r/travel • u/AutoModerator • Oct 14 '14
Destination of the week - Iceland
Weekly destination thread, this week featuring Iceland. Please contribute all and any questions/thoughts/suggestions/ideas/stories about visiting that place.
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u/master-of-cunt Oct 15 '14
Hey homies
I was there this year in July for about 20 days. About 10 with my gf and 10 without. It's a really nice place, it really is another world, pics don't do it justice.
I camped the entire time. Iceland is the best place in the world to camp, better than Norway, I totally recommend it if you want to save some money. At the Reykjavik campsite you pay 1500kr (about 10 Euro) per person to camp. The facilities are excellent, free hot showers, loads of cooking places, good WiFi, knowledgeable staff. There's also lots of travellers there who are all friendly. I've never stayed at a more friendly place. But truly the best thing about this place is the leftovers you can pick up. Because its an island people leave all their food/gas canisters/ethanol behind, and man, swoop on that shit! Ethanol is particularly expensive in Nordic countries, if you have an alcohol burner, gas canisters not so much, but there's probably 5 litres of ethanol and 10 gas canisters sitting there at all times, plus a shitload of food. It's awesome, raid it.
If you need to grocery shop, visit 'bonus' and buy the Euro shopper brand. Cheap and tasty.
You can also wild camp anywhere. When we drove around the ring route we only stayed at a campsite once, in husavik, because we saw the whales and didn't want to worry about being late. If you are wild camping and need a shower you can sneak into a campsite easily and have one.
We rented a car, but hitch hiking is extremely common. We couldn't pick any up, but we saw at least 50 people doing it. And I talked to a bunch of people who hitch hiked their way around the whole island. It's a good idea if you aren't on a time budget, like we were.
Lots of people were also doing bike tours. It's probably the cheapest way of doing the ring route. But it rains a fuckload, and man, some tourers looked pretty damn miserable out there in the pouring rain!
Busses serve the country very well, but man, they're expensive. They can take you anywhere, though.
All in all, if you want to see the island, and are going for more than 3 days, I recommend renting a car. It's about 40 Euro a day for the cheapest car. If you book online with 'sadcars' you can get a really good discount. We took a yaris around the island, about 1700km, had no problems.
If you take the ring route, watch the signs closely!!! There is no 'official' ring route, and thus, no signs stating that. So bring a GPS or watch your phone closely, we missed three turnoffs due to missing road signs.
There's a petrol station, I think it's N1, with the 'kaffitar' sign...truly a campers best friend. You can go inside, get a coffee cup for 255kr (about 2 Euro) and u get unlimited coffee, power points, and toilets.
Ok. Now the best places I went to:
Dellifoss- a giant fucking waterfall. Spectacular. Much better than gullfoss.
Myvatn - this is the 'red earth' place with the bubbling mud pools you've seen, it smells real bad because of the sulphur, but it truly is stunning. Another world here.
West fjords - crazy. Huge cliffs.
Tourist stuff I did:
Whale watching in husavik - my gf wanted to do this. Got some nice pics of a humpback whale. Bored me, but she liked it. Reasonably expensive, about 60 Euro each.
Blue lagoon - relaxing, but expensive. Kind of a waste of time. Takes maybe an hour to get there and because you've spend so much money you'll want to stay there all day. There's a swimming pool next to the Reykjavik campsite which costs 4 Euro to visit, I'd rather go there.
The city of Reykjavik is very boring. Avoid looking around, get out of there asap!
My favourite part of the trip was doing the Laugavegur trail, a 4 day 55km trek. Really incredible. Unfortunately the weather is really unpredictable So the first day and a half was awful, pouring and fog. Then it was sunny for the rest of the time and it was so good.
I think that's all. I'm on my phone so i can't get proper names for stuff and have probably forgotten lots of stuff. Icelands awesome, not as expensive as you probably think, people are great, English is everywhere, wahooooo
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u/drengor Canada Oct 14 '14
I started off my world tour in June with Iceland, taking advantage of IcelandAir's week-long stop-over! Like most places, a week can't do Iceland justice, but I got to see a good portion of Reykjavik before thumbing around Southwestern Iceland to see Gullfoss, Geysir, and Selfoss.
Being the summer, it was quite a refreshing experience to have 21+ hours of sunlight a day, and the few hours of 'night' were hardly dark. Never once did I need my flashlight while there.
