, when planning an itinerary, when planning this itinerary, really looking at the map and figuring out where things were and when to book those. So we wouldn't have to spend a lot of time backtracking on, you know, in the snow and places like that to really make efficient use of our time. This is about 20 minutes away from the airport to kind of give you an idea.
And so Melissa said Reykjavik is an hour from the airport. This is on the way to Reykjavik, but it's like 20 minutes from the airport. Yeah. And closer to where you would go to do the Golden Circle Road, which is what we plan to do next. So that's the one that we have planned. And then we will kind of see from there, you know, what our time allows if we decide to do other ones. But we really wanted to kind of do this iconic one.
This one has been named one of the 25 wonders of the world by National Geographic. So, you know, we're really looking forward to that. It's geothermal salt water or sea water, which is rich in silica and algae and minerals. Matter of fact, one of the things there is bathing in the mud and using that as like a cosmetic or skin treatment or whatever while you're in the lagoon.
And we chose a package that included, you know, the use of a towel, a silica mud mask, and then two other masks that you can do. And this is, you know, they give you stuff that you kind of smear on your body and face with, it's basically mud. It has two drinks, the use of a bathrobe while you're there, and then the sauna and steam room. I will say this package is a little bit pricey.
Uh, it's about $125 each, but just kind of think of it as like a spa visit. Yeah. And so we're really excited about that. Um, and so we will obviously report back, tell you what we think. Um, they are very picky from what we have, um, listened to and watched about you having to shower before you go in. Um, and so people had a lot of opinions about, know, getting a package with a bathrobe, getting a package with just towels, you know, things like that.
So, but obviously to keep the water to keep the To keep the lagoon clean. There's a lot of people who you know go to this So that's something that is very regardless of which one you go to that is that is required Yeah, and so we're gonna plan to spend a couple hours there in the lagoon Everything that we've read is that's about the right amount of time to spend there
And then we're going to head out and see some of the most popular tourist spots in Iceland on the Golden Circle. And so our day will start out with a driving or our trip rather, will start out with a driving tour of the Golden Circle. Yeah. So some of the highlights there are walking between the tectonic plates.
The waterfalls, the geyser hot springs, kind of think of it like old faithful, which we also saw in the dead of winter, I think February one year when it was freezing cold. and just kind of checking off those places. Sorry. Okay. And just, checking off those places kind of at our pace and then just seeing how much, you know, how much time that we have at each one. Well, so days two and three are going to be very similar.
we're going to go, we're going to leave from, the, we're actually going to stay at a hotel that's kind of between the golden circle and the South road. And so, you know, we're going to leave from there and we're going to get up and we're going to head down the South road. So that's part of the ring road, but this goes out towards Vic and there's going to be tons of places for us to stop along the way. And so we're going to have two days where we're there on the South road and.
we're also going to have hopefully quite an opportunity based on places, a place that Melissa picked to be able to see the Northern Lights. Yeah. So I read a lot of reviews about different places that popped up and this particular one will do an optional wake up call if the Northern Lights become visible and it's, you everybody's already gone to bed. They will wake you up if you have asked them to. So it just looks,
It just looks absolutely beautiful. So if nothing else, it's a, it looks like a beautiful property. Um, and so we also kind of tried to, to, to split it, right? So we would have a, probably a little bit more time there. So pick something a little bit nicer, whereas the other one is really going to be full day, you know, stop sleep, get back up and go. So kind of prioritizing that. Um, and so these two days will really be, it'll basically be one day out stopping, um, you know, where we want to getting to the hotel.
And then whatever we didn't really have time to do there's a ton of you know ton of different places to see and then we'll have that whole day on the way back to hit the things that we didn't see. Yeah tons of hikes and glaciers and waterfalls and all of those things to be seen out there on the southern or on the south road and so you know we're gonna spend two days there doing that and then we'll head on the third day
We'll be working our way back to Reykjavik. Yeah. So, just depending on if we end up not being freezing, wanting to be out in it, we may spend more time doing that. If not, and we end up getting closer into Reykjavik and decide we want to do the Sky Lagoon, it is open later, we may do that. But that we just really wanted to kind of play by ear instead of feeling like, we got to like rush, rush, rush this day in order to do this. But we'll know we already have a lagoon.
you know, checked off our list. Well, so our final day is going to be in Reykjavik and we've scheduled a food tour that morning. And so we're going with welcome Reykjavik. Wake up Reykjavik. So we're going with wake up Reykjavik on a food tour and they take you of course around downtown Reykjavik as well. So we'll have a chance to see some sites and taste local cuisines and just learn from locals.
