What to do in Iceland

Iceland has a focused tourist season, peaking from mid-June through August. Many Icelanders believe the summer tourists do not understand what they are missing. Iceland offers plenty to do in spring, autumn, even winter, and costs are dramatically lower for car rentals, airfares, and accommodations. Icelanders are keen Christmas celebrators, and the Aurora Borealis is remarkably graphic in winter. Most off season visitors combine city culture, and use Reykjavík as a home base and nightlife with activities such as horseback riding, snowmobiling, and visiting with spas. If you are looking for something to do in Iceland I recommend Iceland vacation packages.

A brilliantly hued fog creeps across the night sky, shape shifts into a solid green and red swirl stretching out from horizon to horizon, then suddenly breaks into heaps of daggers of light, piercing downward until they appear within reach. This is only one example of the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights (norðurljós), that I seen in Snæfellsnes; it's nature at its most bewitching. If you'ven’t seen this phenomenon before, Iceland is a great location to do so because big spaces between towns and the small population allow it to be easy to escape light pollution, even close to Reykjavík. If you'll need a lift to a more likely Northern Lights sighting than your resort in the middle of town, the closest tourist information office will manage to provide details of tours. Northern Lights tours run from mid-March to mid-April when they are seen, but there are generally a couple of sightings up to early May, and sometimes even as early as late August; just keep an eye out. Aurora borealis occurs when World’s energy particles intercept magnetic field from the sun, which ionize atoms in the upper atmosphere. This is why solar action is a good predictor of the intensity and duration of these auroral displays.

Bring a tripod if you have an SLR camera (or at least one that enables you to leave the shutter open for 30 seconds or more).

Most tours and adventure trips to Iceland's most famous natural attractions end after September. Roads in the hinterlands are typically closed from October to mid-May, and some do not open until July. Precipitation increases in September, peaking from October through February, and regular thunderstorms and driving rain are enough to dissuade many would-be winter adventurers.

The tourist high season corresponds with holiday time for Icelanders, but things don't shut down the manner they do in, say, France. Icelanders work longer hours than most Europeans, and seasonal service jobs fill. Some cultural institutions (theater, symphony, opera) take the summer off, while most museums outside Reykjavík are only open in summer.

Consider also that the number of daylight hours can have unanticipated physical and mental effects, in timing your visit. In early summer there is never complete darkness and the sun stays low to the horizon, creating a continuous play of color and shadow. Autumn and spring day hours are about the same as in Europe or North America. Days in midwinter have only 4 or 5 hours of sunlight. These changes are more extreme in the northern area of the country.

Weather—Iceland is located just south of the Arctic Circle, but thanks to the Gulf Stream, temperatures are unexpectedly light and cool in summer in winter. (New York's winter lows are generally lower than Reykjavík's.) Icelandic weather is extraordinarily explosive, yet. The Gulf Stream brings light Atlantic air in contact with colder Arctic atmosphere, resulting in frequently sudden weather shifts, fog, driving wind and rain, and overcast skies. You could well encounter four seasons in 1 day.

Iceland's precipitation is lowest in June and May, and peaks in October to February. Western and Southern parts of the island receive the most rainfall. 902 0600; www.vedur.is).

The Enormous Roundup—Visitors in early September—especially experienced horseback riders — can detect remote and amazing backcountry while participating in an age-old Icelandic farming ritual: the autumn sheep round-up, or réttir. Hundreds of thousands of Icelandic sheep spend the summer grazing in highland pastures. Local groups of farmers spend as much as a week herding them before winter sets in. Historically, this was a guy's occupation, but women have increasingly joined in. Once their earmarks pen and sorted the flocks, the farming communities let their hair down for dancing, singing, and drinking into the night. Traditionally many disjunct villagers met with their spouses during these events.

Most participants are seasoned riders, but some follow in 4WD vehicles or on foot; others join and merely watch the party. Visitors are welcome to take part in some local round ups, though do not expect nonstop delight: The process could call for holding your position alone for hours in a cold rain.

