Iceland trip - tips needed from people who have been

Soldato
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I'm planning a photography trip to Iceland for early 2015. Owing work commitments we are looking at 5 nights there so have to make the most of the limited time. We're struggling on a few things :

1) When to go ?

I has to be between February and May but ideally between February and April. From what I can gather going in February has more chance of seeing the Northern Lights but there is less hours of daylight and access to some places may be difficult therefore limiting what we can do in the days. April has more daylight, is slightly warmer and less chance of seeing the northern lights - also is this too late for the ice etc?

2) Where to go ?

Thinking first day head north to the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Second day onwards start to head east to Skógafoss etc.

We're going to renting a good 4x4 :)
 
Skogafoss is amazing. Make sure you include Vik and Jokulsarlon if you travel along the south coast. Selfoss is very impressive, and I really enjoyed Thingvellir.
 
Skogafoss is amazing. Make sure you include Vik and Jokulsarlon if you travel along the south coast. Selfoss is very impressive, and I really enjoyed Thingvellir.

Thanks Jokulsarlon is on the list, I've just checked out Vik and Selfoss and Selfoss looks awesome!

Can you recommend a hire car company out there, apparently some will try to rip you off when it comes to accident/damage cover ?
 
I used CarsIceland to get a good deal, but I actually had to pick the car up from bluecarrental which is located about 5 minutes from the airport. Maybe cheaper to go to them directly, but you'd need to look into that.

I hired 4wd Dacia Duster ( woot! ) and went wild camping for 10 days. Total rental price was around £430 complete with all the extra insurance packages minus Ash protection. To be honest, the guys new what I had in mind so the vehicle I got was a few years old with some previous chips in the paintwork, but it did the job perfectly. The big worry is the windscreen which you will be liable for whatever insurance you take out. You can be cautious yourself with some of the gravel tracks but there's always the chance some idiot is going to whiz past you and throw a lot of stones up.

The duster was pretty economical, I only spent around £300 doing the full ring road, West Fjords and Snæfellsnes. A lot of the fuel was used on the
F-roads, for instance exploring Keflavik in the West Fjords and driving up to the glaciar in the Snæfellsnes national park. Fantastic driving, if a little scary at times. Oh and I popped along to Solhemiasandur to locate the crashed DC-10, 4wd is recommended.

One last thing, you will be told numerous times to obey the speed limit, which is wise, but don't expect the locals too or to keep their distance, tailgating is quite common.
 
Earth[Tera].bin;27079791 said:
I used CarsIceland to get a good deal, but I actually had to pick the car up from bluecarrental which is located about 5 minutes from the airport. Maybe cheaper to go to them directly, but you'd need to look into that.

Both of those are coming out at a third of the price of Avis/Europcar etc. Thanks for that!! I mean, I could get a mercedes ML from them for less than a Suzuki Jimny from avis...
 
I assume there are companies that specialise in getting you out to places that are really good for shooting the Northern Lights and taking care of everything. Anyone ever used one?
 
I've been looking in to doinga trip at about the same time, probably over Easter. I don't think it will make much difference with access whether you go in February or April, it may actually be worse in april as a lot of the interior roads are shut completely due to snow melt. It's still going to be icy at that time.

I'm thinking of a 3 week trip but am loath to just do the ring road (basically the only road properly open at that time of year)... Decisions, decisions!
 
Thanks Jokulsarlon is on the list, I've just checked out Vik and Selfoss and Selfoss looks awesome!

Can you recommend a hire car company out there, apparently some will try to rip you off when it comes to accident/damage cover ?

Depending on the volcanic activity in Holuhraun places like Jokulsarlon could be a bit tricky - at the moment some place in that area are shut off or require going all around the long way to get to (mostly to the north east currently).
 
Pleasure, I did a lot of research into the different hire companies myself and CarsIsland had a good reputation for prices and customer service.Still, goes without saying check the car over before you sign anything.

When I was there the western access to Dettifoss was closed due to potential flooding from Bardarbunga/Holuhraun, so I went the eastern route. I wasn't particularly overwhelmed by Dettifoss or Selfoss, which is about 1km walk further up. They were good, but I think i was spoiled by Gullfoss.
 
Really struggling to decide when to go, I've just purchased an Iceland guide and it says Iceland is at it's most beautiful in May/June... I want to go sooner though!
 
For NL activity March is THE best time to go. Time it with a week of very little lunar activity so the Moon doesn't ruin your shots. We went in March and saw the NL 4 times in one week!

In terms of what to do/things to see. What we soon discovered is that rather than rush trying to do absolutely everything, take your time and enjoy it. Iceland is a truely magical country with exciting things around every corner, you will find plenty.

What I can tell you is what not to do.

Whale watching - whilst fun, the boat was overcrowded, and it's difficult to actually get photos without a million n00bs with iPads getting in your way. Don't bother with it.

The black beaches - these were interesting and different and we planned a whole afternoon around there, but honestly. You could see plenty and be done within a couple of hours.

