the winter kick-off // four days in iceland

Oh hi, hello! Remember us? I won’t bore you with tales of where we’ve been. If you follow us and watch our stories on Instagram, then you already have a pretty good idea. But we do have more than a few travels to share with you! So… please don’t mind if I backtrack a bit, to our four days in Iceland. Back in November. Whoops.

I’m typing this as a surprise blanket of snow falls over London, courtesy of THE BEAST FROM THE EAST. How’s that for some over-hyped silliness? It’s actually more like an old, threadbare sheet of snow. It’s lost its prettiness, and now it’s just causing a lot of minor inconveniences. All everyone really wanted was a snow day, Mr. Beast! So let’s all just agree that the winter blues are real, and they are the worst.

But… I think we can all also agree that when it’s not ruining our days with cold, gray weather to match our cold, gray moods, winter can actually be quite pretty. (Yes, I will admit it. Even this British snowfest has had its moments.)

Luckily, back before I was cold and jaded, Iceland provided us with plenty of winter gorgeousness.

Honestly, looking back at my photos: it was my fault. If you start your winter off like this, it’s only downhill from here.

This was our third trip to Iceland, because it’s really just that kinda place. Our first time was in the summer of 2013. At the end of our RTW, we landed in Reykjavik, and spent a week driving around the Ring Road. We chased the midnight sun, it was as magical as it sounds, and we vowed to return.

Return we did, with my sister and her now-fiance, the October just before lazy baby was born. We again started off in Reykjavik, had two nights in the south, and took our guests on a mini-roadtrip around the Snæfellsnes Peninsula.

This time, after our now-customary first night in Reykjavik, we hightailed it for the Golden Circle. We had the sole mission of seeing the Northern Lights. This is, of course, problematic. Unless you have a ton of time and patience, Aurora spotting is a mission that’s just generally set up to fail. Unfortunately, you don’t really know what the conditions will be like until you arrive. Even then, they can change dramatically through the day. I obsessively tracked their status with this website. While the first night had decent conditions, we were happily nestled into our amazing room at the Sandhotel. You can’t blame us if we didn’t much feel like exploring.

Reykjavik

Sandhotel // Though we had loved our previous stays at the Icelandair Marina, we wanted to try something a little more central to the heart of the city. I called Sandhotel with a few questions before booking — mostly in terms of floorspace for our travel cot. They finalized our reservation over the phone, and our work was done. When we arrived, they realized there had been some error in their system that didn’t process our booking. They were — GASP — almost completely full.

…EXCEPT for their Sand Suite.

our view from the sandhotel sand suite bedroom

The staff was actually laughing because this accidental upgrade was so ridiculous. The penthouse suite is more of a fully functioning apartment, and if you’re looking for a splurge, this is the place to do it. Margot was super into playing with all the Scandi vases and decor scattered around, so we had to do a little re-decorating. But there was so much space, and it’s never a bad thing to have a door between us and her once she goes to sleep! We actually almost booked an AirBnb for this very reason, but decided that for one night, the conveniences of a hotel would be better.

Because we were mostly there during the night hours, my pics don’t do it justice, but you can (and should!) check out their site for more details.

photo via instagram

We walked around the city all afternoon/evening, popping into a few shops we fell in love with on previous trips. Some of our faves are below:

Farmers Market // Inga from Tiny Iceland sent us to the marina location on our last visit, and I was thrilled to spot one across the street from the Sandhotel. It was an extra special stop, because last time, we bought Margot a little gift from here when she was still tucked up in my belly.

66 North // This time, we snagged Margot a pair of snowpants, and they’re the best. They’re unlined, so we can just throw em on over whatever she’s wearing OR use them in rainy weather (HELLO LONDON), and they’re adjustable! Unlike last year’s from Gap, these should easily last for at least another winter. She also looks real ridiculously cute in them.

Jólahúsið // There’s at least one other Christmas store on Reykjavik’s main shopping street, but this one is my fave. It’s cute, it’s cozy, and we’ve found the most adorable little Christmas ornaments on two of our visits.

If you’re planning a future visit, check out my other posts for past meals we’ve had in Reykjavik, because I’ve linked to some classics. But here’s what we loved this time:

Sandbar & Bistro // After we settled into our suite, we went for a nice, long walk around town… and got TOTALLY caught in a burst of wet, sloppy snow. I had a few restaurants on my list, but it was that awkward time just before dinner service really starts. Instead of letting hanger win, we walked back to the hotel and nabbed a table at their restaurant. It was perfect! The decor was cute, the food was great, the staff was lovely, and it was early enough that a travel-tired toddler didn’t mess with anyone else’s meals. (Read: totally empty at 6 PM, but started to fill up as we were leaving a little over an hour later). It’s also accessible from the street or the hotel lobby, so it doesn’t have that stuffy “hotel restaurant” vibe. Know what I mean?

