Travel at 40: Option 8 - Iceland

I’ve been to Iceland once before, in December of 2012 for just a little under 24 hours. At the time of my arrival I was coming down with a cold, which had settled in so severely by the next morning that I wasn’t up to doing much sight seeing.

Despite all that, I liked what little I saw very much. It was the most unusual looking place I’d ever seen, and that’s saying a lot for someone who has been to Utah, Nevada and Death Valley. I’ve wanted to go back ever since that first brief visit.

A trip in September will give me the opportunity to see the country at a very different time of year. I suspect there will still be greenery and there’s certain to be a lot more sunlight than there was on my first trip. This time I would rent a car and drive the Golden Circle, which is essentially a road that circles the majority of the accessible island. It wouldn’t take a lot of time to do it, so a week in Iceland would allow me to see quite a lot.

And the things to see and experience are considerable. Whale watching, geysers, continental plates, mountains, volcanos, puffins, horseback riding…it’s a virtual cornucopia of possibilities.

There are a few things that concern me, however, which is why this is ranking so low on my list. The biggest issue is that a trip to Iceland is essentially a trip to Iceland only. I wouldn’t get to see anything else of Europe and generally speaking, it’s so much closer that I feel a little as though it wouldn’t be taking full advantage of the opportunity to travel.

I’m also bummed about the time of year a little. I’ve heard some reasonably good things about traveling to Iceland in September: it’s quieter and cheaper than in the summer, the daylight hours wouldn’t be all that unusual for me, and though it’d be getting colder than I had in mind for this trip, it wouldn’t be too cold yet. But those are largely disadvantages too. I liked seeing Iceland in December because experiencing a day without much sunlight was so unusual to my experience. I’d rather see Iceland when it’s either light all day and night or dark the whole time, solely for the experience.

I also badly want to see the Aurora Borealis, and Iceland is one of the best places on earth to experience it, if you go the right time of year. It’s possible in September but not so likely. So that’d be pretty disappointing. I also think I’d have to pack more cold weather clothing than I’d prefer to do for this trip, since the average temperatures would be 15-20 degrees F colder than all the other places I’m looking at going.

Of course, there is another option. I could squeeze another brief visit to Iceland out of the overall trip by doing what I did last time and using Icelandair to travel to Europe. All flights on Icelandair require a stop in Reykjavik, and to boost tourism, the airline allows for free long stops before taking the connecting flight. So I could put an extra day or two before or after the trip (likely after) and see more of the island then. If I did this, I’d probably plan to spend extra time on the way back, so I could luxuriate in the hot springs in my final hours, which was one of my favorite parts of the last trip. Definitely a possibility, if Icelandair has any affordable flights and schedules at the time I’m looking to travel.

On the other hand, time spent in Iceland would subtract from time spent in the other countries I’ve got my eye on, and I don’t have nearly as much time available to me for this trip as I’d like as it is. So it’s a tricky proposition either way.

Regardless, I loved my first Iceland experience and am dying to do it again. If this turns out to be my second trip to the exotic island nation, I am certain it would be a spectacular trip worthy of my birthday celebration.