Iceland trip report!
 

I just finished a wonderful trip to Iceland with my daugther!
We flew on Delta through JFK and spent 8 nights in Iceland. As I get older, I realize how flying takes up an entire day coming out of Richmond Virginia and coach really isn't the greatest. I also don't like the overnight flights since I can never sleep on the plane. We upgraded to Delta comfort and were fortunate to be on the exit row in the only two seater on the plane. Still even with all the leg room, sleeping was impossible. I wound up reading a book most of the flight.

We landed in Iceland early in the morning and took the flybus to Reykjavik where our hotel for the next 7 nights was located. It was easy and we were dropped off right around the corner from the hotel.
We checked into the Canopy Hilton which was a great hotel! I was using points so it was free but I would choose the hotel again in a heartbeat. The hotel is in a great location, easy walking distance to everything in the city. It had modern amenities, no air conditioning which normally is not needed, but we had some warm days so I had a fan in the room. The room we had was very small. It had two comfortable and seemed oversized twin beds. It also had a modern bathroom and the whole room seemed new.
The Hilton also has a neat feature where you can take a record player up to your room and play the millions of records they have all over the lobby of the hotel. We loved this and bought an Icelandic Indie folk/rock band album and played it every night.
The Hilton also had a fantastic breakfast. Everything you could ever want in a buffet breakfast, plus gluten free bread for anyone who needs that. My daughter is gluten free so this was a great breakfast for her as well! Three types of eggs, potatoes, salmon sushimi, cereals, yogurts, breads, cakes, fruit,etc.. Highly recommend the Canopy Hilton. Staff seems to be all under 30. It is a very happy and friendly hotel.

Dinners:
Glo Glo is a restaurant that is very allergy friendly and organic. It is more casual than the other nights we ate out. We both had the chicken which came with three choices of sides which were salads of various types. I think almost everything is gluten free on their menu. I also had a soup which was tasty but a little spicy for me.

The Fish Company. This restaurant had a nice atmosphere, but the menu was not the greatest even for my fish loving daughter. I had the duck which was very good, but I found most of the fishes were fried and there were no sides to the main course. Not our favorite.

The Fish Grill. This was one of the favorite restaurants. We ate here twice. Once on my daughter's birthday where they gave her a delicious gluten free dessert for free. It had cheesecake, passion fruit, and mango sorbet. It was unbelievably delicious. The menu also offered a lactose free menu if anyone needs that. I had the salty cod the first time and the plaice fish and perch the second time. I liked Perch the best. My daughter had the sushi (salmon, tuna and atlantic char), and said it was amazing. We also had the appetizers of Puffin, the beloved bird of Iceland which was kind of chewy and the Mink whale which was raw, but quite tasty even for me who has never had sushi. The sauce was quite good. This restaurant also had a very nice ambience and I would highly recommend it.

The Grill Market. I think it was called this. This is a more of a meat grill restaurant. I had pretty good filet mignon. My daughter ordered salmon but said it was just okay. We also felt rushed here and were in and out in an hour. They had horse on the menu if anyone would be interested in that.

Apotek. This is a lively restaurant and we both had rack of lamb. The lamb was great and honestly, when in Iceland, you must order lamb because it is one of their best meals. Our waiter was fun and very nice. We also shared an artic char on a salt block for an appetizer and it was very good.

The Hilton's restaurant Geiri Smart was also very good. We had lamb and beef and both were excellent.

The Lava restaurant at the Blue Lagoon. This is the Blue Lagoon's upscale restaurant. This was the best beef and lamb we had all week. Highly recommend. You get a free glass of sparkling wine with your dinner which was a nice touch.

Things about dining in Iceland. Number 1, don't tip. It is not expected. This made dining quite easy actually. Number 2, every restaurant is EXPENSIVE. We never had a cheap meal. We spent 200. USD per night approx for dinner. I was the only drinker having two cocktails at each meal. Wine was very pricey and not very good. So, I went with cocktails instead. We had dessert a couple of times or appetizers. Most nights ran about 200.
We bought yogurts and took them with us on our adventures during the day because we ate such huge breakfasts. I really liked the skyr yogurt which happen to have 15 grams of protein in each little cup!
Third, make reservations! Most places book up and were packed at 7pm by both locals and tourists. So plan ahead at least a day or two.

