isabel

I'm doing a two day stop over in Iceland in June. I see that there are at least two companies that offer almost identical tours. I'll probably do the "Golden Circle Classic" but don't know if there is any difference between the grayline tours and the "tour.is" tours. They both go to the same places and the cost is only about €3 different so if anyone has experience with either I'd love to hear it.

Also, seems like there are two ways to get to Reykjavik from the airport - Gray Line Airport Shuttle or the Flybus. The fllybus looks to be considerably more (4500 isk versus 3325 isk). Any experience with either of these?

Thanks

oliverandharry

The Flybus waits for the last flight in from the States, loads everyone up and is off to Reykjavik, which is still a 45 minute drive. We found it easy to navigate and the return left our hotel exactly on time.

valtor

We took Flybus; if I remember correctly, we bought a return ticket and this saved some money. It was in time, clean, not full.

Also, we took Golden Circle Classic - Gray line. We took this because we used this company in different other countries and it is OK.
However, I am under the impression that in many countries (including Iceland) the tour companies work together if they can not have a full bus, so it is not important what company you selected, all the people will travel together in the same bus with the same guide. I am not sure that I am correct.

We took also an evening tour started at 8 pm and ended after midnight (still not dark at all), I think that it was named Mistery tour and it was very interesting.

isabel

Thanks. Do you remember if you have to change buses when you take the Flybus - their website makes it sound like you do in order to get to the hotels whereas the Gray Line airport shuttle sounds like it goes straight to all the major hotels. It's also cheaper, but for some reason most people posting here seem to use the Flybus.

valtor

Isabel,no, we did not change the bus from airport. It has a stop in the front of our hotel. I suggest you to send an email to your hotel and ask them about this (by the way, we took Flybus as per advise of our hotel).

BIKINI_GURL69

Anyway you can stay longer? I have a feeling once you spend two days there, you'll have a hard time feeling. Dont forget to bring your Bikini for the blue lagoon!

dutyfree

Suggestions for hotels there?

valtor

We stayed at Hotel Odinsve,http://www.hotelodinsve.is/ where we had a suite. Very nice, large, clean.
Initially we booked at pension Luna,http://www.luna.is/english/ which has the same owner as the hotel. As they received a group who wanted to stay longer at the pension, they upgraded us for free at the hotel, in a nice suite.
We did not eat the breakfast there, so I can not comment.
Both are 5 min. walking to the lake, in a quiet zone.
The bus from airport has a stop in the front of the hotel.

GinaTO

We stayed at the Hotel Fron http://www.hotelfron.is/ - very well situated on the main street, and I asked for a quiet room away from the street since I am a light sleeper - I slept very soundly every night. We booked a regular double room, and were upgraded to a mini-suite with a tiny kitchen, which came in handy a couple of times. I suspect it's because we went in December, though, and they were not full. The buffet breakfast, included, was pretty good.

isabel

Gina - I have reservations at Hotel Fron, so good to know it's OK. How did you get to/from the airport? Did you take one of the day tours? What did you do in Reykjavik?

sassy_cat

We took the greyline Golden Circle evening tour (7pm to midnight). Bear in mind that this is shorter than the 'classic' tour but goes to the same stops. The guide talked non stop en route and was very informative. He also answered individual questions at the sites but we were free to explore the sites as we wished. We made an unscheduled stop to view a large volcanic crater on the return journey (as we had some spare time).

We enjoyed it and coming from the east coast we were up late anyway. It's ideal to do this on a Saturday night if you fancy a drink afterwards the bars are still open!

We found we had just long enough at the geyser and waterfall stops but it was a little tight at the place where the tectonic plates meet (Thingveller?)

We hired a car for a couple of days and visited Vik and stopped at points in between to hike (black sand beach, more waterfalls). We spent several hours at Blue Lagoon one day, visited the art museum in downtown Reykjavik, shopped, etc.

We did take the Flybus from the airport but used our rental car to return.