Calling all visitors to Iceland
- Thread starter The_Abyss
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Pic about 5 mins before I popped the question! (have a 30 inch wide metal print of this on our bedroom wall, its pretty epic if I do say so myself..)
Congrats
And great photos! Looks like you visited most of the same places as me
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I fly out with the girlfriend on the 28th for 7 days. Absolutely buzzing! Will be taking 650D + 11-16mm f2.8 in the hope of getting some northern lights shots.
Got 4 nights in Reykjavik then driving out for 2 nights at the Hotel Grimsborgir. 4x4 booked!
Doing the standard tours, superjeep northern lights, golden circle, snowmobiling. Only real big unknown is what to do for NYE!! Any ideas?
Also, how many batteries? Mine lasted a whole weekend in approx 3 degrees the other week with a reasonable amount of usage and ~20 minutes filming. I have 2, could get a third delivered if necessary!
Got 4 nights in Reykjavik then driving out for 2 nights at the Hotel Grimsborgir. 4x4 booked!
Doing the standard tours, superjeep northern lights, golden circle, snowmobiling. Only real big unknown is what to do for NYE!! Any ideas?
Also, how many batteries? Mine lasted a whole weekend in approx 3 degrees the other week with a reasonable amount of usage and ~20 minutes filming. I have 2, could get a third delivered if necessary!
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I would go with 3 or 4 batteries depending on where you are and how exposed/windy it will be. Northern lights I went through 2 batteries quickly, although it was fine it isn't something you want to run out of if you see them.
just in case you didn't see it, my tips on flickr are here
just in case you didn't see it, my tips on flickr are here
If you have a car then you can do the Golden Circle by yourself in 1 day, the tours really don't add much and pretty much all the locals we spoke to recommended avoiding them and doing it yourself so you can spend as much time as you wish at each site. If you are doing it yourself then do Gullfoss first, then hit Geysir and pickup Pingvellir on the way back to Reykjavik. The locals also said the northern lights tours were a bit of a waste of money as at this time of year if you get a clear night you'll see them anyway.
Are you at Grimsborgir on a Friday/Saturday night? If so I'd highly recommend the Secret Lagoon at Fludir (approx. 45min drive). It's a natural geothermal pool and is open until 8pm on a Fri/Saturday night. As it's a bit off the beaten path it's frequently quite quiet, when me and girlfriend went on a Friday night in November we were the only ones there. http://www.secretlagoon.is/about/ We thought it was the best geothermal lagoon/spa/pool, the blue lagoon being a total tourist trap and technically not natural and the Laugarvatn spa being turned into a swimming pool style with tiles etc where as the Secret Lagoon is pretty much 100% natural and untouched except for the new changing room. Surreal being in such warm water, in pitch black when it's freezing outside. Just be forewarned, it's expected that you shower butt naked before getting into the geothermal pools in Iceland.
There is also an excellent café/restaurant near Fludir called Café Mika in Reykholt. Highly recommend it and very reasonably priced.
That's what we're doing, self drive Golden Circle... as you say you can then spend as much time as you want without being ushered along. I think I'll just print out some wikis on each part of it so we can read about the History ourselves
I've got a question for you guys... On Saturday morning we're departing from Vik to Jokulsarlon for the day, I've booked a guest house about 10 minutes away from Jokulsarlon to stay in over night but I'm wondering if we would be better off driving back to Vik instead, thereby shortening the trip to Reyjkjavick the following day....? What would you recommend? It would be about 5-6pm when the tour ends at Jokulsarlon on the Saturday so I guess we'd be driving to Vik in the dark if we did go back there straight after...
I've got a question for you guys... On Saturday morning we're departing from Vik to Jokulsarlon for the day, I've booked a guest house about 10 minutes away from Jokulsarlon to stay in over night but I'm wondering if we would be better off driving back to Vik instead, thereby shortening the trip to Reyjkjavick the following day....? What would you recommend? It would be about 5-6pm when the tour ends at Jokulsarlon on the Saturday so I guess we'd be driving to Vik in the dark if we did go back there straight after...
That's what we're doing, self drive Golden Circle... as you say you can then spend as much time as you want without being ushered along. I think I'll just print out some wikis on each part of it so we can read about the History ourselves
I've got a question for you guys... On Saturday morning we're departing from Vik to Jokulsarlon for the day, I've booked a guest house about 10 minutes away from Jokulsarlon to stay in over night but I'm wondering if we would be better off driving back to Vik instead, thereby shortening the trip to Reyjkjavick the following day....? What would you recommend? It would be about 5-6pm when the tour ends at Jokulsarlon on the Saturday so I guess we'd be driving to Vik in the dark if we did go back there straight after...
Vik to Jokulsarlon is about 2hrs but it can be a rough drive as a lot of the route is very exposed (it's one of the main areas for sand/ash damage in dry windy weather). We left at 6am on the day we went to Jokulsarlon (3.5/4hr drive from where we were staying) and it was pitch black, chucking it down and blowing a hoolie and was pretty hair raising at times but manageable if you're careful.
Oh and general trip for anyone, Iceland has a) great weather forecasting and b) great road information. It's updated regularly and is particularly useful at this time of year.
Road condition one is here - http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/road-conditions-and-weather/
Iceland met office here - http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/areas/
The road condition one is very accurate. If it says a road is shut, it's shut. If it says ice patches there will be icy patches and so forth. Bookmark it and check it regularly when travelling, the weather changes so quickly there is unreal.
Road condition one is here - http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/road-conditions-and-weather/
Iceland met office here - http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/areas/
The road condition one is very accurate. If it says a road is shut, it's shut. If it says ice patches there will be icy patches and so forth. Bookmark it and check it regularly when travelling, the weather changes so quickly there is unreal.
