Destinations 101: Why Iceland is the best place to travel this Easter

March 19, 2018

Destinations 101: Why Iceland is the best place to travel this Easter

Hello everyone!

I asked you all via my Twitter (@libsmithblogger - gimme a follow!) what kinda post you would like to see next, and travel was the winner! I thought it would be nice to share with you my favourite place I've visited over the Easter period to hopefully give you a little inspo is you need a quick getaway this spring.... Iceland!

I've only visited Iceland once, for 10 days over the Easter Break in 2014 with the college (One of the perks of taking Geography A-Level). Out of all the amazing places I've been to this is only one of a few which I would LOVE to go back to (Toronto and New York being the others).

Here's 11 reasons why I think Iceland is THE BEST place to travel to, especially in Spring...

1.) It's cold and snowy, but not too cold and snowy (if that makes any sense!) - This is major for more than just the obvious fact that you will probs freeze to death if you go in winter; some of the roads are too dangerous and so are shut in the winter months (and the fact that in the winter there are only a few hours of daylight in a day), meaning that you're pretty much restricted to the capital Reykjavik. This isn't really an issue, but the rest of the Island is just so incredible it would be shame to not explore more, I mean it's not everyday you just pop to Iceland (*Supermarkets excluded from statistic). Though naturally travelling somewhere like Iceland you do want a bit of snow (got to think of the gram), hence why spring is the best time to visit!

2.) It's not your usual holiday destination, but it is up and coming for sure - Most Easter vacays are either city break or a bit of pre-summer sun. Iceland is not the usual go-to, but it's still pretty amazing.

3.) The hot baths... who can ignore the hot baths - These are literally the best things in the world. If you're staying in Reykjavik then the Blue Lagoon is the place to go. However, if you're travelling around a bit and moving out of the city there are plenty of other hot baths that are soooo much cheaper and often a lot less busy as they're where the locals go! Of course, the views are still incred.

4.) There are so many famous landmarks that you can visit - Batman, Take That and Justin Bieber. No, I'm not just listing my guilty pleasures. In fact, they all filmed in Iceland! There is one scene in Batman that was filmed in Iceland and there are still nails in the sand from the set (I thought it would be cool to take one but in reality I'm just left with a rusty screw). Take That also filmed their Patience video on a beach on the west side of the Island. And yes, we did stand in the exact spot and sing Take That. Bieber visited to record parts of the Island in his I'll Show You music vid too, which features Skogafoss Waterfall (See below for a piccy!)

5.) They have beaches but the sand is black - it's because of all the ash from volcanoes, pretty cool.

6.) They have traffic lights in the shape of hearts - this can be seen in the Northern town of Akureyri where the red light on traffic lights are in the shape of hearts.I'm not actually sure why this is and it doesn't really give reason for why Spring is the best time, but it's cute anyway.

7.) They have a dating app that tells them if they are related - there's so few people in Iceland that this is actually needed. This is more of a fun fact than anything else, but it does equally prove just how much room there is; Iceland is definitely a place to 'find yourself' and have a major detox just becasue it's so fresh and stress free.

8.) You can climb up volcanoes, hike across glaciers, and spot whales at the Arctic Circle - I was lucky enough to do all of these things, and in the winter it's not always possible; the weather has to be good enough (with enough visibility) for the volcano climbing and glacier hiking, and if the weather is too bad then the whales dive, you see nothing, and you'll probs get the worst sea sickness of your life. Unfortunately, the whale thing was true for my trip, though we did decide to go on the windiest day, though the chances of spotting whales is much higher in the Spring and to say you've made it to the Arctic Circle is pretty cool in itself - just wrap up, you will never experience the cold like it!

9.) The horses are the cutest - you can go up and stroke them and they are just the fluffiest and cutest things ever. That and they're like Shetland, so fairly small and stubbly! (Again, not much to do with the whole spring thing but I'm presuming they will be sheltered in the Winter?!

10.) Technically, you can stand in between two continents - there is a ridge between the North American techtonic plate and the Eurasian tectonic plate where, weather permitting, you can walk in between. If you're lucky, you might even feel a lil quake (we didn't, boo), but It's very cool.

11.) THE NORTHERN LIGHTS - Winter is the best time to see the Northern Lights, but it is also one of the cloudiest seasons. HELLO SPRING - the best alternative time to go Aurora spotting. To get the best view you need to find somewhere dark, where your eyes can adjust, with no light pollution.

Below are a few photos showing just how amazing this place is (there's a fair few so bear with but just couldn't help adding so many!)