Iceland

apoch632

Looking at going to Iceland for a while. (2-3 weeks) Any pictures I've seen of the place makes it look beautiful.

Any tips on flying over there. I think I have to fly from London. Am I right?

Are there any sights in particular worth seeing

H2G2

From Dublin, the easiest route is via UK, rather than Denmark. There are 2 choices of airlines "Iceland Air" and "Iceland Express". Express is a Ryanair type no frills and Iceland Air is the national flag carrier. http://icelandair.co.uk and http://icelandexpress.co.uk/. To fly to Iceland, you travel to Keflavik Airport, 40 km outside Reykjavik.
The possible routes are:
-Dublin - Heathrow- Keflavik
-Dublin - Stansted - Keflavik (Ice Express only)
-Dublin - Gatwick - Keflavik (British Airways only – limited days & 8am flight only)
-Dublin - Manchester - Keflavik
-Dublin - Glasgow – Keflavik

When you are there, it is best to hire a car as taxis are a huge price and bus are few and far between. Also Iceland has no trains! Car hire is expensive, with a medium car about 80 - 100 euro per day. BUT – haggle with them outside peak season. I currently have a Golf for about Euro18 per day inc CDW, but that’s a monthly company rate and a total bargin by Icelandic standards.
IMHO you would be lost without a car there. Its a must !!! A 4x4 is best if you want to drive off road. Icelanders use the Met Office www to check road conditions before they do long journeys. http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/ This website & video is a must for advance info. http://us.is/id/2693

There is so much to see and do, a car is necessary, but you have to be realistic about what you can get done. While it is a small country, the roads are variable in quality - from dual carriage way (airport) to narrow single lane roads, to gravel roads. Also speed limits are low and cops are very very strict on speed - I should know !!! Although its only 1372 kms to circumnavigate Iceland it would take min 1 week, preferable 2.

apoch632 wrote: »

Are there any sights in particular worth seeing

Yes. Everything. Buy a good travel guide book and a good map. Best off to wait and buy a map in Reykjavik tourist office, as they have good quality maps showing all roads – even farm roads, etc.

VB

just to let you know you can get direct flights from Dublin e.g. http://www.heffernans.ie/iceland

its always a charter flight so generally it comes as a package deal

most of the travel agents do these deals especially around the bank hol weekends.

blackbox

I want to take family to iceland for first week in June. I haven't been before so would prefer to get a package

Got no response from Heffernans.

Anyone got any other ideas? e.g. UK packages?

H2G2

I want to take family to iceland for first week in June. I haven't been before so would prefer to get a package
Got no response from Heffernans.
Anyone got any other ideas? e.g. UK packages?

Try Wallace Travel Group, Finglas. They also do packages. I know they are having trouble filling the flight on this Thursday morning, so prices and seat only are dirt cheap.

From the UK http://www.icelandair.co.uk/ do package deals, but IMHO you are better off organising it all yourself.
The only advantage of a package is they organise flight and hotel. A bit on google’ing and you can do that yourself and probably cheaper. There is lots of local tour companies if you want guided tours, but for a family it will be substantially cheaper to rent a car and tour yourself.

blackbox

Thanks H2G2.

e-mail on its way to Wallace travel.

brettmirl

I got this on email from Wallace Travel last thursday if it's of any use:

ICELAND BREAKS
3 nights
24th – 27th APRIL
SPECIAL OFFER ONLY
€299.00 PP

4 nights
01st – 05th May
SPECIAL OFFER ONLY €399.00 pp

joseph brand

Is there anything to do in Keflavik? Or do ye have to travel to Reykjavic?

I'm in process of looking for cheap flights/hotels for March.

Thanks,

Kev.

Bogger77

joseph brand wrote: »

Is there anything to do in Keflavik? Or do ye have to travel to Reykjavic?

I'm in process of looking for cheap flights/hotels for March.

Thanks,

Kev.

Blue Lagoon is close of the airport, but most stuff in in the general area of Reykjavic

H2G2

IMHO Keflavík is a reasonably small town, with little to do in it. The surrounding area is nice and many good sights – as long as you have a car. The distance between Keflavík and Reykjavík is about 45 km and takes between 50 and 70 minutes to travel. The Blue Lagoon is in near by town Grindavík, which is about 10 km Keflavík and definitely worth a visit, especially in March as you should have snow.

My advice – for a short trip - is to hire a car and based yourself in Reykjavík. Shop around and use the phone to get cheap car hire in Iceland… yes it does exist honest. The weather should be fine for driving in March as most major road will be open, but going near the mountains (e.g. Geysir and Gullfoss) could be for experienced drivers only. But there are many organised tours, but the prices are usually crazy.

March is a great time to go. You’ll have fun !