Iceland Feb 2022 with kids

[DinosaurOfFire]

Hi all, we are going on a group family holiday with kids to Iceland in February, and I have a couple of questions I was hoping people would have knowledge about!

• What sort of activities are good for a wide age range? We have kids between the ages of 4 and 13 going. The 3 youngest kids have sensory issues, 1 is autistic and 2 are waiting assessment for possible autism/ adhd. We have Blue Lagoon booked (but am not sure if we will actually get the younger ones in yet, will play that by ear on the day!) We are also hoping to ski one of the days if there's enough snow.

• What sort of clothing do we need? My youngest has skin allergies which make wearing wool and polyester next to his skin impossible, so I was thinking of cotton leggings, jogging bottoms, and then waterproof fleece lined trousers on top. I don't know if these are windproof though. I am also thinking cotton long sleeve top, followed by a jumper/ collarless fleece, and winter coat (We have proper waterproof/ windproof padded winter coats already for the kids). And waterproof ski-type mittens? I was planning to replicate these layers on all 3 of my kids but maybe merino base layers instead of cotton for the older 2, depending on their sensory needs. I'm wary of cotton though as years of skiing has drummed into me that cotton isn't suitable for very cold weather, is it likely to be ok?

• Covid restrictions- currently, Iceland has restricted entry to places. I'm wondering how much this is likely to affect us, as a group of 11, will we all be allowed in the supermarket together? Will one of us have to shop alone etc? What about restaurants- I realise this is kind of a "how long is a piece of string" question at the mo with things changing.

• Allergies and diet- we have various allergies across various members of our group, including dairy, gluten, mustard, egg, coconut, soya, as well as some minor ones that are less important. Is Iceland set up to cater for allergies in restaurants? Or are we safer just eating in our cabin for most meals (which I imagine might restrict what activities we can feasibly do).

Thanks!

How cold is it going to be OP? I lived in skiwear in Finland in Feb. It was just so cold that anything else wasn't warm enough. So no, personally, I wouldn't be putting kids in jogging bottoms and waterproof trousers in Iceland in the middle of winter, that's what they'd wear for a muddy day at the park in the UK. Ditto cotton base layers, but if that's all you can actually get the DC to wear then just make sure they've got fleece layers on top, a really warm coat, ski mittens, hat and padded trousers. You can pick up quite inexpensive ski wear from Mountain Warehouse.

I've no idea on your other questions, but I'd taken plenty of snacks that your restricted diet family members can eat, for emergencies.

Hmmm weather wise, a quick google tells me it's historically between -1 and 7 degrees C in February, and potentially rainy/ dry/ snowy. We are going with my FIL who has been many times before, but who doesn't feel the cold and loves extreme weather so I haven't really had a clear answer from him about what to expect weather wise! Beyond 'it could be snowing, it could be raining, it could be dry'. I think I will have to invest in ski trousers for my youngest then, and maybe take the others as a spare. Thank you for the advice! I will pack my suitcase with snacks for sure- I'm putting together a list at the moment to try and cover all bases.

Oh okay - that's not as cold as I thought it would be. -1 is cold, for sure, but it was that temp this morning on my driveway! Finland is MUCH colder than that - it was -25 one day and OMG I've never experienced anything like it.

If you're going to be outside all day in that temp though (and don't forget wind chill), then you may even be okay in kit you described in your OP. I guess I'd just take layers, always a good idea anyway, and you can then add/subtract as necessary.

It was freezing the wind cut you in two.
The food well its not cheap, we ate at a road side diner it was excellent, Subway is the same as here, but we stayed in an apartment and ate Pizza from the supermarket.
The Apartment owner advised us to self cater as its so expensive and often not to our taste.
In one place soup and a coffee was £40!
The road condition are very bad and I have driven in some bad weather, so read up and take your time.
We had a great trip the Blue Lagoon is expensive but it was a great morning out.

Where are you going to be? I live here and can try and answer your questions, but it would be easier if you said whereabouts you'll be based. Just in Reykjavík or?

1. The swimming pools are good for everyone. I can recommend specific pools or museums if you say where you are.

1. It's unlikely to be extremely cold, but it could theoretically get down to about -10 and the wind can be chilly. My children aged 4 and 6 usually wear all-in-one snowsuits throughout most of the winter, but what you describe sounds basically fine to me. If the outer layer is wind and waterproof I think it will work, as long as you have warm boots/mittens/hats as well.

