Road trip in mid-March - Opinions wanted

Early rise for Jokulsarlon and a boat ride on the lake would be great if it's available this time of the year.

It won't be.

Do we need a 4X4 for that day trip

No. If the roads are snow-affected, which cannot be predicted, a 4wd won't make any difference.

Will we enjoy a day in Snaefellsness Peninsula in winter?

If the weather is nice. Though it would be more enjoyable if it was 2 days as 1 day is a bit of a rush. I'd make your decision nearer the time when you see the local weather forecast for the area. You could perhaps end Day 5 at Stykkisholmur instead, weather permitting.

Many thanks for your advice. Stykkisholmur looks unique.

A couple of more questions...

Could we rely on a 3-day weather forecast or will we have to live on a day to day basis? :)

Are there any "old school" geothermal pools, not swimming pools, anywhere around our route?

Could we rely on a 3-day weather forecast

You can get a pretty good idea of whether there is a notable risk of disruptive weather 3 days out. But Iceland has very complex and localised weather and 3 days out, weather systems can easily be 200 km north or 8 hours early/late of their forecast arrival, which will have a big effect in relation to the complex weather that occurs on the ground during your sightseeing. Storm intensity is particularly difficult to forecast.

Are there any "old school" geothermal pools, not swimming pools, anywhere around our route?

Google Varma at Hveragerdi, that probably meets your criteria so long as you don't mind the walk of an hour or so each way from the road-head.

Also google Seljavallalaug and see if it meets your criteria - the empoundment has been built as a swimming pool - though I think it can be tricky getting there in winter and you may have to break the ice to get in.

There is a general problem with natural thermal pools in that they have a tendency to become overused and abused if too well known about and too easy to get to. Thus I am only drawing attention to well known and publicised cases, whose natural inconvenience of access tends to discourage overuse. You can buy a book on them when in the country.

Concerning weather - this can be really handy: http://en.vedur.is/

Many thanks to both. One last thing. We 've been reading about the weather the last couple of weeks. It seems to be nasty. Is there anyway we could get stranded at Reykjavik for the whole week and not be able to move around as we have planed. Is the weather really so bad now?

The 2 storms that have been and still are affecting the country this week are forecast to have passed by the time you arrive. Earlier this week many tourists were rescued off the Golden Circle - that's pretty uncommon - and others were temporarily trapped in various bits of the country that got cut off for a while. The longer term forecast, such as you can trust it, is for the usual fast-changing mix of indignities, and as usual one hopes for some respite in intervals between them. It's very much Still Winter in Iceland.

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