Adventures: RENT A CAR for a least a day or two. We did it twice! We had a car for two days at the end where we drove ourselves to the Blue lagoon and then on to the airport hotel for the last night. But we went ahead and rented a car for another two days mid trip. This was a great way to get out and explore some of the island on your own. We rented from Blue Car rental. We had no problems with them and they were easy to work with. We did get the extra insurance with gravel and ash. Even on our main road trips, we drove over gravel roads for a bit so glad we got it.

Arctic Adventures snowmobiling and Golden Circle tour. They picked us up at the bus stop around the corner from the hilton in a huge super jeep. This is a large mercedes van with a Ford f150 engine and tires that are gigantic. People took pictures of the jeep wherever we stopped. This was driven by a tiny 5 foot tall Icelandic girl, our tour guide! She was so cute and she hopped in and out of the jeep to inflate and deflate tires depending on road conditions. First they took us into the Golden circle where we we went to where the tactonic plates are separating. Next we went to an area with geysers and hot springs. We ate lunch here in a cafe which was quite pricey. They had a good lamb soup and the salads were fresh, but we wound up spending about 80 dollars on a cafeteria lunch. This was on our second day of our trip. After that we packed snacks and yogurts. Then we stopped at a waterfall where we picked up more people and we went off road to the snowmobiling. You ride two to a snowmobile. My daughter was great at driving it so I let her drive 90 percent of the trip and I drove it at the end just to try it. It was COLD on those things!! They gave us gloves and jumpsuits but my fingers felt like they were frozen stiff. My daughter loved this experience and it was a highlight for her.

Arctic Adventures. We booked a whale watching through them but you can book it direct through Elding. This is a 3.5 hour ride on a boat. I have to say, the weather was perfect, but they give out fee sea sickness pills and barf bags like candy. This made me nervous. A couple of people still threw up even with the pleasant weather we had out there. The waves are a little rough on the way out and when you are seeing the whales, the boat rocks a lot. We were okay with the boat ride. We were laughing because our captain was saying "this is a chance of a lifetime to see the Mink whale and the humpback whale". He had a spanish accent and was so dramatic he had my daughter running all over the boat to see everything. I guess that means he was a good guide! LOL We were laughing about it later how he was so excited he got her all excited. I would never get on that boat if the weather was bad.

Dog sledding. We went dog sledding on dry land. My daughter loves dogs and this was a mother daughter trip celebrating her getting her masters degree. She turned 23 while on the trip and this was something she really wanted to experience. This was one of the days we rented the car and drove south. The dog sledding was a neat experience and the kid who was our musher was very nice. He actually gave us a map with places to stop he circled along the way and we were able to see many waterfalls because of this. We might have driven by without turning off otherwise.

My favorite thing in Iceland was just driving and seeing the incredible nature in the country and just hanging out with my daughter. We had lots of fun singing 80s music in the car that was played on the local radio. We drove south to Vik and it's black sand beaches and north to Stykkisholmur. Reykjavik is a fun city with lots of streets to explore. We got lost several times but that was part of the fun.

The last night of the trip we stayed at the Airport hotel. It is right in the airport and next to the car rental return which was quite convenient. Overall, the room is sparce but clean. It is great for one night before the early morning flight.

Iceland overall: It is a beautiful country with a unique landscape with very friendly people. It is probably one of the safest places I have ever traveled to. I highly recommend going there but would only go in spring summer and fall when you can spend the days outside. In May, we had about 20 hours of daylight.

Thanks for posting, girlonthego. Interesting to read what you did in a week; looks as if you filled your days pretty well.

Shame that Iceland hasn't got any cheaper since we were there about 10 years ago.

Glad you had such a good time!

ann, food, drinks and the paid excursions were pretty expensive overall I felt. I don't mind paying for a nice meal, but I told my husband when we came home, just don't look at the visa card this month. LOL

susan, we had a fantastic trip!

Sorry forgot to add we spent the afternoon at the blue lagoon which is like a giant hot tub in the middle of a lava field. It was a pleasant and unique experience. We did the in water massages but I don't recommend them. They are costly and they are not real massages. They are like someone lightly touching you. We were going for the all in experience, but you can skip the massage and save 350. dollars which is what it cost for 2 people.
Just enjoy the pool and hang out!

Also, every neighborhood has a pool that is heated year round and it seems that Iclelanders like to hang in the pool. Which since it is so cold all the time, I can see why people like to have the heated pools.

I went in August about 15 years ago and decided last year I wanted to go back in the winter. I went this past February and loved it. Not really cold-temps in the mid 30's and snow flurries on and off but no heavy snow until after I left. I loved being out walking around the city and seeing the landscapes and scenery in winter. It's a whole different look. I would go back in a heartbeat. I really love Iceland in any weather.