1. It's a bit extreme right now, with 10-person limit on gatherings and bars closed. That might change in early Feb. But you can all go in the supermarket together, that's no problem, and restaurants should be fine.

1. Yes, most places will be good with allergies I think.

@PuffinShop We will be about 1hr from the airport/ 45 mins from Reykjavik in cabins, we are hiring cars to drive around places. Pools wise, the kids sensory issues mean there is a chance they will hate swimming- we are doing some 'test swims' before we go to hopefully get them used to the environment. Museums would be great!

The plan is to get winter wellies, the type that are certified down to -15 c, as again thanks to sensory issues structured walking boots are out for my 3. I am glad to hear that my idea for keeping kids warm with layers should be ok! I figure if they're too cold, we can always stay in the cabin and play board games etc.

Is it a 10 person limit? And where does that apply- it turns out there are 14 of us, not 11. When I was reading up on Iceland, it looked like kids born after 2016 didn't count but thats only one of the group, the others were all born after that.

And an extra question: I am mask exempt as I have sensory issues, wearing a mask triggers an autistic meltdown or shutdown, is it a good idea to take a printed out card in Icelandic to show people? I have seen ones that are available online to print out. I can see that the .is website about covid mentions exempt people but there doesn't seem to be an official exemption card or anything? Much like the UK on that one I guess.

Thanks everyone so much for your answers! This is all super helpful.

This 10 person thing only affects certain businesses. It doesn't apply in many spaces, like pools can operate at 50% capacity which is a lot more than 10 people. It's a bother for theatres, restaurants and musicians, but what my local cafe does is put a line down down the middle and say only 10 people can be on this side unless they need to cross to go to the toilet - it's all a load of rubbish! And people can do what they like in their own houses. Basically you don't really need to worry about it as a visitor, only if you are trying to keep a business afloat here. As a large group you might want to ring ahead if you want to go to a restaurant and check how they are dealing with this. But it applies until 2 Feb and obviously we all hope things will change for the better at that point.

I'd say that to Iceland's shame there is very little understanding of disabilities and conditions that stop people wearing masks. The adults I have spoken to in this position have basically limited their lives rather than challenge it, because they couldn't get any recognition even when they spoke to their doctors and there has been zero public messaging around exemptions so I am sure many people believe there are no exemptions. Personally I think it's appalling but I have to be truthful, I think you may experience some problems getting into places. I hope I am wrong. Try the card but don't bother trying to write it in Icelandic unless one of you is fluent, English will be understood. Or carry round a print out of the official guidelines about exemptions from the website, or have the tab up on your phone.

Those lined wellies will be fine. Loads of Icelandic kids wear those.

One of the best museums for children and adults is Árbæjarsafn. It's an open air history museum with a load of old houses and buildings you can go into and explore, including lots of things to play with and go karts outside and some farm animals. It's interesting and fun for all ages. It is better in summer but I'd still go.

I live in Iceland too, and run a restaurant so I won’t really go into the other points as @PuffinShop has given great pointers.

Restaurants are well equipped at dealing with allergies, and legally have to provide a allergy card with the most common allergens as is the UK. It is important though to tell staff about any allergy you have.
With regards to the 10 people rule, it doesn’t apply to restaurants as it’s 20 people in them per “square” which is just an imaginary line on the floor.

Stores are not limited to the 10 people rule either.

Árbæjarsafn is great but last time I went there weren’t any gokarts or farm animals outside. We love the petting zoo (fjölskyldu- og húsdýragarðurinn).
But it really depends on what your family is into what I’d recommend.

I’m also struggling to think of places that are an hour away from the airport and 45 mins from Reykjavik. So if you could give the location it would be easier to give recommendations.

We are staying near or in Hveragerði?

The exemption/ masks thing is a bit of a shame, I will do what you have suggested PuffinShop and download the official rules to my phone to share. Worst case scenario, we don't do anything that's inside I guess. Do you need masks to enter places like swimming pools/ ski lifts? My kids are unlikely to go anywhere I don't when we are on holiday, they get quite nervous so even though my DH would be there it would take both of us to get the 3 of them into venues etc.

I will check out that museum, had a quick look and it looks fab! Thanks for the suggestion.

