REYKJAVIK’S RADIATING WARMTH
The sweet, almost angelic strains of Joni Mitchell’s River being sung in Icelandic is a sound that pierces the heart. But hearing powerhouse pop songs in that Nordic language stirs something deep within the gut.
Discovering Reykjavik and all of its charms is a full body experience.
In the dead of winter, it’s also a surreal one as the city only gets about four and a half hours of sunlight a day. It’s an odd sensation to spend most of your time sightseeing in the dark, illuminated only between 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day. You need to time your excursions so you catch the sunrise and sunset at the best spots for photos.
And that can be practically anywhere in this picturesque city on the shores of the North Atlantic Ocean. In December, it best resembles a picturesque yuletide village nestled inside a snow globe. Quaint houses constructed of timber, corrugated iron, bricks and stone and painted various colours brighten up the cold while city shops and restaurants beckon with their twinkling Christmas lights.
While summer is the peak time for tourists, visiting Reykjavik and Iceland in winter means smaller crowds and some off-season deals. You’ll also feel pretty hardy — almost like an Icelander — bundled up in your parka, woollen tuque and mitts trundling along the stone streets and coastline first discovered by Norse explorers at the end of the ninth century.
That ancient Viking history and unique mythology has been drawing visitors in record numbers, ever since the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in southern Iceland.
The massive ash cloud forced the cancellation of 100,000 flights in northern Europe which then sparked a massive social media campaign to counter the negative publicity. That, coupled with a devalued Icelandic currency as a result of the 2008 world financial crisis, turned what could have been a disaster into a boom.
According to the Icelandic Tourist Board, foreign visitors have quadrupled since then. Iceland’s 488,600 tourists in 2010 grew to 2.3 million in 2018. From November 2018 to October 2019, it dropped to 2,016,850 visitors, with the largest decreases coming from Canada and the U.S. — its biggest market.
Iceland’s wild landscape of geysers, glaciers, lagoons and waterfalls attracts many visitors who hike and camp in the countryside. You can drive around the rim of the country although the roads can sometimes be hazardous in winter. Many of the outlying towns and villages have campgrounds where you can pitch a tent or park a camper van. While parts of the island are inaccessible except to heli-hikers, there are plenty of special sights you can hit on a driving holiday, including locations featured in the popular Game of Thrones series.
But even a two- or three-day visit or stopover in Reykjavik is rewarding. Visually the city is beautiful, its people are warm and welcoming and the culture is intriguing.
Michele Jarvie