Go shopping in New York... but pop into Iceland first thanks to cheap stopover flights

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The stunning Gulfoss waterfall is just one of the beautiful spots in Iceland

Iceland has a population of 323,000, roughly the same as Cardiff. Yet the country keeps grabbing the world’s attention. This year it was football (dumping England out of the European championships); six years ago it was an Icelandic volcano that paralysed international flights.

It has also been a place of East-West encounters: it was here that Fischer met Spassky in the world chess championships in 1972; and where Reagan met Gorbachev in 1986.

Less well known, however, is Iceland’s significant part in world aviation. The direct air route from Luxembourg to New York is measured at 3,440 miles. The same journey via Reykjavik in Iceland works out only slightly longer: 3,799 miles.

Why should this be significant?

Well, until the 1960s, flying between the US and Europe was largely the preserve of the very wealthy. Air fares were decided by governments through the framework of the International Air Transport Association. Prices were fixed to suit the financially strapped airlines rather than the impecunious passenger.

So flights might have remained prohibitively expensive if little-known Icelandic carrier Loftleidir had not come up with the idea of offering low-cost fares between the US and Reykjavik, and combining them with cheap deals between Reykjavik and Luxembourg.

The US Government presumably decided that an air-fare revolution was unlikely to be triggered by an Icelandic airline offering cheap deals via the Icelandic capital to Luxembourg.

They were wrong. In the close-knit world of US college students, word about the attractive new Loftleidir £200 return fare to Europe spread rapidly: so quickly that the airline became known as the Hippy Express. When Bill and Hillary Clinton made their first trip together to Europe, they flew via Reykjavik.

Iceland started to open up the international air routes to cheap fare competition, a job that was completed by Sir Freddie Laker and, eventually, easyJet and Ryanair.

But what was attractive 50 years ago is proving alluring once more. In the 1970s, Loftleidir became part of Icelandair, which is once again offering Reykjavik as a gateway to America and Canada.

These days there’s no longer the same scope to undercut the competition. But they have other ways of drawing you to their land of Fire and Ice. People travelling via Reykjavik to North America can stopover in Iceland for up to seven days for no additional airfare cost – in addition, the airline is offering stopover visitors the chance of a very special celebration with the help of an airline Stopover Buddy.

Reykjavik

The geysir geothermal area where the Strokkur geyser shoots a column of water 100ft into the air every few minutes

Not many country names tell you what to expect. How are things in Namibia or Mexico? The name will give you no clue. But ‘Iceland’? In late November it’s as it says on the tin: icy. But the name can barely prepare you for just what a strange and magnificent place this is.

Iceland’s Keflavik airport teems with passengers. A regular bus service runs to ‘downtown Reykjavik’ (as Reykjavik is a place the size of Sutton Coldfield, its downtown can’t be too far from its uptown). The 40-minute journey provides a chance to look out for the Northern Lights but, sadly, it’s raining…

At the excellent new Canopy By Hilton hotel I’m met by vivacious Margret and her husband Gunnar. Margret works as an Icelandair flight attendant and as occasional Stopover Buddy made available by the airline as expert guide and ready to organise tailor-made celebrations on a passenger’s behalf. After dinner we whizz around the city on a whistlestop tour of the sights: the magnificent new Harpa concert hall, the stunning Perlan restaurant, the John Lennon peace tower and Margret’s local open-air swimming baths with their naturally hot water.

The next day we take the Golden Circle tour around Iceland’s most stunning sights, starting with the Geysir geothermal area where the Strokkur geyser shoots a column of water 100ft into the air every few minutes; the stunning Gullfoss (Golden Falls) waterfall; and Thingvellir National Park, where the American and Eurasian tectonic plates meet.

The highlight of Margret’s tour was the Fridheimar greenhouse: geothermal heat is used to grow tomatoes under banks of sun lamps. This is a business which nets as much money from tourism as it does from selling tomatoes. It’s my birthday and Margret has prepared a surprise for me: a cake and a tomato-juice cocktail, along with a rendition of Happy Birthday To You in Icelandic.

Iceland has developed the knack of turning not just tomatoes into tourist profit; here the odd volcanological ‘lemon’ becomes tourism lemonade. The family that owned the farm most adjacent to the notorious Eyjafjallajokull (the volcano whose ash stopped flights in 2010) have opened a museum with a good film that relives those extraordinary times (you can buy a jar of ash to take home).

In the afternoon we visited the Secret Lagoon, which is a more modest version of the better-known Blue Lagoon. Bobbing around in tropically warm waters in an otherwise freezing outdoor setting is one of life’s sublime pleasures.

On the final day, as it doesn’t get light until 10.15am, there is still a late chance for the Northern Lights… but rain continues to fall.

New York

It took Iceland’s favourite son Leif Erikson several weeks to reach America in 1000 AD, almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Travelling Icelandair, it took me six hours.

Following the election of Donald Trump, there was much speculation that a sudden rise in the value of the pound (in the doldrums since Brexit) would boost UK tourism to the States. The slump in the dollar was short-lived; yet there is little sign the renewed poorer exchange rate is keeping us away.

Following the election of Donald Trump, there was much speculation that a sudden rise in the value of the pound (in the doldrums since Brexit) would boost UK tourism to the States and indeed New York (pictured) seems as affordable as ever

I don’t think I’ve heard so many English accents on any transatlantic break. New York seemed as affordable as ever. I spent the first night in the excellent-value Grand Hyatt (£220 a night). For an extra charge, it’s worth upgrading to club access for free breakfast and all-day service of snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.

I headed to the shops on Fifth and Madison Avenues and, after exiting the wrong door from Nike, I found myself in the ground floor of Trump Tower being scrutinised by Secret Service agents armed with massive machine guns.

My favourite big store is Macy’s which, as the setting of the classic film Miracle On 34th Street, has a special atmosphere at Christmas (don’t miss a trip to Santaland).

While London department stores have relentlessly poshed themselves up, Macy’s retains the feel of Are You Being Served? – it still has the ancient rattling wooden escalators that used to be such a feature of Piccadilly Line Tube stations. Macy’s religion-neutral message for Christmas is ‘Happy Giving!’

New York as a whole goes slightly Christmas bonkers in a way we no longer seem to do in the UK: there is the skating at Rockefeller Center (under its famous Christmas tree) and the Rockettes dancing five times a day at Radio City music hall (pictured)

New York as a whole goes slightly Christmas bonkers in a way we no longer seem to do in the UK: there is the skating at Rockefeller Center (under its famous Christmas tree) and the Rockettes dancing five times a day at Radio City music hall.

The second night in New York was spent at the Mandarin Oriental in Columbus Circle, with huge picture windows looking out over the Hudson River and Central Park. Much more expensive than the Grand Hyatt – from about £550 a night – but it is hard to beat as a place for a special break.

Research suggests that more people are switching from one long holiday per year, choosing instead several shorter breaks.

As short breaks go, two nights in Iceland followed by two in New York is a winning combination: the perfect Christmas cocktail…