May 2011 Iceland Honeymoon
 

Greetings! My fiance and I are contemplating the idea of a self-drive tour of Iceland for our early May honeymoon. We just watched a travel video of a driving trip in April, though, and now we're a little spooked about the weather. Has anyone had experience driving the country in early spring?

For folks who have done the self-drive tour, does this strike you as a reasonably relaxing honeymoon? I absolutely want to see Iceland and the self-drive tour seems ideal, but I just want to be sure it won't be too stressful since we'll be flying a day or so after our wedding. I'd love your thoughts and suggestions.

Hi busybz,
I spent my honeymoon in Iceland in the 'Summer' of 2006 and couldn't recommend it highly enough. I've never driven there in Spring but have done in October and despite some storms and rain of almost Biblical proportions, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The pace of driving in Iceland is necessarily slow outside of the cities due to the gravel roads, and when we drove around in October, the traffic was so few and far between that we just went along at our own pace, stopping as and when we felt like it. We often stopped right in the middle of the road to take photos and didn't see another vehicle the whole time we were parked.

Obviously I think it'll make for a relaxing honeymoon but I'd also recommend not trying to fit everything in and stopping for a couple of days or more in some locations just to soak up the atmosphere.

I think I'm having withdrawal symptoms. I might have to look into cheap flights from London...

Thanks so much, Jay_G. That's good to hear! Did you do a package self-drive tour, or did you just do the drive on your own? I think that'll be the next thing we try to figure out.

Thanks again!

No problem busybz.

We just rented a car once we got there after deciding on a rough route before we arrived. However if you want the most relaxing time, I imagine that doing a package tour would be completely problem free as all the travel companies/agencies/hotels and transfer services that we've used in our two visits to Iceland have been nothing other than exemplary.

If you need any other pointers, just shout!

Definitely go with self-drive... we did a 2 week loop in early to mid-October and it was awesome. Half the fun of Iceland is all of little off-the-beaten-path stops along the way. Just look for the 'point of interest' signs and head off the main road.

Ring road should generally be OK in spring. The side roads can be a bit dicey at times, but if you're comfortable with dirt road and a little rain and snow, you'll be fine.

We did it in a little 2 wheel drive Citroen without issue. Granted I've had a fair amount of winter weather and offroad driving, but you shouldn't have a problem.

<i>I just want to be sure it won't be too stressful since we'll be flying a day or so after our wedding.</i>

Start and end your trip at the Blue Lagoon! Nothing like that mud (or their spa services) to start your honeymoon in the best possible way! And then hit it again on the way back, since it's close to the airport in Keflavik. :) I've only been for a few hours, but someone posted on here not too long ago about their good experiences spending the night there, I think...