@hotmess19 The petting farm looks good too. My kids like being outside, animals, art and craft type stuff, running around, beaches, interactive museums, dinosaurs, snow in theory but they haven't really seen that in person! They don't like getting wet, getting too cold, or bright loud echoey environments, one is afraid of heights, another one of water, and none of them like the dark.

@DinosaurOfFire what date do you go? We're going in Feb too. I've just finished our shopping today.

We're going with wind and waterproof coats (Rab, Mountain Warehouse, Aldi ski), waterproof trousers (Regatta at Amazon), thermal layers (Decathlon and Aldi). We've bought waterproof snow shoes from Decathlon too. Clothing wise will be things we already have, we'll just layer up. We've also bought microspikes for our boots for near waterfalls etc.

@KenAdams you are more organised than me! I have the kids coats, DH has ski trousers from when we went years ago and he has base layers, but thats about it as I've had 3 kids since we went skiing so nothing fits me from that.
We are going the second week of Feb. Which microspikes did you get? I saw those recommended on a reddit thread but wasn't sure if that would be overkill or not.

@DinosaurOfFire
We went to Iceland in September and even then days were very wet, cold at times (it snowed) and very windy. The chill factor can be very great. If the DC don’t like the cold I’m struggling to see how they will enjoy the outside.

I haven’t checked opening times but there are museums in Reykjavik and Borganes (The Settlement Centre) which are excellent. Lonely Planet Guide is the best for activities and has ideas for children. There are Skogar and Arbaer open air museums. We went to Skogar and it was brilliant. It has many indoor exhibits and we found the reconstructed buildings fascinating. Children would get a lot out of going.

I would also highly recommend the Super Jeep tours. Just amazing and DC would love it.

I don’t think cotton clothes are good enough and you need to do further research. Food is expensive. But we found great little restaurants that were not expensive. Again Lonely Planet was helpful. Having said that, we eat well but are easy to cater for!

@TizerorFizz I wouldn't have chosen it myself as a family destination but this year will be a special birthday for my FIL so he is treating us all, as its his favourite place in the world. So I'm hoping for the best (snow to distract the kids from the temperature, cosy evenings in the cabin playing board games, nice food, beautiful scenery, northern lights) while planning for the worst (not being able to tolerate cold or wet so needing to stay in the cabin while others go on excursions, dealing with meltdowns in the car while the others go and do stuff, having emergency safe snacks in the suitcase etc).

With the cotton, I'm thinking that fleece jumpers/ trousers over a long sleeve cotton top/ bottoms but under ski trousers may work- it goes against everything I've learnt about base layers and the cold but unfortunately my DS is so allergic to artificial fibres and wool that if they touch his skin they trigger severe weeping eczema. Apparently uniqlo do a cotton lined heattech range so I'm going to look into that.

Price wise, what sort of range are we talking for maybe 1 course in a restaurant, with soft drinks? We don't drink much alcohol at all so that's not really a factor for us. Where we live, I would usually pay about £15 for an adult and about £7.50 for a kids meal in a restaurant, what I've seen on trip advisor etc is that we maybe need to budget £20 per adult per meal in Iceland? I anticipate that we will take some packed meals out and about and that most evening meals will be cooked in the cabin.

It really depends where you eat. It’s a huge shame FIL didn’t book in warmer months! In my view. However if he’s paying, that’s great.

I think we paid about that for “standard” meals but no idea what child meals cost. I’m not sure we went anywhere that had them! Children seemed to eat what parents ate. However there’s enough choice in bigger places and if you are cooking in the evening it won’t be too difficult to find lunch or take it with you. However small places like fishing villages really don’t have much choice. Or anything at all. Even places like Stykkisholmur which is a tourist centre had 2 restaurants, a take away and a bakery open in September. So I really would try and work out an itinerary and then look at possible restaurants. For example you can eat at Geysir but it’s pricy. Handy though! However lots of sights have nowhere much so you need to plan. Lots of cafes are quite large inside, we found, but not a huge choice of food. Reykjavik is very different.

I think cotton next to skin is fine but you need fleeces and wind proof jackets over. Just like skiing really. Layers. Hats that protect ears are vital in my view.

