Inspired by Iceland

[Wormius]

I guess I am not too picky about the weather per se, but I enjoy the contrast of greenery and rocky mountains juxtaposed with glaciers and stuff. I guess I just really want to see the landscape not covered in snow or slush. I am just wondering if it would be clear by March/April. I would like to do some hiking and maybe rent a bicycle there and do a bit of exploring.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Thor

We have had about 3 days of sunshine this entire summer, its been a record-breaking craptastic summer lol

I was there two weeks ago. The locals were going absolutely nuts.

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I guess I am not too picky about the weather per se, but I enjoy the contrast of greenery and rocky mountains juxtaposed with glaciers and stuff. I guess I just really want to see the landscape not covered in snow or slush. I am just wondering if it would be clear by March/April. I would like to do some hiking and maybe rent a bicycle there and do a bit of exploring.

I went there in mid March and the weather was okay, I think it was around -2 with humidity and wind. It wasn't green but it was still gorgeous.

I remember being slushy when I arrived and it snowy in Thingvellir National Park, but it was fine shortly after. I managed to see Thingvellir for a second time without snow and it was great. Seeing the lava fields just outside of Reykjavik in horseback was a thing of beauty.

P.S: If you feel adventurous visiting Iceland in March, visit the Ice Caves in Vatnajokull (the one place I couldn't go) and snorkeling/diving in Silfra!

[Wormius]

Can you pretty much park yourself in KEF and do daytrips out to all of these places, or do you need accommodations in a few places lined up to make the most of your time?

[Resolute 14]

Thor would know better, but KEF is about 45 minutes from Reykjavik, so you're better off making that your base of operations. There are a ton of tour companies offering day trips though. Grey Line and Reykjavik Excursions being two.

[Nufy]

My wife is bringing me back a bottle of Brennivin...(SP ?)

Should I be scared ??

[Slacker]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Can you pretty much park yourself in KEF and do daytrips out to all of these places, or do you need accommodations in a few places lined up to make the most of your time?

After a 5 day tour, I stayed at a hotel (can’t find the name for the life of me) 20 minutes away by public transit from downtown Reykjavik. But most tours had their own transportation. I think I had to pay for the transportation to the Blue Lagoon.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Nufy

My wife is bringing me back a bottle of Brennivin...(SP ?)

Should I be scared ??

I mean, it's only called "black death". What could go wrong?

Actually, I kinda liked it.

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by Nufy

My wife is bringing me back a bottle of Brennivin...(SP ?)

Should I be scared ??

Put it this way: Brennivín is to Schnapps as Screech is to Rum.

[Wormius]

Did anybody do the trip over to the Faroe Islands? Worth it? What’s a good amount of time to spend in Iceland for a spring break holiday?

Is there anything that you would want to do that you couldn’t if you only based yourself in Reykjavik? If there was another location to stay besides that, where would it be best to split your time?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Can you pretty much park yourself in KEF and do daytrips out to all of these places, or do you need accommodations in a few places lined up to make the most of your time?

Keflavik is about 40 mins from Reykjavik so I don't recommend using it as a hub, there is a decent bit of stuff to do in the southern peninsula but you would need a car, or book a tour to so you can get to some of the few offroad areas.

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Nufy

My wife is bringing me back a bottle of Brennivin...(SP ?)

Should I be scared ??

Only drink ice cold, its interesting but not something many Icelanders drink. Oddly enough it tastes decent with coke lol

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Wormius

Did anybody do the trip over to the Faroe Islands? Worth it? What’s a good amount of time to spend in Iceland for a spring break holiday?

Is there anything that you would want to do that you couldn’t if you only based yourself in Reykjavik? If there was another location to stay besides that, where would it be best to split your time?

The Faroes are great, but I would only go if there is a big event going on there, concert, some festival, its a very small island and not a lot to do.

I'd say about 90% of our tourists base themselves in Reykjavik, it is the best place to reach most of what is the popular areas, southern road trip, but I would consider the west, vesturland area is less touristy, absolutely beautiful and there are now lots of options from tour operators or easy to do as a self drive.

