There's light at the end of the tunnel in Iceland .... and it's the sun. As the days begin to slowly get longer, Icelanders emerge from hibernation. If you like weather, February, March and April is certainly the time when we can show you plenty of it - and for less than it costs to travel in high season. Here are some suggestions about what to do when you arrive.

SEE WHAT YOU'RE MISSING - ICELAND ENJOYS RECORD YEAR

We must be doing something right - 566,000 tourists visited Iceland last year, making 2009 the biggest year ever in terms of tourist arrivals. This represents a 0.7% increase on 2008, when Iceland received 562,000 tourists. Read the entire story here: http://www.visitreykjavik.is/DesktopDefault.aspx/tabid-13/28_read-1234/

WE'VE GOT YOUR FOOD, WE'VE GOT YOUR FUN
February 24-28, 2010

The annual Iceland Food and Fun Festival will be held in Reykjavik Iceland, February 24-28, 2010. Chefs from the USA, Canada and Europe will be teamed up with the most prestigious Icelandic chefs and given the finest Icelandic ingredients to create their masterpieces. Each team will prepare 1 lamb dish, 1 fish dish and 1 dessert. These meals will be served at the finest participating restaurants across the city of Reykjavik until the grand judging. To close the weekend's festivities, a gala awards event will be held on February 28 featuring a recap of Food and Fun 2010 and the top chefs of the year.
Learn more at www.foodandfun.is

ATTEND THE NEW DESIGNMARCH + FASHION FESTIVAL
March 18-21, 2010

DesignMarch is a four-day feast featuring a wealth of events, interesting lectures and fascinating exhibitions reflecting the diversity in Icelandic design. Many of Iceland's most prominent fashion designers have established the Reykjavík Fashion Festival, which will take place for the first time in Iceland's capital March 19-20, in cooperation with individuals from the music scene. For details log onto: www.icelanddesign.is / www.rff.is

Caring about our planet, the environment and climate change caused by pollution comes naturally to us Icelanders. Apparel company 66°North has joined forces with the Iceland Mountain Guides to run the successful "Reach the Top with 66° North" program. Over the years, several hundred people have climbed the highest peak (6,920-feet) in Iceland, located on Vatnajokull, Europe's largest glacier. In addition to the sheer adventure, the trip serves as a forum to educate climbers on the issue of global warming and its effect on Icelan's glaciers. Training begins in February and climbs are in late May and early June. (www.66north.com)

The Hotel Borg, possibly Iceland's most eminent hotel, celebrates its 80th birthday this year. The Borg has been recently renovated to retain and polish the beautiful 1930's architecture for which it is so famous, and from which it derives its motto: Character With Style.

Located in the heart of the city on Parliament Square, the Borg is a bright, cheerful, and luxuriously appointed, with loads of Art Deco style, updated with modern amenities. The hotel's "rock star" caché began early on with stays by Winston Churchill and Tyrone Power, and has been the hotel of choice for Mick Jagger and Kevin Costner, to name a few. Conde Nast Traveler named the hotel's restaurant, Silfur, one of the world's Hot Tables in 2007, and the World Association of Chef Societies named Jóhannes Steinn Jóhannesson, the chef at Silfur, Iceland Chef of the Year in 2008. Click here for more info about the amazing Hotel Borg.

Hellnar is a small town located at the far end of a Snaefellsnes peninsula, facing a large glacier called Snaefellsjokull and surrounded by a big ocean about 120 miles from Reykjavik. It is a town truly in the middle of nowhere and seems untouched by time, probably because of its remoteness. The town hasn't changed much at all since the time that Iceland was settled, except for the Jeepzillas that prowl the nearby Snaefellsnes National Park offering visitors the chance to go snowmobiling, glacier walking, ice climbing, and ice caving. These are Jeeps on steroids with giant knobby tires and tricked-out navigation gear.

The 20-room Hotel Hellnar (www.hellnar.is) is a standout - the very first travel business in Iceland to be certified by Green Globe, in 2002, and a property that continually seeks annual re-certification. Their commitment to the environment and sustainable tourism is unsurpassed in Iceland.

The best restaurant in Hellnar is undeniably located at Hotel Budir (www.hotelbudir.is) which is known for saltfish brandade and cod confit with crispy skin and scallops.

