Trip to Iceland (the country not the supermarket)
Discussion
So PH collective. Iceland has been one of the bucket list destinations for me for a while for a short break. I've booked some flights for next spring, going with a mate staying for 4 nights. Early May 2023.
Best pace to stay? Reykjavik I presume....any hotel or B&B recommendations?
I'm not overly bothered about 5 star stuff for a trip like this, we'll be out and about exploring most days and eating out I imagine. So somewhere nice and clean but location is probably paramount.
Do we rent a car or is the public transport system enough? Assuming any organised trips would collect us from the city anyhow?
All advice welcome.
Best pace to stay? Reykjavik I presume....any hotel or B&B recommendations?
I'm not overly bothered about 5 star stuff for a trip like this, we'll be out and about exploring most days and eating out I imagine. So somewhere nice and clean but location is probably paramount.
Do we rent a car or is the public transport system enough? Assuming any organised trips would collect us from the city anyhow?
All advice welcome.
Time of year choice is a bit odd, Iceland is best experienced in the winter... It is never warm but in the "summer" months it tends to be quite muddy and not that pretty...
My advice - Rent a car. Stay in Reyk for a day or two and then spend the rest of your trip going around the "golden circle", and along the south coast heading east with Diamond Beach probably being your furthest destination from Reyk.
Things to see:
Thingvellir National Park
The geysers
Various waterfalls (plenty along that route)
The plane wreck (get the bus, don't walk)
Black Sand Beach/Vik (there is a nice burger/beer pub in Vik)
Search the offbeat/lesser known geothermal "spas" - My favourite is Reykjadalur - It's a stunning walk/hike and really beautiful. Make sure you go in the water... You will never experience being sat in a natural 40deg river at the top of a mountain ever again most likely!
Blue Lagoon Spa is a nice day out but not entirely necessary.
Pay for an ice cave excursion as well.. The off roading in a "super Jeep" is almost worth the cost alone!
There is loads of accommodation but one place which is really nice are the Black Beach Suites in Vik.
All of it will look much nicer coated in snow and you'll have more chance of seeing the Northern lights in winter so consider pulling your trip forward or postponing to between Nov-March.
You'll need to plan carefully because there isn't much daylight, especially in winter!!
It'll be the trip of a lifetime if you do it right. If not you might walk away underwhelmed so make sure you do plenty of research and cram in as much as possible. It's an amazing place, I proposed to my fiance there and we literally had the trip of a lifetime when we went.
I hope this helps
My advice - Rent a car. Stay in Reyk for a day or two and then spend the rest of your trip going around the "golden circle", and along the south coast heading east with Diamond Beach probably being your furthest destination from Reyk.
Things to see:
Thingvellir National Park
The geysers
Various waterfalls (plenty along that route)
The plane wreck (get the bus, don't walk)
Black Sand Beach/Vik (there is a nice burger/beer pub in Vik)
Search the offbeat/lesser known geothermal "spas" - My favourite is Reykjadalur - It's a stunning walk/hike and really beautiful. Make sure you go in the water... You will never experience being sat in a natural 40deg river at the top of a mountain ever again most likely!
Blue Lagoon Spa is a nice day out but not entirely necessary.
Pay for an ice cave excursion as well.. The off roading in a "super Jeep" is almost worth the cost alone!
There is loads of accommodation but one place which is really nice are the Black Beach Suites in Vik.
All of it will look much nicer coated in snow and you'll have more chance of seeing the Northern lights in winter so consider pulling your trip forward or postponing to between Nov-March.
You'll need to plan carefully because there isn't much daylight, especially in winter!!
It'll be the trip of a lifetime if you do it right. If not you might walk away underwhelmed so make sure you do plenty of research and cram in as much as possible. It's an amazing place, I proposed to my fiance there and we literally had the trip of a lifetime when we went.
I hope this helps
I’d suggest doing a search as there are a few threads already with lots of good advice.
