althom1122

My husband and I (both late 50s) are planning an early November trip to Iceland. We hope to see the Northern Lights, but we know that's a bonus and we can't count on it. Here's what we're thinking, but we need a LOT of help!

Day 1 - Arrive early morning on Friday, November 6, from U.S. and pick up rental car and tour Reykjavik. Spend night in Reykjavik. We're more interested in the outdoor sights, but we thought given our jet lag, it might be good to use this day to adjust to the time zone.

Day 2 - Saturday - Golden Circle - usual sights - Thingvellir National Park, the geysers at Haukadalur (Strokker), and Gullfoss waterfall. We have a room reserved at Hotel Selid near Hvolsvollur. Is it reasonable to be able to get there after the Golden Circle? We know the daylight hours are limited. Any special things not to miss? Good places to stop for lunch?

Then we have three more full days before flying home. We want to do:

- an ice cave tour
- a short glacier walk
- a 1-hour snowmobile tour

We'd also like to see the Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon and the black sand beach.

We currently have a hotel reserved in Vik (Icelandair Hotel Vik) for Sunday and Monday nights, and a an apartment in Reykjavik for the last night, Tuesday.

We thought we'd do the Blue Lagoon on Wednesday morning before our afternoon flight home.

Suggestions on the best order to do the tours (cave, glacier, snowmobile) and how to fit in other things we want to see? Is Vik an ok place to base ourselves for those two nights or should we try to move to Klauster (it's a much longer name than that, but you probably know what I mean)?

Where is the best place to do the activities we want? From my research it looks like there are different glaciers where we could do the snowmobiling and the glacier hike. Suggestions?

Also, we are on somewhat of a budget, so are trying to get good deals where possible.

Any and all suggestions welcome.

Thanks,
Karen and Tom

Lella

Checkout this trip planner, that is especially made for planning trips to Iceland: https://tripcreator.com/

They have the largest selection of travel possibilities in Iceland, great information about points of interest and activities and it is super easy to use. You can set up the trip exactly to your liking and add or delete items until you are perfectly happy. The planner also calculates driving distance and duration of each item and takes into account limited daylight hours. Plus... they have a best price guarantee, which is pretty neat.

That being said...
Day 1 sounds pretty good. Totally manageable and there is a bistro at the Geysir area where you can get delicious Icelandic meat soup for lunch. Very tasty and very Icelandic

Totally recommend a trip to Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon. It is quite magical and well worth a visit.

It seems like your mind is only set on activities on glacier. Would you not want to meet the Icelandic horses, bathe in a geothermal swimming pool, go on a short helicopter tour or something? Iceland has so much to offer.

althom1122

Thanks, Lella. I'll check out the planning site. Yes, actually we are interested in a geothermal swimming pool. Where would be a good place for that? In Reykjavik?

We did a helicopter tour at the Grand Canyon (on our honeymoon!) last year, so while I know it's totally different, we weren't planning a helicopter tour. Would be open to other ideas, though.

The ice cave, glacier walk, and snowmobiling all sounded appealing because we've never done any of them and they seemed like good winter activities.

We wanted to take a boat on the glacier lagoon - but they don't run in November, so we're out of luck on that.

I'm hoping to see horses during our travels, but hadn't planned a special activity to do so. Should we?

Thanks!

Lella

Since you will be travelling in November it is unlikely that you will encounter many horses out and about while driving. It might be a good idea to plan a special activity to meet them, if that interests you. Then again, there are places where you can drop by and visit the stables for small or no charge and you don't have to book in advance. Like this one: http://www.icelandichorsepark.com/

Lella

There are geothermal swimming pools in each and every town (and quite many in Reykjavík) so you should have ample opportunities to visit them. If you are interested in more natural pools I would recommend:

1. The Blue Lagoon (good to visit on your way to or from Keflavík airport)

2. Secret Lagoon (a bit more remote and not as many visitors go there)

3. Laugarvatn Fontana (not exactly natural, but very nice)

the ice caves are wonderful and otherworldly and you will not regret visiting one of them. A snowmobile tour is also great fun. I have personally been on a tour with Mountaineers of Iceland and they are wonderful.

althom1122

Thanks! We were already planning the Blue Lagoon to or from the airport, but we'll investigate the other two you mention.

Will also check out Mountaineers of Iceland.

thegrandplan2019

Great information, thank you

althom1122

Our ice cave tour is booked and it looks like we can work in the Secret Lagoon at the end of our Golden Circle day. Thanks again.

Lella

You will have a wonderful trip to Iceland

Dianedancer

Anyone do the snorkeling? Thinking of going in Feb. and yes, doing this. They give you a dry suit to wear.

mpinkerton1

I'd highly recommend the Reykjavik Excursions Snow Mobile Tour, they pick you up, give you warm clothes once you get up to the mountain, and the snowmobiling is awesome. Our tour was small so we got to go very fast and check out some old volcanoes too.

We actually did the Golden Circle on the same tour as the Snowmobiling day because they offer those, I'd highly recommend if you are short on time at all.