[Closed] Iceland - Anybody been?

No, but well jellus! Enjoy.

With 18 days you'll see loads.

We had 5 and did

Golden circle tour
Snow mobiling
Geyser
Gulfoss
Perlen
Blue lagoon
Whale watching
Hanging about in Reykjavik trying to look cool

After 18 days you will starve to death though because the food is both dire and expensive.

Get the Lonely Planet guide and read it from cover to cover before you go.

Also, you will need to take £1,000,000.

Avoid the Scampi.

Ye its ace and they are a bit "bonkers" in a good way.

Pretty well what Harry says, but also try the Hákarl Shark (its an experence you wont forget, EVER) 😯

We'll be doing the Laugavegur Highland Walking Trail which will take up 5 nights and be dirt cheap - £25 a night in the mountain huts (probably the only cheap accommodation on the island.

Flights were cheap

So it mean we have more money for the rest of the trip. It will be our honeymoon so don't mind treating ourselves - rather than the usual camping holidays.

Harry - which bits were the best from what you've listed?

I went for a long weekend a few years ago, loved the place! It was in December.

We done a 'Golden Circle tour' (loads of local companies do them!) which included Gulfloss, The Geyser (which is sort of next to Gulfloss) and Snow Mobiliing on the Glacier. We went Whale Watching too which was good. Plenty to do, i'd like to go back; hiring a car and driving round the country would be good too. Reykjavik is nice too, but all in all didn't find it horribly expensive and plenty of decent food and drink about - have fun!

Sun set/rise at Solfar.

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Ooooooooo.............

sleasyjet fly out there now, if you haven't booked your flights yet

Got the lonely planet guide and map.

Planning on hiring a car for a week and there seems to be plenty of hostels in the major town and villages with private 2 person rooms that are very reasonably priced.

So mix in a few of those and a few nice hotels too.

+ bjork was born there (and that's good enough for me 😉

Already booked tickets through Icelandic Air very reasonable prices, fly from Manchester, decent times and hold luggage is included which makes a change these days!!

We were there in July too. The sun just bounces off the horizon. We sat at Solfar at about 1:00am with our shades on!

My mums gone........no really she has.

Harry - which bits were the best from what you've listed?

All of 'em. You have 18 days. You can do everything 3 times.

I went and saw Kerry Katona's prawn ring...

Brilliant country. Best weather is usually up in the north-east though. The interior is amazing.

No, but well [u][b]jellus[/b][/u]! Enjoy.

😐

😀 Everything sounds sooooooo good 😀

Got Married in "Hafnir church".....in Winter by a minister called Thor! Honest.

Try some local food such as grilled puffin!
Also do a hardcore 4x4 trip

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Have fun!

Mmmm.........puffin

There's plenty of better places to get warm nice water in less commercialised surroundings than the blue lagoon....
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/bucklevision/5904693360/ ]IMG_7258[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/bucklevision/ ]j.buckle[/url], on Flickr

Wonderful place. Absolutely wonderful. Not sure I could use 18 days there without hiring a 4x4 and having access to the highlands, but it depends what you're there for. Food was great and not overly expensive, about 5% more than the UK.

i spent 6 weeks cycling round the place in '06 - bloody awesome place.

go to the NW region - nobody else seems to - geologically rather different to the rest of if (a lot older)

lake myvatn (a days cycle east of akueyri (sp!) was stunning - loads of pseudo-craters - take a scenic flight from there (you, your missus and the pilot) and see them from above, the central desert and the massive ice cap - well worth £150!

go through the interior, somehow - we cycled. its awesome.

was a bit 'meh' over the blue lagoon, but i'm sure the lady will enjoy

eat the hotdogs - they're amazing. there's a really famous hotdog stand somewhere in reykjavik. hotdog, bread, ketchup, mustard, mayo, fried onion, deep fried onion. yum.

We went for our honeymoon too (got somes strange looks from those that assume you need to go to Barbados for that)
We hired a 4x4 and did the whole lot. The drive down to Askia was an experience I'll never forget!

The hot dog stand is called Bæjarins bezt and it's down near the harbour. I can second the 'amazing' hot dogs!

http://www.icelandguest.com/travel-guide/dining/fast-food/

I spent 2 summers cycle touring / hiking there - email me if you want any tips

snowpaul at hotmail co uk

paul

Reykjavik flea market. Get your Hakarl there, a couple of stalls there do little tiny pots for Kr150. That's all you'll need of it. Then drink yourself silly around Laugavegur.

The Blue Lagoon Clinic hotel comes recommended, has a private lagoon away from the masses (but no lagoon bar, unlike the public lagoon which sells licorice ice lollies and champagne FTW). You do get free entry etc to the public lagoon if you stay at the clinic though. The food at the Lava restaurant there is surprisingly exquisite, proper fine dining.