Horseback riding is a thing there, and one gentleman who gave me a lift was the owner of some hundred horses. He told me that every few weeks during the summer months he takes a large group of tourists on horseback (luggage and whatnot being driven ahead by vehicle) and gives them week-long tours of the interior, all on horseback. Having ridden horses in the past I thought it a great idea, and had I not been restricted by my flights I would have jumped at the chance, as he was very friendly (and shared his beer!)
Icelanders(?) in general are friendly. I walked into a bar penniless and walked out drunk, with a whole new set of friends! One of them even offered me a place to sleep, and dinner!
Nature really is one of its strongest points, with huge sprawling views of all sorts of varying terrain. I will definitely be heading back for a longer time-frame to further enjoy what it has to offer!
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u/AndreaCG Canada Nov 07 '14
Do you have any contact info on the horseback riding guy? I'm thinking of going in June and that sounds like an awesome way to get to know the country.
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u/drengor Canada Nov 07 '14
Just dug out my journal, turns out I didn't even write his name down! It must've been on a separate piece of paper :/ When it turns up, I'll get you the info! If it doesn't, googling horseback riding tours of Iceland gets you plenty of results, apparently its a pretty common thing!
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u/votivearth Oct 14 '14
I traveled to Iceland a month ago with some friends and produced a short film (https://vimeo.com/108920772). We spent most of our time on the South Coast and Ring Road. We stayed in Fludir at an Airbnb. Airbnb's are great options for staying all around Iceland, as they are fairly cheap (~$120USD/night for a house that slept 8). All of the waterfalls in that area are amazing. Fall weather is a little iffy, and it was pretty rainy, but spurts of sunshine produced beautiful rainbows. It's hard to remember/pronounce the names of most places, but one of the coolest places we went was landmannalaugar--its a long, gorgeous, bumpy drive in through amazing lava fields and you end up at a really epic hot spring.
Also, do not speed if you rent a car! They have speed cameras all over the place. If you see a sign that has a camera on it, that's what it means.
The food is terrible though, plan to grocery shop and try to cook for yourself (again airbnbs come in handy here if they have kitchens).
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u/master-of-cunt Oct 15 '14
Haha really. Me and my gf sat on about 150kph the whole ring route. The only place we didn't speed was near Reykjavik. Don't think I even saw one cop the whole time
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u/smelly_kel Oct 16 '14 edited Oct 16 '14
LOVE Iceland. It's expensive enough but I'm from Dublin and the prices are pretty much the same.
FOOD: This is one of the nicest restaurants I've ever been to http://www.grillmarkadurinn.is/ . Grillmarket is basically what it sounds like. It serves the most amazing meats. Me and my boyfriend sat at the bar where you could see into the kitchen - which we loved. It's mesmerising watching how the kitchen works. And gives you something to look at if you run out of conversation! :) It's quite expensive though, so you need to be ready to dish out a bit of cash, especially if you're ordering drinks as well. I was told there's a sister restaurant that serves all fish, but we didn't get a chance to find it.
SLEEP: We stayed in Apartment K http://www.apartmentk.is/ . If you're travelling to Reykjavik I couldn't recommend it more. It cost us about €30 per person per night which isn't too expensive I don't think. It everything you need, kitchen etc. So you can save money by cooking in the apartment. It's also smack bang in the middle of Reykjavik so you can walk everywhere. There really is no need to get buses etc unless you're going outside of the city. Walking everywhere is definitely the best way to do it, and you get to see the city - which is gorgeous.
NORTHERN LIGHTS: We went on a Northern Lights bus tour. The tour guide we had was fantastic. They drive around to a few locations chasing the Northern Lights. They even give you hot chocolate and a pastry to have when looking up at them. If you pay for the tour and you don't see the lights, they'll keep bringing you out until you do catch them, so it's not a waste of money. However when we saw them they weren't that strong. And unless you have a professional camera you can't see the strong colours in the sky. All we could see was white, but this guy with us had a tripod and all set up and in his photos the entire sky was vibrant green.
BLUE LAGOON: Some might say it's a bit touristy but we loved it. We were there in January so it was dark at about 4pm. We went to the Blue Lagoon for about 6pm, it was amazing in the warm white water, with your cold head bopping around outside, steam coming off the top of the water, and looking up into the clearest sky - I've never seen so many stars. There's a bar in the middle of the lagoon as well if you want a cheeky glass of wine - we did. The only annoying thing was that there was no bus back at 8pm I think it was? The rest of the day they're on the hour. We had to wait around until 9pm to get a bus. Not the end of the world, it just meant that we didn't get back to Reykjavik on our last night to go out for food or anything.
