[Closed] What to do in Iceland in February?

Reykjavik is nice enough I guess, but for me the real appeal of Iceland is it's countryside. So much variety and utterly beautiful...there is no place like it in the world that I've visited yet. So if you have time then do something that gets you out into the countryside. I skirted it via the islands coastal road on a cycling event, so didn't get into the interior, but saw some properly jaw dropping sights. I want to go back. Campervan is by far the best way to see the place.

Mountiain taxi. Give it a google.

So much variety and utterly beautiful…there is no place like it in the world that I’ve visited yet.

Same here - but I went in June 🙂

We went in December. Hired a 4X4 (much cheaper than in the summer) and used airbnbs and a couple of quirky independent hotels. It felt like a proper adventure but in truth it wasn't really - we just got to see most of the tourist hot spots without the crowds you get if you go everywhere on a tour. And also a bit of proper Icelandic life.

I like Reykjavik but to be honest more than a couple of nights is a waste of a trip in my opinion. Planning needs to be better in the winter to make the most of the daylight.

Thought this was going to be another supper market thread.

Watching out for aurora would be high on my list! The longer period of darkness should give a better opportunity, but solar activity makes a big difference as well. I’ve been lucky enough to see the aurora down here in Wiltshire, and it was jaw-droppingly beautiful, so I’d use the trip to more northern latitudes to increase my chances.

Yep, forgot that. We spent 10 days there and didn't see a thing despite our best efforts and favourable cloudless skies most of the time. Then saw them on NYE in the highlands on our return somewhere I'd been countless times before. Don't make it the focus of the trip but def a good thing about going in winter.

Get a hire car and drive to one of the waterfalls, or Laugarvatn Fontana thermal baths to bathe in an icy lake then leg it back into the Sauna.

Then when you're done, get chips from Reykjavik chips-thank me later

We went for 6 days last February, it is a truly amazing place.

We had various trips and tours booked out into the hills, nearly all of them were cancelled due to storms. As a result we were in Reykjavik for 5 days which, like most city breaks, was probably too long.  We made the most of it though and I can recommend the following:

Do a food tour. A great value way to have an interesting tour of the city, eating where locals eat and sampling some amazing food. Highly recommended.

Take in a show at Harpa, the newish concert hall down at the harbour. Even if you can't see a show visit the building

Get some cocktails in Apotek. Drinks and food are staggeringly expensive. Download a app called Appy Hour which tells you where all of the happy hours are, prices usually down by 50%.

We booked a lot of our stuff through Nordic Visitor, very knowledgable and helpful guys. When our tours were cancelled they rearranged everything and advised us on alternative itinerary. Even if you don't use them, I would recommend looking a their site for inspiration and ideas

Get out of the city, we did a golden circle tour including a trip out to a glacier to go snowmobiling. It was truly fantastic.  The mountain taxi's are awesome and this is really the essence of Iceland.

Don't go to the Blue Lagoon, it is expensive, commercial and cliched

Start saving up now. It is very expensive, very very expensive

Two good museums in Reykjavik.

The National Museum, about Iceland's history (it was pretty grim) and the Maritime Museum, which has a section on the Cod War, but obviously from the Islandic viewpoint..

Conceive a child, it's what we did, although if it's with your sister it might be detrimental to your moral compass. The nights are long though......

Forget hiring a 4WD. We hired a Toyota Yaris for driving around on the wash board gravel. Much more "interesting".

Two good museums

<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">Yet you don't mention the penis museum? </span>

Oh - I believe Reykjavik is the first place to offer drone deliveries, might be worth a try.

Err... deliveries of produce. Not babies.

I was there last February, it was amazing!!

Tomato soup at the tomato farm. (Honestly)

Gulfoss.

Definitely keeping an eye out for good conditions for aurora. I was lucky enough to see them. Utterly mesmerising and nothing like what you see in U.K.

expect to have to change your plans depending on weather. I remember my Icelandic friend explains “well, we’re on plan Z now - but don’t worry, we have three extra letters in Icelandic...”

rachel

We went in February. Did a two nighter inland trip in monster trucks, Gulfoss, Geiser, Lanmanaluguer (however its spelled) that was pretty cool. Also did an overnighter trip along the coast to see the iceberg lake, walk on a glacier, Selfoss, that was good too.

Reykjavik is great, lots to see, great bars and cafes. When we were there you could get a Happy Hour app that told you when all the happy hours were starting at the various bars, so your could do a bit of a cheap(er) bar crawl.

Give a child a banana.

If you want to see the aurora but it’s not playing ball there’s an exhibition down by the harbour which shows some stunning 4K footage on big screens as well as background information. But I found the landscape the  star, just epic in an otherworldly sense.