Generally speaking Iceland is a very family friendly tourist destination. There is always so much to see, and most of it is probably very different from what the children are used to. And you can stop the car almost everywhere. If you see some horses, cows or sheep, then don’t hesitate to get out of the car and let the children get real close to the animals. And how about letting them lie down in the green moss and feel how soft it is?

If driving, one good rule of thumb when the children were young, is to drive for an hour and stop for 15 minutes. You can stop virtually anywhere and there is always something to see or do. Therefore you can see the sights you want to see, just by allowing more time to travel.

Here are some destination suggestions when visiting Iceland with children:

In the Reykjavik area: The Reykjavik Pond in the city center. Bring some bread and let the children feed the ducks and swans. Go to the Geothermal Beach Nauthólsvík and let the kids run around and bathe in the geothermal pots and the sea. After that you can hike up the Öskjuhlið hill up to the Perlan. There is a huge fountain indoors. Upstairs is a viewpoint with great views over the city. Go to the Reykjavik Domestic Zoo and take a look at some Icelandic domestic animals and foxes too! 

Adjacent is an amusement park with many rides for small children.

Go to Grótta and let the children play in the black sand of the beach. If the weather is bad go to Smaralind Shopping Centerl (free bus rides from Reykjavik center) and visit the indoor amusement park. Go to Hellisgerdi park in Hafnarfjörður town (15 minutes from Reykjavik center) and let the kids run around free. Perhaps you’ll  meet some of the many elves that live there. Go to Elliðaárdalur valley (10 minutes from city center) and just walk around.

Outside of Reykjavik (but not too far away): Go to Eiriksstadir Viking Farm (2 hour drive) and let the children dress up in Viking clothes and experience how it was like for the discoverer of America to grow up as a Viking. Visit the Blue Lagoon (45 minute drive). Visit Vatnaveröld in Keflavik town (45 minute drive). There you visit an indoor pool specially made for children. There is also one in Þorlákshöfn village (45 minute drive).

Everywhere: Take them to a local geothermal swimming pool. There is at least one in every village and all have some toys for children, and many have waterslides.

It might come as a surprise but Iceland is in fact a golfer's paradise. The golf courses themselves might not be the best in the world but the diversity, the ever changing weather and the unique surroundings more than make up for what might be lacking in quality.

From the Reykjavik Golf Club

Add to that the possibility to play golf at midnight, in the bright arctic nights of summer, and you have a winning combination and a promise of a golf adventure you will never forget. 

With approximately 60 courses all around the country you are constantly offered new challenges, new surroundings and new characteristics to test your abilities and your patience during your golf holidays in Iceland. 

Take the Capital Area for an example. Here alone you have 9 courses, all which you can reach within an 20 minutes drive from the city centre. Each and everyone has its own unique characteristics, ranging from the black lava of the often windy and challenging Hvaleyrarvollur Course to the rolling hills and the quiet surroundings of the Vifilstadavollur Course. 

And that is just for starters. If you travel outside the Capital Area, within an hour's drive you could have reached many courses, including the Geysir Course located just 5 minutes from the famous Geysir geyser and 15 minutes from Gullfoss waterfall. 

As golf is considered a public sport in Iceland you will not find any courses or clubs aimed at the wealthy and the selected few. In fact you might find yourself playing a round with the taxi driver that took you to the restaurant the night before or the waiter at the restaurant. Do yourself a favour and embrace this atmosphere of this 'no class' spirit and enjoy the sport of golf as it was intended to.

Most golf clubs in Iceland are closed during winter but open again in May.

Start you culture walk at the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral

OK, we all know you came to Iceland to experience the amazing landscape but you do know that Iceland has so much more to offer, don’t you? If you are stuck in Reykjavik on a rainy day, or just want to take a break from excursions and sight-seeing, here is a suggestion for a cultural ‘walk’ to suit most tastes. You can take the whole ‘tour’ or just the parts you think are interesting.

A good starting point is at the Hallgrimskirkja Cathedral. Its unique exterior and minimalistic interior make it an interesting sight. You can even go to the top of the church tower for some spectacular view over Reykjavik and the surroundings. In front of the church you should take a look at the statue of Leifur Eiriksson, who discovered America in the year 1000. The statue was a gift from the people of The United States to the people of Iceland.

To your right, when facing the church entrance, is a small museum, The Einar Jonsson Museum, with displays the works of sculptor Einar Jonsson who was a groundbreaking figure in Icelandic sculpture and his influence on the visual arts in Iceland has been considerable. In his work you can see folklore heritage but also mythological and religious motifs. A visit should take about an hour. If you don’t want to pay the admission fee, there are a few works of Einar Jonsson on display in the yard behind the museum.