Yeah, so we're super excited about that. We've actually been emailing back and forth with them and we're really excited about this food tour. So ideally, it would be best to schedule something like this probably on your very first day, but it just doesn't make sense with our short itinerary to drive all the way to Reykjavik, do this and then head back out. So if you had more time, we would definitely recommend probably starting there. Or if you were gonna do tours, stay in Reykjavik and do tours.
from there, because that is where a lot of the day tours or the Northern Lights tours or the multi-day tours go out of. But we're going to do that at the end. And of course, while in Reykjavik, you have to visit the Reykjavik Church. And that is this thing that looks like this, I don't know, out of Star Wars or something building. And so we'll be there. We'll have some pictures of that.
And then I'm sure that there, we're going to see things on the food tour that we're going to want to go back and investigate just a little bit further. So we're looking forward to having that day in Reykjavik, just to kind of wander around before we leave to go back to the airport. And so then that's an afternoon flight. So we'll have thankfully most of the day. Well, Melissa, given that the weather is going to be a high of, I was looking at third today, 35 degrees and snow showers. What do we need to take with us?
So I am... What do we need to pack?
So I am a little nervous about how cold it's gonna be, but we have always said, like when you're dressed appropriately, right, then it's fine. So we are planning to do layers, right? And you- There's no inappropriate weather. There's just inappropriate dress. Right. And so we've always said, okay, when you, you know, when it's cold somewhere, like here in Florida, when you don't expect it, it's like, feels miserable. But if you're going skiing or something like that and you're all geared up,
You know, it feels really good. So we have gotten some layers. You have done some wool layers and then just different things that we can layer. I'm planning on taking my...
Let's just start over again. So Melissa, given that the weather is going to be a high of about 35 degrees and there's going to be snow showers while we're there, what do we need to pack for this trip? So for us, that is going to be really cold. But I think when you have the appropriate clothing and you're all bundled up and you know it's going to be cold, it's not quite as miserable as, you know, it being cold in Florida and you're like, what even is this? Yeah.
What does it say? There's no inappropriate weather. There's only inappropriate dress. Yes, that's true. So, definitely layers. And in this case, we're going to need some warm moisture wicking layers to wear under, you know, our warm clothes. So I know you've gotten some wool things. have some different, leggings and base layers. so definitely having those that we can wear, you know, multiple days and then a middle layer, like a sweater.
so that if you need to, guess, like, you know, pull stuff off while you're in the car and not be, you know, completely bundle up. so we'll probably have several of those and then outer layer waterproof parkas. I've got like a two layer, skiing jacket that I use. and so I'll take that and then I'm actually going to take my snow pants too. Yeah. I've heard a lot of people say that, you, you really don't need to take a lot of clothes.
different clothes and outfits on this trip, because most of the time you're gonna be wearing these outer layers. And so nobody's even gonna see what you're wearing underneath there. Yeah, that's true. And so thankfully, it's not gonna be like, it's not like it's hot in London. So I think a lot of those like sweater layers and stuff, I think will serve dual purpose. And then I can just have the leggings and wear the snow pants over them as well. Definitely gloves, warm hat.
And then I think the biggest thing that we have read and heard from people is the waterproof and insulated shoes. Them having higher tops to help from the snow getting down inside your shoes. So just think about like, you know, if you are a skier or, know, obviously if you, you know, live somewhere where you have the snow, you would have those types of things. But if you're a skier, what you would take to, you know, wear.
And so but also making sure that they have a good grip on the soul So you'll because you'll be walking out to you know, some of these sites and stuff as well icy icy terrain maybe icy pavement, right? And so you've got some for some reason I got rid of mine when we moved to Florida I don't know what I was thinking like I'm never going skiing again or something. So my plan is to try to pick up a pair at like a Winter weather outfitter, you know while we're in London, so
I can see she's already made a trip to Burberry in her mind. And so then of course, warm moisture wicking socks and of course some kind of wool like soft wool always is better because it's antimicrobial and just keeps wicks that off of you. And then of course we're to have bathing suits for the lagoons. And then like you mentioned, if you're going later in the winter, like we are in March, you'll probably want a pair of sunglasses just for the...
for the glare and I know a lot of times, especially since you'll be driving, you know, having that for the driving. And so then again, just versatile layers, things that can be layered. But again, we've heard several people that say, don't, you know, plan on something that where you've got to be a fashion show every day because, know, like again, kind of like when you go skiing, nobody's going to see that. Well, before we sign off this week, watch out for the rest of the week. We're going to have some special edition mini episodes.
What we're doing is we're planning on recording a daily mini episode that will be available anywhere that you listen to podcasts. We'll cover the highlights of the day and any recommendations that we learn along the way. We'll share those with you. Yeah, we thought that would just be something fun and different. And then we can actually kind of record.
and give our thoughts and reflections along the way and what we're doing. So we just thought that would be a fun and unique way to bring you a little bit different content.
Well, if you've been thinking about planning a trip to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, or as part of a stopover program, we hope that you find this episode helpful. If you've been during the winter, send me an email, [email protected] and let me know if there's anything else that we shouldn't miss. The world is full of sunshine and surprises. Make 2025 the year that you explore beyond the familiar.