GEYSERS: Really enjoyed the Golden Circle tour. We went around in a bus for the whole day. The tour guide was hilarious. You'll see the volcanoes, geysers (which stink), waterfalls, tectonic plates. You'll fit a lot in.
BARS: People in Iceland are so friendly. Within 10 minutes of walking into Kaffibarinn we were both in conversations on other sides of the bar with people. There was also a gay bar we went to which was great craic as well. The Icelandic like to drink, so you won't need to walk too far to find somewhere for a quick pint. http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Attraction_Review-g189970-d679712-Reviews-Kaffibarinn-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html
We did find Reykjavik quite boring during the day. It's a lovely city but there's not a lot going on. I'd try to plan something for each day and avoid walking around aimlessly. You'll grow tired of it quite quickly.
My best advice - don't go to Iceland just to see the Northern Lights. There are way too many elements that need to fall perfectly into place to see them. Iceland is an amazing country, so go to see it, and if you see the lights then take it as a bonus.
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u/thatdani Oct 14 '14
Iceland is one of the few places I am 100% i want to experience fully while traveling. My one concern is about the cost of the trip.
As far as I know, the accommodation and food there is really expensive and the plane ticket is not really cheap either. I have 2 questions to ask those who have been there about the trip in general.
How much would it cost for a 7-day, 2* hotel stay trip with car rental and one meal a day? Your best educated guess works, not looking for an exact number :)
When is the ideal time to go in order to witness the Northern Lights?
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u/master-of-cunt Oct 14 '14
Hi
Iceland is not too expensive, it's got this expensive rep but it's easy to do it cheap. I'd say it's on par with England, maybe even a bit cheaper.
The only expensive part is getting around. Busses are real pricey.
But you can rent a car for reasonably cheap. If you go with sadcars and IIRC book online you can save about 15%. My gf and I rented a yaris for about 9 days and did about 1700km in it no problem.
Also Iceland is awesome to camp. Bring your tent and hey, free accommodation.
Anyway, to answer your questions.
$200 a day
Technically August to March, but if you go in December you won't be disappointed.
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u/thatdani Oct 14 '14
Thank you very much for the reply, will definitely take your comment into consideration when I decide to go there!
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u/master-of-cunt Oct 14 '14 edited Oct 14 '14
These are my two money saving tips
-Tent every night for a month -cook every meal, whether it is by portable stove or at the Reykjavik campsite. Buy the 'Euro' brand at the 'bonus' shopping centres, it's real cheap.
My third tip, if you're staying for longer than 3 days
-rent a car
I have no idea how much money I spent, my gf was with me for 10 days so of course I blew much more money than I should have...women haha...but my myself I was spending maybe $30/$40 a day on food/accommodation. I did the Laugavegur trail which is a 4 day hike, $120 return bus fare.
I'm also on my phone and its late and I'm tired so tomorrow I'll post an in depth comment of my trip. It's a magical place and I want to go back big time.
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u/king-prawn United Kingdom Oct 14 '14
The buses seem pricey, but when you compare them to the equivalent train ticket in other countries, or consider how much time you spend on the bus, it is well worth it.
Also comparison to car rental: it is a much cheaper option to use the buses.
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u/master-of-cunt Oct 14 '14
Depends. That's why I said if you stay for more than 3 days. If you want to see husavik, myvatn, west fjords etc you'd be crazy not to hire a car. If you just wanna stay in Reykjavik and see geyser and the golden circle then by all means, bus it.
Id love to get 5 people together, hire a 4WD for a month and just cruise around. Would be cheap and fucking awesome.
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u/tigersharkwushen_ Oct 19 '14
Technically August to March, but if you go in December you won't be disappointed.
I am confused. December is within August to March.
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2
u/Icedpyre Canada Oct 19 '14 edited Oct 19 '14
1) not sure about hotels. My wife and I spent last week there in an apartment, via airbnb. It cost us about $60 CAD a night. Really nice, comfy, private, etc. The meals can vary quite a bit depending on where you eat. Downtown Reykjavik is fairly pricey at a lot of places, especially for booze. A pint (500Cl) was like $13. A burger on average was about $19. The thing is, eating out there is no different than any country. We saved a ton of cash by cooking our breakfast and dinner at home, and just eating a light lunch/snack while out. If you're buying groceries or snacks, go to a place called bonus. It's a local grocery store with great prices.
