Iceland

[Susiesue61]

Hi. Have seen fab and reasonably priced holidays to Iceland with Iceland air. Looking to book something as a surprise for DH. Has anyone flown with them or booked anything with them? Looking to go in late February - does anyone know if that’s a good time for the Northern lights and whether it will be too flipping cold?!

Flown with them a few times, no problems. And have seen the Northern Lights in February, just glorious. From memory, it was about -3 to +3 degrees then, so not massively cold (have got much, much colder in Scandinavia). Just normal clothes that you'd have for cold winters here, good gloves. The one tip is - clue's in the name - it can be VERY icy in places, eg by some of the waterfalls, so take moon boots with spikes, or you can buy tracks to slip over normal boots.

It's absolutely my favourite country on earth. Your DH is lucky!

th you, sounds incredible 😊 I’ve been saving my overtime, so excited!! I never book holidays

I’ve been twice in February half terms. Didn’t see the northern lights either time because it was overcast the whole time we were there. However, I loved it. I would warn that the weather can be very variable. The first time I went it was pretty mild, never really below zero in the day time and up to 10 degrees at times. The second time it was freezing, with the daytime temperature never higher than about -8 on a some days and relentlessly high winds like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. We were lulled into a bit of a false sense of security after our first visit and the roads were quite scary at times on the second. It was beautiful though. The frozen waterfalls were remarkable.

I just would not go in February. Weather is too risky. We had snow when we went in September and very high winds. It’s just unpredictable. I’d go at least 3 months later!

I flew Iceland air . Really nice planes .

we went in January - layers are your friend .. we planned lots of activities - northern lights was a gamble . We saw them the last night .. people who had been there for a week hadn’t seen them .

Iceland air were really really good. Booked (a few years ago) as a 'bucket list' thing. I think I booked the entire thing through them. Exceeded expectations in all areas. Feb good time to go. Northern lights more 'predictable' (if anything to do with natural phenomena can be predicted) as best at March and September equinox. We had amazing clear blue skies every day....but colder than you'd think!

The summer is the best time for nearly everything in Iceland. No northern lights if it’s cloudy and raining. Or sleeting. Be very careful about road conditions in Feb. we had road closures in September.

We went in January this year and to be honest, it was dreadful. There was a freaky cold spell and we travelled hours on tours to see the sights but it was so cold you couldn’t leave the coach for more than 15 mins and couldn’t take your gloves off to take photos! One day it rose to -10 which felt tropical. I don’t think that’s normal, but it wouldn’t be a risk I’d take.

We did see the northern lights, but again too cold to stand and watch. Id like to go back in the summer and see it properly. Very jealous as my daughter is going with school in April.

We went one January and had glorious blue skies and a scattering of snow. It was glorious, hovered around zero.
Didn't see the NL.
Take a portable charger out with you, the cold drained my battery in minutes at Gulfoss.

Forgive my ignorance, but can one see the northern lights in the summer? Everybody seems to go in around Feb/March so I presumed that that was the best viewing time? I am thinking of going for a big birthday.

Thanks everyone 😊 I went for March as it was cheaper, booked a package through Iceland air! Very excited. We won’t be driving so not too worried about the roads, worst comes to the worst we’ll potter round Reykjavík

You can only see the northern lights if it's dark. At midsummer the sun barely sets. Around the equinoxes are meant to be best as there's plenty of dark and the best chance of clear skies.

It's not massively cold and the scenery is great but once you have done as much outdoor stuff as possible there's very little to do in Reykjavík. I would suggest Tromso as an alternative.

We're there now! Arrived on Iceland Air yesterday. I shall report back.

We went with Icelandair a few years ago. Flights were great, hotels were OK. Think Premier Inn standard rather than Hilton but we were happy for 5 nights.

I would strongly ssuggest that you rent a car when you are there. It gives you so much more freedom than the bus trips. There is so little traffic that driving is easy, even in Reyk javik.

Oh and if you go to the Blue Lagoon, go at about 5pm. All the bus trips will have left and it won't be crowded. Its open until about 9pm so you will have plenty of time.

I went in July and was wearing what I'd wear to watch football in January to walk round Rejavik, it was freezing. It had been warmer the few days beforehand outside the city, but still "winter" clothes.

It's wonderful though and you need to go in winter to see the Northen Lights, but you'll need the right clothes.