<<Shame that Iceland hasn't got any cheaper since we were there about 10 years ago.>>>

We're in Iceland at this very moment annhig and every day brings a new price shock...and we're not even taking tours, just exploring on our own by car and trying to eat without going broke.

I think we finally found a place more expensive than Australia and Switzerland.

Thank goodness for store bought Skyr - delicious and affordable:)

girlonthego - Lucky you getting accommodation with points. A huge money saver.

Melnq8, we were very fortunate to have the points for the hotel!
Yes, love the skyr yogurt! :)
Enjoy your time there!

I'm off to Iceland in about 3 weeks. I need to lose a few pounds which should be easy since we won't be able to afford to eat. ;)

We're also staying at the Canopy Hilton. Thanks for the info!

oh dear, Mel, I'm sorry about the prices. Do they still give you free top ups for coffee? [or in one place we found, free coffee!]

Mind you that only helps if you drink coffee in the first place.

I hope that otherwise you are having a good time.

Girlonthego--so glad you two had a great time! As you know, we adored Iceland and have a return trip planned. We were there in the fall which we enjoyed and then our kids went over New Years. DD said she has never been so cold in her life lol. When we were there the northern lights we're supposedly amazing, but we were too beat to get up for them as we fly from Seattle.

annhig -

Not sure about the coffee - I'm a coffee snob, so it's espresso or nothing for me. I've seen those pump thermos thingies in gas stations and some cafes, but have not investigated.

Gas is about USD $8 a gallon, which explains all the low clearance econo boxes on the road...ours included.

A a bottle of beer at USD $12 is a bit hard to take, but we did our homework and brought wine and snacks with us, so that's helped the budget a bit.

Had a spectacular day today - saw the icebergs in the lake and had perfect light for photos, which hasn't happened much this trip. Overheard a woman say she had visited this particular lake five times and she had never seen it like this - she was really chuffed, as was I. I do like my good light.

that's great about the iceberg lake, Mel. we liked that too!

we aren't that fussy about coffee and found the usual offerings quite acceptable, luckily, and I can't really remember about the cost of beer, just that everything was expensive.

Hope your tomorrow is just as good as your today.

mel, I hope you are having a great time!

mms, yes it was so much fun! You two are very outdoorsy so I can sse you guys going back to hike a glacier or volcano! :) I probably would not go back because there are too many places to go and I have seen what I thought I should see. However, I highly recommend it! It was a great place to go with so many neat aspects to it. Also, like I said before, was one of the safest places I have ever traveled.

girlonthego -

I am having a great time, but probably because I'm now in Switzerland instead of Iceland.

Looks like Iceland will be a one off for us - we're glad we went but
we really didn't get what all the fuss was about. It's unlikely we will go back, unless we just happen to get a super-duper-wonderful stopover fare between the US and elsewhere in Europe.

Mel - I think we enjoyed Iceland more than you seem to have done, but so far, I've seen no need to go back. the best bits for us by far were the trip to the far western cliffs and the two boat trips we did. And the Golden Circle. And...ok, we did like to quite a lot.

Hope Switzerland continues to be great. I've just started a thread on that subject if you've got a bit of time to give me some advice?

Mel, have fun in Switzerland!

GOTG, great TR, and lots of memories. We visited last summer and it's been one of the best trips ever. Glaciers, ice lagoons, volcanoes, dog sledding, puffins, waterfalls, rainbows, amazing clouds and scenery, we would go back in a heart beat. We were there for 18 days, and only managed the south and the west (plus some of the highlands). Need to go back for the rest of the country :)

Mel, yes, expansive, but I did not think a lot more than the rest of Europe. Enjoy Switzerland now!

Enjoyed your report! I was in Iceland 2 years ago for only 2 nights on an Icelandair stopover on my way to Paris. It was July so there was plenty of daylight (i woke up at 3 am just to look at the window)! I definately want to return to Iceland for a longer visit.

I'm from Richmond, too!

Ann and Mel

Over 25 years of adult travel, there's only been two credit card statements that I haven't even bothered to open.

The first was South Africa last October when the bill for two weeks was so low that it wasn't worth opening. A meal for three at a Constantia vineyard with wine was £25.

The second was this February when the bill for 6 days in Iceland was 3 times that of the bill for two weeks in Cape Town. I just binned the bill, down half a bottle of Talisker and cried.

