A little about Iceland

Positioned in the North Atlantic in between Greenland and Scandinavia, Iceland serves up a tremendous amount of grandeur on both beautiful and traditional fronts. You'll moonscape lava fields and marvel in the elegant landforms of this geologically restless area, from large ocean cliffs to hot hot springs and otherworldly glacial lakes. The administrative centre of Reykjavík,the country's major urban heart, is extremely vibrant and renowned for its stunning coastal location nightlife. Reykjavík's galleries, restaurants, and pleasant, fun-loving populace are their very own wonderful sights, however, you even have many celebrated landmarks around the area to check out. These are the relaxing Blue Lagoon resort (a hot geothermal paradise), the iceberg dotted Jökulsárlón river, gargantuan waterfalls like Gullfoss and Dettifoss, and some of the world's finest perches for watching the Iceland Northern Lights.

Finding your way in Iceland

Iceland has a concentrated tourist season, peaking from mid-June through August. Many Icelanders believe the summer tourists do not understand what they are missing. Iceland offers plenty to do in spring, fall winter, and costs are dramatically lower for airfares, car rentals, and accommodations. Icelanders are serious Christmas celebrators, and the Aurora Borealis is unexpectedly graphic in winter. Most offseason visitors use Reykjavík as a home base, and unite city culture and nightlife with actions for example horseback riding, snowmobiling, and seeing with resorts.

Northern Lights: aurora borealis -- A bright hued fog creeps across the night skies, shape-shifts into a solid green and red swirl stretching out from horizon to horizon, then abruptly breaks into heaps of daggers of light, piercing down until they appear within reach. If you'ven't seen this happening before, Iceland is an excellent place to do so because the small people and large spaces between towns ensure it is simple to escape light pollution close to Reykjavík. The closest tourist information office will manage to supply details of tours, if you will need a lift to a likely Northern Lights sighting than your hotel in the centre of town. Iceland Northern Lights tours run from mid-March to mid-April when they are seen, but there are usually a number of sightings up to early May, and sometimes even as early as late August; simply watch out. Aurora borealis occurs when Earth's energy particles intercept magnetic field from the sun, which ionize atoms in the upper atmosphere. This is why solar action is a good predictor of the intensity and duration of these auroral displays.

Bring a tripod if you've got an SLR camera (or at least one that lets you leave the shutter open for 30 seconds or more).

On the other hand, high season is high season for great reason. Most tours and adventure trips to Iceland's most famous natural attractions finish after September. Roads in the hinterlands are usually closed from October to mid-May, and some do not open until July. Precipitation increases in September, peaking from October through February, and frequent storms and driving rain are enough to dissuade many would be winter adventurers.

The tourist high season corresponds with vacation time for Icelanders, but things don't shut down the manner they do in, say, France. Icelanders work longer hours than most Europeans, and seasonal service jobs are filled by vacationing pupils. Some cultural institutions (theater, symphony, opera) take the summer off, while most museums outside Reykjavík are only open in summer. Arts and cultural festivals are also clustered in summer, except in Reykjavík, where they gravitate to the "shoulder" seasons (Apr-May and Sept-Oct).

Consider also the number of daylight hours can have unanticipated physical and psychological effects in timing your visit. Spring and fall daylight hours are about the same as in Europe or North America. Days in midwinter have just 4 or 5 hours of sun. These changes are even more extreme in the northern area of the nation.

(New York's winter lows are typically lower than Reykjavík's.) Icelandic weather is unusually volatile, nevertheless. The Gulf Stream brings mild Atlantic air in contact with colder Arctic air, resulting in often driving wind, fog, overcast skies and rain, and abrupt weather shifts. You could well run into four seasons in 1 day.
Iceland's precipitation is lowest in June and May, and summits in October to February. Southern and western areas of the island receive the most rain. For English-language outlooks or further information on regional weather, contact the Icelandic Meteorological Office (tel. 902 0600; www.vedur.is).
The Huge Roundup-Visitors in early September-especially seasoned horseback riders - can discover exquisite and remote backcountry while participating in an age-old Icelandic farming rite: the fall sheep round up, or réttir. Hundreds of thousands of Icelandic sheep spend the summer grazing in highland pastures. Before winter sets in, local groups of farmers spend as much as a week herding them home. This was the occupation of a guy, but women have joined in. Once the flocks sorted and are penned by their earmarks, the farming communities let their hair down for drinking into the night, dancing, and singing. Traditionally many isolated villagers met their partners during these occasions.

