Reykjavik hotels
 

Will be flying Icelandair with a 3 night stop over in Reykjavik next May, would like some suggestions for hotels in town, budget within $200/night if possible. We plan to spend one day in Reykjavik and one day for the Golden Circle tour, where else could we go the third day? Look forward to your suggestions, thanks in advance:)

Here is my trip report from a similar trip (my stopover was only two days). I did one day Reykjavik and one for the Golden Circle. I saw plenty of other opportunities for things to do if I'd had a third day. There are details about the hotel in the trip report.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...pover-trip.cfm

About 6 years or so ago we did a stopover in Reykjavik and stayed at the Hotel Fron.
http://www.hotelfron.is/

We liked the location and the hotel.

A day that combines horseback riding (unique in Iceland due to the Viking "ponies" and lava fields) with a visit to the Blue Lagoon is great. Then there is Thorvald, Thor's woods, one of my favorite places. Another good day is Skogafoss (waterfall) and the Soheimajokull glacier. And, of course, there's always whale-watching and puffin watching!

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...in-iceland.cfm

It's been too long (sigh) since I've been in Iceland for me to recommend a hotel, but Saga was nice when I was there, but a bit out of the way; I preferred Skjaldbreid's location but the room was tiny. (Didn't bother me, but it does matter to some people.)

Besides the Grand Circle Tour I also did day tours to the South Shore and The Snaefellsness Peninsula. Both were excellent.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, will look at them. I too was thinking of Vik and the south peninsula, how about Glacier Lagoon, is it too far for a day trip? Susie, how did you do these tours, by yourself or with a tour operator? Am debating whether it is worth renting a car for three days, what do you say? Thanks again:)

Hi - as a local I would recommend you to stay one day in Reykjavik and explore the city and enjoy it, this all though depends on when you arrive, I always recommend a guesthouse rather than a hotel as you get a much better personal service there; I know the owners at www.eric.is and I know that people are really happy with there service.

If you want to do something different I would rent a car and go to the south coast, take the ferry to Westman Islands (IS. Vestmannaeyjar), check out the still hot lava there, the lava museum Eldheimar (www.eldheimar.is) and go on a Ribsafari (www.ribsafari.is) where you can bounce on waves while exploring the nature and wildlife. At the end of the day you can take the ferry back to the south coast and drive back towards the "golden circle" area and stay at a farm house or some bed and breakfast (http://www.farmholidays.is/) and eat at some farm restaurant and then in the morning and afternoon check out the golden circle and slowly head back to Reykjavik where you can wine and dine in the evening.

Hope this helps.

Thanks lailapetursdottir, this is exactly the kind of advice I'm looking for. We should arrive around 8am and plan to spend the first day in Reykjavik, then one day for the Golden Circle and Vik/waterfalls/black sand beach/glacier for the third day. Another option would be Glacier Lagoon instead of Vik, need to research the modalities. We fly out the morning of the fourth day, so that day doesn't count.

I've been looking at several guest houses in addition to hotels, will definitely check out eric.is, have also got a good price for an apartment in Rey Apartment Hotel, what do you think about it?

My third question is whether it makes sense to rent a car. We'll be four of us and IMO the car (think we'll need a 4WD) will certainly be more economical than taking tours, etc. How difficult or otherwise will the road conditions be in the end of May, that's my only concern. Thanks again, really appreciate getting a local's input.