Our toddler was just over a year old when we took her to Iceland. We went in mid-May, low season in Iceland, and it rained and was pretty cold many of the days we were there but it was still an ideal location for kids. The country is welcoming to kids and just think of all that open green space- a toddler’s dream! I never thought “lots of land for running around” would be a priority when choosing destinations but here we are. As long as you dress your kids like Randy from A Christmas Story you’ll be totally fine.
While we’re usually pretty good about thoroughly researching our destinations, we didn’t do a lot of prep before buying some cheap flights we found to Reykjavik (from Boston on Wow Air which recently went out of business) and thought we’d made a really great financial decision only to realize once we’d started planning that hotels and food and basically everything in Iceland is very expensive. Plan to shell out a lot for accommodations and food, although you can make some budget choices like we did (see below) and definitely plan to book in advance since Iceland has become a popular destination. I’d recommend traveling in the low season if you’re up for braving some bad weather— prices are cheaper and there are fewer tourists.
Jet lag wasn’t terrible for us since we were traveling from Boston, only a five hour direct flight to Reykjavik. Our normal jet lag strategies worked well. Definitely consider throwing a few black garbage bags in your luggage in case you need makeshift black-out curtains in your room. When we were there it didn’t get dark until almost midnight.
These are some of our recs based on our experiences:
The Flight: We used our normal strategies to entertain our toddler on the flight. This is also the trip in which my husband pretended to be the robot Alexa to keep our toddler amused on the plane. Do whatever works, guys.
Pack appropriately! Plan to wear three layers because the weather in Iceland is always changing, even in the span of an hour. Wear a waterproof outer layer and sturdy rain shoes (we mostly wore hiking boots and put our toddler in duck boots). You definitely need a hood. Also plan to wear heavy socks and gloves and don’t forget a hat! We made great use out of our Ergo baby carrier. I wouldn’t recommend bringing a stroller as it’d be tricky to use on rough terrain.
Accommodations: Hotels/AirBnBs were all great about providing a crib. Most even had toddler-sized sheets, blankets and pillows which are rarely provided in the U.S. (and rightly so due to risk of SIDS) but this was a nice touch and I always stole our daughter’s pillow because I like to have a lot of pillows. One hotel even provided us with a mini robe for baby which was such a nice touch and totally unnecessary because we hardly ever bathe her.
A note on co-sleeping: It would be tough to do in Iceland because most accommodations provide twin beds that are pushed together to form a double bed. This is a thing in Scandanavia! In my point of view it’s totally superior than our shared marriage beds (is that what you call them? Or is that term from like the 1800s?) because there are two sets of sheets, two comforters, etc. which means there’s no cover hogging. But it does mean there’s a crevice that could open between the beds and baby could slide into. Maybe this isn’t a legitimate fear and just my own paranoia, but… I wouldn’t put my baby there.
Eating out: All the restaurants we visited had high chairs, and most were high quality (Tripp Trapp, Stokke, etc. The ikea chair is popular, too.) We brought our travel high chair and would recommend doing the same (we have this one but there are lots of good ones). A portable chair is handy for meals in your apartment/hotel room. We also traveled with these silicone placemats that make cleaning up a breeze and are easy to roll up and throw in your bag. It also protects your kid’s food from germs on the table.
I’m embarrassed but not too embarrassed to admit that we ate a lot of pizza and a surprising amount of Quiznos subs because we weren’t willing to splurge on many nice dinners out with our toddler in tow (and we were on a budget). We did have a couple of wonderful meals- lamb, seafood stew, etc. We packed lots of snacks for ourselves and pouches for our toddler and did NOT regret it. This was the trip in which I made fun of my husband for eating our daughter’s pouches. Now this is commonplace because those things are damn delicious and healthier than most airport food. If you stay in an apartment or AirBnB you can also make use of the kitchen to cut down on the cost of eating out.
Transportation: Don’t skip renting a car! Activities are weather dependent and there were many times when we sought refuge in our car so the weather could blow over before we could explore more. Public transportation in Iceland is excellent (or so we hear) but the logistics of bus rides and a toddler’s routine just don’t mesh well. Also, lugging around the car seat from town to town would be miserable, and all buses require that you use them.
