Iceland trip report!

Old May 25th, 2017, 01:32 PM
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Iceland trip report!

I just finished a wonderful trip to Iceland with my daugther!
We flew on Delta through JFK and spent 8 nights in Iceland. As I get older, I realize how flying takes up an entire day coming out of Richmond Virginia and coach really isn't the greatest. I also don't like the overnight flights since I can never sleep on the plane. We upgraded to Delta comfort and were fortunate to be on the exit row in the only two seater on the plane. Still even with all the leg room, sleeping was impossible. I wound up reading a book most of the flight.

We landed in Iceland early in the morning and took the flybus to Reykjavik where our hotel for the next 7 nights was located. It was easy and we were dropped off right around the corner from the hotel.
We checked into the Canopy Hilton which was a great hotel! I was using points so it was free but I would choose the hotel again in a heartbeat. The hotel is in a great location, easy walking distance to everything in the city. It had modern amenities, no air conditioning which normally is not needed, but we had some warm days so I had a fan in the room. The room we had was very small. It had two comfortable and seemed oversized twin beds. It also had a modern bathroom and the whole room seemed new.
The Hilton also has a neat feature where you can take a record player up to your room and play the millions of records they have all over the lobby of the hotel. We loved this and bought an Icelandic Indie folk/rock band album and played it every night.
The Hilton also had a fantastic breakfast. Everything you could ever want in a buffet breakfast, plus gluten free bread for anyone who needs that. My daughter is gluten free so this was a great breakfast for her as well! Three types of eggs, potatoes, salmon sushimi, cereals, yogurts, breads, cakes, fruit,etc.. Highly recommend the Canopy Hilton. Staff seems to be all under 30. It is a very happy and friendly hotel.

Dinners:
Glo Glo is a restaurant that is very allergy friendly and organic. It is more casual than the other nights we ate out. We both had the chicken which came with three choices of sides which were salads of various types. I think almost everything is gluten free on their menu. I also had a soup which was tasty but a little spicy for me.

The Fish Company. This restaurant had a nice atmosphere, but the menu was not the greatest even for my fish loving daughter. I had the duck which was very good, but I found most of the fishes were fried and there were no sides to the main course. Not our favorite.

The Fish Grill. This was one of the favorite restaurants. We ate here twice. Once on my daughter's birthday where they gave her a delicious gluten free dessert for free. It had cheesecake, passion fruit, and mango sorbet. It was unbelievably delicious. The menu also offered a lactose free menu if anyone needs that. I had the salty cod the first time and the plaice fish and perch the second time. I liked Perch the best. My daughter had the sushi (salmon, tuna and atlantic char), and said it was amazing. We also had the appetizers of Puffin, the beloved bird of Iceland which was kind of chewy and the Mink whale which was raw, but quite tasty even for me who has never had sushi. The sauce was quite good. This restaurant also had a very nice ambience and I would highly recommend it.

The Grill Market. I think it was called this. This is a more of a meat grill restaurant. I had pretty good filet mignon. My daughter ordered salmon but said it was just okay. We also felt rushed here and were in and out in an hour. They had horse on the menu if anyone would be interested in that.

Apotek. This is a lively restaurant and we both had rack of lamb. The lamb was great and honestly, when in Iceland, you must order lamb because it is one of their best meals. Our waiter was fun and very nice. We also shared an artic char on a salt block for an appetizer and it was very good.

The Hilton's restaurant Geiri Smart was also very good. We had lamb and beef and both were excellent.

The Lava restaurant at the Blue Lagoon. This is the Blue Lagoon's upscale restaurant. This was the best beef and lamb we had all week. Highly recommend. You get a free glass of sparkling wine with your dinner which was a nice touch.

Things about dining in Iceland. Number 1, don't tip. It is not expected. This made dining quite easy actually. Number 2, every restaurant is EXPENSIVE. We never had a cheap meal. We spent 200. USD per night approx for dinner. I was the only drinker having two cocktails at each meal. Wine was very pricey and not very good. So, I went with cocktails instead. We had dessert a couple of times or appetizers. Most nights ran about 200.
We bought yogurts and took them with us on our adventures during the day because we ate such huge breakfasts. I really liked the skyr yogurt which happen to have 15 grams of protein in each little cup!
Third, make reservations! Most places book up and were packed at 7pm by both locals and tourists. So plan ahead at least a day or two.

Adventures: RENT A CAR for a least a day or two. We did it twice! We had a car for two days at the end where we drove ourselves to the Blue lagoon and then on to the airport hotel for the last night. But we went ahead and rented a car for another two days mid trip. This was a great way to get out and explore some of the island on your own. We rented from Blue Car rental. We had no problems with them and they were easy to work with. We did get the extra insurance with gravel and ash. Even on our main road trips, we drove over gravel roads for a bit so glad we got it.