After studying the fabulous sculptures you should head back towards the church. On the way, to your left, is small coffee house named Café Loki, where you can enjoy traditional Icelandic cakes, pastries and light meals. Well worth the visit.

Turn left when you reach the statue of Leifur Eiriksson again and head down Skolavordustigur street towards the city centre. On both sides of Skolavordustigur you find many interesting designer boutiques with Icelandic jewellery, art and fashion. This walk takes about 10 minutes if you don’t window browse or visit any of the shops. 

When you reach the end of Skolavordustigur you, walk a short distance down the main shopping street, Laugavegur. At the next junction head right and walk along Ingolfsstraeti street until you reach the Hverfisgata street (about 1 minute walk). Now you see a white house to your right across the street. This is The National Centre for Cultural Heritage, offering many exhibitions. A visit should take 1 – 2 hours.

After the visit, once you are outside, head to your right and walk down Hverfisgata street. After about 1 minute walk you cross Ingolfsstraeti street and see a statue to your right. This is the statue of Ingolfur Arnarsson, the first settler of Reykjavik. From the base of the statue you have a good view over the city centre and to your right you can see the new Harpa Reykjavík Concert Hall and Conference Centre. In the Harpa you can go on guided tours of the building which is very interestingly designed, in part by Danish-Icelandic artist Ólafur Elíasson.

Next up is The Settlement Exhibition, located on the corner of Adalstraeti and Sudurgata. On the way there you may want to stop by the Baejarins Bestu for some authentic Icelandic hot dogs. Ask the locals for directions. The exhibition is based on the archaeological excavation of the ruin of one of the first houses in Iceland and findings from other excavations in the city centre. The exhibition won the international Nodem Awards in 2006 for best design of digital experiences in museums. A visit should take about 1 hour. 

The last visit on the agenda, is The National Museum of Iceland. When exiting the Settlement Exhibition we turn right and walk along Sudurgata for about 10 minutes or until we reach a large roundabout. Opposite, to our left is the National Museum. Of particular interest here is the Making of a Nation exhibition. A visit should take about 3 hours.

In addition, though excluded from the suggested agenda above, we would like to recommend The Reykjavik Art Museum located on several locations around town. Take a look at their web to see what is on offer that interests you.

The Laugardalslaug Geothermal Pool in Reykjavik.

When visiting Iceland, make sure you do visit one of the many geothermal pools. Every village and town in Iceland has at least one. Open all year, through the darkest and coldest of days as well as the ever bright and warm summer days, these pools are to Icelanders more than just swimming pools. In fact when we say “Let’s go swimming!” everybody knows that swimming is not on the agenda. Instead we just sit in the hot tubs and talk, enjoying the company of family and good friends as we let the warm and mineral rich geothermal water work its wonders. The geothermal water is considered very healthy for your skin and some say for your soul as well. It is compulsory in Iceland to know how to swim and the pools are of course also used to teach the children to swim.

Many tourists don’t believe that we visit the pools in freezing weather and even in snowstorms, but we do and so should you. When it is summer and the sun is shining the pools act as beaches to us, filled with people trying to get some tan over the few days of sun. 

So how do you go about visiting a local geothermal pool? First of all, entrance is not expensive and you can stay as long as you like, within the limits of opening hours of course. 

You pay for the entrance at the reception and if you don’t have a swimsuit or a towel with you, you can also rent one. Children usually pay a lower price than adults, so it is necessary to indicate how many adults tickets and how many children tickets you are going to buy. If you plan to go more than one time to the same pool, or if you are a part of a large group, it is cheaper to buy a multiple access card, for an example with 5 or 10 admissions. 

After having paid for the admission you usually get a ticket that you use for an electronic gate at the entrance. Some smaller pools give you a token to use for you locker or a key. 

Once inside the males and females head for their separate dressing rooms. Once in the dressing room you choose a locker. Smaller pools may not have lockers, only hangers. If so it is advisable to leave your valuables at the reception. 

It is good to know that most pools in Iceland are very children friendly. Most have slides of some kind and various toys for children to enjoy. If you have small children (up to six years in most cases) they can go into either the men's or the women's dressing rooms.

Now comes the most important part: In Iceland you MUST shower before putting your swimsuit on. This means that you must undress at the locker and then head to the shower area. You leave your towel at special hangers just outside the shower area and bring your swimsuit with you into the showers. Now, showering in the nude in a public place like this is common practice for most Europeans but if you come from the United States this might be uncomfortable. Don’t worry, just let go and do like the locals! 

