Iceland - when to go and what to do?
Discussion
Early April is good - I went 2 years ago (the weekend of the first eruptions!!). Stayed in Reykjavik, rented a Corsa - daft idea, I was being a cheapskate - some roads (usually to the best places) only allow 4x4s.
Go to Geysers, Iceberg lake (Jökulsárlón c200m from Reyk but for the drive alone it is worth it), excellent thermal energy plant 10m East of the capital does interesting tours, eat whale steaks and tandoori puffin. Take a flight if you can across the glaciers and volcanoes, awesome!!
Go to Geysers, Iceberg lake (Jökulsárlón c200m from Reyk but for the drive alone it is worth it), excellent thermal energy plant 10m East of the capital does interesting tours, eat whale steaks and tandoori puffin. Take a flight if you can across the glaciers and volcanoes, awesome!!
NormalWisdom said:
Early April is good - I went 2 years ago (the weekend of the first eruptions!!). Stayed in Reykjavik, rented a Corsa - daft idea, I was being a cheapskate - some roads (usually to the best places) only allow 4x4s.
Go to Geysers, Iceberg lake (Jökulsárlón c200m from Reyk but for the drive alone it is worth it), excellent thermal energy plant 10m East of the capital does interesting tours, eat whale steaks and tandoori puffin. Take a flight if you can across the glaciers and volcanoes, awesome!!
Sounds awesome!Go to Geysers, Iceberg lake (Jökulsárlón c200m from Reyk but for the drive alone it is worth it), excellent thermal energy plant 10m East of the capital does interesting tours, eat whale steaks and tandoori puffin. Take a flight if you can across the glaciers and volcanoes, awesome!!
Is there a time when we are likely to see the northern lights too (or is that further north)?
How long were you there for?
Maxf said:
Sounds awesome!
Is there a time when we are likely to see the northern lights too (or is that further north)?
How long were you there for?
Went for 4 days, Northern Lights usually visible between September and early May (doesn't get very dark late May, June and July!!).Is there a time when we are likely to see the northern lights too (or is that further north)?
How long were you there for?
I didn't see them because it was cloudy the whole time!!
Matt.. said:
I did a couple of weeks earlier this year so will reply properly later.
Do you have any interest in the outdoors? Walking? Photography?
I enjoy a bit of photography, but the Mrs is a bit of a geography geek and wants to see volcanos and glaciers - hence the main reason for the trip!Do you have any interest in the outdoors? Walking? Photography?
I spent a long time planning my trip and it was almost all based around photography, however, the trip covered all the usual places that you'd go to, even if you aren't a photographer 
I found it very hard to decide on when to go, as it's the kind of place that you want to go to at least twice! I finally settles on June (11-23rd to be precise). This was because of the more predictable weather, and amazing light. In June it's basically 24hrs of daylight, and being out at midnight gave some spectacular light (when it wasn't full cloud cover, or no cloud cover... which it was quite often at night). I was incredibly lucky and got a few hours of hard rain, and and a couple of afternoons of light rain, but other than that it could almost have been described as sunny!
I had a Suzuki Grand Vitara rental, and would urge you to get something similar. There are many local rental places, and some of these are probably very good, but there are also some shockingly bad examples, so i would suggest you research it well. I used Budget who had a sale on, and got a really good price. The Suzuki did some minor offroading, and a lot of miles on gravel roads, and was very good.
This is the outline of my trip:
1. Fly in to Reykjavik (stayed in Reykjavik)
2. Golden Circle (stayed in Selfoss)
3. Haifoss, Landmannalaugar (stayed in Selfoss) (http://vimeo.com/44208447 driving the easy way to Landmannalaugar)
4. Seljalandsfoss [waterfall], Skogafos [waterfall], Dyrhólavegur, crashed C47 (stayed in Vik)
5. Skaftafell National Park, glacier walk, Svartifoss [waterfall] (stayyed in Skaftafell)
6. Fjallsárlón [glacier + lagoon], Jökulsárlón [glacial lagoon] (stayed in Hofn)
7. Dettifoss, Myvatn, Námaskarð hot springs, whale watching (stayed in Husavik)
8. Myvatn [inc Grjótagjá cave, Krafla lava fields, Viti crater, Hverfjall crater, etc...] (stayed in Husavik)
9. Godafoss (stayed in Akureyri)
10. Kirkjufell (stayed in Stykkisholmur)
11. Snaefellsnes Peninsula (stayed in Reykjavik)
12. Inside The Volcano tour
Haifoss
Skogafoss
Wrecked C47 - I walked here (you can drive, but where's the fun in that?), i was swooped on by a lot of birds though... i dont think they wanted me there! As seen on Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6m6L0Y650&fea...
