A grand adventure ... to see the Northern Lights

I never have any luck with competitions, but when I first heard about Money Supermarket's "Grand Adventure" - where bloggers are invited to plan their own epic adventure with a £1,000 budget detailing where they would go, what they would do, and how they would make the £1,000 stretch - I thought it couldn't hurt to have a go!

My destination of choice? ICELAND

Now some of you are looking at me in disbelief, pointing out that it's already freezing and why on earth wouldn't I want to go away to somewhere hot?! Well, ever since I've seen Iceland advertised on the London underground I've been dying to go. There are some really good travel packages meaning that it won't cost an arm and a leg to get there. For example, the Northern Lights package starts from a mere £299. This includes return flights, bed and breakfast in a hotel for your entire stay and a tour of the Northern Lights. Not bad going, eh? There are also "extras" that you can add on as a supplement (these being as little as £15). The exchange rate for Icelandic Krona against £ sterling is meant to be really good at the moment - so this would be the perfect holiday destination for a trip on a budget.

Iceland is a photographer's dream and I would document every step of my journey on my blog - just like I've done for my Paris trip and my Barcelona trip... 1  /  2  /  3  /  4  /  5  /  6

I would go and see the Northern Lights, revelling in its amazingness and taking lots of pictures:

I would take a trip to the Blue Lagoon which has been voted as one of the top 10 spas in the world and is host to natural ingredients such as mineral salts, algae and silica - all supposed to help balance the body and mind:

I would go to the Golden circle to see Nature's finest including Gullfoss waterfall and Geysir geothermal area:

Whale watching would be a must:

 Maybe, if time permits, a boat trip to the glacial lagoon:

I'd also walk around exploring - FREE! - taking pictures and enjoying the sights. I would sample the locally caught fresh fish - I have heard that their Hakarl (Icelandic for "shark") is an "experience". If you eat it, you follow it with brennivin (a local schnapps) and get much respect from the locals because it smells and tastes pretty putrid. When / if the cold gets too much, I would sniff out a nice pub / bar with a roaring log fire and consume many a hot drink to keep toasty! Maybe try some of that brennivin. Which is apparently referred to as "Black Death".

With such a good exchange rate going at the moment, it would be the perfect time to go. With a £1,000 budget I'd be able to treat myself and my fellow traveller to various tours and extras and we'd hopefully have enough spare change rattling around for visiting nearby towns and a nice meal or two. 

To sum everything up, Iceland would be a memorable trip with lots packed in without the need to file for bankruptcy. A very refreshing thought in these difficult economic times!

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** All images IcelandAir **