Just over a week.
Sounds like you are going to be in Iceland over New Years. A group of friends and I did that 5 years ago. We stayed in and around Reykjavik.
Unless things have changed a lot, nearly everything is closed New Year’s Day. Don’t believe the tours that are offered to go to the museums. Closed.
I’d suggest saving going to Blue Lagoon for January 1. Since there isn’t much else going on, the distance between the Blue Lagoon and town isn’t such an issue. You won’t be missing much.
As for New Year’s Eve? Wow, was that a doozy. I haven’t ever seen that many fireworks for that long. We ended up spending the evening at The Pearl (Perlan), which has a revolving restaurant on the top floor. It was a great way to watch the city and the fireworks.
You might also consider stopping by the Hallgrímur Church. Its the big pyramid shaped steeple that you can see from all over town. It’s got a cool pipe organ. When we were there, we missed out on a concert that was performed there. We didn’t learn about it until to late.
As for clothing? What we noticed the most was the damp. The temperature was actually warmer then we are used to in Minnesota, but it was windy and damp. Sweaters and a windbreaker would have been about right.
I’m heading over the end of February for 4 nights. Question: are the thermal pools clothing optional? If so, do most people go nude?
In the ones where I swam, everyone wore swimming costumes.
If you choose to trek to The Center of the Earth, pick Anita Briem as your guide. Trust Me.
I was stationed at Keflavik from 1985 -1987. My family and I loved it. Without a doubt the most beautiful country we’ve ever been in.
It was an article in a National Geographic magazine that made us decide to volunteer for the assignment, and we never regretted it.
The thermal pools in the cities are regular swimming pools that have a few hot tubs. Those are not clothing optional.
The natural ones way out in the hinterlands are more au naturel, since you could be pretty much alone there. But they’re not really accessible in February 
I’m so jealous 
We went in January 2004 for our honeymoon. Consequently, we didn’t try to economise on very much, so it was **very **expensive (anyway different times, different exchange rates). I would like to go back in the summer, but I thought the whole experience of Iceland in deep winter was just something that I wouldn’t match anywhere else.
The Blue Lagoon was an unforgettable experience: the combination of the colours, the ice and snow on the rocks combining with the really warm water, the steam coming off the water - it was just unbelievable, other-worldly, beautiful. Definitely swimming costumes there.
I’d do one of the Golden Circle 4x4 tours or something similar - we loved every minute, even the ones where the wind bit into our skin, and we were more cold than either of us have ever been! We had tried to book for a dog sled trip, but the girly dog was on heat and apparently morale within the pack was somewhat disrupted, so that was cancelled. 
We replaced it with an afternoon on snow mobiles, which remains the most fun thing I have ever done. Cold but wonderful.
I’d also go to the Pearl if you can afford to - we had a lovely meal and it’s a great view.
We did do a Northern Lights-chasing trip, but actually our very best view of them was in the taxi from the airport to the hotel when we arrived! I was a bit unsure how we’d cope with the lack of light, but it’s not like it’s dark the whole time, more like twilight, so it was actually quite lovely.
All in all, we had an amazing time. It was bitterly cold, frighteningly expensive (again, that was then, this is now), stunningly beautiful and a perfect honeymoon. Enjoy!
I’ve never made that trip, but have read Njal’s Saga. And found it fascinating. The Saga Center says there are tours…
The sagas I’ve read are like historical novels–with bits of legend thrown in. The Eddas contain more mythology–how things started, how they will end… In fact, they are the major sources for all Germanic/Nordic mythology.
All these works are available online.
Iceland was fantastic!
I neglected to mention earlier that I was going with my fiancé. We did the classic tourist itinerary: explore Reykjavic – Golden Circle Tour – Blue Lagoon. We added a bit of horse trekking to round out our four days. Every moment was amazing. Despite a nearly constant drizzle and overcast skies, the weather was fine. Pretty much what I’m used to from the Pacific Northwest, actually. Because of the overcast skies, we didn’t get to see any Northern Lights. But since we were there over the holidays, pretty much every night included fireworks somewhere on the horizon. We took that as our consolation prize.
As for “the crunch,” as the recession is referred to in Iceland, we found prices to be comparable to NYC. Inflation has set in a bit, apparently, as tour prices are up about 15% from a few months ago. But obviously everything was still much more affordable than usual. We used credit cards the whole time, which gave a better exchange rate than trading for ISK cash anyway.