In the showers you must soap the most critical areas of your body. This includes the head/hair, the armpits, the feet and the groin area. Please understand that Icelanders take hygiene very seriously when in their geothermal pools, so any attempt to bypass this ‘procedure’ might be frowned upon by the locals. 

After a through cleansing of your body you put your swimsuit on and head to the pool area. When it is time to leave, you reverse the above procedure; you head for the showers, take off your swimsuit and shower again. Then it is time to dry off and head for your locker. 

Most pools have an outdoor swimming pool (the larger ones also have a indoor pool), a small and shallow pool for little children, several hot pots ranging from comfortably warm to ‘are-you-kidding-me?’ hot, saunas or steam baths and water slides for the kids. The smallest ones might just include a small pool and one hot pot though. 

A visit to a geothermal pool in Iceland is something not to be skipped. Do something different and do yourself a favour and visit one on you next visit to Iceland. Take a look at this website for more information.

The Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon.

Here is a suggestion for a five day visit to Iceland, with focus on the south coast. Of course you can adjust this to your needs as you like.

Day 1:

Arrival at Keflavik Airport. If time permits stopping by at the Blue Lagoon could be a good idea (it is only a short detour on the route to Reykjavik). After visiting the Blue Lagoon you can either dine at the Blue Lagoon’s restaurant or head straight to Reykjavik.

Distances: Airport to the Blue Lagoon: 30 minutes max. Blue Lagoon to Reykjavik: 30 – 45 minutes.

Day 2:
Head eastwards on the Ring Road (road no. 1) along the south coast, making the Seljalandsfoss waterfall your first destination. Distance from Reykjavik approx. 2 hours. Stop at the Seljalandsfoss waterfall and walk behind it. It’s an adventure for kids and adults alike.

From Seljalandsfoss you can choose between three interesting destinations or choices: First you could go to Thorsmork, but then you need to be driving a 4x4 or take the bus from Seljalandsfoss. Distance from Seljalandsfoss 1-2 hours. Second you could take the ferry from Bakkafjara to the Vestmann islands. Distance from Seljalandsfoss to the ferry approx 15 minutes. Sailing time approx 30 minutes. Third you can head further east and for the purpose of this guide that is what we will do.

Continuing east you will now be driving through the area that was most severely damaged by the recent Eyjafallajokull volcanic eruption, though you can now hardly see any evidence of this catastrophic event in the area. After about 30 minutes drive your next stop is the Skogarfoss waterfall and the Skogar Museum.

After visiting the Skogarfoss waterfall and the Skogar museum, your next destination is the village of Vik. Distance from Skogarfoss waterfall: Approx. 1 – 2 hours. There you can take a walk down to the black beach, visit the geothermal pool or play a round of golf at the Vik golf course.

You can stay overnight at Vik but if you are all still in good shape you could head a little more eastwards over to Kirkjubaejarklaustur village and spend the night there. Kirkjubaejarklaustur is rich of history and the surroundings are beautiful. Kirkjubaejarklaustur village also has a geothermal pool, like every village in Iceland.

Day 3:
After a healthy breakfast everyone is ready for the day ahead. Bright and early you are still headed eastwards. Your next stop is Skaftafell in the Vatnajokull National Park. Distance from Kirkjubaejarklaustur approx. 2 hours.

After taking your time at Skaftafell you keep going east. Next up is your main destination: The Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon. Distance from Skaftafell approx. 2 hours. You can take a boat trip on the lagoon or just stay on shore take in the breathtaking beauty of the lagoon. Don’t forget to take a short hike down river to the shore, where you are likely to be greeted by a seal or two.

After visiting the glacial lagoon you start backtracking towards Reykjavik. Again you spend the night at Kirkjubaejarklaustur or Vik.

Day 4:
Arrival in Reykjavik, probably by noon or early afternoon. You should have time for a city stroll or perhaps go on a whale watching trip. Another option would be to take a detour on your way back to Reykjavik and visit Thjorsardalur valley.

Day 5:
Departure day, perhaps starting off with a visit to one of Reykjavik’s many splendid geothermal pools, before heading to Keflavik Airport.

Stórurð, one of Iceland's most spectacular sights.

Stórurð is one of Iceland‘s most amazing places but because it is rather hard to reach it is not visited by many. Even many Icelanders don’t know it exists. Yet it is more spectacular than Gullfoss and Geysir, the two most visited attractions in Iceland.

But what is Stórurð? Well, the word Stórurð can perhaps be translated as “Big boulders” and is essentially a large pile of huge rocks resting in a valley. But to put it that way is like saying the Grand Canyon is essentially a large gulch or the Victoria Falls is essentially a large cascade. Like the Grand Canyon and the Victoria Falls, Stórurð is something much more, something beyond words or description.

