Anyone been to Reykjavic with kids?

[DaffodilField]

Thinking of doing a stopover en route to New York. Anyone done it? kids are 4 and 2.

Would fly direct to NYC rather than stop over in Iceland. It just adds more time to an already very long day.

I mean a stopover for five or six days, so effectively a two centre holiday

I've been there without kids, it was quite hard work. They need the tourist dollars but seem to resent tourists, so don't really make it easy for you. Reykjavik is fairly small, you'd exhaust it in a day or two. Most trips seemed to be either boat or bus trips so not appropriate for kids. Nice town for walking around though. We only did day trips so not sure what is further afield, but driving is easy

We did it at Easter on the way back from New York. I think 2-3 days probably realistic with young DCs. 5-6 days may be a bit too long.

We only stopped for 36 hours, which wasn't ideal, mainly because of the timings of the flights, which I hadn't really appreciated when I booked them. Our flight left NY in the evening and because of tail wind, only took 4 hours to get to Rekjavik, so we arrived early hours (NY time) 6am Icelandic time, which wasn't great. DCs (12 and 10) and DH slept but I didn't as severe turbulence.

In order to max our time there we booked a coach trip at airport for the Golden Circle tour (8 hours) and took bus into town to join that (grabbing some breakfast at nearby bakery!) at 8am. We did bus trip with the kids sleeping on and off. It was sometimes 45 mins between venues so we all had little kips. It was interesting but a bit too long for my liking. A friend had recommended the coach so the kids could sleep. The jeep tours go off road and are more bumpy etc so not so comfortable, apparently. A car may be better for you.

That afternoon we returned to Rekjavik and stayed in fab apartment (Rey Apartments - central, clean and toasty warm - check Tripadvisor). Slept like the dead that night and woke up next morning at 10am. I phoned to book a trip to Blue Lagoon en route to airport and by 11am we were in the pools! We had 2 hours there and it was lovely but eye-wateringly expensive. Not sure whether you'd get max value with little ones. Then went straight on to airport and flew back to London.

My impression of Iceland is that I couldn't imagine spending more than 2-3 days there in total. It was interesting and with some stunning scenery but at times a bit like a lunar landscape! If you're into walking etc then I can imagine longer but I'm from a country with similar geographical features so it wasn't that wow-ish for me. Rekjavik very nice but small. Everything very very expensive. Our humble bakery breakfast was over £35!! The people we dealt with were lovely - very friendly and helpful.

HTH.

BTW, If you're going on Icelandair, they were brilliant. We took a picnic lunch which we ate in Rekjavik airport when we were changing flights on the way to NY and on the way back had a meal before going to the airport.

Celeriacacaca that is brilliantly brilliantly helpful thank you

We went for about 5 days in the summer with DD (3). Had a really good time, though it isn't cheap. Rented an apartment in central Reykjavik, so pretty much everything there was walking distance.
All the museums were very kid friendly, with special areas with colouring, viking toys etc. For kids, I would especially recommend the open air museum as that has lots for kids to do including a massive house full of toys and dressing up stuff. It is a bit out of the centre of town, but you can drive/taxi/bus.
We hired a car on one of the days and drove round the Golden Circle. Did a fishing boat trip, which DD absolutely loved. Went to the horse theatre. Stopped off at Blue Lagoon on way to the airport.
If you have the time and the budget, would definitely recommend it. In terms of making the journey to US easier, then not really sure it would make that much difference though.

There is lots to see and do around Rekyavik but I think it would suit older DCs better. The waterfalls are stunning, the museums are good (and as PPs said, kid-friendly), the geysers etc good fun and there are places were you can get up onto a glacier fairly safely which is quite an experience. If you ride, it's worth knowing that the horses are fantastic - small, but strong and lively.

If your DC were 8 and 6, I'd say, do it: waterfalls, pony trek, boat trip, Blue Lagoon, fab museums. But at 4 and 2, I'm not so sure. Iceland is eye-wateringly expensive, and you might get more out of a two-centre trip to the US for less outlay.

We went with DC a couple of years ago and did waterfalls, Blue Lagoon, geysers and a few museums. Also went whale watching and although we spotted a couple a long way off, it wasn't a massive success as DS felt seasick.

We were there for a week and booked an apartment through Airbnb which was in walking distance of the city centre and worked out a lot cheaper than a hotel. We ate breakfast in and packed lunch to take out with us. We just ate dinner out as we found it quite expensive.

On our flight home there was a couple who'd stopped off on their way back from the States so i'd definately consider this as a option for future trips. The contrast between the two places is just massive.