Some of the highlights:
Museums: The preserved foundation of an ancient long house—unearthed during the construction of the hotel we stayed in—serves as the center of the coolest museum we visited, the Settlement Museum. It was sort of Star Trek meets Archaeology class. The word “multimedia” doesn’t really sum it up. From huge touch screen maps to user-controlled 3D tours, the museum was high-tech without overshadowing the interesting historical content. All the museums we visited were very well done. As good as the best parts of the Met in NYC.
Nature: The Golden Circle tour is a classic tourist orbit which visits the site of Iceland’s first parliament in 930, a number of beautiful waterfalls, and Geysir (the origin of the word). Despite being winter, and at times because of it, this was a wonderful adventure. One of the worst things about seeing things like this in most parts of the world (from Old Faithful to Tai Shan) is that there are always a ton of people, and things can get quite touristy. Not so in the Icelandic winter. Also, our Canadian tour guide, who has lived in Reykjavic for 40 years, was full on interesting insights.
Restaurants: The food was top-notch. I’ve eaten at some very fine restaurants, but several of the meals I had in Reykjavic are in my top ten all-time best. We expected extremely fresh fish and other local ingredients. We did not expect the degree of culinary skill and innovation we experienced. Truly Reykjavic competes with Paris and NYC for best gourmet restaurants. At the other end of the spectrum, our simple lunches of fish soup (and even a cheeseburger on one day), were also very good. The trip would have been worth every penny for the food alone. (In particular, Fish Market, Sjávarkjallarinn, and Icelandic Fish & Chips were all world-class.)
Pools: The thermal pools were also, on their own, enough to justify the whole trip. We visited the city pool called Vesturbaerlaug on two consecutive mornings. It was enough to make me want to move to Iceland. Starting the day with a warm swim in the cold air was awesome. The big kahuna of thermal pools, Blue Lagoon, also totally lived up to the hype. We went there at night on our last day. It was windy, and rainy, and generally nasty outside. The guide books often describe Iceland as otherworldly, but this was the only experience I had that truly fit the label. We were two of maybe fifteen bathers, with the place mostly to ourselves. Swimming through the choppy, warm, milky waves without being able to see the edges of the lagoon through the steam was eerie and extraordinarily fun.
Thanks for all the advice. I heartily recommend this trip to anyone with the time and money.
Okay, I have to go to Iceland. You can stop tempting me now.
Yeah, prices are up a bit, but nothing close to the 60-80% the ISK has plummeted in the last year 
And I’m glad you enjoyed your trip to our glacial shores!
makes note to head out to the Blue Lagoon this weekend or the next one (I’ve never been there unless I had foreign visitors, who usually limit themselves to the summer months)
When you and your fiancee move to Iceland for the pools, and if you decide to have kids, here are the allowable names:
Girl Stjórnarráðið | 404
Middle only Stjórnarráðið | 404
How majorly cool; there’s a list!
I knew there were rules, but I thought they were more in line of “not allowed” rather than “allowed”.
I live and I learn.
I notice Cecil is on the list of allowed names.
I miss Iceland so much– this summer, we’re going and it’ll be *Acid Lamp’s first trip there! We’ll be doing a lot of the touristy things, and, although we’ll be staying with family for at least part of the trip, we’ll more than likely rent a car if we’re eligible.
Hey Worm, what are the rules for foreigners for renting a car in Iceland? Anything special we should know, other than it’ll be expensive? Also, last summer, one of my family friends couldn’t find puffin [to eat] anywhere, including the Vestmanneyar-- is this still an issue? I haven’t had puffin in over a decade, and I’d like to be able to enjoy it one more time.
As long as you have a internationally valid license and are older than 20, no probs. More info right here.
And no Puffin? I’ve eaten it a few times (in restaurants) over the last couple of months, so I guess the shortage is over
The scary part is apparently you can combine Grímey and Áss for a girl’s first / middle. No offense to anyone named this! Worm, tell us these mean something pretty!
Grímey is the feminine of Grímur, which means mask and Áss is kinda like a cliff (or the Ace in a deck of cards).
So Mask Cliff/Ace; not that pretty as far as I¨m concerned.
I’m sure she has a lovely personality behind that stony mask of an exterior.