Reykjavik, the Blue Lagoon, the Golden Circle... been there, done that. You know Iceland, right? Er, no. Wrong.
This magical land of fire and ice is full of surprises and, with just 332,000 resourceful, hardy souls, punches well above its weight. Just ask Roy Hodgson, Wayne Rooney et al.
With cheap and 100% renewable electricity, it’s the world’s greenest country, has no armed forces and has cheerfully bounced back from financial ruin in 2008. It’s a place to envy and admire in equal measure.
And northern Iceland, a mere 35-minute flight from the capital over the beautiful, uninhabitable interior is a place of wonder, with dancing Northern Lights, weirdly beautiful lava fields, innumerable volcanoes, snow-capped mountains and fjords.
I boarded Norwegian Airlines’ new two-and-a-half-hour low-cost flight, keeping myself amused with their free wi-fi.
Arriving in Reykjavik, I headed for my base, the Grand Hotel – a bright, well-equipped spa offering regular transfers to the city centre. I couldn’t wait to get going.
But first a spot of lunch. Restaurants in Reykjavik are flourishing after a massive boom in tourism – a record 1.73 million in 2016, up 34% year on year.
The Matarkjallarinn (matarkjallarin.is.en) is cosy and elegant, and my starter of traditional Icelandic meats and cheeses, followed by the must-have salt cod was superb, setting me up for an exploration of this lean, green, friendly city of culture.
A 10-minute walk away is the Harpa, Reykjavik’s extraordinary concert hall, opened in 2011 after a build hampered by the financial crisis ( en.harpa.is ).
Icelandic star Bjork has a mind-bending virtual reality exhibition here which places you right in the middle of her eccentric vision and eclectic music.
A wander through central Reykjavik, taking in the world’s oldest parliament, established in 930AD, and the soaring Hallgrimskirkja cathedral was worth the effort and shoe leather.
The busy main shopping streets – Laugavegur and Skolavoroustigur – are smart, internationally-focused and, like so much of Iceland, very expensive.
I finished my whistle-stop tour in the popular Matur og Drykkur restaurant (maturogdrykkur.is/en).
The challenging eight-course seafood extravaganza included dried fish skins with burned butter, trout smoked in sheep dung, a huge cod’s head (the meat in the eye sockets was delicious!) and skyr (an Icelandic yoghurt) with sheep’s blood meringue.
No, it wasn’t a cruel Bushtucker Trial, just stunning Nordic cooking with a very modern twist.
Next morning saw my group at relaxed Reykjavik airport (not the main Keflavik international terminal) for the short internal Air Iceland flight to the country’s second biggest city, Akureyri, capital of the shining north.
Taking Route One, the 828-mile ring road right around the island, I enjoyed a lovely 25-minute drive and 20-minute ferry ride to the peaceful island of Hrisey in the middle of the Eyjafjordur.
A tractor and cart served as my taxi for a quick tour of this birdwatchers’ paradise and before more salt cod at the Hrisey Island Museum, the former home of a shark fisherman, where I had my first taste of the infamous rotten shark.
This Icelandic delicacy is, as the name suggests, fermented shark – and it reeks. But a quick chew on the ammonia-flavoured meat and a slug of beer and it’s gone. Horrible, but not as ghastly as you might think.
From there I headed to Siglufjordur, Iceland’s most northerly town, and this is where the journey really started to take on a vibrant life of its own.
I simply sat and gaped out of the car window surrounded by endless snowy mountains and icy fjords before seeking refuge in the Herring Museum (sild.is/en).
It’s an extraordinary place and tells the remarkable tale of the rise and fall of the herring industry and what was Iceland’s ‘gold rush’.
I needed a drink after all that fish, and hit Segull 67 (segull67.is), a micro-brewery housed in an atmospheric old herring factory.
Since prohibition ended in Iceland in 1985, brewing has become a boom industry and there are some magnificent beers.
A cosy night followed in the rather wonderful Siglo Hotel, which offers great food right on the water’s edge, where I enjoyed a wallow in their geothermal outdoor pool overlooking the harbour.
Another stunning drive took me to Hofsos and the start of a tour of the historic Skagafjordur region (northwestadventures.is) featuring the Icelandic Emigration Museum and the Icelandic Beer Centre in Holar.
This claims to be the smallest and cheapest bar in Iceland – even so, Wetherspoons it ain’t! – and is staffed by enthusiastic beer geeks.
By now the weather had turned vicious. Stinging rain and thunderous wind rattled me along to the awesomely powerful Reykjafoss waterfall and the Fosslaug geothermal pool.
In nearby Saudarkrokur there’s a wonderful, Hobbit-like exhibition of historic, turf-roofed houses and a tannery that specialises in fish leather. The results are weirdly beautiful and the process is fascinating.
After a little floating therapy at the Infinity Blue geothermal pool in Hofsos I went on to enjoy one of the best dinners of my life at the unimposing Kaffi Krokur Restaurant in Saudarkrokur.
