Iceland

Reykjavík day trips or a lap of the Ring Road

Iceland trips split into two plans: a Reykjavík base with day trips, or a lap of the 1,332 km Ring Road. Four or five days covers the Golden Circle and the south coast to Vík. A brisk Ring Road circuit needs six days and a relaxed one nearer two weeks, best driven anticlockwise.

• Four or five days: sleep in Reykjavík throughout. Spend one day on the Golden Circle loop of Þingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. Give a second to the south coast as far as the black beach at Vík. Soak in the Blue Lagoon on arrival or departure day, since it is only 13 km from Keflavík airport.
• One week: carry on past Vík to Skaftafell for a guided glacier walk, then to Jökulsárlón, where icebergs drift in a lagoon up to 190 m deep. Sleep near Höfn and return along the same road, stopping at the waterfalls you skipped on the way out.
• Ten days to two weeks: the full loop. After the south coast come the East Fjords and Egilsstaðir, then Mývatn's lava fields, Húsavík for whale watching and Akureyri, the largest town outside the southwest. Close the circle with a day on Snæfellsnes via Route 54.
• Three weeks: add the Westfjords, reached on Route 60 or 68, and base yourself in Ísafjörður.

In late January the light lasts roughly from 10:00 to 16:00, so keep driving days short and stay on the south coast. A blizzard can shut the Ring Road for up to 24 hours, which is reason enough to sleep near Keflavík the night before a flight home.

Rooms outside the capital are scarce from July to September. Book a hotel a month or more ahead for that stretch. Rental cars go the same way, four-wheel drives first.

Search flights early for summer and book a rental car well ahead.

Short cool summers, F-road opening and National Day

Iceland's summer is short and cool, with July afternoons in Reykjavík around 15°C, and the interior F-roads usually open only from the end of June until October. National Day on 17 June and the August holiday weekend, Verslunarmannahelgi, fill ferries and campsites. Aurora hunting runs from September to April, when darkness and clear skies coincide.

The south is warmer but wetter and windier than the north, while the low inland areas of the north are the driest in the country and see more winter snow. June is the driest month in Reykjavík at about 43 mm; from September the monthly total roughly doubles, with about 87 mm.

On 17 June, National Day, most shops close. The first weekend of August, Verslunarmannahelgi, is the biggest holiday of the year, when Icelanders head for outdoor festivals. The largest is Þjóðhátíð in Herjólfsdalur on the Westman Islands, so ferries and campsites book out. Puffling season on the islands follows in early to mid August.

Þorri, the old midwinter month, begins on the first Friday after 19 January, and Þorrablót gatherings bring out the traditional platters. Shops shut on 24, 25 and 31 December and again on 1 January.

Watch for auroras well away from street lights, with an eye on the forecast sites that rate each night's chances.

Skyr, hangikjöt, the pylsa and buying alcohol at Vínbúðin

Everyday Icelandic food means skyr, smoke-cured lamb called hangikjöt and a pylsa, the hot dog with lamb in the sausage. Tap water is among the cleanest anywhere, takeaway alcohol is sold only by the state chain Vínbúðin to buyers aged 20 or over.

Lamb is also salted as saltkjöt. Harðfiskur, dried fish, is eaten as a snack with butter. Rye bread called rúgbrauð is baked slowly in the warm ground of geothermal areas and tastes sweeter than ordinary rye.

Order a pylsa with fried and raw onions, ketchup, mustard and remoulade. Food carts in Reykjavík also sell kjötsúpa (lamb soup), with a vegetarian version at some.

Þorramatur is the midwinter spread: fermented shark (hákarl), pickled ram's testicles, sheep's-head jelly. On 23 December comes cured skate, whose smell clings to hair and clothes, so wear nothing smart.

Locals call Vínbúðin Ríkið. The arrivals duty-free at Keflavík can still undercut it. Try brennivín, the caraway schnapps nicknamed Black Death, in small measures.

Expect to be asked how you like Iceland, never call the Icelandic horse a pony, and keep any scepticism about the huldufólk, the hidden people of folklore, to yourself.

Almost everyone speaks fluent English, yet Icelandic is guarded closely.