Iceland prices were just ludicrous, just silly.

To me Iceland just didn't have the magical feel of Norway. Just felt like a tourist trap.

Dickie - I think that Iceland has changed a lot in the 9 or so years since we went [we were there in 2008 just before the crash]; I suspect that there are far more tourists than there were then and with a comparative limited number of places to go, especially around Reykjavik and the south west of the country, the infrastructure is bound to be stretched.

and the temptation to make hay all the higher considering the difficulties of making a living there. Because, even more so than in Cornwall, there is little there besides tourism and far less competition for the $ of the tourists who visit.

Prices were high when we were there, but not silly.

Thanks for your report. I leave this coming Thursday night. Can't wait! I'm doing the Inside the Volcano tour and have 3 tours booked with Extreme Iceland (Golden Circle, Snaefelsness Peninsula and the overnight South Coast-Jokulsarllon with Glacier Hike.)

Curious why anyone would book a tour of the Golden Circle? It's an easy drive and, IMO quite underwhelming.. unless me missed something rather grand?

Prices are silly now.

Very, very silly.

Silly indeed. $250 for a room in a farmhouse with shared bathroom and cold breakfast. Not even during high season. $120 for a night in a hostel with shared bathroom (that was a bargain in comparison).

$6 USD for a roll in a grocery store. $16 for a pint of local beer outside of happy hour. $22 for a bowl of soup, $44 for a piece of Artic Char and a potato garnish. $22 for a glass of wine.

Skyr was a lifesaver - good and relatively cheap.

Just not good value. Not much bang for one's buck.

Oh yeah, and $14 for a medium sized locally made chocolate bar...

I think my best one was the posh bakery on the Main Street.

We had lunch there, the food was good the prices was just average silly.

I had enough of looking at restaurant menu prices with £40 main courses. I suggested to my wife we stayed in the apartment that night and eat in. I picked up a really good looking cheese cake type tart which was large. I was tired and just went to pay for it, thought it was pretty good value.

i had it grabbed back and put back on the shelf by my wife.

It was £45 not £4.50.

good grief - the prices have gone up. I'd have to go back to my TR to check but I don't remember them being anything like that.

Mel - sorry that you didn't enjoy the golden Circle. We thought that the waterfall was pretty impressive, and loved the geyser. As for the Parliament, that didn't do much for me but the chance to walk between the tectonic plates was a definitely first for me. overall we liked it, and thought it worth a visit. But then we didn't feel that we were paying through the nose for everything which i know can make a big difference to how you feel about a place.

We did the Golden Circle tour because it was tied into our snowmobile tour and I thought it was a good tour.

It was expensive. I always buy a deck of cards and it was 16.00 for a deck of cards. I said forget it. Also, the icelandic sweaters were not only about 250-350 us dollars, but they were so rough and itchy! How do people wear them?

We wound up buying very little in souvenirs. We did buy a record of Icelandic music :)

I agree skyr yogurt was good! The dinners were the highest prices.
I still think it is a great destination! Just not a cheap one.

Hi powhatangirl! I am in Midlothian :)

Girlonthego, thanks for the TR, seems like you had a great trip, I love mother-daughter trips too! Much more relaxing to be based in one place. We (family of 4 adults) are headed to Iceland in Aug for 10 days. We will be renting a car and driving the Ring Road so after the first couple of nights in Reyjkavik, it will basically be a different place every night.

Thanks for the dining tips, the prices sure look terrifying! And despite paying those crazy prices for the hotels, they do not look so great. My budget for dinner for 4 was $200 so looks like that may need some revising! BritishCaicos, that story about the cheese tart is insane!!

But anyway, that being what it is, (sigh!) can anyone tell me which tours are a must-do and if they need to be booked in advance? We are definitely planning to do the Jokulsarlon boat tour, not sure of any others. Any tour company recommendations would be great as well.

Thanks! :)

annhig -

Perhaps we missed something on the Golden Circle, we drove ourselves based on the route suggestion we got at the information office, which wasn't all that clear. We did enjoy the all-you-can eat tomato soup in the geo-thermal greenhouse and of course the ice cream, both of which I'd sussed out in advance based on what I'd read from other travelers. I made sure we visited those:).

We've been to Yellowstone several times, so the geyser was a bit anti-climatic.

I don't even know what all the Golden Circle organized tour includes though, so maybe we just missed the best bits (and the weather wasn't the best).

girlonthego -

I bought a few magnets - and of course a shot glass for a friend who collects them - thought she might get a kick out of one from the Penis Museum (which was very entertaining and educational:).

