NATASHME I debated about traveling to Iceland in March. Aiming to see the northern lights, we chose late march to travel to Iceland, March 16th-March 27th. Before the trip, I read a lot of articles, blogs, etc. and they all said driving in Iceland in March is for the brave of heart, since it is still winter in March. Even though I am usually passenger princess :), I wasn’t sure if we made the best decision, as our plan was to drive through the country via the Ring Road, aka route 1.
Now having done it, I would say March is a great time to go to Iceland, especially since the winter activities are still in full swing. Also, the probability of seeing the aurora may be greater around the Spring Equinox (usually at the end of March). However, it is important to be flexible and willing to shift plans in case of inclement weather. We were able to cover much of what we had planned, but we weren’t able to see some of the North of Iceland on this trip due to snow and road closures. I think it was a sign – Iceland is not a one and done trip! We also had one drive that, for a few moments, I thought would be our last. This was the drive into Seyðisfjörður. I’ll talk more about Seyðisfjörður in a bit, but I’ll start with some key tips that I found helpful:
Key Tips:
- If you’re renting a car, get WIFI for you car! This is so helpful if you are driving and traveling through the country on your own. I would think it is helpful at any point in the year, but especially in winter months when you want to be able to check the roads. In general, having wifi and being able to access the internet is helpful for safety and planning (revising plans) on the go. We used Lava Car Rental. Driving in the country is pretty easy, the highways are well developed and the real-time updates on road closures is impressive! The only time it would be challenging is inclement weather, which is the case just about anywhere in the world!
- Familiarize yourself with and favorite this site for road closures and road safety: https://www.road.is/travel-info/road-conditions-and-weather/
- Familiarize yourself with and favorite this site for Aurora forecasts https://icelandatnight.is. Also, if you’re looking for aurora photography tips check out Aurora Photography.
- Icelandic Basic items (Icelandic chocolate – this is more like an essential for me) are cheaper for the same brand/quantity at grocery stores, like Bonus, than at a souvenir or boutique stand alone shop.
Our Itinerary:
South Coast to Vik to Kirkjubaejarklauster
Jokulsarlon – East Fjords – Seyðisfjörður
Reykjavik
Upon landing, we headed straight to Lava Car Rental in Reykjanes (the airport is not in Reykjavik) and headed to Reykjavik. After a quick breakfast with a view of Hallgrimskirkja, we joined a free walking tour since our Airbnb was not ready for check-in. The walking tour covered alot of the main sights (city hall, main square, concert hall, rainbow road) and helped to orient us to the city. We usually try to do this on day 1 in any new city we travel to. It’s a great way to orient yourself and get ideas on what else you may want to see and do while visiting from someone local (usually the tour guides are local). In addition to the free walking tour, on our first day in Iceland we went to Hallgrimskirkja, the bell tower inside, and we went to see a volcano show. Ironically, the volcano in Reykjanes erupted the same night!
Golden Circle to Hella
We had a 9:00 am excursion scheduled to snorkel the Silfra Fissure. The allure of this experience is being able to snorkel or dive among two tectonic plates. It is one of the few places on Earth where you can see and touch both plates. As a diving enthusiast, it was a neat experience, but I found the dry suits to be a bit uncomfortable and what draws me to diving is life underwater. There’s not much life underwater here, mostly geological formations. I did think our guides prepared us and kept us safe throughout the excursion. After the excursion, we walked around Thingvellir lake for a bit (largest lake in Iceland) before carrying on to our next stops on the golden circle: geyser and Gulfoss (foss means waterful in Icelandic), the largest waterfall in Iceland. We went to Friðheimar tomato for a late lunch. I highly recommend making reservations. It’s really busy and we got lucky to get a table for 2 with a short wait. Every was so tasty and this farm supplies the majority of tomatoes to the rest of the country. Afterward we did a quick walk around and down Kerid crater, and a quick stop at Urridafoss.
Overall, you can see most of sights in the golden circle in one day. You can also spread it out to 2+ days if you decided to stay within the park and generally have a more leisurely pace.
That night we drove to Hella and stayed at Ranga hotel. It was cozy, the owner was really nice and there was live footage of the volcano eruption. Dinner at the restaurant was also one of my favorites in Iceland!
South Coast to Vik to Kirkjubaejarklauster
First stop from Hella was Sejalandfoss. You can walk behind the waterfall and then into a crevice behind another waterfall a short walk past the main waterfall. You’ll likely get wet and wish you had worn waterproof attire, so wear waterproof attire.
Next we headed to Skogafoss, did some hiking past the main fall (up the stairs) and saw a few more waterfalls. From there we headed to reynsfjara black sand beach and Vik. Had dinner at black crust pizza. The pizza is made with activated charcoal-infused dough – highly recommend! From Vik, we drove to kirkjubaejarklauster and stayed in Hotel Klauster. We wanted to cover some ground and get closer to Jokulsarlon since we had booked an ice cave/glacier hike for the next morning.
Jokulsarlon
Jokulsarlon, Glacier Lagoon, in Vatnajokull National Park was one of my favorite and one of the most enchanting parts of the country. Not to mention, that night was our first Aurora encounter.