2)You can look up aurora activity forecasts online ( I forget the actual site). It really depends on the cloud activity, and WHERE you are. I side the city, will be hard to see unless it's really strong activity. Even in a small town, you really need to get away from the lights. As for time of day, midnight to 3rd is typically the best time. Though you could technically see them earlier if it's dark/clear enough.
Edit: we found that the local budget car rental, was almost half the price of other companies, and they upgraded us to a 4th Suzuki for free. The rental came with unlimited mileage, gravel/vandelism/fire coverage, and the usual good stuff. The real killer wasn't the rental (I think around$185 for 2 days, with all fees and insurance). The killer for us, was the GAS prices. $2.36 a liter.
4
u/Linkio United Kingdom Oct 18 '14
I love Iceland and desperately want to go back in the future. I visited on my own for a month back in March and had a fantastic time. Just a few things, though:
September to may or June is out of season. That means that all but the most major tourism stuff shuts down to some degree. This includes the tourist buses around the country. Much as I enjoyed riding around on the local system it needed rigorous planning on my part as often the long distance services only run two or three times a week to the more remote destinations. Also, in my experience not all the drivers knew that much English, particularly the older ones, so it was helpful to be able to ask where a bus was going, or find someone to ask for you. If not there is always the internet; all the buses I went on had free, half decent wifi.
Be prepared for changeable weather. As one guide put it, Iceland does not have weather, it has examples of weather. Several times I saw other tourists at places like Gullfoss in clothing that may have been suitable for Reykjavik but certainly wasn't up to the wind or the snow in the middle of a flat lava field. This also applies to travel. Safety is a priority; if you are driving and you come across a snow storm be sensible and if needs be turn back. Bookings can be changed, people will understand.
Don't just stay in Reykjavik and the south coast. There is some gorgeous stuff to be seen in the north. I am told that even in the heights of summer the western fjords are near empty of people. Excellent northern lights territory as well; the north tends to get much better weather than the south, so they get more clear nights.
Also the nature baths at Myvatn are much nicer than the blue lagoon, as well as being significantly cheaper. They are set on the side of a slight hill, with views of the hills beyond.
Go the swimming pools, especially the big one in Reykjavik. They are by far the best pools I have ever been to. Just avoid weekends; I went to the pool in Akureyri on a Saturday and there was easily a greater volume of people than water.
Iceland is a beautiful country with a fascinating cultural history and present. Definitely worth the visit at any time of year.
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u/I_am_Patius Canada Oct 17 '14 edited Oct 17 '14
Fell in love with Iceland this past Summer, where I spent 10 full days traveling in the West and South regions, including the Westman Islands. Due to the fact it was a kind of last minute decision I decided to book a Self-drive tour (rental and accommodation taken care of, and they give you strong suggestions of an itinerary, but you decide what to do).
The place is unreal, a paradise for photographers, stunning for nature lovers, and pretty much fun for solo travelers, family adventures, you name it.
I wrote a seven parts long kind of review of my trip, and I believe it might help some of you trying to plan a trip to this island paradise. Sorry it's long review, but no worries I'm sure you will enjoy some of the pictures that go with it. By the way, writing reviews of places I've visited is my hobby but don't expect to find anything professional ;-)
http://patius.blogspot.com/2014/07/iceland-island-june-2014-part-1.html
edit. fell instead of felt
2
u/northern_redditor #vanlife Oct 14 '14
Iceland is awesome. I avoided it foolishly for too long and now want to go back.
It's unlike anywhere I've saw on earth. I can say the closest it comes is when I lived in the arctic - the rocky and barren terrain is very similar.
People in Iceland are so friendly. They have a great couch surfing network. Reykjavik is a really cool city too. There's lots going on and lots of really neat buildings and architecture. I think Iceland has quite the art movement going.
I personally stayed at the Kex hostel in Reykjavik and couldn't recommend it enough. It's in a pretty good location, with a decent restaurant. Rooms are good. I really liked the decoration of the hostel. It felt more like a boutique hotel. It's a popular option among locals and foreigners.
The blue lagoon was alright. I went there when it opened in the morning and for the first little while it was empty. After a few hours it packed right up with tourists. I think there is certainly better baths available in Reykjavik city itself. Keep in mind that the blue lagoon is a bit of a hike from town - half way between the airport and Reykjavik. If you're landing at the airport it could be a good short visit.