Rental Car/Carseat: Keep in mind that if you go with the most budget-friendly rental car (like us) you will probably get a tiny European car, which is great as long as you don’t have much luggage (and I’d advise packing light anyway). We rented a car seat from the rental company and it worked out fine. Europe has different car seat laws than the U.S. and doesn’t require (or allow) the chest clip on car seats like the U.S. does. It seems that Europeans view the clip as MORE dangerous than not having one since so many parents use it incorrectly. That being said, if we’d brought our American car seat with us (again, we chose not to) I’m certain we would have been able to use it in our rental car without a problem.
Itinerary:
When we’re with our kids, we tend to stay more constrained geographically. There’s so much to explore in Iceland that unless you have a ton of time and want to spend a lot of time driving, your best bet is to stay confined to a smaller area for more time outdoors and to have more time to rest – prime considerations with our kids.
We stayed mainly along the Golden Circle after spending our first day in Reykjavik. I think one full day in Reykjavik is sufficient with kids- you’re able to visit several museums and get a feel for the city. Our favorite museums in Reykjavik were the Culture House and the National Museum and both have kids’ areas set up with toys and books. We wanted more time for hiking/seeing the natural wonders outside the city so our time in Reykjavik was brief. If I were doing the trip again, I’d choose a “home base” somewhere along the Golden Circle and take day trips from there. We spent each night in a different location which meant we had to pack up our things each day and relied on car naps for our toddler.
Blue Lagoon. What could be more relaxing than a visit to one of the top wellness spas in the world… with a toddler? So you probably won’t be able to get a massage in, or take a luxurious shower… basically locker rooms with toddlers are chaos any way you cut it. But the Blue Lagoon was worth it and I’m so glad we took our daughter. (The Blue Lagoon now requires kids to be 2+ years old. Nobody checked the age of our child and we were determined to get her in. Shh, don’t tell.)
We took a red-eye from Boston, so we arrived in Iceland around 5am. We went immediately from the airport after arriving so we were the first ones there. Book tickets well in advance, and you’ll need to book a specific arrival time so make sure that you’ve planned your itinerary before booking. We planned it this way since we couldn’t check into our apartment until afternoon and had time to kill. It was a great way to experience the lagoon early in the morning without crowds. They have delicious skyr smoothies for breakfast at the cafe.
Some of our favorite sites around Iceland:
Hveragerði – cute town with an excellent restaurant called “Skyrgerðin Cafe and Bistro” (and we stayed at the Guesthouse which was great as well).
Waterfalls! (They’re everywhere) Our favorite was Seljalandsfoss because it had a ton of space for our kid to run around as well as restrooms and a snack bar. We also saw Skógafoss and Gullfoss.
Selljavallalaug Pool. Short hike to a hot spring pool built in the 1920s. It’s located off of Ring Road 1 on 242 (marked Raufarfuell) just after the Iceland Erupts Exhibition. You’ll see signs marked for Seljavellir and then you’ll drive straight along an unpaved road until you reach a parking lot next to a little shack (there’s nothing else around so you really can’t miss it). From there it is only a 15-20 min walk along the rocky mountain valley, complete with a river coming down off Eyjafjallajökull Glacier (you may have to jump over a little stream but it’s still safe for kids). The view is unbelievable.
Visit local pools wherever you go. For a small fee you can visit a warm water (geothermal) pool and it’s such a huge part of Icelandic culture that it’s a neat way to see part of the local life. This New York Times article gives a great overview of the importance of pools in Icelandic society.
Vík is a great stop if you need to refuel with gas, food, or warm weather clothing. It’s the southernmost village in Iceland and was our last stop before heading back towards the airport in Keflavik. The gigantic Icewear outlet has souvenirs and any clothing you might need, as well as a great cafeteria with delicious food. Game of Thrones fans will appreciate that Vík was the launching point for filming parts of Season 7.
Dyrhólaey is a peninsula close to Vik, has great views of the coast, and is supposed to be a great place to see puffins. We didn’t see any while we were there, though, because I think it was a little too early in the season.
This post highlights some other general tips we have for traveling with little ones. We hope you enjoy Iceland as much as we did!
Planning a trip with kids is a very hectic thing as they need to be adjusted in the climate and also need to be taken care of their medical health, I always fear of traveling with kids that are too cold or too hot to travel as there are chances for them to fall ill early.
It can definitely be intimidating taking kids to cold (or hot) destinations… I always try to remind myself that kids live in these places and try to manage like the locals do! The book “There’s No Such Thing As Bad Weather” is a great book that highlights the Swedish philosophy of having kids play outside snow or shine. 🙂