Some follow in 4WD vehicles or on foot; others only watch and join the party, although most participants are experienced riders. Visitors are welcome to take part in some local roundups, though do not expect nonstop excitement: The process could involve holding your place alone for hours in a chilly rain.

Round ups for free-roaming horses are in the north, chiefly in early October or late September. Figure out which parts of the backcountry you'd like to see, then contact local tourist information offices, travel agencies, and farm lodgings for advice. A lengthy but incomplete list of locations and dates is posted in August on site of the Farmers Association of Iceland; press the button at top to translate the page into English.

Iceland in the Off Season
Tourists vanish just as abruptly in early September and arrive en masse in June, so Icelanders compare them to flocks of migrating birds. Nonetheless, more and more visitors are coming in the off season, particularly for short holidays centered on Reykjavík. Health spas and nightlife are important draws, and winter adventure travel- glacier snowmobiling, especially backcountry skiing, and Jeep touring - is catching on. With fewer tourists around, locals can be especially hospitable and inviting. Prices are dramatically lower for airfares, accommodations, and car rentals, but do not anticipate price rests from mid-December to mid-January.

Most museums outside Reykjavík shut down off season, while some Reykjavík cultural institutions- notably the Icelandic Opera, headquartered at the world's northernmost opera house -are just open off season. With fewer organized tours to select from, visitors typically depend on rental cars to get around.

Icelandic winters are surprisingly reasonable but have only 4 to 6 hours of daylight. From September through March, the nighttime is dim enough to see the Aurora Borealis (aka "Northern Lights"), the startling electromagnetic phenomenon in which shafts and swirls of green (or sometimes orange or blue) light spread across the sky. Obviously, depending on the weather, some offseason visitors may see only clouds.

The shoulder seasons- April to September and May to October-can be amazing times to visit, though some destinations are not accessible. An excellent general strategy would be to shoot for the outlying weeks of the high season for each destination.
Icelanders like to golf on snow covered classes, using vibrant orange balls.
Off Season Destinations

Reykjavík & Nearby -Reykjavík remains equally lively year round-after all, the weather has little bearing on its allure. Cultural activities and nightlife reveal no indications of winter weariness, and Reykjavíkians still throng to their outside geothermal pools even if their hair is gathered in by snow. See the Calendar of Events for Reykjavík's many offseason festivals.
The capital heartwarming and is especially dynamic during the Christmas season. Each weekend, beginning in late November, the neighboring town of Hafnarfjörður hosts an intricate Christmas Village with caroling choirs, trinket stalls, and costumed elves. On Brand New Year's Eve, many visitors shuttle to Reykjavík only to participate in the Bacchanalian parties.
Outside of summer, day tours from the capital are changed but hardly in short supply. The popular Golden Circle tour runs year round, and two of its primary highlights-the Strokkur geyser and Gullfoss waterfall- are even more captivating in winter. Various businesses also lead nightly Northern Lights tours in search of the Aurora Borealis. The Blue Lagoon spa in Reykjanes Peninsula is strange and charming in wintertime, with far fewer crowds.
Outside the Capitol Area-Compelling winter destinations outside the southwest corner of Iceland are too numerous to list, but two regions deserve special mention: Lake Mývatn and West Iceland -Krafla Caldera in the north.

In the west, the wondrously diverse scenery of Snæfellsnes Peninsula makes for a great road trip year-round, and Hótel Búðir, an idyllic holiday on the south coast of the peninsula, is constantly open. Ísafjörður, the capital that is appealing Westfjords, is notably buzzing during ski festivals and its Easter Week music. Two wonderful state getaways in the Westfjords remain open all year: the Heydalur Country Hotel, along Ísafjarðardjúp Bay, and Hótel Djúpavík on the entrancing Strandir Coast.

Akureyri, Iceland's northern capital, is alive and kicking with the nation's greatest ski slope Hlíðarfjall close by, in the off season. Many winter visitors spend a few days surveying the myriad volcanic scenes of Mývatn and Krafla, rent a car, and fly to Akureyri. The geothermally heated lagoon of Mývatn Nature Baths remains open, and Sel-Hótel Mývatn organizes Jeep and snowmobile trips, horseback riding, and go-cart joyrides on the lake. The cross-country skiing is wonderful from February onward, and, in May and April, the lake twitches with bird watchers ushering in the tourist season.