Visiting Iceland

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franksinatra

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Going to Iceland for my 40th and my girlfriends 30th.

Just wondering if anyone has been and any recommendations on what to do and where to go?

Also being based in Rekjavik it seems coach trips are available to many of the best places but does anyone know how easy it is to access these places by car as I quite fancy the idea of a bit of a road trip.
 
Go see the Geyser's, waterfalls, blue lagoon, whale watching and eat at a place called Grillmarkadurinn http://www.grillmarkadurinn.is/en/

Obviously, a trip out for the Aurora Borealis is an absolute must also.

There's a hotel called Apotek which is great to drop in for a coffee and some fantastic cakes and macaroons.

The coach transport is fantastic with Reykjavik Excursions, and their Straeto (Bus) network is brilliant, but if you really want to drive then go for it.

Fantastic place.
 
markbmcfc said:
Go see the Geyser's, waterfalls, blue lagoon, whale watching and eat at a place called Grillmarkadurinn http://www.grillmarkadurinn.is/en/

Obviously, a trip out for the Aurora Borealis is an absolute must also.

There's a hotel called Apotek which is great to drop in for a coffee and some fantastic cakes and macaroons.

The coach transport is fantastic with Reykjavik Excursions, and their Straeto (Bus) network is brilliant, but if you really want to drive then go for it.

Fantastic place.
Click to expand...

Cheers mate. Going in 12 days so bit early for the lights but looking forward to the long nights.

We are there for seven days. Is there much to see and do in Rekjavik and, I know difficult to compare, but what are prices like in comparison to over here
 
Prices - small fortune. Drink the local beer because imported stuff is very expensive. Paid £23 in our hotel for a pint and an orange juice. Like anywhere though, there's places cheaper than others for food and drink.

We were there for 5 days and by day 5 we were ready for coming home. That said, we also ran out of cash :) There's loads of walking tours etc that can be done so I think you can fill a week. It's a beautiful country. May is apparently good for Whales so definitely worth going whale watching. Word of advice, regardless of how strong you and your missus think your stomach is, take the sea sickness tablets they provide for you.

Lots of sulphur in the water so be prepared for showering in eggy smelling water! Lagoon stinks of it too but it's brilliant. It has a restaurant attached called Lava - recommend this highly.
 
there's an app called appy hour which tells you what bars/pubs have a happy hour on at any given time of day in Reykjavik. Absolute godsend because beers are very pricey.
 
Traveled around in rented campervan in feb last year. Amazing country loved it.

Expensive enough, but not as bad as some ppl say. Eat at the gas stations to save money, take away kind of food, fish and chips, hot dogs, burgers etc, but decent.

Drink is expensive but search out happy hours, some start at different times. One finishes another down the road is probably starting, follow the locals. nobody seems to drink midweek outside Reykjavik. Don't bother with any of the cans they sell in gas stations etc, only 2% watered down shite.

Other than driving about, which isn't that hard as just bssically one long road loops around whole country, though there was some hair raising moments in snow storms, some cool things I done

- golden circle from Reykjavik (takes in some of the big sights)
- snow mobiling on glacier
- dog sledding
- stayed in a hotel called frost and fire outside rejkavik, defo recommended , a highlight, Google it
- Ice caving , another highlight, got some great pics
- hiked on Europe's largest glaciar though i believe summer is best time to do it
- saw northern lights twice
- woke up in the van parked outside glacial lagoon ( jokulsarlon)
- shit loads of waterfalls
- blue lagoon

Few things missed out on like whale watching up north due to weather

Great trip though, well worth it
 
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Getting a car is a viable alternative to paying for the various coach trips. It's not cheap but it could work out better. Even the round trip from the airport is priced.
Driving over there is an absolute doddle, there's very little traffic and the roads are excellent. All the main sites from Reykjavik are easy to find and follow. The Golden Circle in particular is very very easy to find. The Blue Lagoon isn't too far either, although there are better, less commercial places to try. The car would also open up the rest of the island which is really stunning.
There is a free swimming pool in the capital which is really good withwarm spring fed water.
Eat the hot dogs at the small cabin just past the coach station, that will be the cheapest Neal you ll get. The food in Reykjavik is brilliant, some of the best I've ever had. Grill Market and Fish Market are two of the best, they'll give you a 6 or 8 course tasting menu with local offerings.
If you want a drink, loads of bars, hotels etc. do happy hours at differing times so a bit of planning can save a fair bit.
 
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