The golden circle tour is a must. You hit some of Icelands most iconic sights. For me, I went in the summer on the evening tour - keep in mind, in June Iceland experiences almost 24 hrs of sunlight. It stops at a waterfall, a geysir, and the continental divide. It's gorgeous. If you take the evening tour, it's a bit cheaper, and there are almost no crowds to speak of.
Here's an album I made (there's a few other countries in there too): http://imgur.com/a/qdJnn
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u/zermato Oct 15 '14
I went to Iceland earlier this year on a random whim, and had one of the best times of my life. It's a beautiful country, has great food, very nice people. My recommendation is to rent a car, and hit the ring road! I put together a small video series of my adventure if anyone is interested.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLGjC3E8SBX1ne2Ygj6PdM-6WE5i-8AgSs
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u/michaelmacmanus Oct 21 '14
My experience with Iceland was from Reykjavik up the north western coast to Ísafjörður - the latter being the highlight of my trip. It's a fascinating dichotomy - a small town of about 2500, but also serving as the northwestern region's cultural hub.
Iceland is certainly a wonderful place, but for the sake of balance I want to counter a few opinions I've seen in this thread with opinions of my own:
- Expense: It is expensive! At least as of July 2013 when I went. Alcohol and food are incredibly expensive. Transportation is also pricey. We stayed in hostels and couch surfed - so boarding wasn't expensive because we were able to avoid hefty fees.
- Booze: Speaking of alcohol someone mentioned how if you like beer you'll like Iceland. I think the first thing I told people when asked about my trip when I got back was how terrible the beer was. The country isn't even three decades deep into ending prohibition, so they're still playing catch-up. Mostly you'll find mediocre overpriced flavorless lager with a abv under 3% in stores. Liquor stores are rare and government operated to some extent, so the lack of competition coupled with import costs and the shadow of prohibition still looming really hamper that culture. No doubt good beer exists in Iceland - but if you put that on a list of things you care about when traveling that is a huge negative for the country.
- Nature: A lot of people are using nature andscenery as synonyms - which isn't wrong but a bit misleading. Iceland is one of the most scenic places I've been. It's also has the scarcest amount of eco-diversity I've ever experience. There aren't really any forests. You'll see horses, foxes, rabbits and that's about it for land animals. The birds are amazing, though. Arctic Sterns and Puffins are rather incredible and plentiful depending where and when you travel.
- Blue Lagoon: Although my wife and I had a decent enough time there, it feels like a tourist trap (because it is) and didn't really enjoy it as much as we thought we would. We found several other more natural and enjoyable hot springs on our trip.
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u/l0vewilltearusapart United States Oct 22 '14 edited Oct 22 '14
My boyfriend and I will be in Iceland from November 6 - November 12. We are super excited and started to plan everything out. I stumbled across this thread and thought it would be a good place to ask a few questions. All of the suggestions so far are great and I definitely think we will travel to most sites that were listed. We aren't really staying in the city at all; we plan on renting a car and stopping at places to stay as we go. Anyway, onto the questions:
Has anyone traveled to Iceland in early November and have comments on the weather? AccuWeather is mentioning a few inches of snow, temps around 35 F, but it's still a little far out. I'm asking because we are trying to choose a rental car.
Recommendations on best rental car site? We usually use this german site, but it's not really a budget rental, so cheaper options that people have had success with would be awesome.
To go with that - how crucial do you think a AWD rental car would be in November? The difference in price is significant, so it would be great if we could get away with FWD.
Fun caveat, my boyfriend is a vegetarian and I might as well be - realistically, are we going to be able to eat anything there? If so - where? Otherwise, should we pack peanut butter or something?
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Dec 15 '14
How did the vegetarian thing go for you guys? I'm likely booking a March trip with my boyfriend, and he's vegetarian.
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u/l0vewilltearusapart United States Jan 07 '15
Wow, sorry for the terribly long delay. I haven't logged in for awhile. Hope this is still helpful.
I'm happy to say that food was no issue at all, even though we weren't in the main cities for the majority of the trip. Both my boyfriend and I don't get very fancy for food, so our favorite thing to eat was the pizza. They made the dough fresh and it was really tasty. There were also veggie burger options available and we did go grocery shopping to prepare our own sandwiches and stuff.
Our trip was amazing, we saw most of the island and plan to return to see the few places that we missed. Enjoy your trip!