We dedicated our first morning/afternoon in Glacier Lagoon doing an ice cave glacier hike. This excursion is only offered in the winter months and it is one I would recommend to anyone visiting during the winter months. Crampons were provided. After the tour, we ate at the food trucks in the glacier lagoon main parking, walked along glacier lagoon and diamond beach. I was in awe! Both were like nothing I have ever seen seen. Late evening we checked into Foss Hotel Glacier Lagoon. I would also recommend this hotel based on location and quality. I was really hoping to see the lights over Glacier Lagoon, so I knew I wanted to stay close by. After dinner we drove back to Glacier Lagoon to see the northern lights. We didn’t see them, so I figure I might as well take some night sky photos since it was a clear night. In my photo I saw a green streak. It turned out to be the northern lights and we saw them from 11:00 pm to 12:30 am. It was so beautiful and what a location to first witness them!
The next day, we went back to Glacier Lagoon and drove to svartifoss (really pretty waterfall with basalt column backdrop) in skaftafell.
Jokulsarlon – East Fjords – Seyðisfjörður
On our way further east from Glacier Lagoon, we first went southwest to svinafellsjokul glacier. It was a short walk and we were able to get very close to the glacier. Southeast to northeast was a scenic drive with lots of photo stops. Once we got into the fjords section, we were driving through snow capped mountains surrounding sea inlets. We saw reindeer and Icelandic horses. The drive from eglastdir to Seyðisfjörður was by far the scariest drive of my life. Up and down hill, curvy mountain, heavy snow, next to no visibility, wind blowing the snow into the car, further obscuring visibility. I was holding my breath the whole way. The drive to Seyðisfjörður was terrifying, but it taught me the value of patience and staying calm under pressure. Sometimes, the most memorable adventures are the ones where things don’t go perfectly. We finally made it to town, had some fresh made pizzas at the gas station/Food CoOP and stayed in an old bank. Gas stations in some other countries are great food spots, kind of like Wawa (this one was even better!).
Seyðisfjörður to Thingvellir
establishmentsThe next morning, we drove around the fjord a bit and then started the drive out. Again the snow reduced visibility and it was a slow, scary drive out of the fjord. I drove this time. Passenger princess no more. Seyðisfjörður is a great summer time destination (may not be best for winter- a lot of establishments are closed). We were headed towards Myvatn but the roads were closed due to a bad storm and we didn’t know when they would open again, so instead we decided to loop around and drive back towards thingvellir. On the way we went to see hallormsstadhur, the largest forest still surviving in Iceland. Iceland had a lot of forests, but they were cut down by the vikings.
It was a long drive and we made some stops along the way, for photos and for gas in Hofn. We decided to stay at the ION in Thingvellir national park.
Thingvellier to Snaefellsnes
We spent the day heading to and in snaefellsness, stopping at the black church in Budir, stopping in Arnastapi, and then we making our way toward grundefjiordur, Kirkjufell for sunset. Shot sunset at Kirkjufell and was just about to leave when someone mentioned they came for the northern lights and there was a high chance of seeing them. Caught the lights at this bucket list spot, “the Wall” (for my game of thrones fans). If you are going during the winter, try to take crampons. You’re on a bit of a slope and it can feel more secure with crampons. We spent the night at Kirkjufell guest house – others shooting the lights were also staying at this accommodation and it was a great for a place to sleep close to Kirkjufell!
For breakfast, we went to Harbour Cafe guest house; it was the only place in snaefellsness that was open for breakfast on a Sunday. We decided to do the rest of the peninsula inluding saxholl crater, djupalonssandur and londrangar. Lunch was at the visitor center and this is the first vistor center that I’ve ever visited offering gourmet meals made by an on-site chef! We stayed the night in snaefellsness.
Snaefellsnes to Reykjavik
We headed to reykjavik early the next morning and went to Perlan. I really enjoyed Perlan and thought it was worth the visit, especially since they had a really nice observatory with city views where you could see volcanic activity. Perlan had an aurora and lava show and basically summarized our whole journey — glaciers, lava, nature. Afterward, we went to dinner at Lamb Street Food; really good Mediterranean food! That night we ventured out to what turned out to be a failed attempt at finding the northern lights. Womp Womp!
On our last day in Reykjavik, I wanted to get a little closer to the majestic Icelandic horses. I went horse riding (lava fields) not far from reykjavik center. The ride was nice, but actually, I really enjoyed just watching the horses interact and play after the ride. On the way back to Reykjavik, I went to check out the volcano and then drove back. Next stop, Sky Lagoon. Unfortunately, the Blue Lagoon was closed due to the volcano eruption, but as I said before, all the more reason to visit again. Our last night in Iceland, we joined an aurora tour from Reykjavik. The guide took us to Hvalfjörður right out of the city, and then a road that lead us into Thingvellir National Park, through Thingvellir National Park and back into the city. We saw the lights on multiple stops. He was driving, communicating over radio, looking out to the sky all at once. It didn’t feel unsafe, but observing him made me think of sincerity. This man did everything in his power so that all of us in his group could experience the lights. It was a 5/5 aurora tour and I would highly recommend!
I am extremely grateful to have been able to visit Iceland. That said, you don’t need to fly across the world to connect with nature, try something new, or even see the Northern Lights (especially in 2025). In fact, the most beautiful display of the northern lights that I have ever witnessed to date was in 2024 right in central Illinois! Currently we are at the peak of an 11-year solar cycle. For tips on finding and photographing the Northern Lights.
