okoshi2002

Hi

We are in Rekjavik in late June for just 2 nights as part of a cruise which continues to Akureyri for one more night.

Rather than take the cruise- organized coach tour we are considering renting a van (7 of us) and self drive one day.

Can you recommend an itinerary that would allow us to see "must see sights "? Of course we want to avoid the crowds as well. We are not sure about the roads- will have a van, not off road jeeps. How far can we go and return comfortably in a day ? What time will it get dark end of June ?

Among other things would want to see a waterfall- Gullfoss ? Geyser-Strokkur ? And volcano ? We are OK with not seeing the Blue Lagoon.

I'd appreciate any suggestion you might have about a half day itinerary in Akureyri as well.

Thanks very much for your help.

okoshi2002

Actually we do not have a night only a day in Akureyri.

Jeff801

Try to get off the ship early, because, for the most part, the rental vehicles are not brought to the cruise port and you probably will have to take a shuttle to the car rental. The good news is that your group will fill the shuttle and you will not have to wait for others to go to the rental car company. On the other hand, Europcar, for one, allows you to just leave the car in the cruise port parking and the keys at the rental desk.

There will be a long twilight only in June, you need not be concerned about it getting dark no matter how late you will be boarding the cruise ship.

Even though I liked the Reykjavik, the countryside is truly spectacular. You can set up your itinerary to your groups taste and inclination on the web, and then test it out for practicality on this board. We loved the huge waterfalls and the national parks, with their frequently erupting geysers (every 5 minutes in one case)and the chance to walk within the Mid-Atlantic Rift. On the second day we were in Iceland, the temperature went up to 20 degrees Celsius and it felt like someone had declared a national holiday.

viktorth

If you where to take the Gullfoss and Geysir I would recommend doing a little bit longer way that would give you the benefit of going a circle instead of just back and forth, seeing new scenery all the time. During which I stop for a hike at Reykjadalur, a valley with geothermal river that gets hotter the higher you walk, until you find the temperature perfect and than you bath.

bilboburgler

My thoughts
1) Do you understand the political and economic situation in Iceland and the history of the last 100 years of people in this devastated country? If not, why not use this part of your holiday and find out?
2) The scenery is not that fantastic, well it is if you realise that humans took 400 years to kill all the original trees and the flat empty landscape is made by the denudation and volcanic action. (coming soon to your part of the planet?)
3) You don't want to visit the Blue Lagoon, because??? You don't like loads of warm water?

I would ignore the ship organised trip (big bus, stupid people mass transport fat-ship based thing) and hire in one of the smaller van trips with your own guide/driver and let them tell you all about the place.

If you don't like spas then don't go to the Lagoon, it is pretty good though.

I like viktorth's agenda.

okoshi2002

I appreciate the comments and suggestions.

If we were to drive from Rekjavik to Gullfoss, Geyser and Hveragerdi/Selfoss, is this a route that can be done comfortably in a day , and can we do it a regular vehicle ?

Car rental companies refer to their cars as "highlander appropriate" meaning 4x4 ?

Thanks.