Northern Lights in Iceland

>>1196271
FACT. 90% of the things you want to do in Iceland requires you to visit during the summer months and have a rental car and $$$$$ or lucky spring and autumn weather on either side of summer (shoulder season).
The other 10% of things you can do the other 8 months of the year is restricted to the airport, the blue lagoon, and being within Reykjavik for restaurants and nightclub/bar life, plus $$$$ for any excursions you might take outside of the city.

>>1196277
Is it really that dead in the winter? My primary goal is to see the Northern lights, anything else would be a nice bonus - including clubbing and excursions to the blue lagoon and stuff like that. I have no problem just wandering around in a different city however.

>>1196283
The opera house season is in their winter. There are a couple music festivals/club events, but they also run up the hotel prices when they're on in Reykjavik. You can see the lights fainter in the city, and you could probably pay a travel company to get you out of the city 1-2 hours to see them better. I recommend Budir. And, if your request it, you can be on the 3rd floor and watch the Lights from your bed throughout the night. It's highly windy and bitter cold otherwise. http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/10/hotel-budir-a-romantic-winter-getaway-in-west-iceland/

Pretty much people hunker down to their jobs in the winter, in the few cities, and I think the stats are like 75% of the whole country lives in Reykjavik now. The buses stop running outside of the city like end of August. The Edda hotels throughout the country then get converted back to boarding schools. campground and other properties close up, and no one drives the ring road without a snorkel on their 4WDs. I just haven't been lately to gauge how much the icelandair flights is bringing some newer tourism ideas to winter. But I do know wealthy tourists have no problem taking small flights or helicopters to and from sights where they want to be, since the driving stops. Could you handle the rental car from the airport to blue lagoon and then to reykjavik? Or would you have to pay for a taxi?

>>1196271
better winter pics on this site
http://fromicetospice.com/iceland/things-iceland-winter/

>>1196289
>You can see the lights fainter in the city, and you could probably pay a travel company to get you out of the city 1-2 hours to see them better
Yes, this is what I was looking into. There is a company that takes you on a boat away from the city lights. They also do whale watching excursions during the day.

>Could you handle the rental car from the airport to blue lagoon and then to reykjavik? Or would you have to pay for a taxi?
It'll have to a taxi which I can imagine won't come cheap. But I don't trust myself to drive in Icelandic terrain. It's really a bummer to hear public transport closes down in winter.

>>1196291
Nice pics but also very informative website, much thanks.

>>1196294
>There is a company that takes you on a boat away from the city lights. They also do whale watching excursions during the day.
I was last there for 5 days in September and there wasn't a single good day for whale watching. It was rough waters, very rough. Don't count on being able to get on a boat :/

The Ring Road is awesomely smoothly paved and maintained well. It's just the weather that makes driving bad. There is probably nothing offroad you'd be on more than 40 feet of a parking lot in front of a waterfall or someone's personal (and short) driveway.

>>1196303
That all really sucks to hear. I hadn't even considered the possibility of rough waters.