I didn’t mean to be negative but we were surprised at very high winds and snow in September. We were trapped in the car for 3 hours in a car park with about 8 other vehicles. It was so windy it was dangerous to drive. In fact we saw one young men struggle open his car door at all. Roads were closed. Generally the roads around Iceland are in great condition. Sections are not paved inland but the tourist areas/circuits are fine. Some roads are not open to non 4x4 vehicles. Personally I’m glad we had a 4x4. Others we met regretted not having one! Added advantage of DC seeing more too! I’m sure you will be fine with planning.

I haven't been myself, but I've heard good things about the Lava Centre, which would be an easy one to visit if you take a day trip a little way up the south coast. Which you should do even if you don't go as far as Jökulsárlón - just go as far as Vík and see Dyrahólaey and Reynisfjara and the main waterfalls along the way.

For pools I hear the one at Þorlákshöfn is really good especially for kids (if your kids would like it). Selfoss and Hveragerði pools are also good - almost all pools are good in Iceland.

Yeah I think you are meant to wear a mask in the reception area for the pool (I just do so I haven't noticed whether it's a rule atm) but obviously you take it right off in the changing room so hopefully they won't be too bothered about it. Not sure about skiing.

With the weather of course it is a stormy time of year but you could be lucky so best just to take it as it comes. For example it's windy and rainy this week but not cold at all, about 5°. Cotton will be absolutely fine with the right layers on top. Iceland is usually milder than people tend to assume, it's nothing like Sweden or Canada or other places that get real extreme cold. It is often very windy which is why you need a windproof shell, but don't stress about base layers.

Again I really second what @PuffinShop is saying.
Lava centre is brilliant
Perlan museum is a favourite and should be ideal for your kids.
Selfoss swimming pool is brilliant (we go there quite a bit)
Kerið near Selfoss always impresses people I know

Food prices are high but moving from Bournemouth it’s not too crazy (apart from fast food). Meals at my restaurant are about £15 with a soft drink, however we are more in the fast casual range. Most restaurants I frequent are in the same price range.
However if you want something like McD’s you’d have to go to metro who are around a tenner for a meal.

And Iceland really isn’t as cold as you’d think, in my family we just wear what we’d wear in the UK with an added layer of a wind proof.

Apologies for jumping on with a question but we are off to Reykjavik in Feb half term too! I've been before, but almost 20 years ago and in July though so it's going to be a very different experience. I would say a visit to the cathedral is a must, when I visited it someone was playing the organ and it was an incredible experience.

I am a little confused about the testing rules for entry. I've booked one of those rapid LFTs which is delivered a few days before. Is this correct or do I need to go somewhere in person?

I'm reading all your comments with interest - I love the country so much and can't wait to visit again.

My advice is be careful not to speed and read up on the Highway Code. We didn't get any speeding tickets but we were worried that we would.

OP, are you able to wear anything around your face at all? A bunched up scarf might detract from the fact you aren't wearing a mask.

@ReginaPhalangee it could change before your travels but all the info is here island.is/en/p/entry for you. I’ve personally travelled having done one of those tests and they weren’t bothered.

@ReginaPhalangee
In September we did remote ones at home with a zoom link. We got a discount from the holiday company. I think you now go to a testing provider and ask for a holiday test. They then give you a certificate snd QR code. DH going to Austria shortly and that’s what he’s doing. I don’t think you need to anything did return here if jabbed.

Our test results were checked in Iceland on arrival. After passport control. Their government website should have details.

We saw two cars stopped by the police in a pretty quiet area! Same police car but 2 different locations. We think they had speed traps. We took all driving fairly carefully but the cars stopped seemed to be locals. A Range Rover and a Volvo.

I think according to the official rules, self-administered tests are not valid. But they might not be checking it very strictly, I don't know. Citizens don't have to test before the border at the moment, we test at the border instead, so it's a bit different.

Well we were ok in September but it was with a zoom link for authentication. I strongly advise anyone to check with the country they are visiting. There are plenty of holiday testing outlets in pharmacies etc. We went with the recommended company and got a discount. It’s still an expensive test now DH has looked around and the timescale is tight so you need a reliable service. In Iceland we did the zoom link in our hotel to test for extra to the UK. Iceland had few testing sites. None where we were before flying home so the zoom one was the only option! Thankfully there is no requirement for this now.

extra …. Entry to the uk.

"You must also provide the results of a PCR test or rapid antigen test. The test must be taken less than 72 hours to boarding. Please note that a self-test is not sufficient. "

But Icelandic bureaucracy does tend to be a bit slack.