If I Were Going...: Iceland in January 9: Observations

A great trip

Our final day in Iceland dawned clear (ok, dawned at 10:15 a.m.) and we planned on a nice drive around the southwest peninsula. The first part was clear, but not particularly interesting and, then, as we approached Grindavík, it started to snow. I was so concerned that after 10 days of avoiding automotive disaster I would lose it in this slush that I slowed down and crept through the mountains. We had planned to take the outer road of the peninsula, but we couldn’t find the turnoff and the weather got worse, so we just headed to Keflavik for our trip home.

Once we gassed and returned the car, checked in and had lunch, we really didn’t have to wait that long to head home.

Just as the flight to Iceland was all in darkness, the trip home is all light, so no aurora. It was mainly cloudy, but we did have a brief view of ice flows near Greenland.

From the plane

Then, home!

It was a fabulous trip with a great traveling companion.

Intrepid travelers

We had some disappointments – no Orcas, less aurora than we hoped, weather issues.

Winter in Iceland: what did we expect?

But, we also had better weather than predicted with some sunlight every day.

Some days, it was better the expected

The food was good.

Soup is Iceland's greatest strength

The people were friendly and the scenery was spectacular.

Gorgeous

A final disappointment is that we discovered that both of us had independently misremembered the ISO for shooting aurora, resulting in grainy photos.

But still cool

So, I guess we need another aurora trip to redeem ourselves!!!

I came away with some recommendations for traveling in Iceland in the winter:

Rent a four-wheel drive car

Become familiar with the Iceland Road Conditions website

Take weather forecasts with a grain of salt and understand the effect of wind chill

Make the most of daylight – there isn’t much (but, know that you get about an hour of light before sunrise and sometimes a long dusk)

Forget your ideas about weather – the temperature stays pretty consistent day or night (no cooling down at night) and there isn’t enough sun to melt anything off in the daytime

Forget your ideas about where the sun rises and sets. It does everything in the south – a nice little arc from southeast to southwest

Drive carefully – there is a lot of ice on the road

Take water- and wind-proof clothing (I had both snow and wind pants)

Take crampons – a medium spike is fine -- and take an extra set in case one breaks

Pack as much coordinated clothing as you want, but no one will see it (except at hotel meals) because you’ll probably be in weather pants and jackets all day long