Iceland?
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Anonymous
| Flights and hotels are cheap, everything else expensive. We've been a few times just because it's a 4 hour flight from BOS and so easy. Once did the ring road, once just a long weekend in the Golden Circle, and one longer trip to the Westfjords. June/July is usually pretty good, August starts to get a little cool and rainy. Winter is great with the lights. We're from New England so it's basically the same as Maine in the winter. Key is to dress appropriately. |
Anonymous
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Should have added we also went just to go to this restaurant, it's one of the best in the world: https://www.tjoruhusid.is/
Worth a special trip, and while there can whalewatch, hike, kayak, tons of other things. Truly special. |
Anonymous
| How easy is it to drive in Iceland if you are not comfortable in single lane winding mountain roads? |
Anonymous
90% of Iceland is accessible from a two-lane well maintained road the circles the main island. Super easy to drive. In winter all cars have spikes, but yeah it isn't great. |
Anonymous
| And on the same note,is the public transport good (buses) or better to do guided tours if you do not want to drive? |
Anonymous
Thanks! In the summer, do you still need winter clothes for Iceland or you can get by with Spring clothes? Are there any must have lists, regardless of when you go? |
Anonymous
| We went in August and loved it. Stayed in Rekavik (spelled wrong) and did a couple of van tours plus drove some ourselves. Easy drives but I got sleepy and a speeding ticket. Food was just ok but enjoyed the fish. Needed winter clothes esp for the glacier tour. |
Anonymous
There are endless lists online about what to pack for each season. They are accurate. Dress in layers. Our most used outerwear items in June were fleece jackets and waterproof (NOT water-resistant) shells and pants. |
Anonymous
We went for Thanksgiving, and while the cold wasn't too bad (I mean, def bring your winter gear, but it was normal-cold, not antarctic-cold) I did find the limited daylight to be a downer. With six hours of daylight in November, you're doing a lot of driving in the dark, and it. is. dark. |
Anonymous
Another option you could consider is there are some smaller cruise ships that do circumnavigations of Iceland— lets you see places that are actually not easy to get to, like the Westmann islands or the Westfjords. |
Anonymous
| We went Thanksgiving week one year, stayed mostly in Reykjavik and did lots of day trips. Then a few nights in Vik, did diamond beach and some other areas. Blue Lagoon on our way out. Wasn't too cold |
Anonymous
We went for NYE. It was the most remarkable fireworks display I've ever seen. We also happened to go during record lows and snow...an authentic blizzard. We still had a great time. It wasn't unbearably cold as long as you dress properly and we thought the dark was kind of cool. I'd prefer 5 hours of sunlight over 20 hours of sunlight |
Anonymous
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In late June we used both winter coats (packable down)/hats/gloves as well as sat outside for dinner one night with just tshirts and pants on, so there is really quite the variety of weather. I highly recommend rain pants that can go over your regular pants- not only if it is raining, but also if you are near waterfall spray. Waterproof hiking boots also were of great value, even with no crazy long hikes.
My favorite was Studlagil Canyon in East Iceland. |
Anonymous
| went in early june and it was still surprisingly cold. as in we bought hats and mittens. i'd go a bit further into summer if it were me but june is ok. |
Anonymous
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Isn't the blue cave closed in the summer though? Any chance of seeing Northern lights in August?
PP's who have been, did you fly Icelandair? If yes, how was it? And what was your favorite thing to do in Iceland. I'm not sure whether to just go up to see the glacier lagoon, do the tours and drive back or continue the entire ring road. How many days is ideal for the entire ring road vs just up to the Diamond beach area and back? |