The Savory Suitcase

Iceland has become the top spot on many people’s bucket list as of late, and it’s easy to see why. The miles of unspoiled land, powerful waterfalls, volcanos and glaciers, and stunning mountain views everywhere you look, it’s hard to believe this place is real. Summer is the height of their tourist season, for a lot of good reasons. In Summer, the sun never sets, giving the island the Land of the Midnight Sun. But winter is an equally awe-inspiring time to visit.

We planned our trip in March, hoping to miss the bigger crowds, and get a glimpse of the northern lights. But March is still solidly in the midst of winter in Iceland. We visit in 2023 and had clear skies, but frigid temperature. But the week after our visit there were extreme snowstorms, so its good to prepare for the possibility of anything.

We opted to spend the 6 days of our visit in the same hotel in Reykjavik, taking day trips each day, rather than hopping from hotel to hotel across the south coast. Because of this we also did not rent a car, but relied on public transportation and tour companies for our daily activities.

We did this for 2 main reasons. We are Floridians, both born and raised. Neither one of us has ever driven in the snow, I’ve heard it is a lot like driving in rain, but also completely different. We didn’t want to get ourselves into a situation where we were uncomfortable driving or at risk of causing an accident. We also did not want to risk not being able to get to our next accommodation. If we had booked a night or two in Vik, but got snowed-in in Reykjavik we risked scrambling to get a last minute, possibly pricy hotel for the night. If we go back in the Summer, we will make a different plan, but this worked for us this time of year.

So here is the itinerary we planned for our 6 night visit to Iceland in March. This was a great mix of adventure, trying new foods, exploration, sightseeing, and gave us a little time to rest every now and then.

Day 1

This day actually starts at 5pm the day before when your flight heads to Iceland, so more like Day 0. Most flights from the States head out the evening before and land in Iceland in the early hours of the next day. The jetlag is rough, especially if you are like us and don’t sleep on flights, but as long as you make it through that first day, you adjust to the time pretty quickly.

We landed at the Keflavik airport at 6:00am, and immediately started digging into our bags for coats and hats and scarves and more shirts and pants to put on. It was cold, like in the 20’s cold. Which makes our first stop even more confusing. We headed directly for the Blue Lagoon, right from the airport, suitcases and all. I would venture to say a lot of people make this their first stop, it is about halfway from the airport to the city center, so they also have suitcase storage set up, so they are really well equipped for your visit.

The Blue Lagoon is a relaxing hot springs, although not entirely nature, the water is heated from the geothermal activity in the area, and the surrounding landscape of volcanic rock and lava fields seems something out of another world. They have an indoor entry point to the lagoon, so you don’t have to experience the extreme temperatures without being in the warm water. We got the comfort package which included a face mask as well as a drink from the bar.

When we had sufficiently stewed for a few hours, we changed back into 4 layers of clothing, and grabbed the bus the rest of the way into the city. Our hotel was available for check in by 2pm, so we rested, had a small dinner somewhere in between napping, and rested for the rest of the day.

We chose the Grandi by Center Hotels for our stay. It had a balcony which came in handy for the Northern Lights, which we will get to later. But the hotel also included breakfast, and with the price of food in Iceland being on the higher side, this seemed like an added bonus.

Day 2

The next day, we planned a relatively low key day to give ourselves a chance to recover from the time change. Luckily we were relatively well adjusted, and ready to tackle the world. For our first outing, we chose a food tour, because sometimes the best way to get to know a place and the culture is by experiencing the food. Our tour was with Reykjavik Food Walk and it was truly an amazing experience. We sampled a lot of traditional dishes, and got a good idea of the kind of foods we wanted to try more of during our trip. Turns out, hot dogs are quite an icon in Icelandic food, and we had them more than a few times.

The last stop of the food tour was at a café across from the street from the Iconic Reykjavik church, Hallgrimskirkja Church. The church is free to visit in the sanctuary space, but also has a bell tower you can visit for less than $10 a person. There is an elevator to the top, and on a clear day, the views are absolutely stunning.

That evening we went on our first Northern Lights tour, a boat ride out into the harbor. Unfortunately we did not have any luck that evening. But, we recommend booking your northern lights tours early in your trip, because many companies have a “no show policy” meaning that if your don’t experience the lights on your trip, you have the option to rebook for another night. This way you don’t wait until the end of your trip to search for them.

