Need a few days holiday early/mid march and fancy something off the bucket list rather than the bikeriding stuff i’ve defaulted-to the last few years (that’s for this summer, hopefully 😉 ). Some Orca-spotting and some possibility of Aurora action points me to Iceland as the main contender rather than mainland Scandinavia. But such a bleak environment doesn’t inspire me even though i hear so many positives about it. Any experiences, folks?

I’ve been but it was a bit later in the year. Don’t think bleak, think epic!

We went in Feb half term on 2013, I think, had a great time – only three nights, I think it was, and we packed a load in, geysers, waterfalls, extinct volcanoes, the Atlantic rift thingy, that blue lagoon thing. I think there’s plenty to do if you plan, might be a bit bleak if you’re hoping for lively nightspots or avant garde cuisine. But then, I left the planning to Mrs Pondo, so maybe that stuff is there but she opted for us not to see it. 🙂

We end March last year for two nights. Saw the Northern Lights (lucky apparently, not been seen for about 10 days). That was great but you do end up standing in a very cold car park for two hours trying not to trip over other peoples tripods. Amazing thing to see tho.

We also went whale watching, did local hot springs (rather than blue lagoon as recommended by a local we met in a pub!), wandered about Reykjavik which is a lovely place, really interesting. Thought about doing the ‘circle’ tour but it was a whole day and it was our first ever holiday together away from the kids so we just wanted to wander without a ‘I’m bored’ or ‘Can we have hot chocolate now?’ 😉

It snowed a bit and was proper cold. Tourist office is good (near the waterfront), and lots of concessions on trips. Local buses are brilliant and cheap. Beer isn’t that expensive and the food is fantastic especially if you like fish.

One word of caution tho – because we didn’t have the kids, we thought ‘oh the penis museum, that’ll be a laugh’. It wasn’t 😉

Went in February, it was excellent.

and we packed a load in, geysers, waterfalls, extinct volcanoes, the Atlantic rift thingy, that blue lagoon thing. I think there’s plenty to do if you plan,

all that, yep. Spectacular. Loads of companies organising trips.

might be a bit bleak if you’re hoping for lively nightspots

nope, tonnes of lively late night places on the main street in Rekyavik

or avant garde cuisine.

well I had tapas made with (amongst other things) puffin, shark and minky whale, so I wouldn’t agree with that either.

Fair play, we were out in the sticks somewhere, maybe three quarters of an hour from Rekyavik, and there was definitely nothing happening there in an evening. We got back late (after seven) one night, and I swear the only place we could buy food was a burger joint/corner shop combo. 🙂

I went on Saturday, I got a Chicken Tikka Lasagne and a cookie dough cheesecake, for 99p each!

Oh, sorry, wrong Iceland.. ;o)

We went this time last year. One night in Rejkavik, then flew up to Akureyri where we spent three days staying at the Saeluhus Apartments. Saw the lights from our hot tub. I’m not usually one for organised tours, but we did a 1 day Lake Myvatn trip which was fantastic. Included the Myvatn Nature Baths which were fantastic – much better than the Blue Lagoon. Then we had a final day back in Rejkavik, including the Blue Lagoon – but we all agreed that Akureyri was the highlight of the trip.

Iceland do free delivery for peeps without cars for a few quid. No need to wait till March

if you’re hoping for lively nightspots

As above, Rek has some proper mental night spots. Everyone drinks themselves seal-faced without any of the kicking off you can get in the UK.

Everyone was friendly and helpful and the scenery is breathtaking.

Go now.

We missed out, then – think we stayed in Hveragerði. Quiet there. 🙁 They have got an earthquake simulator though. 🙂

Its a beautiful place, very cold so take duvets ,base layers etc, only two downsides are the fact that most activities are organised and everybody goes to the same attractions- geysers, blue lagoon ,northern lights, oh and the minbute you turn on a tap the place smells like one big eggy fart.[ geo-thermal eggfart energy apparrantly ]

Ta for the replies, folks. Just booked the flights and planning to do the independent-thing i.e. rent a car and see what occurs. Brushing up on my Sigur Ros now 8)