Planning an extension to a work trip along with D2, a photographer (!!!), to Iceland this summer. My work will have us in Reykjavik for a couple of days, and then I’m thinking car rental and following the coast road for a day or two (seems cheaper and less structured than the day tours offered). This group is always so knowledgeable and helpful! We’re open to tips of any type (destinations, ways to save money, sleeping through long daylight, how to avoid fermented shark meat)…
The conference is offering a Golden Circle tour, which we’ll probably take, and we’re thinking Blue Lagoon stop on the way back to the airport.
Nearly every city and town has a nice public pool & hot baths heated by natural geothermal water–so consider availing yourself of this inexpensive amenity that is also a cultural experience (shower thoroughly before you get in–very much expected of everyone). A lightweight sleep mask will help you sleep in (melatonin tablets are helpful too). I have only visited the west half of the country but everything was beautiful and you really can’t go wrong. Isafjordur, Flatey and Thingvellir were probably our favorites outside of Reykjavik.
D1 and bf went to Iceland in the fall. They said it was beautiful and want to go back. They rented a car and drove around the country. They said it was expensive, or at least the food was. She said that many of the restaurants had Manhattan prices.
H and I are thinking of going this summer too. My D will prepare a suggested itinerary for us. She likes to do this and, of course, was just there. If I get it from her soon, I’ll let you know some of her suggestions. She’s usually right on!
Just panic-booked a couple of hotels in rural towns. Once I saw the prices ($200 is “budget”) I felt like I needed to move quickly. So much for my theory of beating the high prices by getting out of Reykjavik!
strad, fwiw, a well traveled friend of mine (125+ countries) has said that Iceland is in her top 5 and that it should be on everyone’s bucket list. I’d ask her what she enjoyed about it—but she’s off traveling again!
@stradmom - I visited a few years ago and panic booked rooms too! It turns out I booked a place near the Latrabjarg (sp?) cliffs and it took ages to get there, mostly on unpaved roads with no guardrails, because the road follows the coastline and it goes in and out, in and out, etc. Yikes! Good thing we were there in late June and the sun never set so it was never truly dark (only a bit dim around midnight). I can’t imagine some of those roads in the dark.
That being said, it was a great trip! We skipped the Blue Lagoon - it had a long line, the price was in Euros and was high and we only had time for a “quick dip” which would have been impossible. However, there are wonderful public pools all around - they are all hot and I believe there are 7 in Reykyavik and they each have their own personality. You may also come across a sign on the road like we did - it looks like the upper torso of a man in the waves - I think it’s a sign for a pool and we found one on the coastline where they had just taken some natural hot spring water and piped it into a small pool that was enclosed by rock and where you could sit and bathe and look out over the ocean. There are things like this all over Iceland!
We loved Geysir and Thingvellir and the Gullfoss. You may do that on your tour, or you can rent your car and drive very easily between all those sites and spend as much time there as you like. Compared to American parks - well, they are just so user friendly. Free to all and not terribly crowded and easy to get to (compared to driving 20 miles from the park entrance to the first attraction, which is typical here. I’m not complaining about US parks, its just nice when everything is more compact).
The same day we saw those three parks we also swung through Hveragerdi - the garden town where a lot of produce is grown. It is very steamy there and some earthquake a few years ago “opened up” more steam so that it even shoots up in people’s driveways!
I would highly recommend Villi Knudsen’s Volcano movie in Reykyavik. He is quite the enthusiast, having gone with his Dad who shot film for National Geographic and spent years since then chasing and filming volcanoes.
The food is not great, but the coffee and dessert usually is. Contrary to what I thought, Icelanders mainly eat lamb, and there are sheep running free all summer. They catch fish to sell although it will be there on the menu too. Sadly, whale and puffin and puffin eggs are on some menus. It will be cold. A polar fleece jacket is not enough!
We stayed at the Foss Hotel Baron, in a suite and it was reasonable. Who knows about the exchange rate though.
Frommers as Deborah said is excellent. Went September 2013. Few things yes food is pricey, we ate at people’s houses however on the roads in the middle of nowhere that had a restaurant sign. Road travel is very slow with max speed 45 but not crowded with a lot of single lane bridges of which there are many. Do Not Speed! Extremely costly and I believe there is zero tolerance for alcohol and driving. Blue Lagoon is wonderful. Puffins are hard to time as are northern lights. Hotels are costly and much like motel 8. But I would go back in a heart beat. Loved Reykjavik and the night music pub scene and the only time I have ever bar hopped in my life. Unmatched beauty of the land and the people were exceptionally nice.
My husband and I went to Iceland 9 years ago and I hope to go back again ( other than a quick layover at the airport ) It is the most amazing place I have ever seen. We were there in November however, so I can’t comment about what it is like in July. The landscape is incredible.
We rented a car and drove around, using the same mapped out areas as the tour busses . While we didn’t eat any of their putrified shark meat , we did enjoy the food, particularly their lobster.
I would love to take my daughter ( who is afraid to fly on a transatlantic flight ) there during their music festival
One day……
several friends of D rented a ‘happy camper’ usually 2 girls or a girl and guy- it seemed really fun- like a tiny minivan that was both a car and camper. 2 girls went tent camping. there is a limit to where you can go in a rental car. - mostly not the north area. the driving because it is slow takes longer than you think to get to places. never tried the shark meat. most people speak English. the lobster soup was a staple. that said several vegetarians with us did fine. we were there over 2 weeks and I could have stayed longer. the golden circle we did on our own but several people did take the tour which I heard was also very good. several did the blue lagoon which they said was one of the highlights of the adventure. we went to the glaciers in the southeast and stayed at the west, south, and southeast area. we were there for D’s wedding ,so the group was diverse about 35. again Frommer’s book and website was without question extremely helpful.
No advice, but following as my only time in Iceland was an unplanned layover during a flight to London. But I hope to get back and actually spend time there.
We felt the Blue Lagoon was an overrated tourist trap. It is a man made complex fed by effluent from a geothermal power plant. It’s really brilliant marketing, turn an industrial byproduct into a profitable tourist attraction. If you do go, try not to get your hair wet. The silica binds to hair and takes weeks to wash out. Otherwise Iceland is a magnificent country, both culturally and geographically. They’ve harnessed geothermal energy for most of their needs. Be sure to see the lake with the floating ice bergs, it felt like another planet. They do eat a fair amount of horse meat, watch for that if it might bother you.
Thanks for all the suggestions! We just returned and it was wonderful - drove out Route 1 through Vik (Seljanlandfoss and Selfoss) and to Jokalsarlon and Hofn. Did the glacier hike (fun!) and my D did a lava cave tour while I was at the conference. We did the Golden Circle on our own, which was nice because we could spend as long as we wanted, and drove the Reykjaes peninsula, which was otherworldly.I thought Blue Lagoon was very touristy, which I expected, but we also stopped in a small town and enjoyed their geothermal pool.
M U S T G O B A C K … but not as soon as we did after our plane had a bird strike on takeoff and we had to circle back to the airport…
It sounds like your trip was great! I’m still looking at all the options for our Iceland trip next summer. How many days did you plan for your trip? Is there a car rental company that you used or recommend? Someone told me some of the touristy places were actually crowded (by Iceland standards)