I personally would never spend less than 1 week in Iceland, you'll need 2-3 days for the south of Iceland, 4 would be better. 2 days in Reykjavik, adding in the blue lagoon. That is pretty much the go-to trip for most, it will cover the golden circle, Skogafoss and Seljarlandsfoss.

I think for most people doing a 7-10 trip to knock off all these highlights means you can come back another time and explore Northern Iceland, using Akureyri as your hub.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Thor

Keflavik is about 40 mins from Reykjavik so I don't recommend using it as a hub, there is a decent bit of stuff to do in the southern peninsula but you would need a car, or book a tour to so you can get to some of the few offroad areas.

I was being lazy there and using the airport code as shorthand for Reykjavik.

[Wormius]

So I booked my tickets for next summer instead of Spring for 12 days. Tickets were the same price and hopefully easier to get around at that time. One thing in my preplanning looking at different forms of accommodation - camper vans seem to range wildly in price - some sites show $260 euros a day (Kuku) for ones that would sleep 4 people. AirBnbs and hotels are sometimes cheaper. Am I missing something? I am kind of shocked that a camper would be nearly equivalent in price to other lodgings. Am I missing something? I know Iceland will be expensive, just thought there would still be some scale in prices.

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by Wormius

So I booked my tickets for next summer instead of Spring for 12 days. Tickets were the same price and hopefully easier to get around at that time. One thing in my preplanning looking at different forms of accommodation - camper vans seem to range wildly in price - some sites show $260 euros a day (Kuku) for ones that would sleep 4 people. AirBnbs and hotels are sometimes cheaper. Am I missing something? I am kind of shocked that a camper would be nearly equivalent in price to other lodgings. Am I missing something? I know Iceland will be expensive, just thought there would still be some scale in prices.

My wife and I will be in Iceland the first week of September for our second trip there. We are renting a Happy Camper (sleeps two). If you book lodgings,you will still need to rent a car (or hire excursions). For our situation, the camper is cheaper. The camper is also flexible; there is no shortage of campgrounds. For lodgings, you will most likely need to book in advance.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Baron von Kriterium

My wife and I will be in Iceland the first week of September for our second trip there. We are renting a Happy Camper (sleeps two). If you book lodgings,you will still need to rent a car (or hire excursions). For our situation, the camper is cheaper. The camper is also flexible; there is no shortage of campgrounds. For lodgings, you will most likely need to book in advance.

Yeah, I think for our situation with the kids we would need a van that can accommodate 4, which increases the price a bit, unless there are weekly discounts or something. Maybe it would be cheaper to rent tenting equipment and a small car. So you don’t think any pre-booking or campgrounds would be necessary? Just show up and pay?

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by Wormius

So you don’t think any pre-booking or campgrounds would be necessary? Just show up and pay?

I don't think you can pre-book campgrounds but from anything I have read, there is rarely an issue finding a spot in any campground. Some campgrounds are better than others as far as facilities are concerned, so you want to do some research,

https://tjalda.is/en/camping-sites/

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Baron von Kriterium

I don't think you can pre-book campgrounds but from anything I have read, there is rarely an issue finding a spot in any campground. Some campgrounds are better than others as far as facilities are concerned, so you want to do some research,

https://tjalda.is/en/camping-sites/

That's good to know. We are still pretty far ahead in the booking, so I might follow this itinerary (https://www.alexcornell.com/iceland-travel-guide) for the ring road. I am kind of curious whether the credit card insurance covers some of those unusual Icelandic bits like the sand/gravel/ash/etc?

[Baron von Kriterium]

Originally Posted by Wormius

I am kind of curious whether the credit card insurance covers some of those unusual Icelandic bits like the sand/gravel/ash/etc?

The cards only cover CDW as far as I know, but read your credit card terms and conditions carefully.



Check to see if your card covers insurance outside of North America.


Also check if your card covers insurance for vans/campers. I would be surprised if it does.



At the end of the day, I think you will find that you should pay for the CDW, ash and gravel.