Feb half term - Iceland - how many days?

[DavidLynch]

What would be a good length of time to see the sights and travel around in Iceland next Feb with one teen?

We did 5 days in December, pretty knackering

did blue lagoon twice ( stayed 10 min walk away)
Reykjavik

coach trip to do a golden circle tour ( snowmobiling, hot springs, waterfalls etc). A very early start and long day.

it was enough. Lots of snow. Prob one of my best holidays.

very expensive!

I did 6 days and it was just right amount of time.

I stayed in the Skuggi Hotel in Reykjavik, which had a really great buffet breakfast included. I ate loads to save myself having to buy a proper lunch as it is very expensive.

We usually go for a week

We went for 9 days over half term a few years ago. The idea was to maximise chance of seeing Northern Lights. We didn't. It was overcast and drizzled for 9 days.. and then had huge dump of snow followed by clear skies day after we left. Gah!

Bad luck really. I think 4 - 5 days of you stay in Reykjavik. A week if you hire car and Airbnb in a couple of places - Rek and countryside which is what we did.

A warning if you self cater. supermarkets are expensive and depressing but do save you a bit on eating out.

You could spend anything from a handful of days to a week. Plenty to see and do. I found this to be a helpful guide for a short stay:

diytravelagent.blog/2024/05/07/new-year-in-iceland/

We did 3 days. Wasn't enough really but we saw some amazing things.
I would say my favourite ever holiday and can't wait to go back when my youngest is a little older to do some of the things he was too young to do!

Where could/should I stay if we stay out of Rekjavik?

@Newuser75 what kind of things was your Sec too young to do? Thinking of taking DC3 and had this concern

@DavidLynch Feb half term is a massive risk due to the weather. You might be ok with winter activities but some just won’t be available. We went in September and had some awful weather. Very high winds and snow. As a result we are going back in July. I want to see whales and the birds without freezing to death.

We stayed in various locations in the south and west. We didn’t find it ludicrously expensive. In the winter you really will need a 4x4. We really enjoyed the superjeep tour!

That's interesting. We are thinking about it. Is Easter holiday any better?

It will be mostly dark all day in Feb half term surely? We went in May half term and had the opposite problem but the temps were around 10-15C and lovely bright sunshine

@slipperypenguin he couldn't go on a monster truck on a glacier, walk on a glacier, go into a lava tunnel, go in some of the pools.
There was actually quite a lot he couldn't do but we honestly still had a great time. Just can't wait to go back and do those things!

@Marmadukebones Id do May half term. Easter can also be cold and poor weather. If you want to see something, better weather is a plus. We had roads closed and had to hole up in a car park for 3 hours in a blizzard. We could see nothing and the snow was horizontal. The wind was force 9. That was September! I’d honestly go from 1 May, not much earlier!

We went in January a few years ago, and stayed for two weeks. We stayed in Reykjavik, Akureyri, Husavik.

Three or four days might be enough in Reykjavik but there’s a lot more to Iceland. So if you have longer, you can see other parts of the island.

We flew from Reykjavik to Akureyri. In the summer you’d hire a car and drive but we didn’t want to as the winter driving conditions didn’t look fun. We took day trips from our bases to do the usual things. Husavik was gorgeous and we loved this spa, which overlooks the sea: https://www.geosea.is/en

Yes weather is a risk in winter, but then we had the pay off of seeing the northern lights a couple of times, and being in a proper winter wonderland (especially in the north). You wont have much chance to see northern lights in May…

You can’t really compare an Iceland trip in summer and winter - they would be very different. I’d start from thinking: what do you want from Iceland?

Hi

thanks, this is a good question. We def won’t have 2 weeks nor a huge budget, so flying around internally is out of the question. I think we would like to do

Golden Circle
South Coast to Jokulsarlon
Jokulsarlon to Vik
Reykjavik

We would stay in places on route across 4 days, 5 nights.

im not bothered about Northern Lights as I’ve seen them. I love the idea of Winter but I also want to get around.

Im now wondering if Easter or May half term is better. But I don’t want to miss the beauty of winter. aaagh! Decisions.

I think if you’re not fussed about northern lights, I’d go for spring/summer. Like PPs have said, winter you run the risk of not being able to get around, transport (including flight) disruption etc.

The north was gorgeous and snowy when we went, but Reykjavik and the surrounding areas were not snowy at all. So if you would be staying in the south for a winter trip, I personally wouldn’t go just for snow.