Have you seen my blog? http://www.jacobellwood.co.uk/blog - take a look at the Iceland trip. Plenty of it is documented in there. I also did a huge thread in here, which you'll find if you search :)
 
For NL activity March is THE best time to go. Time it with a week of very little lunar activity so the Moon doesn't ruin your shots. We went in March and saw the NL 4 times in one week!

In terms of what to do/things to see. What we soon discovered is that rather than rush trying to do absolutely everything, take your time and enjoy it. Iceland is a truely magical country with exciting things around every corner, you will find plenty.

What I can tell you is what not to do.

Whale watching - whilst fun, the boat was overcrowded, and it's difficult to actually get photos without a million n00bs with iPads getting in your way. Don't bother with it.

The black beaches - these were interesting and different and we planned a whole afternoon around there, but honestly. You could see plenty and be done within a couple of hours.

Have you seen my blog? http://www.jacobellwood.co.uk/blog - take a look at the Iceland trip. Plenty of it is documented in there. I also did a huge thread in here, which you'll find if you search :)

Thanks mate, I hadn't seen your blog but have just read it and looks great! I was expecting it to be all white but it wasn't, although I want to see the ice and snow etc I don't want it to be all snow and ice if that make sense.

We've pretty much got our route planned now and just need to decide on date.. can't believe how hard it is to decide on a date!

Also looking at the flights WOW air look OK but have a max 12KG carry on allowance, that's not bad but ideally I would have like 15KG I think based on what I want to carry.
 
OK so working around 'work' we have narrowed it down to :

March : Sat 14th – Sat 21st or
April : Fri 10th April – Fri 17th

This is a little longer than originally thought possible so we should get more in :)
 
Phate, I noticed in a lot of your photo's that the sun seemed to be quite low and harsh. Just looking at the solar altitude in April and it's 37° which seems really low.. not that I know much about it but in comparison to June which is 49.3°

One of the things I read about Iceland was the wonderful light but now I'm wondering.. how did you find the light? did it cause problems getting the shots you were after?
 
Phate, I noticed in a lot of your photo's that the sun seemed to be quite low and harsh. Just looking at the solar altitude in April and it's 37° which seems really low.. not that I know much about it but in comparison to June which is 49.3°

One of the things I read about Iceland was the wonderful light but now I'm wondering.. how did you find the light? did it cause problems getting the shots you were after?

Not especially. The light was delicious and I like shooting into the sun (as you may have gathered :p) so it suited me down to the ground. I don't think I ever struggled for light once and even in the evenings when it's getting dark you can still pull an amazing amount of detail out of the surroundings. I'm putting this down to a general lack of air pollution.

I wouldn't get too mixed up in the technicals to the level you mention. Ultimately the country looks amazing whatever time of year you're going to go. It wasn't even something we considered and we spent HOURS planning it.
 
Not especially. The light was delicious and I like shooting into the sun (as you may have gathered :p) so it suited me down to the ground. I don't think I ever struggled for light once and even in the evenings when it's getting dark you can still pull an amazing amount of detail out of the surroundings. I'm putting this down to a general lack of air pollution.

I wouldn't get too mixed up in the technicals to the level you mention. Ultimately the country looks amazing whatever time of year you're going to go. It wasn't even something we considered and we spent HOURS planning it.

Yeah I had noticed :) I'm probably over thinking the whole thing but it's the first dedicated photography trip I've done so probably the reason.. I'm sure it will be good!

I looked into Iceland Air and if you travel Economy Comfort they'll let you take 2 carry on bags (10KG each) and a small hand bag/laptop which seems pretty good.
 
Yeah I had noticed :) I'm probably over thinking the whole thing but it's the first dedicated photography trip I've done so probably the reason.. I'm sure it will be good!

I looked into Iceland Air and if you travel Economy Comfort they'll let you take 2 carry on bags (10KG each) and a small hand bag/laptop which seems pretty good.

Indeed. We paid additional for luggage but the service was good and the stewards suitably tasty. :p :D

It's cool, we were in the same boat. You'll love it :)
 
Just reopening this thread as due to change of job I could not go this year :(

We're now booked for 13th-20th March 2016 (can't wait) and just need to sort a car rental.

Are CarsIceland and bluecarrental still a good choice ?
 
I went in February this year, one of the best weeks of my life. I went with Blue Car Rental as well, and they were superb, the car was a bit of a mess on the inside because of the weather and food from us eating in it and they weren't bothered one bit. We hired a Dacia Duster - but my one bit of advice - get a Sat Nav from them too!

Anything else you want to know just ask - oh and if I went again it'd definitely be in March or sometime in Spring as opposed to February.

But then again it depends on what you really want to do - we went snow mobiling on a Volcanic Glacier, Ice Caving, Lava Caving, Snorkelling at Silfra, Blue Lagoon, Golden Circle amongst other things and stayed at three different locations, any questions just ask..
 
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