Dyrhólavegur
Vik
East coast
Dettifoss - It's a very long dirt road to get here, so not one for when it's bad weather. As seen at the start of Prometheus!
Godafoss at midnight - 24hr daylight is amazing when you get good cloud cover. Driving around that evening was special.
Muddy hire car on the Snaefellnes Peninsula!
Kirkjufell
Inside a volcano! - http://www.insidethevolcano.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthoulb/sets/721576... <- some photos (all geotagged, so view the map to see where they are)
I have full GPS logs of everywhere i went, and a summary map is here:
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=M...
If you can spare a couple of weeks then you will have an amazing time. If you only have a long weekend then you will probably just stick to Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and maybe the waterfalls in the south east, and up as far as Jökulsárlón. I recommend a few weeks though!
If you have any more questions then please ask.
I found it very hard to decide on when to go, as it's the kind of place that you want to go to at least twice! I finally settles on June (11-23rd to be precise). This was because of the more predictable weather, and amazing light. In June it's basically 24hrs of daylight, and being out at midnight gave some spectacular light (when it wasn't full cloud cover, or no cloud cover... which it was quite often at night). I was incredibly lucky and got a few hours of hard rain, and and a couple of afternoons of light rain, but other than that it could almost have been described as sunny!
I had a Suzuki Grand Vitara rental, and would urge you to get something similar. There are many local rental places, and some of these are probably very good, but there are also some shockingly bad examples, so i would suggest you research it well. I used Budget who had a sale on, and got a really good price. The Suzuki did some minor offroading, and a lot of miles on gravel roads, and was very good.
This is the outline of my trip:
1. Fly in to Reykjavik (stayed in Reykjavik)
2. Golden Circle (stayed in Selfoss)
3. Haifoss, Landmannalaugar (stayed in Selfoss) (http://vimeo.com/44208447 driving the easy way to Landmannalaugar)
4. Seljalandsfoss [waterfall], Skogafos [waterfall], Dyrhólavegur, crashed C47 (stayed in Vik)
5. Skaftafell National Park, glacier walk, Svartifoss [waterfall] (stayyed in Skaftafell)
6. Fjallsárlón [glacier + lagoon], Jökulsárlón [glacial lagoon] (stayed in Hofn)
7. Dettifoss, Myvatn, Námaskarð hot springs, whale watching (stayed in Husavik)
8. Myvatn [inc Grjótagjá cave, Krafla lava fields, Viti crater, Hverfjall crater, etc...] (stayed in Husavik)
9. Godafoss (stayed in Akureyri)
10. Kirkjufell (stayed in Stykkisholmur)
11. Snaefellsnes Peninsula (stayed in Reykjavik)
12. Inside The Volcano tour
Haifoss
Skogafoss
Wrecked C47 - I walked here (you can drive, but where's the fun in that?), i was swooped on by a lot of birds though... i dont think they wanted me there! As seen on Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j6m6L0Y650&fea...Dyrhólavegur
Vik
East coast
Dettifoss - It's a very long dirt road to get here, so not one for when it's bad weather. As seen at the start of Prometheus!
Godafoss at midnight - 24hr daylight is amazing when you get good cloud cover. Driving around that evening was special.
Muddy hire car on the Snaefellnes Peninsula!
Kirkjufell
Inside a volcano! - http://www.insidethevolcano.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/matthoulb/sets/721576... <- some photos (all geotagged, so view the map to see where they are)
I have full GPS logs of everywhere i went, and a summary map is here:
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/embedviz?viz=M...