It is believed that some thousands of years ago a large landslide fell from one of the nearby mountains on top of a glacier that filled the valley where Stórurð is now. As years passed, and the climate got warmer, the glacier retreated, got thinner and thinner and finally this huge pile of gigantic rocks touched ground.

And here they are today, some of them larger than houses, others smaller. Here and there small ponds have formed between the rocks, some with clear water but others with green water. In between you can walk on perfectly level green fields of grass. In contrast with the tranquil ponds and green fields are those huge black rocks and cliffs towering over and when you walk among them you just feel so small.

Behind this big, random labyrinth of rocks, right at the bottom of the valley, you still can see remnants of the glacier that it part formed this amazing place. And you are also right at the feet of the Dyrfjöll mountains (Dyrfjöll = Door Mountains) looking like some giant took a big bite of the edge of mountain, forming a kind of a doorway over to the next valley.

How can you reach Stórurð? The best way is to go by car to Vikurskarð, a mountain passage on the road to Borgarfjörður Eystri. Just drive from Egilsstaðir village towards Borgarfjörður Eystri village. The mountain passage in question is the first one you reach. Right on the highest point of the passage you’ll find parking and a sign with the word “Stórurð”. There is also another parking before you reach the highest point, but don’t stop there, just keep on until you reach the highest part of the passage. Leave your car there and follow the sometimes not so easy to spot path up the mountain. The walk to Stórurð takes about 2 hours. Once there you can expect to spend around 1-2 hours at the site. Then the trek back takes another 2 hours.

If you are planning a visit to Iceland and you are looking up various tour packages and tour operators for your trip you might find that the average day tour can be in the USD 200 price range and more per person.

This might especially be true if you are looking at packages that include so called super jeep tours. They tend to be more expensive than normal bus or coach tours.

But if you are looking for a more reasonable or cheaper way you should consider one of the many bus/coach alternatives. On the official Visit Reykjavik web you can for an example find tour operators that provide interesting trips for less.

Also, if you are several people travelling as a group, renting a car can be a more cost effective alternative than the super jeep tours or even the bus/coach tours.

On the other hand super jeep tours tend to offer more flexibility to take little detours and more time at various locations. Also, traversing rivers in a jeep is much more fun than doing so in a bus!

Many travel to Iceland on the sole purpose of seeing the northern lights. Others just take it as a nice surprise, or a bonus, if the northern lights can be seen during their trip to Iceland. In either case you should take the following, five rules of the northern lights into consideration:

1. Dark: To see the northern lights the sky must be dark. And because the summer months in Iceland mean 24 hour daylight, your visit should take place during the winter months.
2. Light pollution: For enjoying the northern lights in their most splendor and glory you should travel outside the capital area. You don’t have to travel far; a 20 – 30 minutes drive should suffice. The northern lights can be seen even though you are in the city by they do not look as bright as when you are outside the city.
3. Cloudy skies: If it is cloudy you probably won’t be able to see the northern lights, or just briefly between clouds. Clear skies are the northern lights viewer’s best friend.
4. Cold: As the best conditions to see the northern lights are on clear nights during winter you should expect cold weather. So bring your warmest clothes to fully enjoy the experience.
5. Non-constant: The northern lights are a natural phenomenon that is triggered by sun storms. These sun storms are variable in their power and therefore the northern lights are variable in their intensity from time to time. Sometimes they appear as a barely visible veil in the sky while on other occasions they appear as bright, ever changing band of light and color. The best time to see the northern lights is 2 – 3 days after a especially violent sun storm. 

Many travel operators in Iceland offer northern lights tours. Most of them work together in the way that if one finds a good spot to see the lights he lets the other operators know. Many also offer a guarantee in the way that if you book with them and the lights can’t be seen, they offer you unlimited trips without additional fee, until the lights are seen (do check this with your operator before booking).

You can of course also be on your own, for an example on a rental. It is not difficult to find roads leading out of the city if you have a map but on the other hand, finding the right spot on that particular night might be difficult. You have much more chance of seeing the lights when using the tour operators as they let each other know if one finds a good spot. 

As you can see you need a considerable amount of luck to see the northern lights in Iceland. Therefore I strongly suggest that you do not make the northern lights your sole reason for visiting Iceland. Instead make your travel plans around some of the many interesting sights and things to do in this incredible country and always have plan A and B for the afternoons and nights (plan A being a northern lights tour and plan B what you can do if the conditions are not good). With the mindset of enjoying Iceland first and foremost, and treating the northern lights as special bonus to your trip, you can avoid a lot of disappointment and frustration.

You can now get a northern lights forecast for Iceland here but I don't know how accurate it is.