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Jan 11 '15
Great! We're planning to do an AirBnB and are hoping to stock up on groceries and make a lot of meals to help save money although I imagine we'll eat out a few times. I'm glad you all had a nice time and we're looking forward to our trip a lot!
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u/gorbley England Oct 14 '14
I went in May of last year - an amazing, beautiful place. I stayed in Reykjavík and hired a 4x4 so I could please myself where I went rather than going on tours all the time. Although the car was expensive, it was well worth it. I did over 1,000 miles in the week. My photos from the trip are here. Feel free to ask if you have any questions!
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u/absentious Oct 14 '14
Did you need an international drivers license to rent it?
1
u/gorbley England Oct 14 '14
I am from the UK so my licence is good for anywhere in Europe. These are the conditions of the company I used
1
Oct 14 '14
We got one with a US license. It was the other couple, so I'm not sure what the process was, but I don't recall it being too difficult.
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u/oneplusoneoverphi Oct 15 '14
I had little to no trouble renting from a car agency there as a 19 year old with an American driving license. If you've got money, you've got a car for a few days.
1
u/Worldman12 Now in the UK Oct 16 '14
We did not need one to rent; our US DL's were sufficient. We rented from RED rentals and they were great.
1
u/holmilk Oct 14 '14
I second renting a car. Being able to traverse where ever you want whenever you want was amazing. Not that taking tours is a bad thing, but it really was fantastic and felt like a great adventure.
Though be sure to check the weather reports and get solid insurance or that place will mess up your car. My friends went and the wind ripped the door off as they opened it.
1
u/gorbley England Oct 15 '14
Yes there is plenty of very strong wind, especially on the coast. The weather is very changeable, be prepared to get wet!
1
u/FunkyHairBalls Malaysia Oct 15 '14
would hiriing a 4x4 be worth the difference in price ?
2
u/gorbley England Oct 15 '14 edited Oct 15 '14
It allows you to go almost anywhere, many of the roads off the Ring Road are either very rocky, flooded or snow-covered and a normal family car won't be much use. If there are a few of you going and you can split the cost of the 4x4, all the better.
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u/EXPLAINACRONYMPLS Mar 01 '15
Hello, I see this thread is months old but I thought maybe you are active and can answer a question:
We are going in May as you did, and we plan to drive around the island. My only worry is that the weather will be prohibitive. Do you think it will be safe to camp in May? I hear about things like extremely heavy winds which worries me.
1
u/gorbley England Mar 01 '15
Hi - the weather is very changeable, but the snow had gone except for on the mountains. It is rather windy on exposed areas by the coast.
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u/I_AM_STILL_A_IDIOT Travel photography addict | Amsterdam Oct 14 '14
Though I haven't personally been, I've seen countless photos of how beautiful Iceland is. Definitely on my bucket list. I'd love to hear from people who went, what they thought of it.
Relevant subreddits, for those interested: /r/Iceland, /r/VisitingIceland, /r/Island.
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u/LeMAD Canada Oct 14 '14 edited Oct 14 '14
Beware of Iceland. It's absolutely not for everyone. I really thought I would love it and it ended up being my most disappointing trip (while being one of the most expensive).
Great natural beauty, but not on the same level as Switzerland (to name a country I've been to). And really not a lot to do. Boredom can be an issue for sure. And Icelanders aren't exactly talkative and warm.
I'm posting this not to bash the country, but because it has become probably the most "overrated" place in here.
Don't visit Iceland if money is an issue, or if you don't rent a car, or if you are alone (not because of safety issues but because of loneliness and boredom), or if you don't like walking and driving because that's all there is to do.
The scenery you will see will be the same day after day, so trying to see everything is useless (ie waterfalls).
Also I'd recommand a short trip. We were there 10 days and it felt long.
edit: Also I thought hiking was a lot more fun in Switzerland than in Iceland. It's more vertical, and you have a greater sense of exploration (in Switzerland I mean). Theres no trees in Iceland so you generally see what you'll be able to see in 2 hours...
Though Landmannalaugar (sp?) looks fun. It's a 4-day trek which I have done a really small part of near Skogar, and that short hike was the best thing I did in Iceland.
I also found the Golden Circle, Jokulsarlon and the area around Lake Myvatn to be quite average, even though everyone talks about these places. Reykjavik is also nothing special.
