Out of my Element

My prior reply about driving in Iceland stands.

TravelDoorsOut

I have canceled the car reservations, per your guys recommendation.

Now, which tours should we do? Golden Circle, BL, South Shore, what else? Any hidden secrets or special places you recommend? Its our first trip without the baby! I wouldn't be against getting a 24 hour rental or just taking public transport to places in the area. We will be there for 4.5 days total

Alsacienne

Public transport in Iceland .... well there's a city bus service in Reykjavik and Akureyri .... but really ZILCH. No trains, there are domestic flights and urban taxis (no Ubers or equivalent) and the wind probably puts paid to cycling unless you're very fit.

Recommend all those tours ... plus perhaps a walking tour of Reykjavik and a half day for the Reykjanes peninsula (with a stop off at the Blue Lagoon to end the day.

TravelDoorsOut

Maybe renting a car for one day to explore the city/Reykjanes Peninsula. Any other tours that are must-see? Something that isn't as touristy and more local? Worth the drive to Snaefellsjoekull National Park? Are the roads pretty clean in November? It seems pretty close to Reykjavik.

Alsacienne

If you want to hire a car on the spur of the moment, please remember to take FULL INSURANCE and to photograph every ding and scrape (including under the car and on wheel rims) before you leave the car hire agency.

Touristy/must-see ... rather subjective. Try this on Trip Advisor Iceland for more local advice.

Drive to Snaefellsnes is further than you think and if the weather is at all wintry, potentially dangerous.Infinitely worth doing in summer, but the lack of daylight hours may eat into your day trip and you'll be doing your drive there and back in the dark ... and .... well the weather may not be your best friend.

What do you mean by 'are the roads pretty clean in November'? Do you mean clear of snow? Certainly in Reykjavik but I'm not sure you can count on this as a given outside the city limits ... and of course there's always the danger of black ice. Sorry I can't be more positive!

Out of my Element

We hit very scary roads about 45 minutes outside of Reykjavik in March a couple years back. It's not much different than in Chicago -- if it's snowing and cold the roads will become ice and snow covered pretty quickly. The difference is in Iceland the roads are narrow and winding and have no curbs or lights or guardrails. You start slipping and you'll end up in a ditch (or worse)

TravelDoorsOut

Bump! Must see places, best tours and tour companies, restaurants? Please and thank you!

Out of my Element

Must sees depends on what you want to see. Just like in Chicago you wouldn't tell everyone to see/do the same things, in Iceland the choices are SO widely spread that it's impossible to pick something without knowing anything about you.

TripAdvisor has great info on things to do/see and tour companies. Luckily there really are no "bad" tour companies in Iceland but you should check their reviews to see.

Budget comes into play, too. Into the Volcano is AMAZING, but it's hundreds of dollars, so again, not for everyone.

Same with restaurants. My faves in Reykjavik are among the cheapest options, but the Michelin guide disagrees with me . . . and with my budget.

DragonSoul

June! This was June!


Source: https://standbynordic.com/tourists-i...e-the-weather/

TravelDoorsOut

Hey guys, just to update my plan for our trip in November and to ask follow up questions... we canceled the car reservation for the week, we booked the following:

Monday: Arrive at 6am, have nothing planned until 9pm northern lights
Tuesday: Golden Circle and Secret Lagoon Trip
Wednesday: Southern Coast and Glacier
Thursday: nothing yet
Friday: nothing yet, depart at 4.

On Thursday, we are thinking of doing Snaefellsnes Peninsula tour, is it worth doing or should we spend the whole day exploring REK? Would monday be enough to explore REK and do the BL? Any other recommendations on tours for the Thursday we have free?

Would it make sense to rent a car for 24 hours and explore the Reykjavik Peninsula on Monday when we land and drive ourselves to the BL? I read that Reykjavik Pen has pretty well maintained roads.

Out of my Element

I'd swap out the South Coast/Glacier tour for a 2 day South Coast trip out to Jokulsarlon. You've got Thursday free, so why not? You'll see all the things on the 1 day trip plus many more and they generally add in Aurora hunting on the day out east.

sooge_sj

I was in Iceland from the 8th to the 16th of September of this year. I spent the first 2 nights in Reykjavik, followed by a 6 day (5 night) tour around Iceland, and the final night back in Reykjavik. My opinion is that you really don’t see the stark beauty of Iceland by just doing day trips out of Reykjavik. Seeing the sunset at the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon was one of highlights of the trip. And so was seeing the aurora on our last night on the tour around Iceland.

Visiting the Golden Circle seems to be a must when you go to Iceland. I love waterfalls and Gullfoss, which is included in the Golden Circle tour, is impressive. However, if you have been to Yellowstone National Park, you might find Geysir Hot Springs to be somewhat underwhelming.

The southern coast has some beautiful sights and activities, waterfalls (Seljalandsfoss and Skógafoss), volcanic black sand beaches, glacier walks, and the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. But I don’t think there is a one day tour that covers all these activities. So I totally second “Out of my Element’s” suggestion of doing a 2 day South Coast trip out to Jokulsarlon. So you can do a 3 day (2 night) tour that includes the Golden Circle followed by a 2 day South Coast tour.


Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon


Reynisfjara Beach

747FC

Could you kindly provide more information about "Into the Volcano?" Many thanks!

Out of my Element

https://insidethevolcano.com/

747FC

Thank you so much for the recommendation. It looks amazing. If I can convince my wife to join me, it will be at the top (or bottom ) of our agenda!