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Iceland (the country, not the shop) - worth the cost?







Whoislloydy

Whoislloydy

Well-known member
May 2, 2016
2,445
Vancouver, British Columbia
I went in October last year for 4 days.

Knowing what i know now, do it in a hire car. Don't pay for the trips where hundreds and hundreds of you go up on coaches as it's very regimented for time. The places you go on these main tours are RUINED by the amount of people. Unfortunately we did not see the Northern Lights as the conditions have to be pitch black, no clouds and no wind at all.

The trips are mind blowingly expensive for what they are. And with there being two of you i recon you'd save a bomb doing it all in your own hire car.
 


Whoislloydy

Whoislloydy

Well-known member
May 2, 2016
2,445
Vancouver, British Columbia
Goldstone1976 said:
My gf and I are considering a week in Iceland in Nov - northern lights, blue lagoon, yada, yada.

Thing is, I can't really think of anything to replace "yada, yada" with and I was shocked at the prices of everything other than the flight (average airbnb price is £115, food looks dear etc). It's not the cost per se that's the issue, it's the thought that we could easily go much further afield for the same price - Boston or St Petersburg, for example.

Is there more to do/see in Iceland that make it worth what seems to be very high prices?
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t
Chances are you won't see the Northern Lights, i didn't (if you fail to see them they do offer you the chance to re-schedule for free for another chance) - do it in a hire car and drive to the complete north of the island away from the capital, the coaches can only go so far and there's far too many people (ruins it)
 


Lyndhurst 14

Lyndhurst 14

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2008
5,129
Whoislloydy said:
t
Chances are you won't see the Northern Lights, i didn't (if you fail to see them they do offer you the chance to re-schedule for free for another chance) - do it in a hire car and drive to the complete north of the island away from the capital, the coaches can only go so far and there's far too many people (ruins it)
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The Northern Lights operate on a cycle - 11 years I think - so it very much depends on when you arrive during that cycle as to the frequency and intensity of them
 


K

knocky1

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
12,971
Wozza said:
Nice. Are the F roads closed by then? I drove around the island (not all the way) in the autumn - but think it was Sept/Oct.
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Shut up North when wewere heading round to the ferry at Seydisfjordur. Don't have a 4WD and wouldn't venture down them without being in one and at least a 2 car convoy out of summer season. Did hundreds of miles of f****** dirt track and gravel though.
 




K

Kneon Light

Well-known member
Jul 24, 2003
1,818
Falkland Islands
Been 10 times and itching to go back again! Absolutely love the place!
Have done short breaks and longer holidays (3 weeks) at different times of year.
Depends what you like really but if you like scenery, views and unspoilt landscapes you can't beat it. (Loads of other things to do too!)

In terms of price I went around the whole Island with the whole family (4 of us) at peak time (July/Aug) and didn't pay more than £60 per night using Airbnb - each time having the whole house to ourselves. Apart from Alcohol you can eat out at quite reasonable prices (just avoid the tourist restaurants)
 


Skaville

Skaville

Well-known member
Jun 10, 2004
10,101
Queens Park
Whoislloydy said:
I went in October last year for 4 days.

Knowing what i know now, do it in a hire car. Don't pay for the trips where hundreds and hundreds of you go up on coaches as it's very regimented for time. The places you go on these main tours are RUINED by the amount of people. Unfortunately we did not see the Northern Lights as the conditions have to be pitch black, no clouds and no wind at all.

The trips are mind blowingly expensive for what they are. And with there being two of you i recon you'd save a bomb doing it all in your own hire car.
Click to expand...

Went at the same time and did hire a car. Absolutely LOVED it. We did the golden circle the opposite way going to the tours, so Kerio was our first stop and we were quite literally the only people in the crater. We had self catering accommodation and shopped at their budget supermarkets to keep the cost down. We also took a flask of coffee out with us to keep costs down. Loved every minute of our time there and we'd go back
 


Goldstone1976

Goldstone1976

We Got Calde in!!
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Apr 30, 2013
13,789
Herts
Very many thanks to all who have taken the trouble to reply. I'm thinking that we'll go for a long weekend, arranging our own trips with a car to start with. If we like it we can always go back for a longer trip another time.
 






G

Greg Bobkin

Silver Seagull
May 22, 2012
14,852
Goldstone1976 said:
Very many thanks to all who have taken the trouble to reply. I'm thinking that we'll go for a long weekend, arranging our own trips with a car to start with. If we like it we can always go back for a longer trip another time.
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Not sure if it helps (possibly not), but I in a hospital waiting room yesterday I saw that the July 2017 issue of the Sunday Times Travel magazine had a 23 page Iceland special, which looked pretty comprehensive. Probably won't be available in print, but may be online somewhere...

I contemplated taking pictures of all the pages and uploading to here, but then we were called into our appointment – soz and that :lol:
 


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