May will be fine. We’ve been twice, once in September and once in November. The busiest time is summer and in winter you are likely to have to cancel stuff because of the weather.
Stay in Reykjavik and use organised tours (some people will say different but this worked for us. All organised tours pick up in various locations in Reykjavik.
Golden circle,
Thingvellir National Park
Black Sand Beach and South Coast (inc Glacier Lake)
Waterfalls everywhere some of which you will see on the Golden Circle tour.
I wouldn’t bother with the plane wreck and you have to walk (no bus) for 40mins.
I also wouldn’t bother with the Blue Lagoon (but if you do visit go on the way to or from airport) but would go to the Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik. The local pools are also good.
Off roading is illegal in Iceland but the superjeeps are used on many trips and use the “F” roads which are gravel and quite often closed in the winter.
Despite its name there quite often isn’t any snow but weather can be horrendous with very high winds and heavy rain so dress for all weathers. Our trip in September was blue skies, sunny but cold. November was windy, wet and a trip cancelled due to the high winds.
Spend time in the capital as there is lots to see and do. Bars and restaurants are excellent and people are friendly.
One of the best places I have been to and will be going back.
https://adventures.com/
https://visitreykjavik.is/
May will be fine. We’ve been twice, once in September and once in November. The busiest time is summer and in winter you are likely to have to cancel stuff because of the weather.
Stay in Reykjavik and use organised tours (some people will say different but this worked for us. All organised tours pick up in various locations in Reykjavik.
Golden circle,
Thingvellir National Park
Black Sand Beach and South Coast (inc Glacier Lake)
Waterfalls everywhere some of which you will see on the Golden Circle tour.
I wouldn’t bother with the plane wreck and you have to walk (no bus) for 40mins.
I also wouldn’t bother with the Blue Lagoon (but if you do visit go on the way to or from airport) but would go to the Sky Lagoon in Reykjavik. The local pools are also good.
Off roading is illegal in Iceland but the superjeeps are used on many trips and use the “F” roads which are gravel and quite often closed in the winter.
Despite its name there quite often isn’t any snow but weather can be horrendous with very high winds and heavy rain so dress for all weathers. Our trip in September was blue skies, sunny but cold. November was windy, wet and a trip cancelled due to the high winds.
Spend time in the capital as there is lots to see and do. Bars and restaurants are excellent and people are friendly.
One of the best places I have been to and will be going back.
https://adventures.com/
https://visitreykjavik.is/
Edited by craig1912 on Wednesday 16th November 18:56
We went mid-March this year for 1 week and loved it - though one of the worst winters in a while and whiteout conditions some days with plenty of road closures and accidents.
We hired a car from Blue car rental - would recommend them. We opted for the 'used' (i.e. older) category and got a high miles but perfect for the job 4wd dacia duster.
A lot already covered so won't repeat, but we visited both Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon and they are totally different - Blue Lagoon felt like a busy resort pool full of wannabe influencers and Sky Lagoon is a lot smaller, more intimate (though still busy) and relaxing. Would go back to Sky Lagoon.
Stayed in Exeter hotel in Reykjavik and Black Beach Suites in Vik - would recommend both. Exeter is in a great location down by the old harbour bars and restaurants (still close enough to walk uptown to the other busy bar/restaurant area), free parking close by if youhave a car. Black Beach Suites were a real treat, weather was terrible and it was the perfect place to watch it from. The waves at the Black Beach can be insane, we witnessed a guy get too close and a big wave bowled him over so stay on your toes!
Ground floor of the Exeter hotel there is a cool bar/restaurant (Le Kock) that even locals seemed to come into at night, and a bakery that does excellent takeaway lunch bagel deals that are useful for day trips. Ramen Momo next door is tiny but does great fresh Ramen to eat in or out.
Highlights were Thingvellir National Park, Gulfoss waterfall, Black Beach at Vik, and hiking onto the Vatnajokull glacier and exploring ice caves on a guided tour.
