Seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland is a totally special experience you can’t miss. This is why I’m sharing the best places and ways to maximise your chances of spotting them after arriving in Iceland. If you’re anything like me, and I’m sure you are, you want to make the most out of your trip … Continue Reading
Now I promise to keep this post relatively brief, but there are so many things I want to share with you about Iceland. Firstly, since I was a child, I have always wanted to visit two places, New York and Iceland! I finally booked some very reasonably priced flights from London to Reykjavik (Keflavik Airport) … Continue Reading
The Northern Lights probably need no introduction. That being said, finding the best places to see the Northern Lights is a totally different matter! The images of them are so iconic and they are a natural wonder that is even more amazing to see in real life. Seeing them in person is an experience I … Continue Reading
One of the many joys of a trip to Iceland is learning to (or at least trying to) pronounce Icelandic names and perhaps, one of the more fun ones to try to pronounce is the Eyjafjallajökull volcano… …but more on that later. The first time I saw the Northern Lights was by no means unplanned. The … Continue Reading
A trip to Iceland is amazing in itself but seeing the Northern Lights is truly the perfect cherry on that cake! But more on that later on in this post… Now, long before arriving in Iceland, I was already looking forward to visiting Hotel Laki. This was for several reasons (including the promise of seeing … Continue Reading
The Northern Lights, also called the Aurora Borealis, are perhaps almost single-handedly to blame for my obsession with visiting cold countries. Don’t get me wrong, coming from the UK, where it’s never really cold enough and never really hot enough (not for too long anyway), the scenery in so many cold destinations is nothing short … Continue Reading
One place I’d always wanted to visit in Norway was Tromso. It’s one of the highest places you can visit – not just in Europe but in the world, so much so that it’s in the Arctic Circle! Unlike other parts of the Arctic Circle, there’s no chance of you running into polar bears here … Continue Reading
After that ‘refreshing’ dip in the Arctic Sea, we meandered slowly through the city centre of Tromso before heading to our new hotel, smack in the centre of the action (I use that term lightly – it was a long public holiday, so the city wasn’t nearly as busy as it typically would be). Our … Continue Reading
Oh, I’ve wanted to tell you about this bit for ages! Like, as soon as it happened, all I wanted to do was share it but somehow I’ve not managed to get the time to do this until now. (*It probably doesn’t help that I ended up taking like 1 million photos from this afternoon … Continue Reading
The next day, after a leisurely breakfast, we packed our suitcases up and said farewell to Muotka Wilderness Lodge. Fun as it was, we would be moving to a different hotel for the next couple of days here (which is something we’d arrange with Inghams Holiday prior to arriving so no surprises there). As we … Continue Reading
The next day was all about animals! We started off with a visit to the reindeers (organised by our hotels – you have to pay extra for some activities but typically, your hotels can help you organise them)… Reindeers serve all sorts of purposes and have done for the Sami people that live here for … Continue Reading
You didn’t think we’d head off into the New Year without a round up of 2015 now, did you? 😉 This year on Hand Luggage Only has been quite special in so many ways – we’ve gotten to travel to so many amazing destinations, made so many new friends, eaten so many delicious meals, had so … Continue Reading
Nuuk is the coolest capital city, it’s official (yes, there’s a cheesy pun there). And being the capital city of Greenland, it’s one of the largest urban centres in the country. That being said, don’t compare it to New York or London – it feels like a very small town in size (with about twenty … Continue Reading
Alaska is such a ridiculously incredible place to visit. The landscape there is so surreal and unlike anywhere else we’ve ever been to but I’m guessing you don’t need much convincing on that front if you’re already searching for the best way to travel through Alaska. Well, I’m not just gonna tell you how to … Continue Reading