Every course – langoustine soup, beef, goose, lamb and catfish – was local and unforgettably splendid ( kaffikrokur.is/en/ ).
After a night in the atmospheric Skagafjordur Arctic Hotel, the oldest in Iceland – apparently room two is haunted – I enjoyed another long drive on Route One to the Baccala Bar (ektafiskur.is) in Fiskur, where generations of fishermen have caught, filleted and salted cod.
If you’re lucky, the self-proclaimed King of Salted Codfish, captain Elvar Reykjalin – more Elvis than Elvar – will give you a tour of his empire and his restaurant which serves heavenly salt cod.
Talking of heaven, my next stop was the hugely popular Godafoss waterfall, a mighty spectacle and the place where it was decided that Iceland would become a Christian country.
Then it was on to Lake Myvatn, location for Game of Thrones and the area where early American astronauts went to prepare for the moon landings.
Nearby is a park created by one of the many huge volcanic eruptions, throwing up huge lava formations of towering, gnarly otherworldliness.
Then it was back to the modern and tranquil Sel-Hotel Myvatn opposite the lake and where the cast and crew of Game of Thrones stay during filming.
Dinner was smoked lamb with red cabbage – the traditional Icelandic Christmas meal – with dessert interrupted by the Northern Lights.
I wandered outside expecting to see the sky lit up by green but was greeted with thick, dazzling dancing ropes of pink, purple, green and blue.
Lake Myvatn is special. Thirty-seven square kilometres of frozen beauty with more than 50 islands and crater-like outcrops formed when molten lava flowed into the water.
Much of the action North of the Wall in Game of Thrones was filmed around the lake and you can imagine Wildlings charging around the snowy weirdness.
Indeed, King of the North Jon Snow famously met Wildling Ygritte on the shore. And just a few minutes away is the cave that inspired THAT love scene from season three.
My final visit was the Krafla volcanic region, home to Namafjall Hverir, a high temperature field of geysers which day and night spew gigantic angry columns of steam into the air. It’s eerie, with the strong sulphur smell making it like an outpouring from hell.
It’s a unique place, magical and a little wild, and a fitting finale to my tour of bewitching, intoxicating northern Iceland.
Get there
- Norwegian flies a seasonal service three times a week from Gatwick to Reykjavik with fares from £39.90 one way. norwegian.com
- Air Iceland flies from Reykjavik to Akureyri from €66 one way. airiceland.is
- Rooms at the Grand Hotel Reykjavik start at £148pn. en.grand.is
- Rooms at the Siglo Hotel in Siglufjordur start at £113pn. siglohotel.is
- Rooms at the Skagafjordur Arctic (Tindastoll) Hotel in Saudarkrokur start at £109pn. arctichotels.is
- Rooms at the Sel-Hotel Myvatn at Lake Myvatn start at £82pn. myvatn.is
- Tourist info: inspiredbyiceland.com northiceland.is visitreykjavik.is
- Air Iceland operates flights from Reykjavik to Akureyri in the North of Iceland. Prices start from £50 one way. Visit www.airiceland.is
TIME ZONE UK time
CURRENCY Krona £1 = 142
BEST TIME TO GO Wrap up for a winter wonder Beyond the Wall
Christmas in Iceland...
An Icelandic Christmas is very different to ours – quieter and less frenzied.
They celebrate 13 days of Christmas, which coincides with the darkest time of the year, when they average about four hours of daylight and, as a result, they go light-crazy inside and outside their houses.
And forget one Santa Claus. They have 13, known as the Yule Lads (left). They don’t fly in on a sleigh but live in the mountains and walk into towns one by one until Christmas Eve – the big day of celebration in Iceland.
They used to be frightening figures, the spawn of an ogress called Gryla – whose favourite food was Naughty Kid Stew – and a troll called Leppaluoi. They also had a cat who would eat children who didn’t receive new clothes for Christmas Day. Not exactly Santa, eh?
In more recent years these Yule Lads have become funny, friendly creatures with weird and wonderful names.
Children must put one of their best shoes on the window sill and, if they have been good, they receive a gift in the shoe. If they’ve been bad they get a raw or rotten potato.
The Yule Lads arrive as follows:
December 12: Sheep Cote Clod
December 13: Gully Gawk (he steals milk)
December 14: Stubby (he steals pans to eat scraps)
December 15: Spoon Licker (very, very thin)
December 16: Pot Scraper
December 17: Bow Licker (hides under bed to steal leftovers)
December 18: Door Slammer (slams doors during the night)
December 19 Skyr Gobbler
December 20: Sausage Swiper
December 21: Window Peeper (searches for things to steal)
December 22: Doorway Sniffer (big nose to sniff our food)
December 23: Meat Hook (has a big hook for stealing food)
December 24: Candle Stealer
You have been warned!