Why You May (or may not) Want to Bring Your Kids to Iceland

 We did a trip. With our three children. To Iceland. I know what you're thinking. Why? Why would we do this? Well, here is why it may be a good idea, actually, and some of the drawbacks.

If your kids like hiking, they might love Iceland.

This is a place all about the great outdoors. If they can manage 2-4 miles of hiking, there is a world of amazing things to see open to them. You can certainly enjoy a trip without any difficult hikes, but if your kids are at all interested in hiking there is a lot.

If your kids love the pool, they will love Iceland.

Every town has a swimming pool. The pools are all naturally heated by geothermal water, many of them have water slides and wading pools, and kids get in free (or for like a dollar). There are arm floaters available for kids to use at every pool we visited, even at a higher end spa. The dressing rooms have diaper changing areas, baby bath tubs, and high chairs where your baby can sit while you shower and change. You can even go out into nature and find pools that haven't been built up but still exist in their natural state. Whether a luxurious spa, natural pool, or municipal pool, it will be warm and your children will enjoy it.

If your kids like animals, they may like Iceland.

In the summer, you can see Puffins (if you go where they're nesting). There will be horses and sheep absolutely everywhere. Whale watching is primo. Seals and sea lions have their favorite beaches. We saw so many baby horses and baby sheep, they were beyond adorable. There are also reindeer, geese, ducks, and sea birds.

Icelanders actually care about kids.

People in Iceland seem to be pretty much cool with kids acting like children. If kids aren't welcome somewhere, then there usually an age restriction in place. Entering a store, restaurant, or museum with 3 children, hyperactive and loud, we were greeted with a smile and people went out of their way to talk to our kids. I never once got a stink eye or a "control your children." In fact, people said they were well behaved. That is something I never hear. It wasn't like they acted any differently than at home either. When my kids wanted to speak up or ask questions, they were actually treated like what they had to say mattered just as much as if an adult had asked the question. Even the one higher end restaurant we visited had a high chair, a kids menu, and the servers were so sweet to the kids (especially the baby) even when the kids were being really silly, borderline naughty.

Iceland is incredibly safe.

The crime rate is extremely low in Iceland, probably in part because poverty is not common and communities are generally quite small. No one is going to snatch your kids, and no one is going to yell at you if they wait in the car while you run into the gas station bathroom. The only dangers are the ones that exist in nature. As long as you exercise a little common sense your kids will have a fun, safe trip. Stay away from cliffs, don't play in the frigid ocean waves, keep an eye on them in the pool, you know, the stuff you were already thinking about anyway.

Kids get free admission to almost everything

Kids under 5 almost certainly get in free to any activity you'd want to do. Older than that they are either free, or steeply discounted admission. Boat tours, spas, museums, and ferries, not a one of them charged for little kids. Only a few charged for older kids. All were prepared for kids, whether by offering appropriately sized life jackets, hands on exhibits, changing stations in the bathrooms, or a guide who actually seemed to like talking to the kids, each place seemed to be actually happy to have them there and didn't charge a penny extra for them.

And of course, I must answer the most essential kid travel question: yes, you can get ketchup in Iceland. And peanut butter! Did that clinch it for you? Well, here are some potential drawbacks.

As for the possible negatives...

If your kids can't handle cold, don't bring them

No matter that it's the middle of summer, you are likely going to see some very windy, rainy days that are generally chilly. You may be able to plan on doing indoor activities those days, but you may also just have to brave the cold and carry on in the rain. If your kids cannot do that, this may not be the trip for them.

If you can't handle the flight with your kids, don't bring them

Long haul flights are no joke. If a 6-7 hour flight is something that would be absolute torture for you and your kids, then don't take them. The in flight movies and games were enough to distract Paul and Laszlo for the entire flight. That and naps. Arthur is just an extremely chill baby. If he were as high maintenance as his brothers at this age, we would not have done this trip. 

If you don't like driving with your kids, don't bring them

Since many of Iceland's most incredible things are in nature, you have to go to the nature which means driving. Whether by rental car or tour bus, your kids will likely have to be distracted and entertained for many hours worth of driving. The good news is, looking out the window won't disappoint. But if your kids are like my kids, they'd rather watch a movie they've seen before then look for waterfalls out the window. If roadtripping with your kids is not your bag, then you may not enjoy bringing them to Iceland.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that if I did it with my kids then you could too. Not all kids would do well and not all parents want to do this. Don't feel bad if that's you. 

If taking your kids will wreck your trip, don't bring them.

There are a lot of very cool things to do in Iceland that kids cannot do. Glacier hikes, cave tours, snorkeling, kayaking, even whale watching may be too long for kids to enjoy. If that's what you want to do most, then just don't do the trip with kids. It's cheaper to leave them at home anyway!