Iceland

dirtydress

Has anyone been? I'm trying to arrange a trip for early next year..it'll probably be me travelling on my own. I have a big interest in photography and it's somewhere that I've always always wanted to go. Any tips or opinions would be really appreciated!

scoot on

I was there last year for a few days. Absolutely brilliant spot would highly recommend it. Reykjavik is a lovely city. We were there over Christmas too so all the Christmas lights made it even nicer. We went on a few day tours and got to see a good bit of it. You'd get some gorgeous pictures over there, especially of places like the Blue Lagoon and Gulfloss and the hot springs.

It is expensive though. The main airport is a good bit away from Reykjavik so make sure you get a bus rather than getting a taxi.

If you're going early next year then you will still have less hours of daylight over there. When we were there at the end of December you'd get about 6 hours of daylight a day. It's very surreal when it's still dark at 10am. It doesn't hamper your trip in anyway though. If you go in the summer you'll have 24 hours of daylight!

We're going back next year to go out to the Glaciers and see some more of the country.

H2G2

If you do a search here you will see I have posted a lot about Iceland in the past. Basically I think it’s an amazing place. If you are interesting in photography then you should read some of Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson work and the Lost in Iceland Book

rainbowtrout

if you're going outside Reykjavik and it's feasible for you, hire a car ventured over to the east of the country in June, Skaftafell National Park is lovely, and about an hour further east is Jokulsarlon Iceberg Lagoon, closest you're gonna get to the North Pole without actually going there. Absolutely class, or if it's waterfalls you're into, Gulfoss and Dettifoss is what you are looking for. Pretty much 24 hours of daylight in June as was already said, so you can make the most of your time.

In terms of getting there, I found we saved a lot on flights by flying Ryanair to Stansted and Iceland Express Stansted to Reykjavik rather than flying with Icelandair.

Hearvee

Went for a weekend two years ago at Easter, got a package deal (flights/bus/hotel) but when we got there organised a couple of tours with other local companies rather the the bunch we flew with.
Because we were limited on time we figured tours bringing us to the main sights made more sense than hiring a car/4x4.

Definitely planning on going back but next time will:
1) hire a car, more time to spend on the sights we really wanted to see.
2) go to the east and north of the island, we really just stayed in the south west (Rejkyavik) and south coast areas cos of time constraints.
3)go in summer. A lot of things (especially away from Reykyavik) were still closed for the winter at that point.
4)or go in winter, as Easter was too late to see the Northern Lights!
5)go for more than 3 nights.

I like my photography as well, and I'd suggest steering clear of the bus tours. We went on a couple of smaller bus tours (ie we had minibuses rather than the huge 50 seaters the package company ran), but still it felt quite rushed.
And I know a few people on the bus were annoyed at the extra 5 mins they'd need to wait while I took another few photos.
Having said that our bus drivers were sound, and basically told me to take my time, think they preferred that we were showing an interest rather than the American bloke who took one photo of an outstanding waterfall then told his elderly mom that "one should be enough, we've loads of those at home" (my girlfriend wanted to throw something at him at that point!)

dirtydress

Thanks everyone for your advice...I think I might wait until Summer when the roads are open again so i can see some of the interior. It's just somewhere that's always fascinated me. If anyone has any more tips or advice please post away!

rainbowtrout

dirtydress wrote: »

Thanks everyone for your advice...I think I might wait until Summer when the roads are open again so i can see some of the interior. It's just somewhere that's always fascinated me. If anyone has any more tips or advice please post away!

If you plan on seeing some of the interior and are hiring a car go for a 4x4, first of all normal cars aren't suited to some of the roads on the interior as many just have gravel surfaces, and also if you hire a regular car and take it on one of those roads, you are not covered by insurance and if you damage the car it could end up costing you in the end. Also make sure you have a credit card/debit card for petrol stations. In some of the more remote places the petrol pumps are self service where you have to swipe your card.