Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Never been but dying to go and deals as low as $270 on Wow seem so tempting to escape the madness in DC in late January. Tips on good activities for someone in their late 20s on a reasonable budget? 4-5 full days is the target. I know daylight is limited but seems like a great time to catch the Northern lights and maybe some hiking or cross country skiing without paying high season prices.
Flights are cheap, but everything else about Iceland is expensive. Check out Reykjavik Excursions. Purchase as much as you can in advance, especially the transport from the airport to your hotel. Certain of the excursions will be cancelled if the weather does not cooperate - the snowmobile ones and the cave hiking ones. Also, the Blue Lagoon fills up very quickly and it might be too late to get a reservation.
In order to save money, purchase any wine, beer or liquor and take it with you or buy it at the duty free shop in the Airport because it's really expensive when you buy it out. If you take excursions that go over the lunch hour, most stop at convenience stores where you can buy food for lunch. It's a great option - on one of our excursions, we paid over $26 for a small bowl of soup.
On your arrival day, you likely won't be able to get into your hotel room for many hours. One of the few things to do that you can guarantee to make even if your flight gets somewhat delayed is a Golden Circle tour. And, if the northern lights are important to you, try to see them every day because they can be hard to catch. Our best sighting was on a boat way out of Reykjavik, but it was totally freezing so dress warm.
It's a great place to visit and cheap to get there, but it is not an inexpensive trip under any circumstances.