Quote:
Originally Posted by something
Looking for some input:
The girlfriend and I are looking for a ten day vacation somewhere at the end of November.
So far, among a variety of choices, the two stand-out locations are:
Iceland & Kauai.
Both are for a good price, at 820 and 540 respectively. Both are places neither of us have been (though I have been to Maui and Honolulu before). We are both avid nature enthusiasts, though my girlfriend has more of an inkling for cities and night life. We are also both avid campers, and if we go to Kauai, it would be cheap for us to camp most nights we are there. Otherwise, Iceland is just somewhere we both are interested in going for the culture, the scenery and the uniqueness of the location.
Any thoughts from those who have been to both or either?
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Those are actually the two trips I took this year. Both places are awesome, particularly for anyone who loves the outdoors. Iceland is just one gigantic post card, every minute of your trip. Kauai is a tropical paradise, especially the north coast.
Iceland is amazing, but accommodations (and food) are very pricey. The biggest concern I would have though is that November would not be an ideal month in terms of weather, for seeing a lot of the best sights, hiking, etc. Good month for a higher chance of northern lights though! To me, to really enjoy Iceland, and enjoy all of it's outdoor beauty you'd probably want to be there between June and mid September.
For comparison, think of trying to enjoy the hikes and natural sights around here in Banff and Jasper in November vs July, and how different those 2 months would be. Now consider that Iceland is even much further north, and that much colder in November.
Outside of Reyjkavik, which has great nightlife, there aren't really any other cities in Iceland that offer it. The population of the entire country is 1/3 of Calgary's! After Reyjkavik, the largest population center is like 10,000.
For Kauai, you might want to look into the weather situation in November as well. Particularly for rainfall. Kauai gets a ton of rain, especially outside of the months of May through Sep. There's a reason it's so green there!
http://travel.usnews.com/Kauai_HI/When_To_Visit/ - only Dec gets more rain than Nov.
Both are amazing places, and I don't want to try and dissuade you from going to either, but I would definitely look at the likely weather situations first.
Google maps from my trips (good sights, accommodations, places to eat):
Iceland -
http://tinyurl.com/krf43wj
Kauai -
http://tinyurl.com/kdschqw