Iceland Travel Help
Sep 23rd, 2006 | 08:59 AM
#2
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 6,835
Likes: 0
I've always gone through the Icelandair site; they have a variety of ways that you can do this. Iceland is marvelous; for some beginning reading, you could start with the "100 Best" list:
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1278237
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...mp;tid=1278237
Sep 23rd, 2006 | 10:01 AM
#3
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 297
Likes: 0
Hi Chrialeanny,
My Husband and I drove the Ring Road around Iceland in August of 2005. Our trip report is :
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
Within the trip report there is a link to our photos.
Amy gives good advice about the Iceland Air website. They have great packages that meet many different interests.
Let us know how long, and what type of trip you are interested in and I'm sure we can give you additional suggestions.
My Husband and I drove the Ring Road around Iceland in August of 2005. Our trip report is :
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=2
Within the trip report there is a link to our photos.
Amy gives good advice about the Iceland Air website. They have great packages that meet many different interests.
Let us know how long, and what type of trip you are interested in and I'm sure we can give you additional suggestions.
Sep 23rd, 2006 | 10:03 AM
#4
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 297
Likes: 0
Sep 27th, 2006 | 02:07 PM
#5
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 31
Likes: 0
Chrialeanny,
My wife and I went to Iceland in August and drove the ring road. We followed DKW's advice on almost everything and had a great time (by the way... thanks DKW).
We stayed 2 nights in Reykjavik (Hotel Baron), 3 nights in Akureyri (Salka Guesthouse), 1 night in Neskaupsstaður (Hotel Edda), 2 nights in Hofn (Gistiheimilið Ásgarður), 1 night in Vik (Hótel Höfðabrekka) and finished back in Reykjavik (Icelandica Luxury Suites Hotel).
Just a few things to add to DKW's report. When we were in Reykjavik, we went to the Nauthlsvk Beach almost every night. They heat the ocean water and there is a hot pool next to the ocean. Its also free.
The Cave Exploration is awesome, but very cold. We didnt realize it was an Ice Cave (DKW didnt mention that in her report)!!! Dress warm and wear water proof pants b/c you slide around on the ice. Also, the tour is now owned by Hotel Reykjahlid ([email protected]). Our tour guide was awesome; he was by far the best we had during the entire vacation. I highly recommend this!!!
Getting to Neskaupsstaður was quite an experience. We had to drive through mountains that were covered in dense fog. When we got to the top of the mountain, we had to drive through a one lane tunnel. When we finally got to the town there was 1 restaurant
We also did the snowmobiling and white water rafting (used DKW's companies). The rafting was fun and not cold at all... the drysuit was great. The guide actually pulled my wife into the river and she didnt even get wet. The snowmobiling was solid but the follow-the-leader thing kind of stinks. Its still pretty cool to drive a snowmobile on a glacier in the summer (by the way, they provide you with warm clothes).
When we were down south in Hof, we decided to go Ice Climbing in the National Park. It was absolutely awesome and I highly recommend it. You don't need any experience - its actually very easy. I cant stress enough that you need to bring waterproof clothing with you (we got ours from Eddie Bauer for a pretty cheap price). It poured rain on the day we went Ice Climbing and we didnt even get that wet.
Side note - We also skipped the Blue Lagoon and checked out the much less commercialize (and cheaper) one near Lake Myvatn.
Also a few observations
Iceland smells like rotten eggs its very hard to get use to.
Watch out for sheep! They walk around ring road all the time.
The people are really cold... they dont smile.
Its expensive, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Im from NYC and Iceland is about 25% 35% more expensive then NYC.
We elected to rent (Expedia) a manual compact car (AVIS) b/c the manual was much cheaper then the automatic When we got there they only had automatics. This might be a huge scam!
I thought the hot dogs on the street corner in Manhattan are way better then the Iceland Dogs.
People who bike around Iceland are either crazy or cheap bastards (rent a god damn car).
Dont drive a 2 WD car on a 4 WD road. We went 2 hours out of our way b/c a road went from 2 wd to 4wd Needless to say, we had to turn around.
Watch out for sheep!
Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you have enough film or memory sticks for you camera!
My wife and I went to Iceland in August and drove the ring road. We followed DKW's advice on almost everything and had a great time (by the way... thanks DKW).
We stayed 2 nights in Reykjavik (Hotel Baron), 3 nights in Akureyri (Salka Guesthouse), 1 night in Neskaupsstaður (Hotel Edda), 2 nights in Hofn (Gistiheimilið Ásgarður), 1 night in Vik (Hótel Höfðabrekka) and finished back in Reykjavik (Icelandica Luxury Suites Hotel).
