Things we would do differently next time:
- Rent a car (or camper) and tour around the country. It's incredibly accessible and there's so much to see!
- Only plan for a day or day and a half in Reykjavik. The city is beautiful but small, and the countryside has a lot to offer.
- Travel there in the summer. Going in the winter was fun but the weather is about as ever-changing as can be. We struggled with freezing rain, snow, ice, and wind while we were there which takes some extra planning and layers. Our already-short trip was cut shorter because the weather was too bad for the plane to come and get us from Denver.
Things we would definitely do again:
- Go to church! We happened to be there for their "stake conference" which included all three wards or branches in the country (although one of those three was unable to make it due to bad weather). It was such a delight to be there and see a more normal idea of life in Iceland, and everyone was so friendly!
- Go to the Blue Lagoon. We were warned over and over again that it was a big tourist trap but we both felt like it was the highlight of our trip. Maybe it helped that we were there in the winter but it wasn't overly crowded. We by no means had the place to our selves, but we were able to find our own little corner for the two of us. The water was so soothing while our eyelashes froze. It's also easy to get to by rental car or by tour bus. We stopped on our way back from adventuring south east of the city. I would also consider staying there on the next trip for a night. The accommodations looked beautiful.
One last thing to note: We went in March hoping to see the northern lights in their peak season. We had no luck because the weather was so bad, but I imagine if you stayed for longer than 3 nights your chances would probably improve significantly.