No ,but if there is enough time,i will go

Went in 2003 for a ong weekend and lony just financially recovered from it 😉

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Can't wait to afford to go back there again.

Blue Lagoon is a must

Some more holiday snaps.

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Thanks for all the photos - inspired

With the big sites like Gulfoss and the Geyser etc are there gates and fences round the place?

Or if you staying close and due to the eternal sunshine - can you turn up at 11pm at night and see them without the crowds?

No fences. Not that kind of place!

What's the cost of eating/drinking there like these days?

Spent 5 days there in 2010 - proposed to the missus in blue lagoon. Amazing place, in October there is some sort of international music festival where all the shops stay open all night with bands playing in them - you just wander in listen to one band, then wander up to the next shop - was free too.

I really wanted to 4x4 monster truck but that was very expensive so we give it a miss (so I can insist we go back)

Only other thing we did that isn't mentioned above is hired a guide to take us hiking for a day on one of the glaciers - absolutely incredible - really cold / windy & felt very dangerous.

I believe about 2 months later most of that glacier melted when the volcano went off....

No fences. Not that kind of place!

Not even over the geyser itself. If you want you can go and stick your face right over the hole. This is not a good idea.

Cool that's definitely an option then to get tourist free photos of the sites. Superb

I've been put right off by that thick lass on the adverts going on about her 'premier' xmas party food which makes the Chinese around the corner from me look like fine dining.

Been a few times on school trips. The iceberg lagoon at Jokulsarlon is worth the drive, although maybe stay half way round somewhere near Vik. The island of Heimaey is also worth a visit but this is on a boat now I think as the little aiport has closed following the eruption - at least it was last time I looked.

The north coast is amazing and very different to the south - it's much more green with wide valleys rather than endless outwash plains. You can either drive to Akureyri (long way) or take an internal flight.

A drive up the Porsmork valley is good too - also on the way to Vik. This is the valley where the huge mel****er flood caome from during the 2010 eruption and leads to the Gigjokull glacier where the eruption began - well at the top of it at least. I'm not sure if this roadis open again now and you'd certainly need a 4x4 as there are some big river crossings.

I'd suggest must-see sights are:
-Blue Lagoon
-Gulfoss
-Geysir
-Pingvellir
-The solfataras near Reykjavik
-Reykjavik itself
-Skaftafell National Park
-Jokulsarlon
-The small farm selling ice cream just east (well about 1.5hrs east) of Jokulsarlon
-Waterfalls on the south coast road around Vik
-Trip on the glacier on a skidoo near Vik
-Porsmork valley
-Akureyri and the North

The costs are just like living in London really, which is less than they were 5 years ago.

GB

18 days is loads of time to do lots. Went at Easter this year for a long weekend and it was epic, best holiday I've had and a great 40th birthday present. Highlights for me were an underground tour of lava tubes, Porsmork and Eyjafallajokull(the ash cloud volcano). Food is great, puffin, whale, even horse, they eat owt! Local ale is tops too. Enjoy!

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/66691733@N05/6399544325/ ]IMG_3519[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/66691733@N05/ ]dave.w.taylor[/url], on Flickr
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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/66691733@N05/6399544749/ ]IMG_3634[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/66691733@N05/ ]dave.w.taylor[/url], on Flickr

I'll avoid the dried fish flakes next time I go - they seemed like an interesting alternative to crisps - but they were not.
Apart from that Iceland is a really great place, although the guys I saw having to pedal down a 1:10 hill because of the strong headwind may not have agreed with me.

More great stuff thanks all - now where my map there's a lot to mark up!!

You lucky devil, what a great place to go for a honeymoon!

I have not done the Laugarvatn walk but did the bit beyond it which is a two day trek which takes you from Porsmorsk to the coast at Skogar. The scenery was truly breathtaking so you are in for a treat. I hope you have very good waterproofs though! The weather for the first 4 days we were there was truly awful. One poor man trying to hitchike kept being blown off the road (and no we didn't give him a lift as he would have got the car wet!) But the next 6 were glorious!

Since you are into hiking, Skartafjell park on the south coast is well worth a vist, we did a stunning walk which they have details at the park office that takes your right up into the mountains to a peak from where (if you are not in cloud like were) you can see three glaciers.

Jokulkarsen is just down the road - someone else mentioned this as well worth visiting.

We went to Gulfoss and Geysir at the end and found them a bit disapponting, not because they are but because everything else we had seen before was far more impressive! Thingellvir park and the great rift there is worth a visit.

Some photos here on Mr _c's website (sorry don't know how to post a link)

http://www.davidwhitestudio.co.uk/gallery/iceland/

Enjoy

More thanks, plenty (of grilled puffin) to digest over the weekend

Did a month in Iceland. Awesome place make sure you go to Dimmu Borgir - great place!! We mainly travelled on the ringroad of iceland calling in at Hofn, Akureryi, Egilsstaoir, Selfoss and obviously the capital.

