Winter in Iceland

After returning from Iceland in the summer, it only took two weeks for me to miss it terribly.  Playing around with the Icelandair flight costs, I realized I could return for a pre-Christmas vacation with little time off work, and a very affordable round-trip flight cost.









Nearly everyone asked "Why Iceland in the winter?!?"  Well, the northern lights are the biggest winter attraction, but Icelanders are said to love Christmas, and being there before Christmas seemed like a good plan.

I decided to wait until the Aurora forecast to make any plans, and once that happened and I saw the weather in addition to it, I decided it would be best not to make any plans at all and to just enjoy my time there.

As it turned out, that was the best plan - the week was far too overcast to see the northern lights.  In fact, some of the tours were even canceled due to weather (there were a couple very windy days).   So, what did I do for a whole week?

Well, I got to meet up with an acquaintance and learn about Icelandic microbrews.

I enjoyed the Christmas markets.  They aren't as big and fancy as the German and Austrian ones, but I did enjoy some mulled wine, browse the "Christmas-themed" flea market, and spend a couple hours at the main Christmas market, outside of Reykjavik.  It was indoor in a mall, with some stores and some tables of smaller businesses.  There was an accordion player and a singer, and Santa came to play and sing with the kids.  I especially enjoyed the Viking store, with items made in the tradition of the Vikings.























I also enjoyed walking along the bay.  It's not as packed with tourists as it is in the summer time, and on less windy days, it's quite beautiful.











I love being in Iceland.  The food, the people, the weather - it's all wonderful.  I'm already trying to plan my next trip.