- You came up with some great suggestions for hotels in Tokyo and Osaka.
- You helped us find the wonderfully located and economical Motel One in Munich.
- We got some great tips for what to do while in Las Vegas.
- And even more ideas about things to do while visiting Chicago.
Once again, I’m asking for you to help us plan a trip to Iceland.
I’ve started with this post from Point Me To The Plane. We’re going to be in Iceland for about a week so I’m looking to split our time between Reykjavik and locations outside the city. We’re undecided on if we should rent a car or take a tour.
If you’re not familiar with our travel style, here’s some info that might help with suggestions.
- We start and end in Reykjavik
- We’re middle-aged, no kids.
- Rent a car? Or no? (yay, they drive on the same side of the street as us)
- We like nature but are not really in shape so although we’re OK with hikes, it can’t be anything strenuous (figure no worse than “mildly-to-moderately” strenuous).
- We like quirky and yes, the Penis Museum is on the list
- Speaking of which, museums are cool. Natural history, art, etc.
- More personalized interests: Sharon loves stained glass, old churches & cathedrals, and waterfalls (I hear Iceland has 1 or 2 of those LOL), Joe is into Sci-Fi, and we both love science and medicine topics (we went to the Pharmacy Museum in NOLA and loved it!)
- We’ve been told to consider a tour…any you can recommend? We’d consider 3-5ish days, so we’d still have some time on our own.
- RESTAURANT recommendations!
If you’ve been to Iceland, we’d love to hear what were the highlights of your trip.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
#stayhealthy #staysafe #washyourhands #wearamask #getyourCOVIDvaccine
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 20,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
Cover Image by JimboChan from Pixabay
5 comments
“Rent a car?”
Definitely. When we visited South-Iceland a couple years ago, we tried to stop about every few miles to take pictures of the amazing landscape. No tour bus can offer this.
Generally a sedan will do fine, but some roads are only open to 4×4 vehicles. With that being said, many rental agencies won’t allow you to take the car on unpaved roads anyway.
We had a week in Southern Iceland and it was the perfect amound of time. 1 day Golden Circle, 1 day in Reykjavik and 4 full days to explore the nature between Reykjavik and Höfn. Wouldn’t recommend doing the whole circle unless you got two weeks or more.
If you like museums, maybe do 2 days of Reykjavik, but after that definitely head out of the city. Í’d recommend not to stay in Reykjavik for a whole week. On our visit to South Iceland we switched hotels daily to avoid driving back and forth the whole time.
Some spots not to miss:
– Haifoss waterfall: Probably the most beautiful waterfall in iceland. Unfortunately the drive there is quite rough, so you’d either need a car with high ground clearance or walk 2 hours each way. We did the latter.
– Kvernufoss waterfall: Not as unknown as it once was, but a much calmer alternative to famous Seljalandsfoss
– Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon: The canyon you’ll see hundred times when scrolling through Instagram shots. But very much worth it anyway.
It’s a pandemic. If you travel, do outdoors and wilderness stuff, not city restaurants and museums.
Vaccines are not 100%. If 100M people are vaccinated, 10M are still at risk among the vaccinated.
Just wondering, where is this 10% number coming from? I’ve seen mRNA vaccine real-world numbers much lower for getting COVID and even for spreading it. With Iceland requiring vaccination or proof of previous infection and negative test on arrival, why the need to avoid all inside spaces?
Greetings, Sharon and Joe —
Your article prompted me to post my complete itinerary of eleven days in Iceland with photographs and links to articles which have already been written. The article is a work in progress at this time; but it will be amended:
https://thegate.boardingarea.com/iceland-itinerary-and-master-guide/
I have many more articles which I need to write pertaining to Iceland — as well as literally thousands of photographs from which to choose — but in the meantime, I am more than happy to answer any questions you have which may help you plan your trip. Please contact me and I will do my best to help.
Ditto Peer’s reply. Reykjavik is a pretty small city and you really don’t need more than a day or two there. Golden Circle is an excellent day trip that you can do from the city. Theres a hot spring/pool not too far from Thingviller called Laugarvatn Fontana – more local, less insane than Blue Lagoon. . Make a reservation in advance. While staying in the city we also visited the Snaefellsnes Penninisula looking at old barns and churches. Had a beautiful walk along the cliffs over the ocean and a fab dinner in Stykkisholmur (great lighthouse there as well). Can be a long day, but the sun doesn’t set until very late. After that, check out of your Ryekjavik hotel and head west on the ring road. There are tons of waterfalls, many with manageable hikes. We did a glacier walk on the volcano Jokelssoonandsoforth that was very cool. The Jokulsaren iceberg thing is underwhelming. Blue Lagoon is fun, but is a mob scene – book now. As a matter of fact, book everything ASAP. Iceland does not really have the number of hotels needed for their tourist trade. Another thought is to fly up to Akureryi. There’s tons of cool stuff up there as well and it’s less crowded. Don’t be afraid to eat lunch at the gas stations – sometimes it’s the only option and it’s all fine.
Oh, and be prepared for chilly, wet weather at any time. It can be nice in summer, but also not so nice.