On Remembrance Day we flew out to Keflavik and transferred to the Northern Lights hotel on the outskirts of Reykjavik. A lovely hotel but if we went again we'd choose somewhere in the town centre, as there would be more choice of restaurants.

On the first day it was sunny but cold, we walked to Perlan, from where there are fabulous views over the town. Day two we had booked to go Whale watching, but it was blowing a gale (the snow was driving horizontally too) so the boat was unable to leave port. Instead we walked around the town and to the museum, where there was a heated cloakroom to dry out clothes as you browse the exhibits!

That evening we climbed aboard a coach to hopefully see the Northern Lights. Snow was swirling across the roads, the coach was fitted with snow chains which didn't stop it sliding on the icy roads. After 5 hours standing in a frozen field with 5 other coachloads of people we returned to our hotel by 1am. No sign of the light show.

On day 3 we were on the Golden Circle tour. I'm sure the scenery would have looked fantastic.....but we couldn't see it through the low cloud and driving snow. The Rift Valley was interesting and photogenic in the snow, and we saw the site of the first Icelandic parliament at Ringvellir. On to Gullfoss, the famous waterfall, part frozen at this time of year but still spectacular, and then to Geysir. By this time the snow had turned to driving rain and so the photos are less than spectacular. There were a couple of stops at churches too.

The highlight for us was the geothermal power station, 28Km from the city but the water arrives too hot to touch and is used for space heating in houses and apartment blocks. The pipes run under the roads and keep them free of ice. There was no chance of seeing the Lights that night due to the cloud cover.

On our last day we went to the Blue Lagoon, halfway between Reyjkavik and the airport at Keflavik. We spent a lovely few hours swimming in this power station cooling pond with its silica mud which leave the skin feeling very soft. Then it was time to return to the airport.

It was a shame that the weather was so bad, but we enjoyed our short break in this friendly place.