Maybe it would have been more fun if we had rented huge 4x4 and went into the f-roads towards Landmannalaugar, the Laki craters, etc. But it's not recommanded to do that with a single 4x4 as you can get stuck while crossing rivers. And btw these trucks are extremely expensive to rent.
Finally Icelandic wheather can suck. It's rarely sunny, it rains half of the time, but it's nothing compared to the winds you'll have to face. Oh and heavy humidity when you walk in nature for hours isn't great either.
edit 2: I went in september last year btw. With 2 friends, and we rented a small SUV.
edit again: Including the $800 plane ticket, the trip cost me more than $3000 for 10 days. For mostly shitty hotels and half-decent food. And no special/extravagant expenses. My pictures: http://lemad.imgur.com/
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u/ChaosWithIntent Oct 15 '14
Have you been to Switzerland? Did you enjoy it?
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u/LeMAD Canada Oct 16 '14
Yeah, been twice and it's fantastic. By far the best country I've ever visited.
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u/deflatormouse88 Oct 14 '14
I was there on a 3 day layover from Toronto to London. Only had time to do the Golden Triangle, but would definitely like to go back for a couple weeks and explore the island. The landscape was like nothing i've ever seen before.
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u/FunkyHairBalls Malaysia Oct 15 '14
I am planning a trip to Iceland some time end of March - early April, just have a few questions :
I'm planning to do the self-drive tour thing. Would it be worth the extra money paying for a 4wd or would it be fine to just settle for a 2wd?
How safe would it be for a solo female traveler driving out of the city; is help easy to find / phone reception etc. ?
Might add to these questions but there's those two for now.
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Oct 16 '14
[deleted]
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u/Worldman12 Now in the UK Oct 16 '14
Really? I went with a Vodafone SIM and I was losing reception out there like crazy! If I didn't have a GPS in my car I would have been screwed a couple of times. I agree, no need for a 4x4, though.
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u/wanderbound on the road again Oct 15 '14
I visited Iceland in January 2014 using an off-season Iceland Air package. The trip we booked included airfare to and from Newark, two excursion day-trips and a hotel for four nights for $850 USD. We had a great time - one day was a bus tour through the scenic hills to Gullfoss, the continental divide, and Geysir... the other was a three or so hour glacier hike (crampons included) and a night visit to Skógafoss/northern lights viewing. We spent one day tooling around in Reykjavik and another at the Blue Lagoon. Daylit hours are short, but we had a good time regardless - if you're not afraid to travel in January or have an interest in the northern lights the package tours are a nice, reasonably priced way to get there.
If I went back I'd do a longer hike...very good experience!
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u/mshanga Oct 16 '14
Couple of Questions!
What is the best time of year to go to Iceland? I'm an American studying abroad in the UK currently, and thinking of taking a long weekend trip. Is this feasible during the winter months?
Also will a long weekend (let's say leaving on a Thursday and coming back on a Sunday) be enough time?
I mainly really want to go to somewhere awesomely wintery during late Nov or early Dec whilst I'm in Europe. Any other suggestions if not Iceland?
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u/WorldTravelFiend Oct 17 '14
I freakin' loved Iceland, ridiculously beautiful country. Definitely the highlight for me was the Myvatn region up in the north-east of the country - otherworldly scenery, geothermal activity, mountains to climb, pretty amazing place.
There's loads to do - I wrote a blog post on my highlights from around Myvatn, check it out if you're heading up that way. Btw my blog is written in a slightly different style, intended to be humorous (whether or not it actually is is up for debate), with some fairly crude jokes & bad language, so don't click if you're easily offended by that sort of thing. Although you're on Reddit so I'm guessing that's unlikely to be the case, given some of the dodgy stuff that's posted around these parts.
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u/readlover12 May 26 '24
Any suggestions about tour operator to visit iceland during summer on a budget? Thank you
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u/Comfortable_Ad_5799 Jan 15 '25
Hi everyone!
I’ll be traveling from Singapore (I'm from here!) to both Iceland and London between 19 Dec 2025 - 3 Jan 2026, and I’m trying to decide the best order for my trip. I’d love your advice!
I’m debating whether I should:
- Fly into London first, spend a few days adjusting to the cold and the time difference, then head to Iceland.
- Fly straight to Iceland, dive right into the winter wonderland, and save London for the end.
Which option would you recommend, and why? I'd love to hear your thoughts, especially if you’ve done something similar before!
A few key points:
- I can only visit Iceland and London, so please don’t suggest other destinations.