The landscape between Hofn and Selfoss is just amazing!!!!! So is the route between Egils and Akureryi. The latter feeling like another planet in places - Mordor in particular!!

You can swim in alot of the hot water though look out for signposts cos some of them will cook you alive!!

Love the place, love the people, love the food especially all those dry fish and most of all love the malt drink. I had a wonderful time and will go again to visit some friends next year.

If I was going I would definately be spending time researching where to go to see the Aurora Borealis.
I know its dependant on a number of factors but the Sun has been pretty lively recently so maybe its a possibiliy.

If I was going I would definately be spending time researching where to go to see the Aurora Borealis.
I know its dependant on a number of factors but the Sun has been pretty lively recently so maybe its a possibiliy.

he's going in July...so I reckon he's going to struggle to see it!!!! 😀

Lucky bugger - went there in spring and absolutely loved it. Don't think there is a bad time to go - winter for snow and aurora, summer for camping and hiking.

Possibly better than mountain biking:
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Re fences and going out of hours, that's the very best thing about the place. No gates, no tickets, no gift shop, no coach park, no coffee shop. Just rock up and look at the thing whenever and however you like
(car parked in background)
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It amazes me Mtb riding hasn't really taken off over there. There are no bike shops to speak of. Business opportunity??!!

Tough access laws due to fragile env get in the way of it - you have to stick to tracks, and try getting permission to build new ones...

Query:

anyone know any good ice climbing/mountaineering routes in Iceland?

Went in June this year for three weeks of bike touring. Amazing place -spent a week traversing the interior up through Gulfoss to Akuyeri, followed by 10 days working back west around the N then NW coast to Reykjavik, blue lagoon and home.
The isolation of the interior is just incredible, as are the hot-pot thermal pools dotted about the place. North coast and herring villages now more accesible due to tunnels and worth a visit. Ferry to NW peninsulas from Stkisholmur (via Flatey - island population of 100 and LOTS of Puffin) a good way of getting north without driving / pedalling miles into a head wind. Some pics here:

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[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/96661824@N00/5992067120/ ]P6110304[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/96661824@N00/ ]rob_j_hopkins[/url], on Flickr

Dave - I was in front of the Gigjokull glacier with a group of 35 Sixth Formers 8 hrs before the eruption. I guess we must have been the last to see it as it was - interesting to see your pic of it as an update - no more proglacial lake.

Just uploaded some photos of our trip. was supposed to be there for 1 night, ended up being weather bound for 3 days. Got a car and made the best of things on a budget.

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Would love to go back for a proper trip. 3 month fat bikepacking trip would be a fantastic way of seeing the place.

We've been loads of times, a wonderful country. If you are going for 18 days I'd really suggest getting a 4X4 for at least some of that time although the public buses are very, very good indeed. Your own vehicle makes things so much more convenient though. We once took our own car- NOT a good idea in retrospect. Three adults, two kids, four bikes and a tag-along, tents, cookers, a month’s supply of whisky too, in a Mondeo Estate. If ever CU 02 EOZ is offered to you, do not touch it, it took a real hammering.
The car hire companies are all desperately helpful, but we have found Iceland Car Rental to be the best so far. And haggle, we ended up with three extra free days in the end. We hired a Grand Vitara and fitted with M+S tyres it did us proud. Learn how to use the petrol pumps too, they can sometimes be temperamental.
Apart from all the places listed above by others I'd also recommend a visit to the northernmost point, seemingly a stones throw from the Arctic Circle.

Viti (by Askja) is an amazing place. A four hour drive, 40 minutes walk- and then a swim in a volcanic crater. In the snow. Go 'au naturel' like the locals.

We stayed with friends in Reykjavik, or used guesthouses/ bunkhouses.
Camping is very popular with the locals and tourists alike, and you get to stay in amazing places. We especially like http://www.thakgil.is/english.html, and at Myvatn, the Bjarg Campsite.

Best of the lot though has to be using the mountain huts of which there are dozens. Landmannalaugar, Laugafell, Hveravellir and many more have hot pools to relax away in after the days drive/ bike/ walk/ ride.

The Northern part of the Vatnajökull National Park (Ásbyrgi and Jökulsá á Fjöllum gorges (Jokulsarglifur)) are awesome- Dettifoss is Europes biggest waterfall.
The weather in the Myvatn area is consistently better than in Reykjavik. Whilst we’ve seen the aurora borealis from the capital the best I’ve ever experienced is from the far North East of the country, in very late August.

Oh dear, I've bitten off a bit. More. Than I. Can chew.

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Can't ****ing wait

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So what if I have no clue how to place gear or indeed do anything on ice whatsoever...I'll be trip photographer*

*I'm doing lots of training before...