Iceland Travel Guide: A White Christmas

A place full of friendly locals, tourism hotspots, and scenery like nowhere else. But, Iceland at Christmas time is even more magical. After experiencing winter in Iceland, it is now clear to me why it is one of the most popular times to visit.

Due to limited daylight in December (approximately around 5 hours), you have to take advantage of the hours of light and renting a car is the best way to do this. You can create your own schedule and weather conditions are less likely to get in the way of you doing activities (as you're not relying on a tour to go ahead). Shorter days also make it more likely that you'll see the Northern Lights, one of the main attractions there, something that was definitely on my bucket list.

Packing essentials:

• T-shirts

• Jumpers

• Joggers/Trousers

• Thermals

• Comfortable Walking shoes

• Trainers

• Swimwear (for geothermal pools)

• Hats, scarfs and gloves

• Warm socks

• Waterproof/outdoor coat

• Camera (it's a photographer's paradise)

STAY: Cosy Cabins AirBnb

ACTIVITIES:

Golden Circle Road Trip

Thingvellir National Park - We visited the Oxarafoss waterfall, but due to the weather conditions it was frozen and the area was cornered off for safety reasons. After this, we drove to the Geyser Geothermal Area, and luckily we got to see 'Strokur' erupt in front of our eyes.

Christmas Eve

My favourite day. We spent the day lounging in The Sky Lagoon, despite the blizzard. This is an artificial geothermal pool, which looks like an infinity pool, overflowing into the North Atlantic Ocean. Our pass included the full spa experience, with access to the sauna, steam room and ice bath. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve, and an unforgettable experience. Afterwards, we headed into Reykjavik to tick off a few other things on our list; like the 'Rainbow Street' (which unfortunately was covered in snow), and 'Hallgrimskirkja' (the famous church).

Christmas Day

We had bought some local food from the supermarket ('Kronan'), the day before, as we knew most places would be closed this day. With the food we'd bought we made Christmas dinner in our cabin, and then spent the rest of the day watching Christmas movies and relaxing in the jacuzzi, soaking in the breathtaking views of the vast mountains and the lake.

Final Day

A beautiful sunrise in Selfoss, the last sunrise of our trip. We drove past volcanos, some active, some dormant, but all mesmerising. We saw smoke coming from Hengill volcano, from across the lake.

Another volcano we passed was the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which erupted in 2010 and caused major disruption to international aviation. Located at the bottom of this volcano was the Seljalandsfoss waterfall, which we stopped at, to admire.

Next, we visited Skogafosswaterfall, a must see in Iceland. The next thing on our list for the day was the Vik plane crash site, but the walk was quite difficult with the deep snow and the dimming daylight. So, instead we flew the drone to catch a virtual glimpse of the black beaches and the plane crash site.

For dinner, we went to Timmy's Burger joint, near Reykjavik, a trendy burger place with the basic choice of burgers and chips, and some special milkshakes. It was exactly what we needed after a long day of exploring.