I suppose you have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights, which is intriguing. I looked at going during the winter for that very purpose, but concluded that you needed to be willing to devote 10 days or so to maximize your chances, and not stay in a city BTW. I decided it wasn't worth it.

I think you will miss most of what people go to see in Iceland. I am not sure it is a widely held view that Reykjavik is a "great place to spend New Year's," either.

If you don't want beach and don't want to ski (you didn't mention), I think any major city can be fun. Paris, London, NYC. Places where you can enjoy the theater, museums, shopping, dining, views ... where weather is not important. Is Buenos Aires too far?

These are the opposing ideas I'm getting other places as well! Worth the visit, but not the ideal time to see a lot of what Iceland has to offer.

I have some wanderlust and was hoping to find something that excited my two homebodies :)

Skiing is a possibility. London seems far away to go for such a short time. We really only have Thursday or Friday after Christmas through Wednesday Jan 2. But I'll look into it. NYC is a possibility too. It's on my list to see it at Christmas time. I guess directly after Christmas would count as well.

Check out the Tripadvisor site for Iceland: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g189952-i223-Iceland.html

We're spending two weeks in Iceland next summer. Although airfares are generally quite agreeable, everything else in Iceland tends to be pricey, so I'd suggest being absolutely sure of the time you want to go to maximize the trip. Be aware that driving in Icelandic winter conditions is often treacherous, and that could greatly limit your ability to see the northern lights.

I'm curious on the comment on London being far away yet Iceland is further. I get if going to London isn't something you'd want to do, but if you think it is too far then maybe Iceland isn't a good choice either. I love London anytime of the year. NYC around Christmas time is nice too. What does your homebodies like to do. Mine isn't really into visiting cities, but if I can find non-stop flights and somewhere with non-city activities then I have a bigger chance of having another travel companion beyond my kid who loves traveling and will go anywhere.

NY to London is 7 hr, NY to Rekyavik is 5.5. Not really that meaningful IMHO, but people do think of it as quicker.

Not sure where you are, but if you want to ski it may all be booked by now. The only real ski in ski out on the East Coast is Stowe Mountain Lodge. Or Mt Tremblant. We liked Tremblant and would go back (you can add a nice stop in Montreal) but it is indeed cold. I was totally warm enough skiing tho.

lyfia - I guess London is only about an hour longer flight than Iceland. I didn't realize that. Thanks!

My homebody likes to play fortnite and stick to his routines:) He used to think he was a traveler, but now when we go anywhere longer than 4-5 days, he's ready to go home. He's also an only child and that makes it less fun. His friends that we could ask to travel with us have family obligations over break.

We've done most major cities and several national parks. He has two ski trips with friends planned this season.

Thanks for the ideas! I really just considered yesterday that I wanted out of town over break, so I just started thinking. I'm happy for all the tips as I know this is a very well traveled group!

Mtn - I guess it depends on where you leave from, but I assumed OP wasn't leaving from NYC since it was mentioned as a travel option. For me London is a direct flight. Iceland requires a change in planes and adds on average 2 hrs in flight time - not counting switching flights.

Legomom23 - that makes it harder. My kid is also an only child, but still younger so we've managed so far and she loves to travel and see places. So much so that she's managed to get the homebody with us on even some Big City trips.

Any other things he finds interesting if he wasn't allowed to play fortnite? Sounds like he at least likes skiing even though he has others planned - are those with family?

I'm sure part of it is teenage boy :) One ski trip is with family and one is with family friends. We could visit family in Florida over break, but that isn't on my list. HA!

His travel list is Egypt and Singapore.

Hey I like both those on his travel list, but Singapore is a bit far for the short amount of time. Egypt is also quite a lot of flying time. Sounds like it is a little hard then to justify another family ski trip, but it is a thing where a teen can be the lone child and still enjoy it.

I would nix Singapore. It is a 19hr flight from NYC and it is really a business city, not a tourist destination. I've been there probably 10 times or so. For some place so exotic sounding and half way (almost exactly for me) around the world, it looks like a midsize US city. It is a nice city with several nice hotels, but very little of the local culture and very little preserved (a lot of places in Asia are like that, new is always better ... whereas in the West we are more into preservation, even tho we have less to preserve). There is the night zoo, and that cool megahotel with the rooftop pool. But that is about it really.

Do you know why he wants to go? Once on an Asia trip I took my kids to Tokyo. I had also been there on business plenty of times and didn't think it was a particularly good choice as a tourist destination (preferring say, Kyoto). But they wanted to go. I found out, belatedly, that it had something to do with an episode of iCarly. ?!?

Egypt is someplace my kids reallllly want to see, but TBH it would make me nervous. I notice the schools all do trips to Amman, Jordan... must be considered safer.

PS...oh, the OP said East Coast so I assumed they might be flying out of the NYC corridor, or through it. Plenty of people who would consider NY airports to be their best international airport choice would also consider Manhattan as a place to spend a vacation. People easily drive 2hrs+ to airports, so I wouldn't consider it mutually exclusive. Plus i have spent long weekends in Manhattan even though I also commute there.

We went to Iceland in mid January and had a blast. We stayed a few days in Reijkjavik, went to the hot springs/pools, had excellent food, went cross country skiing, and searched the Northern lights in the middle of night, only to watch them a few days later in the country side from our hot tub. We rented a car, did the Golden Circle route, and stayed one night in a smaller country inn.

Yes, it gets dark early, but we still had plenty of time for activities. Also, it's twilight for quite a while.

We flew non-stop from the East Coast on Iceland Air with very convenient departure/arrival times, i..e outbound you leave in the evening, arrive early morning (early hotel check in), home bound, you leave early evening, arrive late evening.