Iceland in March is a challenge.....ice and snow underfoot (boot chains provided!) high winds, intermittent torrential rain, bad road conditions. But the beauty of the country more than makes up for any discomfort. Travelling around the whole island, the scenery is constantly changing....wild coasts, snowy mountains, sparkling fjords, black lava flows and of course, wonderful waterfalls. For any lover of the great outdoors, this trip is a must
Iceland is a magical place! We had a fabulous time exploring different parts of the island, and had a well-curated list of attractions and experiences. Our travel agent put together an excellent itinerary for our very active family, with lots of varied options to choose from. He also made himself readily available for questions, and handled a near-crisis beautifully when our upcoming accommodation had a plumbing problem - he re-booked us at a fantastic hotel before we even knew there was an issue. I would have liked a trip summary page simply with location names, drive times, recommended visit timing, and map links (note that these items were included in the longer, detailed itinerary). However, as we discovered, Iceland is very easy to navigate. Our accommodations were excellent, and restaurant recommendations were spot-on.
The Stelkur trip around Iceland gave hearty servings of the history, culture, geology and ethos of this remarkable island. Sure, we all knew the island had volcanoes and glaciers, but I for one was not aware of the tremendous impact of glacial flooding on the island and its people. This trip hit so many high points that it was almost dizzying, from puffins and whale spotting to black sand beaches littered with remnants of icebergs, to seemingly countless waterfalls and glacier views, to vigorous and rewarding hikes, superb cooking by our guide, solitude on the hut to hut portions (we saw one other hiker during 4 days), tales of Icelandic heroes, trolls and elves. Our guide, Solvi, was a natural teacher, gifted storyteller and even sang us to sleep one night with an Icelandic lullaby. He surprised us often with little outings or touches that were not listed on the official itinerary and made us feel like we'd been let in on special secrets. We looked for kids rescuing young puffins who had not made it to water, tobogganed down a huge black sand dune, and snatched blueberries from the bushes that lined the trails as we hiked. There was magic in the air on this trip!