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Great photo of the glacial lagoon. Incredible colour of the ice.
My wallet shuddered when it saw the photo of Reykjavik high street! |
"My wallet shuddered when it saw the photo of Reykjavik high street!"
:lol:;):p |
Great pics. Thanks again for sharing.
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Thanks for posting the great photos, indiancouple.
I'd like to hear about Norway too! |
Annhig, Norway was not really a trip but a cruise with old friends. We did half-day stopovers in Eidfjord, Molde, Geiranger and Bergen. Nothing much to write about the places, as most of the time we were on a cruise ship. This was just to spend quality time among old friends from college days.
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shame, indiancouple. I'm sure you could make it interesting if anyone could. Sounds like a good trip.
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So glad I found this tr.
We've decided on Iceland and parts of Scandinavia for June next year, your writing and traveling style sounds a lot like us. (even the falling over parts, I manage to fall at least once on every trip...sigh) We're thinking of a week to 10 ten days in Iceland, independently. Then on to Norway.......... annhig, I've been reminded of your Iceland trip report......I may have to re read. |
Thankful to have found your report
Hi indiancouple. So glad to have found this thread and not surprised. Any trip I plan, I always hope to find your report first and fortunately found this. We to 2 couples originally form your home town and now living in Bombay are planning a 10 day ring road trip to Iceland in end of September. Have read a lot reports but it gives me immense satisfaction to read your report. You have a wonderful style. This is a much shorter report than you usually do! We have read many of your reports and followed your advice and suggestions on our trips. We seem to have similar travel styles and likes. So some advices required - what kind of food did you carry along and how much? We normally can eat anything without too much fuss but the prices being exhorbitan want to cut down on expense and have once meal out. Did you mainly take dry snacks since you were staying at hotels. We are thinking on cutting down on clothes and shoes and carrying more essential clothing and shoes and a good amount of food. Do they have much chicken or mostly lamb and fish? You have some some lovely pictures. What kind of equipment do you use. I used to carry a dslr in the past but have only used my iPhone in the last few years. Please do take care when hiking and trekking. Falls can be brutal and put a dampener on holidays. Admire your confidence of choosing this destination and doing a self drive. |
Hi pgautam, glad you liked the report.
Don't recall carrying too much food - just some khakhras, some Haldiram packets, etc. Useful during long drives, if a restaurant is not forthcoming during meal times, which sometimes may happen in remote areas of Iceland. As for clothes, we have become accustomed to travelling very light, with minimal sets of clothes. You just need lots of layers in Iceland, as weather changes can be rapid. Can't remember what kind of meat was more available in Iceland, as we are vegetarians. I would imagine that seafood would be plentiful everywhere, given that Iceland is surrounded by water. This trip of ours was shorter than usual because it was followed by an 8-day cruise in the Norwegian fjords - so we had to budget time for that too. In any case, I think 8 days is about right for Iceland. Enjoy !! |
Thanks for the write-up! I'll be in Iceland in late June for 6-8 days. This trip is for a wedding at Kirkjufell. After the wedding I plan on venturing out on my own as I prefer solo backpacking travel.
How much would you think would be a good spending money ammount? I'll have airfare and lodging handled but I've been reading its somewhat expensive (understandably) to indulge/splurge in some nightlife. I'm a homebrewer in San Diego so I will be visiting breweries and attending some craft beer bottle exchange meet-ups. Also, do you think the city passes are worth the money? |
ndnwill - my experience of food prices in Iceland is somewhat out of date as we were there just before the crash in 2008, when we found food very expensive, but there is some good news - one cup of coffee will bring you free top ups for as long as you want them, virtually everywhere, and quite decent not too expensive food can be found at most petrol stations. If you have facilities for cooking that should keep costs down but actually finding food to cook wasn't always easy when we were there.
Some research found this reasonably recent guide to prices but the ranges are very wide so that may not be too helpful. My advice would be to work out what it's likely to cost you and then add 50%. Can't help with the city passes but with the time you're going to be there they might not be the best value anyway. Good luck, it's a fabulous fascinating place. |
ndnwill -
We found food prices very high, and Iceland overall low value, but your experience may differ. FWIW, we were there in May of 2017 and I wrote a detailed trip report, which includes what we paid for just about everything. It might be helpful, it might not: https://www.fodors.com/community/eur...-trip-1453922/ |
ndnwill, sorry for the delayed response. I am not sure if Iceland has any nightlife to speak of. We were not aware of any City passes either, as I doubt what benefits they would offer. The sights in Iceland are outside the cities - it is an outdoor place with scenic beauty. I think you should budget about $ 200 a day for food for 2 persons (less if you are alone).
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I visited Iceland circa 6 or 7 years ago so these thoughts are perhaps somewhat out of date. However: we live in UK and then, when the pound was relatively strong {in the post crash but pre Brexit era] we found hotels and food to be about in line or slightly below the London UK level so for us it was not cheap but not expensive. Alcohol was a bit pricier but not ,at that point, hugely so. What we did find was that our daily costs were kept pretty low by the fact that the amazing scenery was free, the sightseeing costs at key places such as major waterfalls and associated parking were great value or non existant. So the higher costs of some things were more than offset by the things that were good value. For us the overall experience was wonderful and priceless.
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Originally Posted by annhig
(Post 16906604)
ndnwill - my experience of food prices in Iceland is somewhat out of date as we were there just before the crash in 2008, when we found food very expensive, but there is some good news - one cup of coffee will bring you free top ups for as long as you want them, virtually everywhere, and quite decent not too expensive food can be found at most petrol stations. If you have facilities for cooking that should keep costs down but actually finding food to cook wasn't always easy when we were there.
Some research found this reasonably recent guide to prices but the ranges are very wide so that may not be too helpful. My advice would be to work out what it's likely to cost you and then add 50%. Can't help with the city passes but with the time you're going to be there they might not be the best value anyway. Good luck, it's a fabulous fascinating place. |
Originally Posted by indiancouple
(Post 16908630)
ndnwill, sorry for the delayed response. I am not sure if Iceland has any nightlife to speak of. We were not aware of any City passes either, as I doubt what benefits they would offer. The sights in Iceland are outside the cities - it is an outdoor place with scenic beauty. I think you should budget about $ 200 a day for food for 2 persons (less if you are alone).
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Originally Posted by loncall
(Post 16908768)
I visited Iceland circa 6 or 7 years ago so these thoughts are perhaps somewhat out of date. However: we live in UK and then, when the pound was relatively strong {in the post crash but pre Brexit era] we found hotels and food to be about in line or slightly below the London UK level so for us it was not cheap but not expensive. Alcohol was a bit pricier but not ,at that point, hugely so. What we did find was that our daily costs were kept pretty low by the fact that the amazing scenery was free, the sightseeing costs at key places such as major waterfalls and associated parking were great value or non existant. So the higher costs of some things were more than offset by the things that were good value. For us the overall experience was wonderful and priceless.
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ndnwill - I think that the difference in prices between what we and loncall experienced may be explained by the fact that we were there at the height of the Icelandic boom, and Loncall about 3 years after the crash. whether prices have returned to their pre-crash level I don't know, but Loncall is right - the sights are superb and cheap so they more than make up for what might seem to be high food and drink prices.
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We are heading over in a few weeks. I have found this website https://icelandwithaview.com/ invaluable for up to date info. Her associated face book page is extremely interactive and the answers from fellow travellers is current and fast. |
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