Yep, I'd echo that. It is completely possible to pin your ears back and go back to Reykjavik from Jokulsarlon in one trip, but the weather can slow you down really easily, plus driving in the dark really does magnify the bad weather. We saw hardly any rain but it was the wind that really slowed us - any ice at all as well and you'll be down to a crawl. It is very, very exposed.
That said, if you've seen the main sights on the route on the way out, I'd go for it and try and do it in one go. I didn't see much of interest in Vik to warrant staying two nights, whereas there's much more evening entertainment back in the capital (if that's what you're looking for).
That said, if you've seen the main sights on the route on the way out, I'd go for it and try and do it in one go. I didn't see much of interest in Vik to warrant staying two nights, whereas there's much more evening entertainment back in the capital (if that's what you're looking for).
Yes the wind round that bit is pretty nuts, it's just so flat and exposed. Think if I was visiting in a dry month/summer I'd be tempted to take the Sand/Ash damage waiver from the hire company, if the wind picks up it whips up that black sand and having seen photos of car's which have literally been sandblasted driving along that area is pretty hairy! Fortunately when it's wet it's not a problem.
I really want to come back at some point and do the Northern side of the island plus hopefully get up into the highlands for a few days.
Thanks guys, the reason we want to stay in Vik on saturday night too is because it'd be getting quite dark straight after the ice caving tour and in the event of inclement weather I'd much rather be driving to Vik than Reyk I think (plus the Hotel has a nice out door hot tub we could make use of on Saturday night!). Going to hire a 4WD or AWD from Blue Car Rental, they put Snow studded tyres on for free this time of year.
Try www.rentalcars.com , they worked out the cheapest for us and tell you which local company it is before you book (Ours was Greenmotion). From memory it's illegal to not have winter tyres in Iceland so all car rentals should have them when you go. Tell you the fuel policy too (take full to full!).
If there is only 2 of you, don't rule out the Suzuki Jimny. It may be compact but it's a perfectly capable 4WD and if you put the back seats down it has enough cargo space, certainly not an option if there are more than 2 of you though! It'll probably be the cheapest 4WD on offer for hire to boot.
Other general tips:
Most petrol pumps are card operated (ie not paying at kiosk) so make sure you're clear to use whatever card you will be. As usual the Halifax Clarity credit card is the best option for overseas spending.
Main supermarkets are Bonus and Kronan. Bonus is the main budget one (think Aldi/Lidl) and Kronan is your Asda/Morrisons equivalent. Groceries are on the expensive side as a lot of the veg is either greenhouse grown or imported and meat the same. We didn't find eating out too expensive but we avoided the touristy places (you can spot these by the whale meat and rotten shark menu dishes). An average meal seemed to be circa £10-15.
Icelanders love junk food, you'll see lots of KFC/Dominos/Subways etc. Most larger petrol stations have a grill as well selling burgers and other food. Make sure and check out the Icelandic hot dogs (Pylsur). They are delicious and made with lamb, beef and pork. Make sure and ask for it "eina með öllu" which means the works (Ketchup, sweet mustard, remoulade, fried and raw onions). You can get these in most petrol station grills and also most towns have a Pylsur kiosk or drive-through.
Do - try and learn some basic Icelandic phrases such as hello, please and thank you. Whilst most Icelanders speak English, they are a bit like the French and appreciate a bit of effort. There were a lot of Americans when we went and they were being their typical brash selves and you could see the locals rolling their eyes. We had the basics down and made an effort and they were very friendly and helpful at providing good information about what to do, what not to do, where to go etc.
Thanks for the info Windle, much appreciated!
I'm looking at hiring from Blue Car Rental and am dithering between the Kia Sportage Automatic AWD or the Dacia Duster Manual 4x4... anyone have any recommendations as to which would be the better choice?
I'm looking at hiring from Blue Car Rental and am dithering between the Kia Sportage Automatic AWD or the Dacia Duster Manual 4x4... anyone have any recommendations as to which would be the better choice?
I think I might go for it, are there any drawbacks to driving in snow with an automatic as opposed to a manual (dacia duster for e.g?)
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Winter tyres yes, studded tyres are not a requirement though, and I wouldn't have wanted to tackle some of the roads on standard winters to be honest. Probably would be fine, but why take the chance!
We used the manual Suzuki Grand Vitara from Blue car as it came with built in GPS. Very nice little car, and perfectly capable on the snow & ice. No reason an auto wouldn't be fine, but I prefer driving a manual.
Had an epic time, will get some photos up and some info about what we did when I have some time to do some editing this week!
We had exactly the same car, with studded tyres, and a manual. We didn't take it on any serious off road tracks, but I'd prefer a manual if I did in order to have better clutch control.
We didn't have any snow but we did have some ice. When it was icy I didn't like the studded tyres - they tended to let the car drift a bit before the grip bit. Nothing difficult but it took some getting used to. They definitely reduced the grip in wet or dry conditions, and in the extreme high winds we faced they blew the Vitara all over the road!
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Pretty much the same experience. We drove on snow and ice, stuck to roads but some (especially around the grimsborgir) were pretty quiet and therefore had more snow on them. The moment we were off the clearer roads I stuck it in 4H Lock, There's no issue of transmission wind up on such a low friction surface and locking the centre diff did make it feel more sure-footed.
Fortunately we didn't have any high winds to deal with, and just drove extra carefully on the asphalt because of the stud reducing grip off the ice. I'd happily drive out there again. Everyone just seems pretty chilled out, and if you want to overtake, people just drift across and let you, didn't spot any aggression!