Another thumbs down for the Blue Lagoon. It’s a place the tour guides off load tourists for a few hours so they can have a break. Ingenious scheme though. The warm water comes from a geothermal plant and flows through a series of scenic man made cooling pools. Tourists spend a fortune to swim in what is essentially industrial wastewater. The water is saturated with silica which will bind permanently to your hair, giving it a crispy look and feel. So many beautiful natural areas all around, perhaps hire a guide from the airport.
Yes, do not get the silica saturated water in your hair (coating it with conditioner works) but as a geologist the opportunity to wade in a lovely warm pool and actually feel minerals crystallizing around my feet was like visiting a time back in geologic history. You are immersed in a slurry of warm minerals.
Probably the best “turn a hazard into a money generator” on the planet , but we had fun!
I’ve made some progress.
I’ve found accommodations, and I think we will focus our short stay on outings to the Reykjanes peninsula.
I inquired about a jeep tour for a day, but it looks like it would cost more than $1000 for the four of us.
So the plan is to rent a car and go out on our own.
Reyjanes is cool and you should see it now before it goes all commercialized.
Reykajavik is a good base of operations, and while Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon are standard touristy, they’re amazing.
Seljelandfoss is terrific, and walk (not hike!) the mile or so up to the Gljufrabiu waterfall where you hike inside the hill to the hidden waterfall. We liked Vik and the black sand beach at Reynisfjara, and there’s a “hidden people” elf tour in Hafnarfjordur that’s a lot of fun.
But really, you can’t go wrong in Iceland!
We are also planning a trip to Iceland this summer (end of June/beginning of July). We are staying for a week and just started planning last week. We managed to book lodging through booking.com. A lot of places were already booked! We are staying at 4 different locations so we can tour the south coast.
Food appears to be very expensive. Every place we are staying will have a kitchen, but I don’t want to cook every meal. Any restaurant tips?
Is food really expensive or is the exchange rate so bad that everything is expensive? Just wondering.
When we went, we brought some food with us but mainly because we spent the first few days out in the country where there were very few food options and we have a vegetarian daughter. Icelandic people are great commercial fishermen and they mainly sell the fish and eat lots of lamb themselves. Not that it’s unheard of but I expected to see salmon on every menu and I don’t think I saw it more than once. They did have “tourist menus” featuring whale and puffin - ugh - but they do get people who come there to eat that.
H and the non-veg girls found a great Argentinian steak house in Reykavik but I’m sure it was expensive. I was off with the veg daughter having so-so NY style pizza somewhere. Don’t expect much from the food, but the dessert and the coffee are very good. Always fresh whipped cream. There are also waffle wagons around town and they’re pretty good too.
I agree that the food is noting special but everything else in Iceland is fantastic! I even liked the Blue Lagoon. I went in February and saw the Northen Lights. So cool.
@greenwitch My daughter is a vegetarian too so I think she will be eating a lot of skyr and ice cream. I read that the pastries and bakeries are very good too. I’m even thinking that we should get some vegetarian takeout (Indian or Thai) from Reykjavik to take with us when we head to the more remote areas.
We had brought some microwaveable pouches of veg Indian food with us for our first days in the country. The places on this list look good. I remember having good coffee and cake at C is for Cookie. Check the hours first, some close early.
Food in Iceland is pricey! But D and I (not vegetarian but with dietary limitations) found that a lunch with a hearty soup and bread was about $10 and for dinner we could get something reasonable if not gourmet (think pizza or fish & chips kind of meal).
I had read that there are “no vegetables” in Iceland and that’s not true. (So much for eating so many carrots and celery sticks on the flight over that my innards rebelled!) We should have brought better snacks along in the car, however. Granola bars only go so far! People were very helpful - we ended up in a gas station in the middle of nowhere, and there was nothing on the menu, but the person offered to make us grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner - very good, and a wonderful interaction.
Soup and bread are very good. On the road we stopped when there was a sign outside for a 'restaurant ’ which was some ones home partitioned off. So fun!
Check out theicelandguy dot com. Great source of information for those interested.
We just booked flights to Iceland for a week in early/mid August. So, I’m following this thread. It was kind of a sudden decision, so we haven’t read much yet. We got a relatively good price on WOW Air.
I’m sure we’ll be hiking plenty, as we are outdoorsy. DS17 and I are both geology fans; I’m really excited about that part. I am also a Game of Thrones fan, and have convinced DS and DH to watch this season, so we will probably do a GoT tour. Viking stuff would also be cool, as my mom’s maiden name came from a Viking ancestor who invaded England and stayed around 1000 AD.
One person is vegetarian and another is “flexitarian” (veggie when convenient but eats fish).
We are taking Grandma along, who has ankle mobility problems, so she will want some things she can see without lengthy walks, but is OK with doing things on her own. She likes museums. I’ve got to brush up on Icelandic literature; I loved it in college.
We are booked for the end of June/beginning of July. We will be exploring the southern part of Iceland and we also plan to do mostly outdoor activities.
Three of us don’t eat pork and beef, and one is a vegetarian. I have no plans to try the fermented shark. I’m looking forward to the skyr and ice cream.
I’ll report back here after the trip!
Will be there mid June for two weeks. Guess ours is not a stopover but our destination.
Driving the Ring Circle and visiting Vestmannaeyjar Island.
I understand the restaurants serve smoked puffin…but will not be trying.
H and I leave tomorrow for two weeks in Iceland. The first week we will be with another couple and have a car. We are heading up to the Westfjord area. The second week we meet up with two more couples plus a single and go on a guided hut to hut hike in the inner volcanic region of the country. Five of us are geologists (nerd time for us!!). There will be a total of 14 people on the trek, so I hope the random 5 people don’t mind us geeking out. I will let you all know what was best when I get back. It will not be fermented shark. Ick (spit spit).
We just came back from Iceland where we spent 2 weeks driving mostly on the Ring Road. We rented a car to do our traveling (I recommend a combo of GPS and a map). Since you don’t have much time, I would do the Golden Circle - Thingvellir, Gullfoss, and Geysir the afternoon you arrive. We did Blue Lagoon (I know it’s touristy) because of an early arrival since we couldn’t check into our hotel until later. In July you’ll have almost all daylight so you can get up early and stay up later. I would also check into going to the Vik (black sand beach), Skaftafell or Jokulsárlón but the last two would be a long drive. Check out TripAdvisor forum for Iceland if you need ideas or have any specific questions.
DH and I loved our geologist geek-out vacation in Iceland. Forget the fermented shark but if offered suck down the raw scallops on a tour of the northern islands.
I’m so envious. Would love to return!
We are here now some 10 days. Have had rain and, for a few days, dangerous winds.
The waterfalls are beautiful. We are driving the Ring Road which is quite an adventure.
The food (not on a budget as super foodies) has been delicious. The lamb tastes nothing like it does at home–simply wonderful.
Vegetarian/vegan choices typically for those who need them.
Most interesting, for us, was the lake myvatn area.
I just heard from Icelandair this week that our connecting flight (headed out of Iceland) will be two hours later than originally booked!
So we will have a four hour layover - 5:45am - 9:50am…
Any point in leaving the airport and walking around the neighborhood?