Arctic Adventures snowmobiling and Golden Circle tour. They picked us up at the bus stop around the corner from the hilton in a huge super jeep. This is a large mercedes van with a Ford f150 engine and tires that are gigantic. People took pictures of the jeep wherever we stopped. This was driven by a tiny 5 foot tall Icelandic girl, our tour guide! She was so cute and she hopped in and out of the jeep to inflate and deflate tires depending on road conditions. First they took us into the Golden circle where we we went to where the tactonic plates are separating. Next we went to an area with geysers and hot springs. We ate lunch here in a cafe which was quite pricey. They had a good lamb soup and the salads were fresh, but we wound up spending about 80 dollars on a cafeteria lunch. This was on our second day of our trip. After that we packed snacks and yogurts. Then we stopped at a waterfall where we picked up more people and we went off road to the snowmobiling. You ride two to a snowmobile. My daughter was great at driving it so I let her drive 90 percent of the trip and I drove it at the end just to try it. It was COLD on those things!! They gave us gloves and jumpsuits but my fingers felt like they were frozen stiff. My daughter loved this experience and it was a highlight for her.

Arctic Adventures. We booked a whale watching through them but you can book it direct through Elding. This is a 3.5 hour ride on a boat. I have to say, the weather was perfect, but they give out fee sea sickness pills and barf bags like candy. This made me nervous. A couple of people still threw up even with the pleasant weather we had out there. The waves are a little rough on the way out and when you are seeing the whales, the boat rocks a lot. We were okay with the boat ride. We were laughing because our captain was saying "this is a chance of a lifetime to see the Mink whale and the humpback whale". He had a spanish accent and was so dramatic he had my daughter running all over the boat to see everything. I guess that means he was a good guide! LOL We were laughing about it later how he was so excited he got her all excited. I would never get on that boat if the weather was bad.

Dog sledding. We went dog sledding on dry land. My daughter loves dogs and this was a mother daughter trip celebrating her getting her masters degree. She turned 23 while on the trip and this was something she really wanted to experience. This was one of the days we rented the car and drove south. The dog sledding was a neat experience and the kid who was our musher was very nice. He actually gave us a map with places to stop he circled along the way and we were able to see many waterfalls because of this. We might have driven by without turning off otherwise.

My favorite thing in Iceland was just driving and seeing the incredible nature in the country and just hanging out with my daughter. We had lots of fun singing 80s music in the car that was played on the local radio. We drove south to Vik and it's black sand beaches and north to Stykkisholmur. Reykjavik is a fun city with lots of streets to explore. We got lost several times but that was part of the fun.

The last night of the trip we stayed at the Airport hotel. It is right in the airport and next to the car rental return which was quite convenient. Overall, the room is sparce but clean. It is great for one night before the early morning flight.

Iceland overall: It is a beautiful country with a unique landscape with very friendly people. It is probably one of the safest places I have ever traveled to. I highly recommend going there but would only go in spring summer and fall when you can spend the days outside. In May, we had about 20 hours of daylight.
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Old May 25th, 2017, 01:37 PM
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Thanks for posting, girlonthego. Interesting to read what you did in a week; looks as if you filled your days pretty well.

Shame that Iceland hasn't got any cheaper since we were there about 10 years ago.
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Old May 25th, 2017, 01:56 PM
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Glad you had such a good time!
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Old May 25th, 2017, 02:13 PM
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ann, food, drinks and the paid excursions were pretty expensive overall I felt. I don't mind paying for a nice meal, but I told my husband when we came home, just don't look at the visa card this month. LOL

susan, we had a fantastic trip!
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Old May 25th, 2017, 02:34 PM
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Sorry forgot to add we spent the afternoon at the blue lagoon which is like a giant hot tub in the middle of a lava field. It was a pleasant and unique experience. We did the in water massages but I don't recommend them. They are costly and they are not real massages. They are like someone lightly touching you. We were going for the all in experience, but you can skip the massage and save 350. dollars which is what it cost for 2 people.
Just enjoy the pool and hang out!

Also, every neighborhood has a pool that is heated year round and it seems that Iclelanders like to hang in the pool. Which since it is so cold all the time, I can see why people like to have the heated pools.
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Old May 26th, 2017, 07:20 AM
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I went in August about 15 years ago and decided last year I wanted to go back in the winter. I went this past February and loved it. Not really cold-temps in the mid 30's and snow flurries on and off but no heavy snow until after I left. I loved being out walking around the city and seeing the landscapes and scenery in winter. It's a whole different look. I would go back in a heartbeat. I really love Iceland in any weather.
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Old May 26th, 2017, 12:43 PM
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>>

We're in Iceland at this very moment annhig and every day brings a new price shock...and we're not even taking tours, just exploring on our own by car and trying to eat without going broke.