Just a few things to add to DKW's report. When we were in Reykjavik, we went to the Nauthlsvk Beach almost every night. They heat the ocean water and there is a hot pool next to the ocean. Its also free.
The Cave Exploration is awesome, but very cold. We didnt realize it was an Ice Cave (DKW didnt mention that in her report)!!! Dress warm and wear water proof pants b/c you slide around on the ice. Also, the tour is now owned by Hotel Reykjahlid ([email protected]). Our tour guide was awesome; he was by far the best we had during the entire vacation. I highly recommend this!!!
Getting to Neskaupsstaður was quite an experience. We had to drive through mountains that were covered in dense fog. When we got to the top of the mountain, we had to drive through a one lane tunnel. When we finally got to the town there was 1 restaurant
We also did the snowmobiling and white water rafting (used DKW's companies). The rafting was fun and not cold at all... the drysuit was great. The guide actually pulled my wife into the river and she didnt even get wet. The snowmobiling was solid but the follow-the-leader thing kind of stinks. Its still pretty cool to drive a snowmobile on a glacier in the summer (by the way, they provide you with warm clothes).
When we were down south in Hof, we decided to go Ice Climbing in the National Park. It was absolutely awesome and I highly recommend it. You don't need any experience - its actually very easy. I cant stress enough that you need to bring waterproof clothing with you (we got ours from Eddie Bauer for a pretty cheap price). It poured rain on the day we went Ice Climbing and we didnt even get that wet.
Side note - We also skipped the Blue Lagoon and checked out the much less commercialize (and cheaper) one near Lake Myvatn.
Also a few observations
Iceland smells like rotten eggs its very hard to get use to.
Watch out for sheep! They walk around ring road all the time.
The people are really cold... they dont smile.
Its expensive, but not nearly as bad as I thought. Im from NYC and Iceland is about 25% 35% more expensive then NYC.
We elected to rent (Expedia) a manual compact car (AVIS) b/c the manual was much cheaper then the automatic When we got there they only had automatics. This might be a huge scam!
I thought the hot dogs on the street corner in Manhattan are way better then the Iceland Dogs.
People who bike around Iceland are either crazy or cheap bastards (rent a god damn car).
Dont drive a 2 WD car on a 4 WD road. We went 2 hours out of our way b/c a road went from 2 wd to 4wd Needless to say, we had to turn around.
Watch out for sheep!
Let me know if you have any questions and make sure you have enough film or memory sticks for you camera!
Oct 9th, 2006 | 01:24 PM
#6
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
We were in Iceland at the end of August for 8 1/2 days and it was SPECTACULAR! I wouldn't change a thing about our trip. Our full trip report (broken down in sections) along with tips and suggestions are posted here ... http://pub2.bravenet.com/forum/147964256.
Oct 9th, 2006 | 02:03 PM
#7
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
The only organized multi day tour I ever took was in Iceland: "The Viking Challenge". I don't know if it is still offered - we got it through Icelandair.
There were 14 people on the six day tour. It was fabulous, really changed my mind about tours. I never would have seen/done as much on my own.
We rode the ponies, white water rafted, sea kayaked, went to a glacier, did all the stuff that is on the one day Golden Circle tour, did a whale watching boat ride, went to many other sites (geothermal power plant, volcanos, waterfalls, folk museum), and of course the Blue Lagoon.
I also did a one day, very long day, tour to the Snaeffeless (I can't remember how to spell it) Peninsula. Also excellent.
Then, I did touring on my own around the Akureyri area - including a trip north by ferry to the island of Grimsey and the Arctic Circle.
I would like to go back and see more of Iceland and would probably find some small tour to take. You just learn so much about the people, geology, history from the guides.
There were 14 people on the six day tour. It was fabulous, really changed my mind about tours. I never would have seen/done as much on my own.
We rode the ponies, white water rafted, sea kayaked, went to a glacier, did all the stuff that is on the one day Golden Circle tour, did a whale watching boat ride, went to many other sites (geothermal power plant, volcanos, waterfalls, folk museum), and of course the Blue Lagoon.
I also did a one day, very long day, tour to the Snaeffeless (I can't remember how to spell it) Peninsula. Also excellent.
Then, I did touring on my own around the Akureyri area - including a trip north by ferry to the island of Grimsey and the Arctic Circle.
I would like to go back and see more of Iceland and would probably find some small tour to take. You just learn so much about the people, geology, history from the guides.