- Let’s assume ticket prices are the same no matter the route.
- I will be self driving in Iceland
Thanks in advance! 😊
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u/Few-Marionberry1808 Sep 09 '22
Any tours you guys recommend over others and any tours you don’t recommend?
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u/mrgalaxybeann Jan 03 '23
I'm going to iceland this time next month for 3 nights. How many pairs of thermals should I get for this amount of time? and what thermals do you recommend?
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u/SgtStupendous Apr 03 '23
Camper van in Iceland early May:
Going on a trip to Iceland for a week and arriving May 6th. My understanding is that May is chilly but transitioning to Spring. We’re planning on doing a good chunk of the ring road and I thought it would be fun (and cheaper) to get a campervan and stay at campgrounds than a regular rental car and hotels.
Anyone have an idea if early May is good for this? I don’t want to reserve a campervan ahead of time and then show up and end up staying at hotels because of poor weather. Alternatively, I thought about renting or bringing a tent and renting a standard vehicle and mixing up campgrounds and hotels.
Thanks!
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u/[deleted] Oct 14 '14
Oh, I love Iceland!
Getting around: Within Reykjavík, I found walking to be the best way to get around. There are buses but it's not a very big city, although the weather can sometimes be an issue. Waterproof shoes are very important. You may have hail and then blue skies 5 minutes later, then more hail, then rain later.
Food: quite expensive, so it can be worth it to find a hostel / guesthouse that has a kitchen you can use.
Outside Reykavík, many things close or have limited hours outside of the summer season, so check before you try to "wing it". I had wanted to hop on / hop off the ring road bus around the country and stop at various hostels along the way, but my original plan turned out to be impossible in October, especially in the eastern part of the country, due to infrequent bus service and some places having shut down already for the winter.
Reykjavík area:
Blue Lagoon: everyone goes here, and they should because it's fantastic. Rather than doing a tour there that specifies when you arrive and leave, you can get open-ended to/from tickets at the bus station which allow you to choose how long you want to stay. I thought it was at its best around dusk/ in the dark.
Swimming in a public pool: Outdoor, year-round warm water pools are everywhere in Iceland, thanks to the supply of warm water. The best one in Reykjavík is Laugardalslaug, two big outdoor pools, hot pots, a "sit and chat" pool, water slide, and steam room.
Settlement Exhibition: A house from around the time of the settlement of Iceland, which was excavated in Reykjavík and is part of a museum along with artifacts dug up in the area and information on that part of history
National Museum of Iceland: Covers the history of Iceland from first human settlement to modern times. Took me most of a day to go around, but I'm one of those people who will stop and look at each and every thing in a museum.
Perlan Building: Has an artificial geyser inside (by controlling the superheated water reservoir underground, they can change the height and frequency of the geyser), and a nice observation deck on the top with a view of the city. And it's free.
Heading up to Akureyri: I went from Reykjavík to Akureyri by plane and back by coach. The plane was cheaper, faster, and gave a really nice aerial view of some glaciers on the way. But, I chose to come back by coach to see some of the scenery along the ring road and I was glad I did.
Akureyri Museum: History of Akureyri and the area, and cultural museum. Opens "on request" in the winter, and sure enough, the lady at the tourist office told me to just ring the bell, and they'd let me in, which they did.
Myvatn Nature Baths: Very similar to the Blue Lagoon, beautiful outdoor swimming area. Hard to get to without a car, I went as a part of a tour of the Lake Myvatn area, we stopped for an hour. That tour was well worth it and took us also to Hverir, a geothermal field with bubbling mud holes and steam vents, very alien looking and amazing to see.
South Coast of Iceland:
I went on a day road trip along the south coast with other travelers I met in the hostel. We rented a car and drove to Jökulsárlón and back with frequent stops along the way, getting back pretty late. We saw a lot of fantastic scenery (glaciers, sheep grazing in seemingly impossible cliff spots, horses, small towns to stop for a snack). Jökulsárlón is a lagoon where icebergs split off the glacier and float around, and was probably the highlight of the trip. Skógafoss (huge waterfall) is along the way, and you can climb up a few hundred steps to the top and get a different view. On the way back, we saw the Northern Lights which you can sometimes see from Reykjavík, but in the middle of nowhere they're easier to see and can be brilliant.
Everyone I've ever talked to who's been to Iceland has raved about it, so it really does seem to be one of those "can't go wrong" destinations.
(Edited to fix formatting)