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].