There are a lot of waterfalls, we didn't go and see them all as they can be spaced quite far apart. Didn't bother with the plane wreck as many say it's not worth the time/effort, and as you are only there for 4 days I wouldn't bust a gut to go to the diamond beach unless you are heading that was anyway as it's very far East of Reykjavik.
We hired a car from Blue car rental - would recommend them. We opted for the 'used' (i.e. older) category and got a high miles but perfect for the job 4wd dacia duster.
A lot already covered so won't repeat, but we visited both Blue Lagoon and Sky Lagoon and they are totally different - Blue Lagoon felt like a busy resort pool full of wannabe influencers and Sky Lagoon is a lot smaller, more intimate (though still busy) and relaxing. Would go back to Sky Lagoon.
Stayed in Exeter hotel in Reykjavik and Black Beach Suites in Vik - would recommend both. Exeter is in a great location down by the old harbour bars and restaurants (still close enough to walk uptown to the other busy bar/restaurant area), free parking close by if youhave a car. Black Beach Suites were a real treat, weather was terrible and it was the perfect place to watch it from. The waves at the Black Beach can be insane, we witnessed a guy get too close and a big wave bowled him over so stay on your toes!
Ground floor of the Exeter hotel there is a cool bar/restaurant (Le Kock) that even locals seemed to come into at night, and a bakery that does excellent takeaway lunch bagel deals that are useful for day trips. Ramen Momo next door is tiny but does great fresh Ramen to eat in or out.
Highlights were Thingvellir National Park, Gulfoss waterfall, Black Beach at Vik, and hiking onto the Vatnajokull glacier and exploring ice caves on a guided tour.
There are a lot of waterfalls, we didn't go and see them all as they can be spaced quite far apart. Didn't bother with the plane wreck as many say it's not worth the time/effort, and as you are only there for 4 days I wouldn't bust a gut to go to the diamond beach unless you are heading that was anyway as it's very far East of Reykjavik.
I would also recomend the Reykjadalur hike.
I wasnt sure whether to include it or not when I went with my partner in May, but it was easily one of the highlights of the trip. Its an easy hike, very picturesque. But its worth it, the springs at the end are probably something you wont experience again (as said above).
I wasnt sure whether to include it or not when I went with my partner in May, but it was easily one of the highlights of the trip. Its an easy hike, very picturesque. But its worth it, the springs at the end are probably something you wont experience again (as said above).
speedchick said:
Watching with interest as we are going for 3 nights in January and them on to New York for 3 nights.
I was reading the replies to hubby this morning and I was getting a lot of 'yes that's planned', he's been doing all the research.
January you say...hmmmI was reading the replies to hubby this morning and I was getting a lot of 'yes that's planned', he's been doing all the research.
I'd recommend going to the Sky Lagoon on a day where it might be snowing - we did just that. It's quieter, everyone there in the water was wearing a beanie hat which might sound a little odd, but the experience of sitting in a hot spa overlooking the sea with flakes of snow falling around you, drink in hand, iwas quite unique and special.
We stayed at the Midgardur by center hotels which i would definitely recommend. More towards the budget end but has a great spa with indoor and outdoor hot tubs and sauna, and the room and food was really good. 'Reykjavik kitchen' is over the road from it and is highly recommended also, but the best food i had was actually at the hotels restaurant.
Edited by scoey1001 on Thursday 17th November 15:47
The Golden Circle and the Sky Lagoon are on the to do list.
I'd like to see the volcanos, how does that work? All the trips I've looked at including that seem to be multi day/multi centre.
We'd like to stay in Reykjavik, close enough to the night life and resturants for a comfotable walk (stagger!) but not so close the noise keeps us awake.
Whilst I'd go all out 5 star beach resort in the sun, I'm quite happy on this trip with a clean presentable place as really is nothing more than a base for 4 days.