Steve LeVahn, an entrepreneur from Minnesota, and Dennys Bisogno, co-founder of Calypso Systems, Inc., in Wisconsin, both returned from an 11-day photography trip to Iceland. We asked them for tips on capturing the country's scenic beauty.

Dennys writes, "We wanted to cover as much of Iceland as possible so we drove the Ring Road and other paved roads and made planned incursions on unpaved roads to reach scenic spots. We would drive for hours in heavy rain and fog without deviation. The good news is that Iceland weather changes rapidly so once you reach your destination, opportunities to photograph with the sun came frequently - although in short periods of time. With that said, my best photos on this trip occurred on cloudy days."

Read their photography tips here: http://dennysphoto.com

Dennys suggests:

• Travel with at least one another person to read maps and scout locations.
• Buy food and drinks to keep in the car. This way you don't have to stop to eat when the light is best.
• Even though camping is an option, with a hotel room you can better review the day's work and decide what changes are needed for the next day's shooting.
• As with all wildlife photography, allow time and have patience for the magical moment to happen. Spend time in some farms when work is being done (i.e. shearing sheep, picking up hay) and capture images of the life of farmers.

"All in all, this was the most rewarding photography trip I have made in my life - I experienced some of the most incredible natural landscapes and for that I feel very lucky!" says Dennys.
You can see images from Dennys and Stephen's Iceland trip on the Web at: http://www.blurb.com/books/924654

"A new ranking of the world's nations by environmental performance puts some of the globe's largest economies far down the list, with the United States sinking to 61st and China to 121st. The top performer this year is Iceland, which gets virtually all of its power from renewable sources - hydropower and geothermal energy. It was joined in the top tier by a cluster of European countries known for their green efforts, including Switzerland, Sweden, Norway and Finland."

- Elisabeth Rosenthal, "Iceland Leads Environmental Index As U.S. Falls." The New York Times, Jan. 27. Read the entire story here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/27/science/earth/27index.html

"Where you put your (computer) servers is changing and the requirements are changing over time. We're always looking for those places, and Iceland has emerged as the optimum place. It's 100% free cooling. The climate is an engineering phenomenon. It's at the end of the Gulf Stream, so it has a temperate climate in the winter and in the summer. You get an average temperature of 40 to 45 degrees Fahrenheit. The extreme maximum is 70 degrees, and the low temperatures are always above zero." Read the entire story here: http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/10/datacenter-power-cooling-technology-cio-network-verne-global.html

- Ed Sperling, "Warming Up To Iceland," Forbes.com, Jan. 11

"And then, as we near the ridge that will lead us to the 750-metre peak that is our goal, a miracle. The cloud peels away and under a luminous sky, a vast, crazy, 360-degree jigsaw of perfect white tabletops, badger-striped cliffs and tongues of blue-black water rolls out to the horizon."

"Many hours from the nearest road or human habitation, the scene's raw, elemental might is mesmeric and for minutes we stand in silence. The humpback whale that had waved a fin at us an hour out of Isafjordur harbour was always going to be a hard wildlife act to follow. But the lone arctic fox that peers at us as it picks its way across an avalanche scar brings home the unimaginable challenge of survival here."

- Rupert Mellor, "Off Piste on the Isle of White," The Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald, Jan. 29. (Read the story here: http://www.smh.com.au/travel/off-piste-on-the-isle-of-white-20100128-n1gp.html

TRAVEL DEALS OF THE MONTH

Getaway Package And Free Norden Card
Travelers who book the Iceland Getaway package will receive a free Norden Voyager card enabling them to get great discounts at over 200 shops and restaurants in Iceland. Those booking the package will have the chance to win free luxury gifts from select Icelandic vendors when they use their card anywhere in Iceland.
For more information, click here.

Golden Circle Discount
Air, hotel, and the famous Golden Circle tour are all included in this budget package, from just $529*. Oh, and we should mention now is an ideal time to witness the Northern Lights. Book now, because this is being extended through April, but seats are going fast.
Check the link for a way to upgrade to the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica from only $82 per person.
For more information, click here.

Saga Sites Fly & Drive
This four night Fly & Drive package along the serene southern coast of Iceland presents a relaxing tour of spectacular proportions, with majestic glaciers, cascading waterfalls, caves, black lava beaches, and ocean views that stretch beyond forever. From $1,149* per person. For more information, click here.

*Prices quoted are exclusive of applicable taxes and official charges by destination of approximately $100, per person including the Sept. 11th Security Fee.

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