I think we finally found a place more expensive than Australia and Switzerland.

Thank goodness for store bought Skyr - delicious and affordable

girlonthego - Lucky you getting accommodation with points. A huge money saver.
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Old May 26th, 2017, 05:57 PM
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Melnq8, we were very fortunate to have the points for the hotel!
Yes, love the skyr yogurt!
Enjoy your time there!
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Old May 26th, 2017, 06:19 PM
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I'm off to Iceland in about 3 weeks. I need to lose a few pounds which should be easy since we won't be able to afford to eat.

We're also staying at the Canopy Hilton. Thanks for the info!
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Old May 27th, 2017, 02:41 AM
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oh dear, Mel, I'm sorry about the prices. Do they still give you free top ups for coffee? [or in one place we found, free coffee!]

Mind you that only helps if you drink coffee in the first place.

I hope that otherwise you are having a good time.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 06:42 AM
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Girlonthego--so glad you two had a great time! As you know, we adored Iceland and have a return trip planned. We were there in the fall which we enjoyed and then our kids went over New Years. DD said she has never been so cold in her life lol. When we were there the northern lights we're supposedly amazing, but we were too beat to get up for them as we fly from Seattle.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 01:44 PM
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annhig -

Not sure about the coffee - I'm a coffee snob, so it's espresso or nothing for me. I've seen those pump thermos thingies in gas stations and some cafes, but have not investigated.

Gas is about USD $8 a gallon, which explains all the low clearance econo boxes on the road...ours included.

A a bottle of beer at USD $12 is a bit hard to take, but we did our homework and brought wine and snacks with us, so that's helped the budget a bit.

Had a spectacular day today - saw the icebergs in the lake and had perfect light for photos, which hasn't happened much this trip. Overheard a woman say she had visited this particular lake five times and she had never seen it like this - she was really chuffed, as was I. I do like my good light.
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Old May 27th, 2017, 02:44 PM
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that's great about the iceberg lake, Mel. we liked that too!

we aren't that fussy about coffee and found the usual offerings quite acceptable, luckily, and I can't really remember about the cost of beer, just that everything was expensive.

Hope your tomorrow is just as good as your today.
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Old May 29th, 2017, 02:28 PM
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mel, I hope you are having a great time!

mms, yes it was so much fun! You two are very outdoorsy so I can sse you guys going back to hike a glacier or volcano! I probably would not go back because there are too many places to go and I have seen what I thought I should see. However, I highly recommend it! It was a great place to go with so many neat aspects to it. Also, like I said before, was one of the safest places I have ever traveled.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 08:03 AM
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girlonthego -

I am having a great time, but probably because I'm now in Switzerland instead of Iceland.

Looks like Iceland will be a one off for us - we're glad we went but
we really didn't get what all the fuss was about. It's unlikely we will go back, unless we just happen to get a super-duper-wonderful stopover fare between the US and elsewhere in Europe.
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 02:09 PM
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Mel - I think we enjoyed Iceland more than you seem to have done, but so far, I've seen no need to go back. the best bits for us by far were the trip to the far western cliffs and the two boat trips we did. And the Golden Circle. And...ok, we did like to quite a lot.

Hope Switzerland continues to be great. I've just started a thread on that subject if you've got a bit of time to give me some advice?
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 02:47 PM
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Mel, have fun in Switzerland!
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 03:03 PM
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GOTG, great TR, and lots of memories. We visited last summer and it's been one of the best trips ever. Glaciers, ice lagoons, volcanoes, dog sledding, puffins, waterfalls, rainbows, amazing clouds and scenery, we would go back in a heart beat. We were there for 18 days, and only managed the south and the west (plus some of the highlands). Need to go back for the rest of the country

Mel, yes, expansive, but I did not think a lot more than the rest of Europe. Enjoy Switzerland now!
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Old Jun 2nd, 2017, 05:38 PM
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Enjoyed your report! I was in Iceland 2 years ago for only 2 nights on an Icelandair stopover on my way to Paris. It was July so there was plenty of daylight (i woke up at 3 am just to look at the window)! I definately want to return to Iceland for a longer visit.

I'm from Richmond, too!
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Old Jun 3rd, 2017, 09:04 AM
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Ann and Mel

Over 25 years of adult travel, there's only been two credit card statements that I haven't even bothered to open.

The first was South Africa last October when the bill for two weeks was so low that it wasn't worth opening. A meal for three at a Constantia vineyard with wine was £25.

The second was this February when the bill for 6 days in Iceland was 3 times that of the bill for two weeks in Cape Town. I just binned the bill, down half a bottle of Talisker and cried.

Iceland prices were just ludicrous, just silly.

To me Iceland just didn't have the magical feel of Norway. Just felt like a tourist trap.
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