Southern Sights & Northern Lights
- Adventure Mama
- Sep 29, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 15, 2020
Iceland is a truly magnificent country. No matter how many photos you see, nothing prepares you for the sweeping views, changing scenery and fresh air of experiencing this epic country for yourself. Visiting Iceland with kids (especially young kids) is often looked at as something too challenging to undertake and many blogs warn about waiting until children are older or you are able to travel alone to get the most out of your visit. But Iceland can be one of the best places in Europe to travel with kids. There may not be any theme parks or child-oriented attractions, but the whole country is an adventure on its own with its wide-open spaces, wildlife and geological phenomenon creating the perfect playground for children. Experiencing Iceland with children is not as challenging as many might think and can bring a new level of wonder to some of the most iconic sights. With a little know how, taking a trip to the artic circle can be the magical adventure you've been waiting for.
Getting to Iceland from the UK is relatively easy with year round flights from all major airports (we flew Heathrow - Keflavík with British Airways), some smaller airports offering peak season (Oct-Mar) flights as well. I was really worried about how Orla would find the flight. We had flown with her before, but she was just 8 months and slept the entire journey. Now 18 months we are in a whole new ball game! I needn't have worried. Being such a short flight, our car journey to the airport took longer and Orla kept us all entertained by wondering up and down the aisle, waving to fellow passengers and generally being very very cute. Flight time is around 3hrs with a -1hr time difference - so no jet-lag to contend with.
Accommodation in Iceland can range from exclusive hotels to a simple guesthouse or even a camper van where you can sample the nomad life travelling the ring road. There are pros and cons to all options and depending on your budget and adventure style I'd say go with what suits you.
Iceland can be an expensive country to travel in, so opting for something a little more unusual might pay off budget wise. I would have loved to travel the ring road, but to make our lives a little easier with toddler in tow, we opted for a self catering base in rural south Iceland. As you are all aware by now, our accommodation when going on any adventure is something I take quite seriously [Why Having A Baby Doesn't Mean Saying Goodbye To Boutique]. For the similar cost of booking a hotel room, we rented an entire house through Air BnB on the south coast. Close enough for day trips to all the main attractions (The Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon and Glaciers) but rural enough to enjoy oodles of outside space and catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights. I love the freedom and home from home feel that you get with self catering. We could prepare meals more cheaply and cater for our toddlers tastes without worrying about waste/cost. The location and beauty of the surrounding countryside meant that we weren't disappointed with our choice.
During my relentless search for 'Jane approved' accommodation, I did start to wonder whether I would find anything suitable below £300 a night! I mean Iceland has a reputation for being expensive but there's expensive, then there's EXPENSIVE! Not one to be deterred, I stumbled across Syðri-Rot owned by Svanur on Air BnB for £190 a night. Modern, with a walk-in shower(!) and plenty of indoor and outside space - bargain! My parents agreed to join us on this adventure diluting the cost further.
Syðri-Rot is quite literally in the middle of nowhere. A 25min drive from the nearest town Hvolsvöllur and a further 5mins once you've turn off the ring road, following a 4km gravel track. We were based at the foot of Eyjafjallajökull - that well known volcano, causing havoc back in 2010! It took 2.5hrs to reach from Keflavík airport, so a fair distance from Reykjavík, but we were rewarded with uninterrupted views of Eyjafjallajökull, Drífandi waterfall and the Vestmannaeyjar islands.
The whole house was designed to make the most of the stunning views with big windows, minimalistic architecture and a lot of natural light. Driving up the gravel track we could see right through the house to the coast beyond, thanks to all the windows offering 360° views.
The location was perfect for us. Although we felt quite remote, we were centrally placed to visit all the must-see-sights - The Golden Circle, the black sand beaches of Reynisfjara and the glacial lagoon of Jökulsárlón. If we had stayed closer to Reykjavík or in the capital itself, I don't believe we would have had the time to visit half the places we managed to. When visiting Iceland you will discover how a 1.5hr drive becomes 'just down the road'!
What I found most weird about my research into accommodation and staying in Iceland is that nowhere seems to provide double duvets, even if sharing a bed! Even the hotel accommodation I looked at provided single duvets. Surely, Icelanders know that skin to skin conduction of body warmth is the quickest way to warm up? Single duvets doesn't exactly invite snuggly cuddles after cold days chasing waterfalls. Does anywhere else do this? I'm not sure I liked it, but Geoff seemed to think it was the answer to all his problems!
Being more remote meant that we could watch sunsets light up the landscape and even the Northern Lights dance across the skies. Thanks to its location in the arctic circle, Iceland is one of the best places in the world to see the Northern Lights. The Aurora Borealis are visible here for over eight months a year, from early September to the end of April. But never in a million years did I think we would get to see them. Sighting is so dependent on solar activity and cloud cover that even visiting Iceland in peak 'northern light' season (Oct-Mar) you are not guaranteed a viewing. How fortunate we were to witness the nighttime spectacle right from our home in a minor storm on our second night. There are no words to describe the beauty and earethral experience of watching these lights dance across the skies. I can only liken the experience to how I imagine J.K.Rowling is describing Priori Incantatum during Harry Potter and Voldemort's wand battle. My best advice for attempting to see the northern lights is to stay somewhere away from any light pollution. There are plenty of Northern Light tours on offer but to be honest they are ridiculously expensive and are effectively taking groups of tourists from Reykjavík into the highlands to get away from light pollution. The tours are also quite late in the evening (giving you a better chance to see the lights) so your toddler might not be too happy to be dragged into the cold night for a chance to see them. Our host Svanur sent us a couple of weblinks to aurora forecasts (which I became a little obsessed with) showing the possibility of aurora storms each night and this served us just fine (my favourite: www.auroraforecast.is)
There was such a laid back, comfortable feel to staying in Iceland - maybe because we were on holiday or maybe because half the year most towns are cut off due to snow fall. The pace of life seemed so relaxed and less pressured than even we are used to in the sleepy south west of the UK. We felt so comfortable in our little house on the prairie and after long days spent travelling/sightseeing, we were quite content to cook for ourselves and relax at 'home' each evening. Food in particular is almost double what you would pay in the UK. I think we managed to keep our expenses down by not eating out, but if you are relying on restaurants/hotels for nourishment, you might be surprised at how much it costs.
However you decide to 'do' Iceland it will be an adventure you won't regret! And our little Adventure Baby made it all the more mesmorising.
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