Have you ever thought about spending New Year in Reykjavik? Would you like to see the Northern Lights dance goodbye to the year and welcome the start of the New Year? See the city become lit with bonfires to ward off the elves? See the sky fill with colourful gunpowder exploding in all directions? This was exactly how much New Year went this year. Certainly, one to remember!
Best Spot for the Fireworks?
Before I visited I tried researching where is best to be on New Year’s Eve in Reykjavik. I couldn’t find anything that said the best location to be in. When I arrived in Iceland, I decided to ask the locals. They said it doesn’t matter where you stand, you will see lots of fireworks. At 11 pm on New Year’s Eve, we parked up in a graveled parking area just off the road, down a dead street, next to a factory. The street was called Sturlugata, located just off Njardargata. Here you could see the whole skyline of Reykjavik. Fireworks started well before 11 pm and finished well after 12 am, lighting up the sky in all directions. There was that many going off before midnight; I could not tell when it was the actual start of the New Year! The Icelanders say the city goes off in a bang at New Year, they were not wrong!
I liked the location we choose, as we could keep warm in the car while watching the fireworks. However, for taking photos you do a good zoom lens of your camera. If you do not have the car or you like to be in the centre of the atmosphere then head into the centre and locate yourself near the Hallgrimskirkja (church). Another option is to stand on the hill were the Perlan is located. Here you are high up and can see right above Reykjavik. Make sure you wrap up warm. It was -6°C when I was there.
Bonfires
Every New Year’s Eve, the city lights bonfires in lots of different locations. It is traditional for Icelandic to attend the bonfires with their family and sing songs to warn off the elves and hidden people that they believe in. We attempted to go to one but trying to get parked was very difficult, so we decided to turn back.
Northern Lights
Seeing the Northern Lights is a pot look. It depends on the cloud cover, the aurora activity, and where you are located.
On New Year’s Eve, we got lucky. There was not a cloud in sight and with the aurora activity been ok, we decided to head away from the cities light pollution for the best chance to see them. The first location we went to on New Year’s Eve was Grotta Lighthouse. It was very busy with other people having the same idea as us. People kept standing in the way of our camera and shinning their torchlights that stopped you from seeing the Northern Lights so clearly.
After watching the fireworks, we decided to welcome the New Year by seeing the lights in a quieter location. We drove to Laugarnes Neighbourhood in the North of Reykjavik. We found a little dead-end lane off Seabraut were the Reykjavik Guesthouse is located. Here we managed to capture better photos of the lights. From this location, you can see the Imagine Peace Tower lit up on the horizon.
Here’s how the capital, Reykjavik celebrates, as it strikes midnight:
