Iceland in February advice

[Khurram]

I'm finalizing my trip to Iceland in February and wanted to get some advice. I booked most of my hotels in the summer and booked multiple dates for a few locations, so i have some flexibility, with the exception of portion to the Jokulsarlon Glacier lagoon.

First of all i wanted to get advice if the itinerary makes sense for the winter. I'm planning on 10 days in mid February, with the following itinerary:
Day 1- Arrive at 6AM - Shoot Gullfoss in the Golden Circle, drive to Vik, sunset at seljalandsfoss
Day 2 - Vik area - seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Vik seascapes
Day 3 to 5 - Drive to Jokulsarlon Glacier lagoon. spend 3 days there - ice caves tour
Day 6 D- rive to VIk
Day 7 to 9 - drive to Grundarfjordur - shoot Kirkjufellsfoss and Snaefellsnes Peninsula
Day 10 - Drive to Reyjavik
Day 11 - fly back


I'd appreciate help with the following:
1) I have is whether road conditions should be okay with this itinerary I avoided doing the full circle route and am not going to Godafoss (which was one of my favorite waterfalls), because i'm not sure what the drive would be like in the winter.

2) For the ice caves, I found a couple of sites offering tours, all seem to start at the same 3 times and are close in price. Looks like you only get around 1 1/2 hours in the ice caves. Would appreciate recommendations on tour operators. Is 1 1/2 hours enough.

3) From what i under stand, this should be a good time for shooting the Aurora Borealis and I have seen good photos from the locations i've suggested. I'd appreciate advice on the following:
1- Sites/resources to figure out when there is aurora activity and what times to head out at night. Are there sites that give information on activity and times for specific locations
2-I've never shot the aurora borealis. Would appreciate advice on exposure and which lenses to use. I'm figuring the 11-24L or the 16-35 f4L are probably my best options.

4) any other locations I should add or adjust my itinerary for.

5) what would be a good vehicle to rent for the Winter - I'm assuming SUV, but i'm not familiar with a lot of the options with the exception of the Toyota RAV4, as we don't have some of the Hyundai or Suzuki models options in NA and I've never heard of Dacia.

[smarino]

I have spent more than a month in Iceland in the winter so here are some responses to your questions based on my experience:

1) Road conditions depend entirely on the weather forecast. Unless there is a major winter storm when you visit, the roads should be in good condition. The roads in the places you are visiting are plowed frequently but do expect some snow and ice. The Icelandic road administration has an excellent website with road condition information that is regularly updated. It is an essential planning tool for winter travel in Iceland. 

2) We used a guide named Oskar from Ice Guides for a private ice cave tour that included about 2.5 hours in the cave. Even tours for photographers do not give you much time in the cave and you will be surrounded by many other photographers. We had a really good experience with Oskar and his price was not much more than the group tours. If you do go with a group tour, they book well in advance so make reservations early. I would not recommend going on a group tour unless it is specifically for photographers or you will likely be very disappointed.

3) Iceland's meteorological service puts out an aurora forecast each day. That is a good place to start. The University of Alaska has good resources on their website for both short and long-term forecasts as well. You can get a sense of whether or not the aurora might be visible in the general location where you will be but the forecasts are not specific enough to know exactly what conditions might look like in a specific spot. And, even if the forecast is for a good display, you still might not see anything.

Most of the places you are visiting have become quite popular with photographers so do not expect to be alone (for example, we have seen about 75 photographers at Jokulsarlon at night for photographing the aurora) in February.

5) An SUV is a good option but be prepared for it to be pricey. 4-wheel drive will help with driving on snow and ice, as the roads can become treacherous in bad weather conditions (especially once you add in Iceland's notorious wind). There are smaller rental companies that rent full-size SUVs which might be a good idea if you are worried about driving on ice and snow. Smaller SUVs with all-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive will also be adequate if you plan on staying on well-traveled roads and are comfortable driving on snow and ice. We have rented a campervan from Happy Campers twice in the winter in Iceland and that has also been a good option (much easier for chasing the aurora and being close to some of the best photo locations like Jokulsarlon).

My husband and I have written a comprehensive guide to photographing Iceland, which you can find in the ebooks section of our website (linked in my profile). We provide a lot more detail related to some of your questions in the ebook and offer a lot of location ideas.

Have a great trip! 

[Khurram]

I have spent more than a month in Iceland in the winter so here are some responses to your questions based on my experience:

1) Road conditions depend entirely on the weather forecast. Unless there is a major winter storm when you visit, the roads should be in good condition. The roads in the places you are visiting are plowed frequently but do expect some snow and ice. The Icelandic road administration has an excellent website with road condition information that is regularly updated. It is an essential planning tool for winter travel in Iceland. 

2) We used a guide named Oskar from Ice Guides for a private ice cave tour that included about 2.5 hours in the cave. Even tours for photographers do not give you much time in the cave and you will be surrounded by many other photographers. We had a really good experience with Oskar and his price was not much more than the group tours. If you do go with a group tour, they book well in advance so make reservations early. I would not recommend going on a group tour unless it is specifically for photographers or you will likely be very disappointed.

3) Iceland's meteorological service puts out an aurora forecast each day. That is a good place to start. The University of Alaska has good resources on their website for both short and long-term forecasts as well. You can get a sense of whether or not the aurora might be visible in the general location where you will be but the forecasts are not specific enough to know exactly what conditions might look like in a specific spot. And, even if the forecast is for a good display, you still might not see anything.

Most of the places you are visiting have become quite popular with photographers so do not expect to be alone (for example, we have seen about 75 photographers at Jokulsarlon at night for photographing the aurora) in February.

5) An SUV is a good option but be prepared for it to be pricey. 4-wheel drive will help with driving on snow and ice, as the roads can become treacherous in bad weather conditions (especially once you add in Iceland's notorious wind). There are smaller rental companies that rent full-size SUVs which might be a good idea if you are worried about driving on ice and snow. Smaller SUVs with all-wheel drive or 4-wheel drive will also be adequate if you plan on staying on well-traveled roads and are comfortable driving on snow and ice. We have rented a campervan from Happy Campers twice in the winter in Iceland and that has also been a good option (much easier for chasing the aurora and being close to some of the best photo locations like Jokulsarlon).

My husband and I have written a comprehensive guide to photographing Iceland, which you can find in the ebooks section of our website (linked in my profile). We provide a lot more detail related to some of your questions in the ebook and offer a lot of location ideas.

Have a great trip! 

thanks for your response and information!  Also appreciate the link to your site!  Was your tour with Oskar a photography tour?