Reykjavik

Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland. Don’t expect a huge city. It feels more like a midsize town where more than half of Iceland’s population lives.

A visit to Reykjavik in December means short and dark days. The city is compact and expensive. Luckily a visit to a restaurant means in general good quality food, especially when you pay slightly more. Try not to focus on the cheapest pizza Margarita which starts at about EUR 18,- and more fashionable pizza of at least EUR 23 – 25. Because then you miss the excellent dining options the city has to offer.

Iceland is well-known for nature and even during winter, these places can be visited by car or with an organized tour. When driving by yourself be prepared on snow, ice and the fact that during the day there’s the whole time a kind of dusk. Sun goes down at about 15:15 and it feels like a night at 17:00.

The excursions which are organized from Reykjavik will start and end when it’s dark. Sights are visited during dusk and daylight. This is the case for the Golden Circle but applies also to the excursions further afield like the Jökulsárlón glacier lake. If you want to experience the Northern Lights a visit in December is a good option. In this case, it is recommendable not to book this excursion your last night because nature can’t be programmed. When there are no Northern Lights the tour company offers a free tour to try again to see this natural phenomenon.