As for the the Jokulsarlon boat tour, people seemed to be just rocking up and getting on them, but no idea if they had booked or not. We were there on a brilliant day and just gawked and took photos.

Enjoy your trip excited-confused.

Mel, do you feel you "missed" anything by not doing the boat tour. We will be in Iceland in two weeks. We're renting a car and doing to do a long day trip to Jokulsarlon from Reykjavik but haven't booked a boat tour yet because I'd like to pick the best weather day. I read you can just walk up but noticed some tour times are quickly filling up. I'm really looking forward to Jokulsarlon!

I have made a reservation at the tomato soup greenhouse so I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it!

We'll are going to London before Iceland. Any snacks you recommend we pack?

Having posted fairly negatively about Iceland, I have to say that both a visit to The Blue Lagoon on a still, Aurora evening and a trip glacier walking with ice caves were both lifetime experiences which I would not have liked to missed and will never forget.

We did enjoy the all-you-can eat tomato soup in the geo-thermal greenhouse and of course the ice cream, both of which I'd sussed out in advance based on what I'd read from other travelers. I made sure we visited those>>

we didn't do either, Mel, [I'm not even sure they existed 10 years ago] but still enjoyed the Golden Circle [which we also did independently, BTW]. Geysers were a new thing for us, and DS particularly enjoyed them, so much so we had to go back twice [we were staying in a Guesthouse nearby].

We did got to the iceberg lagoon [and did so on spec] and had no difficulty getting on a boat.

<<Mel, do you feel you "missed" anything by not doing the boat tour>>

Not at all. In fact, the boats just seemed to be going around in circles in a relatively small lake.

The best photos of the lake are from the bridge.

We don't feel that we missed anything by not going to the Blue Lagoon, either, but that wasn't of any interest to us. The whole tourist magnet thing, having to book timed spots in advance and silly prices just turned us off. Maybe in the dead of winter we'd have considered it.

Probably good you booked the tomato greenhouse - we turned up 20 minutes before they officially opened (no booking) and were immediately seated, but they were turning people away by 12:15.

Most folks there were on bus tours, so a lot of big groups.

wtm003 -

As for snacks, we packed nuts, dried fruit, cereal bars, crackers, chocolate, coffee & tea (more for convenience than anything - spouse likes those Starbuck's Via Instant thingies and wants his coffee immediately when he gets up), plus several bottles of wine (Wine Skins work great)

I realize you won't want to drag this across London, especially wine, but do avail yourself of duty free upon arrival in Iceland. Prices there are a real bargain compared to what you'll find land side, and limits for beer/wine/spirits are quite generous.

The Penis museum! Where was that?! We read about it and decided we wanted to go because who wouldn't want to go? LOL But wound up never actually getting there.

I am glad we went to the blue lagoon. I think the massage, like I said above was a complete waste of money.

I missed the tomato soup place and I love tomato soup. Too bad!

Glad you went to Iceland GOTG. We were there in 2013. We didn't find the food/alcohol too expensive. I did find the cost of our guide for a three day hike to be incredibly expensive.

As for Iceland itself ... combining volcanic craters with glaciers with waterfalls with amazing hiking trails within a few miles of the ocean all the while knowing that we were north of just about everyone on earth with 19 hours of sunlight available was an incredible experience.

A couple of the less secure husbands on the trip seemed sensitive to penises being relegated to a museum. So we missed that stop as well.

Mel, thanks for the good info! We're undecided about the Blue Lagoon mainly because of the timed entry. I don't want to be rushing to maintain a schedule. There is a hike I read about to a hot spring so I might do that instead.

Good to know about the boat at the iceberg lagoon and will just see what happens when we get there.

Ann, what did you think of the boat tour?

I met a Swedish woman a couple of months ago while in Hawaii. She told me that we had to do the Inside the Volcano tour and it was her favorite thing in Iceland. I changed my mind when I saw it would be $800 for two of us. I think I'm turning into a curmudgeon.

wmt, the family said that the boat trip was fun! In the interests of factual reporting, I should say that i wasn't feeling too good so I didn't go, but the rest of my party did and they really enjoyed it. it took about 30 mins and the kids were very excited to be given some 10,000 year old ice to taste. it is after all a unique experience which is what you go to Iceland for!

It is however a pretty long way and it better done as part of a round the island trip rather than a day's excursion. [which is what we did].