REYKJAVIK, ICELAND
Love vast, desolate landscapes, clinging mists and the need for a thermal base layer? Try Iceland in the middle of winter – it’s home to miles of stormy volcanic rock, myriad shades of grey and little else besides. Actually, that’s not quite true. Yes, the area surrounding Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city, has a barrenness about it, but there’s also a rugged romance to this scenery with its endless black backdrop, tufted with heather and crusted in ice.
A weekend is long enough to sample the city’s delights, although a week allows you to venture further afield. Follow the tourist trail and spend the afternoon wallowing in the milky waters of the unmissable Blue Lagoon. It feels a little pricey (as does everything in Iceland), but consider it a day at a spa and it seems better value for money, as you slather on the silica mud mask and order your complimentary green juice while you sit in the naturally heated thermal pools looking out across the black rocks beyond.
If you want to experience the country at its most magnificent, plan a route that takes in the waterfalls of Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss and Reynisfjara Beach.
You’ll unearth the true beauty of the island – both waterfalls are breathtaking, but Skógafoss is particularly spectacular. Standing beneath its 60 metres, with the mist whipping wildly into your face, is one of the most life-affirming things you can do. Have lunch at Halldorskaffi in Vik, in what seems like the only cafe in the very small town (like a scene from Annie Proulx’s novel, The Shipping News), where pizza and salads are distinctly Icelandic in their flavours.
Back in Reykjavik, however, it’s another story, for the bleakness of the surrounding areas is tempered by the buzz of the city. Sand Hotel is possibly the coolest and best located in the capital (it’s on the main shopping street of Laugavegur). It seems to harness the minimalism of Iceland but interprets it in an elegant, Art Deco way – all dark walls, with a striking wraparound marble bathroom, but also deep velvet sofas and modern art. Adding to its allure, downstairs is home to Sandholt, an artisan bakery like no other, with quinoa bread, home-made hot chocolate and cinammon-drenched pastries. All eye-wateringly expensive, but you only live once, right?
Reykjavik is small and perfectly walkable for an afternoon of mooching and shopping. If you do hit the shops, don’t miss Geysir, where you’ll find women’s and men’s clothes, plus a home boutique, spread across two stores within a stone’s throw of each other.
For dinner, Mat Bar embodies everything that’s cool about the city. Everyone (diners and staff) is impeccably dressed in black, the food is unusual and experimental (order the liquorice-glazed carrots), and the buzz is warm and convivial. Reykjavik never disappoints – even in the bleak midwinter.
TRIP NOTES SAND HOTEL Double rooms from £120 a night, including breakfast. keahotels.is/en/ hotels/sand-hotel