This is a recount of my 9 days trip to iceland in winter from 24th Nov to 3th Dec.

Day 0: Flight + accomm

We took a night flight in on Friday. After touching down, there were two main bus operators that provided transfer to the city center which is about 50 minutes away. They schedule buses based on landing time so don’t spend too long at the duty free store if you want to use this option.

At the time of my travel, a one-way ticket costs 3000ISK, with a discount if a return ticket is bought. If you’re driving but are picking up the car the next day, you’ll have to evaluate whether it’s worth returning the car to the airport or not.

Day 1: Get car + Golden circle

We planned to get the car first thing in the morning, but we procrastinated and left house slightly late and weren’t the first customer as a result. We also we went with a smaller car rental company, which turned out to be extremely understaffed then. This led to delays in getting our car.

Because we set off late, We did a “golden arc” instead of a circle. We did it in clockwise direction, and our first stop was Thingvellir national park.

There are golden circle tours from Rekjavik so driving is not really necessary.

This is what it looks like in autumn 3 years ago in 2014.

There is a moderately long path to walk. A good pair of hiking boots is recommended.

Geysir

A popular tourist hot spot is the Strokku Geysir. It erupts at rather regular interval, so timing how long it takes between eruption to plan for the next photo moment is highly recommended.

I remember visiting this area before in 2014. There were definitely another area to visit. However, we didn’t explore the inner area because the surface was extremely icy.

There is another Geysir living under the shadow of its brother. This one does not erupt at all however. What’s the point - it’ll never be as impressive as its brother.

Gullfoss waterfall

After the geysir, it makes sense to drive another 10 minute to see an amazing waterfall

This is a similar shot in autumn 3 years ago.

Day 2: Selfoss

We planned to go west to Kirkjufell, but our car broke down. After wasting the morning getting a new car, we decided to spend the remaining time visiting Selfoss.

We decided to take a more scenic route to selfoss, through Eyrarbakki. But it turns out to be not very interesting because it was more of a summer place, with camping sites. I would not recommend passing by this place during winter.

Continuing to the town, we found a nice photo spot to capture the Ingólfsfjall mountain with a half frozen lake.

Day 3 Skaftafell

This day was for drive to our second accommodation east of Vik. We set off early in the morning so that we could have the afternoon to explore the sights.

Skaftafell National Park.

A popular place to visit here is the Skaftafell waterfall, located in the national park. The only way to get there is to hike about 2km from the nearest car park. There are also tour operators operating near that carpark. Depending on the season, an ice cave tour or a glacier walking tour is possible

It was a moderately long hike, made more challenging by the slipery surface.

At the top, it is possible to see the main waterfall. However, to get to it, there is a hike down, which is rather challenging because of the slippery surface.

If you are brave enough to walk down, you will be rewarded with this view.

Compare this to autumn:

If one is brave enough, it is possible to go under the waterfall too.

The natural park also offers other trails, but not all of them are that accessible in the winter.

In the evening, we returned to our accommodation in Vik. Hoping for some norther light action, I started taking photos of the skies.

There wasn’t any northern light actions, unfortunately.

Day 4 Between selfoss and vik

Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach

This place is known for its basalt columns and Hálsanefshellir Cave.

The one thing that stood out from our trip to the beach was the sneaker waves. Called so because they appear to be very shallow as they start approach, but it can be extremely deep. The locals warned us about it because its last victim was in 2016.

Kirkjufjara beach opposite of the black sand

• known for their arch

Skogafoss

• Waterfall, can hike climb up, and actually hike a long way into it, but the terrain is slippery

Horse

Weak aurora

Day 5 29/11

Early morning glacier lagoon Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Boat Tours and Cafe Ice cave Diamond beach Strong aurora night

Day 6 30/11

Bad weather day Planewreck site Did hunting but was cloudy

Day 7 1/12

Transit day Drove back to rey Bar hop Ate at noodle house. Spicy noodles!

Day 8 2/12

Visit city hall Church drove to kirkjufell Fancy dinner at fish co

Day 9 3/12

Blue lagoon