mdippie

My wife and I are planning a trip to Iceland next July for 10-14 days. Having read some of the excellent trip reports there seems to be plenty to do - where would be the best place to base ourselves, assuming that we will hire a car? Hoping to keep the accommodation costs to below $120 a night, given that most other things seem quite pricey.

Many thanks.

Dave_

How about a trip around the island finishing off with a few days in Rekjavik.

I have only been to Iceland once and didn't have enough time to leave the southwest area of the island. If I had more time or if I went again, I'd arrange to drive round the island over a couple of weeks (or maybe a bit less). All the different areas look very different but equally amazing and incredible.

I understand the road round the island is good and your timing will probably be ideal to do this. The only downside is you will be staying in a lot of different places - were you hoping to stay in one place with less moving around?

mdippie

We hadn't been planning on doing too much driving, but on the other hand would like to get to see as much of the island as possible! Do you know if its possible to hire a campervan, as this may help us cut down on accommodation costs?

AAFrequentFlyer

Yes it's possible, but it's NOT cheap.

Here is one place:

<b>http://www.geysir.is/home.shtml</b>

Scroll down to campers in the left corner grey box. They offer 3-4 different types.

eri

I'll be happy to assist you with planning a trip to Iceland. It is absolutely a fabulous place. 10-14 days isn't too long. If you want to enjoy Iceland you have to drive around the island. The roads are good. The scenery changes from area to area. The least expensive accomodations are the &quot;farmstays&quot;. You absolutely have to plan your route in advance and reserve your stays for the whole trip. It is extremly difficult to do it by yourself. There are not too places to stay and you might find yourself without a place for the night, especially in July! You can use one of the local travel agencies. For example Nonni Travel http://www.nonnitravel.is/contact.html
I had good experience with them.
2 years ago we paid around 100USD per night for B&amp;B in the farms. This is reasonable for Iceland.
Do rent a car. Campers are not at all popular in Iceland. I can't remember seeing any campground.
If you can afford it I'd recommend taking at least one super jeep guided tour to the center of the Iceland. I wouldn't recommend doing it on your own. The preferred destinations for such a tour are Landmannalaugar or Thorsmork (south) and Askja (north). look in Nonny's site for more information.
14 days will enable you also to tour Isafjordur in the north-west. Here you will be able to observe the puffins. Thousand of them.
I would start my trip with a short stay of 2-3 nights in Rejkjavik and take a day trip from there to Geysir and Gulfoss. This is a beautiful way to get aquainted with Iceland. Spend also the last day in Reykjavik. Everybody recommends the Blue Lagoon. I find it digustingly commercialized. But if you feel that you can't leave Iceland without it, use the last day for it.
Feel free to ask me for any further information.