If you can spare a couple of weeks then you will have an amazing time. If you only have a long weekend then you will probably just stick to Reykjavik, the Golden Circle, and maybe the waterfalls in the south east, and up as far as Jökulsárlón. I recommend a few weeks though!
If you have any more questions then please ask.
Edited by Matt.. on Monday 5th November 18:50
Maxf said:
That looks like an amazing trip - thanks for the info.
I was thinking of 4 days, but that is making me want to extend the trip! Is it crazily expensive when you're there? Eating out etc?
Yes it is expensive. But it's most definitely worth it. I'm sure you can save money if you're willing to camp, but i wasn't! Places to eat out are obviously extremely limited when you're outside of the main towns (which is basically when you're not in Reykjavik!). The supermarkets also have very odd opening hours, which can be very frustrating! I was thinking of 4 days, but that is making me want to extend the trip! Is it crazily expensive when you're there? Eating out etc?
I stayed in basic hotels/guesthouses, and most were ~£100/night. Don't expect to go much cheaper than that unless you're camping. Also remember that if you go out of Reykjavik that the options are very limited, and you need to book early if you're going at busy times. If you don't want pizza/burger, then food if fairly expensive (and alcohol is crazy expensive... especially in the middle of nowhere!).
Don't eat whale. Tourists are the only people that eat it, and therefore the ones that drive the whale hunting...
If you can get the time to do the ring road then i really would urge you to do it. The road is only about 1,000 miles, so not that far, but you do need 10days+.
If you have 4 days, then you can probably do the things i listed in days 1, 2, 4, and maybe 5, and 6. Though it would be rushed. Those are the places that people go on bus tours!
Matt.. said:
Don't eat whale. Tourists are the only people that eat it, and therefore the ones that drive the whale hunting...
Sort of true - only 10% of islanders eat it whilst 40% of tourists give it a go. The drive for hunting was primarily exports to the Japanese market, which, after the Tsunami/nuclear issues, pretty much evaporated.Have to admit though Matt, your itinerary has me longing to go again and get off the "Bus Route"
Maxf said:
Is a bus trip a decent way to see things - not very PH I know, but the cost of hiring a 4x4 seems a little OTT! I assume the 'group a' (not rally unfortunately) car wouldn't be suitable for much more than pootling around town.
The ring road is only about 10% gravel. The Golden Circle route, and the route to Jokulsarlon is all very well maintained tarmac. There is no issue doing that in a standard car in summer. It's only more challenging if you want to go off the ring road, but most of the well known sights are right next to it! (as you can see from my gps routes!).For your info, my Group P, Suzuki Grand Vitara, was £700 (i had cash back on this from Quidco too) for 11days from Budget.
I did a similar trip to Matt back in 2004. Fantastic holiday and one I will repeat at some point soon. We went anti clock around Iceland from Keflavik, taking around 3 weeks to do so - doing most of what Matt did, plus. It is a stunning country scenery wise. We had a diesel Toyota Landcruiser which just consumed the terrain with ease, including some roads that strictly speaking you aren't insured/allowed to do with hire cars. I would defo say take a 4WD if planning on doing much over the Golden Circle - it will make life easier and more enjoyable. We also took day trips to go whale watching, and to take boat trips out to islands to see puffins, plus skidooing up on one of the ice fields. We also went in June and at times followed the lorries which were reopening the roads - if you want to drive right round Iceland you have to pick your time carefully.
As an extra we flew to Greenland for four days from Raykavik - great fun and quite different.....
Do it. If you have the slightest interest in scenery and the natural world in general, comparatively speaking, it's on our doorstep. Yep eating out isn't the cheapest, and alcohol is pricey, but the experience far outweighs the few negatives, and not drinking for a few weeks never hurts...
As an extra we flew to Greenland for four days from Raykavik - great fun and quite different.....
Do it. If you have the slightest interest in scenery and the natural world in general, comparatively speaking, it's on our doorstep. Yep eating out isn't the cheapest, and alcohol is pricey, but the experience far outweighs the few negatives, and not drinking for a few weeks never hurts...
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