Round ups for free-roaming horses are in the north, mostly in late September or early October. Figure out which parts of the backcountry you had like to visit, then contact local tourist information offices, travel agencies, and farm lodgings for advice.

Tourists arrive en masse in June and vanish just as suddenly in early September, so they are compared by Icelanders to flocks of migrating birds. However, an increasing number of visitors are coming in the off season, particularly for brief holidays centered on Reykjavík. Nightlife and health spas are major draws, and winter adventure travel— Jeep touring, glacier snowmobiling, and specially backcountry skiing — is catching on. With fewer tourists around, locals can be especially hospitable and inviting. Prices are drastically lower for car rentals, and airfares, accommodations, but don't expect price rests from mid-December to mid-January.

Most museums outside Reykjavík shut down off season, while some Reykjavík cultural institutions— notably the Icelandic Opera —are only open season off. Visitors typically depend on rental cars to get around, with fewer organized tours to select from. Winter driving conditions can be dangerous, however, and in the dead of winter, some hamlets can be entirely cut off for days at a time.

Icelandic winters are surprisingly moderate but have just 4 to 6 hours of daylight. Recall that late winter has more sunlight than early winter, with a corresponding increase in organized tours. From September through March, the nighttime is dim enough to see the Aurora Borealis (aka "Northern Lights"), the startling electromagnetic phenomenon in which beams and swirls of green (or sometimes orange or blue) light spread across the heavens. Of course, depending on the weather, some off season visitors may see only clouds.

The shoulder seasons— April to September and May to October—can be amazing times to visit, though some destinations are inaccessible. An excellent general strategy would be to shoot for the outlying weeks of the high season for each destination.

Icelanders like to golf on snow-covered courses, using brilliant orange balls.

Off Season Destinations

Reykjavík & Nearby —Reykjavík remains equally energetic year round—after all, the weather has little bearing on its allure. Cultural activities and nightlife show no signs of winter weariness, and throng to their outside geothermal pools if snow accumulates in their hair. See the Schedule of Events for Reykjavík's many off-season festivals.

The capital heartwarming and is especially dynamic during the Christmas season. Each weekend, starting in late November, the nearby town of Hafnarfjörður hosts an elaborate Christmas Village with caroling choirs, trinket stalls, and costumed elves. On New Year's Eve, many visitors shuttle to Reykjavík merely to take part in the Bacchanalian celebrations.

Outside of summer, day tours from the capital are less changed but hardly in short supply. The popular Golden Circle tour runs year round, and two of its primary highlights—the Strokkur geyser and Gullfoss waterfall— are captivating in winter. Various firms lead nightly Northern Lights tours in search of the Aurora Borealis. The Blue Lagoon spa in Reykjanes Peninsula is magical and unusual in wintertime, with far fewer crowds.

Outside the Capitol Area—Compelling winter destinations outside Iceland's southwest corner are too numerous to list, but two regions deserve special mention: West Iceland and Lake Mývatn -Krafla Caldera in the north.

In the west, the wondrously varied scenery of Snæfellsnes Peninsula makes for a road trip that is great year round, and Hótel Búðir, an idyllic holiday on the peninsula's south coast, is always open. The appealing Westfjords capital, Ísafjörður, is especially buzzing during its Easter Week music and skiing festivals. Two incredible country getaways in the Westfjords remain open all year: the Heydalur Country Hotel, along Ísafjarðardjúp Bay, and Hótel Djúpavík on the entrancing Strandir Coast.

Akureyri, Iceland's northern capital, is alive and kicking with the nation's best ski slope Hlíðarfjall close by, in the off season. Many winter visitors rent a car, fly to Akureyri, and spend a few days studying the myriad volcanic spectacles of Mývatn and Krafla. The geothermally heated lagoon of Mývatn Nature Baths remains open, and Sel-Hótel Mývatn organizes Jeep and snowmobile excursions, horseback riding, and go-cart joyrides on the lake. The cross-country skiing is fantastic from February on, and, in April and May, the lake twitches with birdwatchers ushering in the tourist season.