~~ Iceland megathread ~~

So we finally booked our trip, I'm so excited!!

We are going for 7 nights in March. We're doing the northern lights, golden circle, blue lagoon and whale watching. We might see about doing another trip when we get there.

We've booked our hotel room only so just wondering how much spending money people would recommend bringing for the week? We've already paid for the above trips.

No we didn't opt for breakfast. .. we might add it in later. Thanks

Hi I'm going to book a trip to Iceland for next March too. Only just starting to do some research now. Is Wow air the only option from Dublin?
Also, any recommendations on hotels? It's a special occasion so I'd like a really good hotel.
Apologies for hijacking your thread too!

BailMeOut wrote: »

Are you heading to the Seljalandsfoss Waterfall? That's really worth seeing and once there you can then visit the abandoned plane at Sólheimasandur which is close by. You also get to drive right past the volcano that caused all the airline trouble in 2010 (Eyjafjallajökull) and another interesting (for some!) thing on see on this same route is Bobby Fisher's grave at a tiny church outside Selfoss.

I am not renting a car. So depending on tours. I must look these places up. Any tour operators you could recommend. I used Visit for my 2 trips but they are quite expensive

Five weeks to our trip and I'm really looking forward to it. Disappointed we are only going for 3 days as there is so much I want to do.

I booked a couple of tours yesterday.
Day one we are hoping to see what Reykjavik has to offer.
Day two the blue lagoon and golden circle.
Day three the south coast tour.

Spoke to my neighbour who is from Reykjavik and she said the chance of seeing the lights are very slim at that time of the year so I'm not going to spend the 90 for the trip.

Has anyone been late Sept? What kind of clothing do we need? I'm guessing layers, hiking boots, warm rain jacket..bikini?? :-)

Weather is much the same as here. Bring a raincoat. If you have room, bring hiking boots, but you won't really need them as the bus tours only stop for a short while at sights.

fionny wrote: »

So I've been reading that there is pretty much no point in getting ISK out as its one of the highest card using countries in the world? Is that true?

they also dont have a tipping culture which is also handy to know.

I would advise taking ISK. I used my debit card for everything and got charged a fair bit. Charges whether using card at point of sale and even ATM.
But everywhere is set up for card payment if you don't take cash.

We are also thinking of going to Iceland, but I prefer less touristy destinations. I was talking to someone who went recently and said it was like a big building site at the moment in the touristy places.

Is this true?

I've just booked for 4 days next March. Any recommendations re who to book tours from/which tours?
What clothes to bring?
TIA

Sounds good! Thank you.

For anyone who didn't hire a car how did you get from the airport to Reykjavik? Best I can find to the hotel is 77 return. Or 52 to the bus station but need to get a taxi after.

Does this sound about right?

Thanks I'll check that link!

Just thought I'd update for anyone that's interested.

We had a really fantastic holiday, one of the best so far. Its a fascinating country with great history and geography.

We flew from Belfast with EasyJet, (€80 return) and stayed in Reykjavik Lights Hotel which was lovely, clean, great staff and great breakfast but about 30mins walk from the town centre. Booked through Travel Republic and got a good price.

Checked out Reykjavik first day, watched the lights that night on the pier wall.

Second day did the Blue Lagoon and Golden Circle tour through Gray Line, very comfortable and excellent guide, he really made the tour. His name was Swan (but I'm sure spelt differently). He was so informative and we learned loads about the Iceland. It was the afternoon tour and we got to see everything, back to hotel by 7pm.

Third day we did the South coast tour, it was a 10hr day and the company weren't a patch on Gray Line, think they were Called Iceland tours but even the bus wasn't as comfortable. Again a great day got to see everything it was really cool walking behind the waterfall in Seljalandsfoss and also climbing onto solheimajokull glacier.

(Reykjavik tours and flybus seemed good options as well for booking day trips).

I booked transfers to and from airport with Flybus.

One thing I will say is that the cost for anything over there is unbelievable, its really hard to do this holiday on a budget. There is a pizzeria next to our hotel and we went in the second night after the tour, 2 med size pizzas and 2 bottles of beer were €62. Five minute taxi ride was €17. Blue Lagoon we had 2 beers at the swim up bar and rented 2 (small) towels, €32. Its crazy!!

There really wasn't one negative thing about the 3 days (besides the comment above ), the people are so nice and helpful. Its also really safe, and there were a good few people on our tour travelling alone.

The highlight was definitely seeing the lights on Wednesday, stunning!

Forgot to say, it was cold especially early morning and late night. Weather also changed very quickly. You really need the right gear going. Our guide had to stop grandma heading down to the glacier in her little slip on shoes!!

It's expensive for everyone, not just the tourist spots.

After speaking to a couple of the locals they told us they don't eat out, they drink at home and all meet up around midnight.

We averaged about 60 for 2 dinners & 2 beers each night for the 3 nights. No starters or desserts.

Supermarkets are a cheaper option, first day we went to the main supermarket that's everywhere (name escapes me!) and stocked up on water and snacks for our coach tours, that cost 22 for a small bag of biscuits/crisps/water/crackers.
Also picked up 3 large dairy milk size bars of chocolate called siruis to bring home and that was 14.50.

As I said above it is hard to do it on a budget, maybe if you had facilities to cook you could eat in one or 2 nights, or get take away as well!
It's still worth every penny, I'd love to bring my kids back when they are a little older!

Edited: They're called Bonus stores.