Day 3

For our 3rd day in Iceland, we spent another day exploring Reykjavik, and some of the interesting things they have to offer in the city. More than 60% of the population of Iceland lives in the city, and they see an influx of tourists daily increasing that population significantly. There are a lot of different experiences created to help the visitors learn more about the countries many different aspects, like the geothermal activity, the way they grow and produce food, and how they live on the Iceland.

We visited the Perlan, an interactive natural history museum, with a unique dome overlooking the city. They have a 360 Aurora Borealis display once an hour, so even if you don’t see the lights during you trip, you can experience the wonder. They also have a recreation of an Ice Cave. The ice cave is a great way to get the experience of adventure of a cave tour without leaving the city. We had lunch in the restaurant on top of the Perlan, which revolves around the central area, and gives you another 360 degree viewing experience.

Our next stop of the day was the Lava Show. Originally opened in Vik, the lava show now has a location in Reykjavik now, and its a the only place in the world that recreates a volcanic eruption with real molten lava, heated to over 2200 degrees. We learned a lot about volcanos from the show, and it was really cool to be able to feel the heat from only a few feet away.

Day 4

On our 4th day we took our first trip back outside of the city center, on the tour called South Coast and Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Day Tour from Reykjavik. We booked this with BusTravel Iceland. This is a very long day tour. It takes 14 hours round trip to reach the final destination of Jokulsarlon Lagoon, and back to the city. It was absolutely worth it to us to dedicate a whole day to this tour. Besides from the Glacier Lagoon, we also stopped along the way at a couple waterfalls, as well as another lagoon near Jokulsarlon.

Because we were there during the winter as I mentioned, the lagoon and waterfalls were almost completely frozen over. This was such an interesting difference from what your normally see in photos from Summer visits. One of the waterfalls we visited was Seljalandsfoss, and typically in summer, you can walk behind the falls, however in Winter the whole area turns into ice.

At the glacier lagoon, the whole lagoon was also covered in ice. Typically at Jokulsarlon there are large floating icebergs that made their way out to the beach, creating what may people call diamond beach. While we were there in winter, the whole area was like one solid sheet of ice, almost like an extension of the glacier itself. We also got the chance to see a few seals who call the lagoon home during the colder months.

Day 5

This day, we spent almost the entire day experiencing the best the harbor has to offer. Whale watching is not typically a winter activity, but if you are there closer to the start of Spring you might get lucky. We booked a whale watching tour through a company and hoped for the best. On our way out of the harbor, we were greeted with views of the city, which were almost worth the trip itself. As we headed further out, our boat was surrounded by a large pod of White-beaked dolphins, which are known to stay in the waters around Iceland year round.

As we headed further out to sea, we saw a few other tour boats off in the distance, and were graced with the presence of two hump back whales. It is estimated that only 1% of people on the planet will see a whale in their life time, so any chance you get, its worth it to at least try.

That evening, we went back to the port, and headed out on another excursion, but this time after dark. As I mentioned on Day 2, we recommend booking a northern lights tour early in your trip, so you can have a make up day if the lights don’t appear. And this night, we were absolutely blown away. I think if you can, plan to spend most evenings during your trip ready to see the lights. We downloaded an app on our phone to give us alerts incase we weren’t paying attention. One night we work up at 2 am, and saw them out our balcony window.

Day 6

This was our last full day in Iceland, and we saved it for what most people think is the best part of their visit. We planned the tour with Troll Expeditions, and booked the Golden Circle and Farm Visit tour. This experience takes you to the top rated spots along the route dubbed, The Golden Circle. We stopped first at the Thingvellir National Park, which has unique rock formations, where you can literally see the cracks in the Earth from the movement of the tectonic plates. We also stopped at Geyser, which erupts like Old Faithful in Yellowstone, except a little more often, like every few minutes. We also saw the most impressive waterfalls we’ve even seen at Gullfoss, meaning Golden Falls. Overall this was an exceptional way to end this trip, and we couldn’t have asked for a better send off.

The next day we only had until about noon until it was time to head to the airport, and catch our flight home. We used the morning to organize our luggage with what was mostly dirty clothes at that point, and visited one last bakery to grab some rye bread for the journey home. Because we did not have a car, we booked an airport transfer via FlyBus, where we grabbed a smaller bus from our hotel to a central station, and then transfer to a larger bus that took us the rest of the way. Our flight home was uneventful, but its always a little bit of a bummer to head home. But there is nothing like the comfort of coming home after a long trip.

If you are thinking about planning your own winter trip to Iceland, visit our YouTube channel for the full vlog: