🇫🇷 Paris Charles de Gaulle → 🇮🇸 Reykjavik · 2 weeks

Drive the Golden Circle (Þingvellir, Geysir, Gullfoss) on a Tuesday or Wednesday — weekend crowds are punishing. Leave Reykjavik by 7:30 am, do it clockwise, and you'll have Geysir almost to yourself for the first eruption of the day.

For Northern Lights, drive 30 minutes south to the Reykjanes Peninsula on a clear night (check vedur.is for cloud cover). The light pollution drops fast and the lava fields make for dramatic foreground. October–March is the season; equinox periods (Sept/March) have the strongest auroral activity.

Skip the Blue Lagoon (overcrowded, €80+) and instead try the Secret Lagoon in Flúðir or the Sky Lagoon on the Reykjavik harbour edge — the Sky Lagoon's cliff-edge infinity pool over the Atlantic is the better experience at a comparable price.

Reykjavik's craft beer scene punches well above its size — Kaldi Bar on Laugavegur and Skúli Craft Bar near the harbour are the locals' picks. Happy hour (4–7 pm) cuts prices almost in half, which matters when a pint otherwise costs €12.