Reykjavík
Reykjavík is one of the cleanest, greenest, and safest cities in the world. Although it’s the capital of Iceland, Reykjavík is a small city. You can do the sight-seeing by walking in one day. Tourism is very popular in Iceland. If you don’t know how to start with, find a tourist information center will be a nice idea (it’s easy to be found in Reykjavík). There are also many travel agencies online. You can book tours before your visit to ensure your itinerary because some tours are very popular and may not be available during your stay (that’s we I did for most of the tours I booked).
South coast and East Iceland
If you only have few days to stay in Iceland, the south coast of Iceland is highly recommended for sight-seeing. You can visit Reynisfjara Black Sand Beach, Skógafoss (-foss: waterfall), Seljalandsfoss, Sólheimajökull (-jökull: glacier; the glacier I took my glacier hiking tour), Jökulsárlón (Glacier Lagoon), and the Vatnajökull (the largest ice cap in Europe, where I joined the blue ice cave tour with super jeep!). I also visited Eyjafjallajökull (I practiced a lot to pronounce this hard word :D. It sounds so cool!), the volcano under the glacier which erupted on 2010 and caused air travel disruption over many parts of Europe.
A scene from Game of Thrones.
My version.
West Iceland
The famous Mt. Kirkjufell (Church Mountain) is one of the reason that I decide to visit Iceland in winter. This place appeared on my favorite desktop theme and I almost see that every day without knowing where that is. Until last summer, I realized where is that when I saw it appeared on the Game of Throne (Season Seven), the scene that Snow and the Hound and other people go outside the Wall (sorry I’m not a big fan of GOT and I can’t remember the details). I think it will be very cool if I can visit this place in real world. In addition to the Kirkjufell, there are also many wonders to discover in Snæfellsnes peninsula. The landscape makes you feel you will see dragons or some magical creatures anytime (that’s why so many movies love Iceland).
Why it’s not that cold in Iceland
Despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic circle, the warm North Atlantic Current keeps generally higher annual temperatures than most of the places of similar latitude on the earth. The average high °C (°F) is 2.2 (36) and the average low °C (°F) is −2.8 (27) in December. It is much warmer than many regions in North America during winter. The relative higher temperature also makes it a nice choice to wait for the northern light compare to see that in Alaska.