Reykjavik Roasters // On our first morning, we took a nice long walk over to this little hipster coffee shop for lattes and pastries. It was just near Hallgrímskirkja (the church in the photo above of me and mademoiselle lazy baby), so we were able to cram in some low-key sightseeing too.

Sandholt Bakarí // We flew out at a kind of awkward time on Monday. We left our second hotel of the trip super early, and had just enough time to swing back through Rekyjavik on our way to the airport. If the stars aligned, we could have squeezed in a quick brunch. Naturally, we didn’t even think that… duh… no one does brunch on a Monday. Luckily, we remembered the bakery attached to our hotel from the first night, and we were soon cozied up with coffees, hot chocolate, and cinnamon buns. Without even realizing it, Sandhotel shaped almost our entire time in Rekyjavik.

The Golden Circle

In between our Reykjavik bookends, we drove our rental car out into the countryside for a few nights. You don’t have to venture far to find beauty in Iceland, and though we’d technically driven the Golden Circle on our first visit, we crammed it in toward the end. Because it’s supposed to be one of the best places for Northern Lights spotting, we decided this would be the perfect spot to try our luck for a few nights.

Borealis Hotel // Finding luxury in Iceland, at least outside of Reykjavik, is tough. There are a few options, but they’re either insanely expensive, super far, or honestly… not actually luxury. We decided to just go with it, and booked two nights at this hotel in Selfoss. The grounds were beautiful, the lobby was cozy, and the staff was friendly.

We opted for one of the cottages, and it was, as expected, BASIC. Like, super simple, and the wall we shared with the neighbors was really thin. I’m not exaggerating when I say we heard their phone alarm in the morning, and it was on vibrate. But it was warm, the bed was comfortable, and the breakfast was filling. Lazy baby also loved the other residents.

If you just need a comfortable place to stop on all your roadtripping around the Golden Circle, this fits the bill. If you’re going to spend as much time as we did in the room… maybe look at other options. Let me know if you find a better one, because we definitely struggled when we were researching!

So, did we see the Northern Lights? YEP. On our first night in Selfoss, when the conditions were solidly meh, we persevered. We bundled up and ran outside every hour or so, peering into the sky. The hotel turns off their parking lot lights, but obviously they can’t turn off the lights in the main building, so there is a bit of light pollution. We struggled with whether we should wake up Margot and drive, when all of a sudden, we started to see a faint greenish light dancing above the hotel.

We didn’t get any photos that do them any justice (I honestly didn’t even try), but it was magical. I definitely would love to see them again, hopefully when the activity is a little bit higher. But for now, this counts!! And we were super lucky, because on the second night, the activity dropped to zero and a blizzard blew in. Definite proof that conditions can change in an instant!

Friðheimar // The only meal from our roadtrip that’s really worth mentioning is our lunch at this tomato-themed greenhouse. Super weird, right? Especially if you don’t even particularly like tomatoes… (moi). But I still really enjoyed this! Because of its insane climate and volcanic soil, Iceland struggles to grow most crops, so the founders of Friðheimar opened a greenhouse where they’re able to grow tomatoes all year long.

They have a major focus on environmental stability and sustainability, and it was beyond quirky to sit among the tomato plants. We ordered the pasta, pizza, and tomato soup just so we could try a little bit of everything. The soup, tableside basil plant, and accompanying bread bar was def the best part. There’s also an adjacent horse farm, and tons of walking trails winding around the property, so consider this stop in the summer.

Most of our time was spent enjoying the small window of daylight hours. We drove around, waterfall-hopped, and blasted Disney songs. All we wanted was a super relaxed weekend escape that was a bit different than our normal city break routine. As per usual: Iceland delivered!

If you’re also considering a visit with tots, I will say this. Iceland is INCREDIBLY kid-friendly. This is especially true if you stay in Reykjavik the entire time. But I would also suggest going in the summer or early fall instead of late autumn/early winter. Our trip was in mid-November, and it was just a little too cold to really enjoy the great outdoors for too long. Luckily, we were MORE than happy to take a leisurely approach this time (it was kind of the point of our trip). But I know if this was our first or only visit to Iceland, I would have been a little bummed at how little we actually did.

And that, my friends, is how you kick off winter! Now if we could just kick-off spring ASAP, that would be grreeeaaat…

xo!

ashley

– Please note that while nothing about this trip was sponsored, I have included a few affiliate links in the above post. If you decide to book either of the hotels we visited using these links, or rent your car through the above, we will receive a small commission. This is obviously much appreciated, and helps fuel our future travels. Xo!