If it’s more scenery you’re after I think spring/summer makes sense.

If you want to do the northern lights Feb is the time to go.

In Feb for your list of things I'd base in Reykjavik. That makes for very long days to do those things but the roads to them are the best cleared in the country as they are so important. (Keep in mind distances take longer to drive than the UK) We've done Reykjavik to Vik and back in a day with a toddler including numerous stops in Feb before.

It also hedges your bets if the weather is really bad as there are things to do within Reykjavik and the roads are closed.

What you don't really want to do is book somewhere you then can't get to or get back to or be stuck in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do.

The OP said she doesn't care about the Northern Lights

Also, when we've looked in the past, it's the cheapest way to do it in terms of accommodation. We couldn't justify the additional cost of staying somewhere else.

Also if you are considering Jökulsárlón as an option you might want to consider the season in terms of when boat trips operate. I know that a lot of the tours won't be operating in February so that will limit what you can see and how long you will stay there. I think a few operators do go outside season but I don't know how late (shifting ice plus boats not necessarily the best combo in Feb).

Sorry to jump on your post op but we have literally just booked for Feb half term! We looked at going last May but it was much more expensive and for us we would like to try to see the Northern lights. We did umm and aah but we decided to go for it! We’ve got lots of warm clothes from skiing so sorted there, just trying to decide whether we hire a car and do things under our own steam as not a massive fan of organised trips. We’ve driven in the alps and Canada in winter and understand we may have to change plans but for example the golden circle route seems quite well maintained, am I right there? Some thoughts ( and questions!) from me. Would you recommend staying the whole time in Reykjavik and day tripping? We’ve got 4 nights so 4 1/2 days, we’d like to snorkel at Thingvellir, also do Gulfoss and the crater and would we be best given the light keeping it to that and then doing the geysir and secret lagoon another day or could we do it in one long day? We thought we could either do snaefelness ( have found a nice hotel between there and the golden circle) or Reynisfjara Beach and Vic another day, which would you suggest for 2 adults and a 15 year old? We’d then have part of a day and most of another day in the capital. Thanks and good luck op

We went a few years ago in Feb half term with teen DC. It was fantastic. I think it was 5 nights. We did rekjavik, blue lagoon, golden circle then drove along the south coast to Vik and further on to Jokurlsarlon. Went walking on a glacier. Decided also not to bother with northern lights - valuing sleep and maximising fun in the day over potential disappointment. We were worried about the weather but checked every day before setting off for forecast and accepted we’d have to change plans if necessary. Took a little shovel which we didn’t use in the end but it was snowy in parts. The wind was something else at times and more worrying than the snow. It’s random though and I wonder how lucky we were. We had a fantastic time.

@DavidLynch If you want to get around further than most posting here, just don’t go in Feb! You’ve seen the northern lights before so I’d ensure you have a comfortable trip where you can actually do what you want to do. We are going next summer to see wildlife. We did have a few lovely sunny days in Sept but others things we wanted to do were not possible. If you want to see whales, will the trips actually go out? Don’t forget south of the airport is now closed. We went round the coast to Vik but part of the route we took is now closed. Vik was blowing a gale and very wet when we went.

We didn’t think Reykjavik had anywhere near enough for 3 days. There are better sights and some great museums elsewhere. We are also going to the western fjords this summer. I wouldn’t consider that in Feb. You probably will find lots of road closures and some are only 4x4 permitted too. So check your car hire! This is partly why Iceland isn’t cheap. A lot of food is imported and it only has 300,000 residents. It’s small but worth taking time to see it well. May gives you way more options. Snow is best in the Alps, not dark short days in Iceland. If money is an issue, I’d truly say save up and get a better experience in late spring or summer. It’s not just icy roads either. It’s howling gales that close roads.

We went in Feb half term. You can't reach half of the country but we did do the golden circle and get down to the black and beach. You won't be able to get to Husavik or anything and the ice caves might be a problem (although the one in the musuem was actually decent).

We did the Blue Lagoon and the Secret Lagoon as well. Went to the Lava Show place (but just for food) and the tomato farm as well.

We did hire a car because as soon as the weather was good it meant we could just hop in the car and go which is how we managed to see so much.

We stayed at the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica which was great with the car and a short bus ride into town. If you stay make sure you get the executive lounge, it's great.