I'd like to see the volcanos, how does that work? All the trips I've looked at including that seem to be multi day/multi centre.
We'd like to stay in Reykjavik, close enough to the night life and resturants for a comfotable walk (stagger!) but not so close the noise keeps us awake.
Whilst I'd go all out 5 star beach resort in the sun, I'm quite happy on this trip with a clean presentable place as really is nothing more than a base for 4 days.
21ATS said:
I'd like to see the volcanos, how does that work? All the trips I've looked at including that seem to be multi day/multi centre.
There are no particularly active volcanoes at the moment but there are a lot of organised trips up to Meradalir which had a little eruption over the summer. The walk will take you past Fagradalsfjall which was the big eruption last year and even though there's not much going on the fresh lava fields are actually pretty impressive. There are different routes, but you are looking at around 7.5 miles, which took me about 4 hours to complete. I don't know how the organised trips work as I hired a car and made my own way up there which is easy enough.
Can recommend
https://odinsve.is/
Near Laugavegur which is one of the main streets and everywhere is walkable. Attached restaurant (SNAPS) is good too.
https://odinsve.is/
Near Laugavegur which is one of the main streets and everywhere is walkable. Attached restaurant (SNAPS) is good too.
craig1912 said:
Can recommend
https://odinsve.is/
Near Laugavegur which is one of the main streets and everywhere is walkable. Attached restaurant (SNAPS) is good too.
Thank you.https://odinsve.is/
Near Laugavegur which is one of the main streets and everywhere is walkable. Attached restaurant (SNAPS) is good too.
21ATS said:
So PH collective. Iceland has been one of the bucket list destinations for me for a while for a short break. I've booked some flights for next spring, going with a mate staying for 4 nights. Early May 2023.
Best pace to stay? Reykjavik I presume....any hotel or B&B recommendations?
I'm not overly bothered about 5 star stuff for a trip like this, we'll be out and about exploring most days and eating out I imagine. So somewhere nice and clean but location is probably paramount.
Do we rent a car or is the public transport system enough? Assuming any organised trips would collect us from the city anyhow?
All advice welcome.
Hi 21ATS, you're going to love Iceland! We have been to 60 plus countries and Iceland is definitely in our Top 5. I would try to go for at least a week - this should give you enough time to drive around Route 1 - the road that encircles the whole island. Stay in Youth Hostels in private rooms - they are clean and very comfortable and usually have a private bathroom. You will also find a kitchen there so you can save money - eating out in Iceland is very expensive. Don't just get lost on the Golden Circle tour - there is so much more to see in Iceland. This blog is really useful! https://blog.ricksteves.com/cameron/2018/04/icelan...Best pace to stay? Reykjavik I presume....any hotel or B&B recommendations?
I'm not overly bothered about 5 star stuff for a trip like this, we'll be out and about exploring most days and eating out I imagine. So somewhere nice and clean but location is probably paramount.
Do we rent a car or is the public transport system enough? Assuming any organised trips would collect us from the city anyhow?
All advice welcome.
I am thinking abut planning a trip to Iceland, would take my Dodgy Dacia to Hirtshals /DK and ferry over.
Gilfriend likes the nature, so do I, but accompanied by V8 sounds of
https://www.visitakureyri.is/en/see-and-do/events-...
Sand Drags on Saturday, 1/8 mile asphalt on Sunday, me likey.
I will read the other threads with interest.
Are there lots of moskitos in the air, like in Sweden/Finland sometimes, or is the wind too strong for them ?
Gilfriend likes the nature, so do I, but accompanied by V8 sounds of
https://www.visitakureyri.is/en/see-and-do/events-...
Sand Drags on Saturday, 1/8 mile asphalt on Sunday, me likey.
I will read the other threads with interest.
Are there lots of moskitos in the air, like in Sweden/Finland sometimes, or is the wind too strong for them ?
Gassing Station | Holidays & Travel | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff