Anyone know anything about Iceland?

[flowerpot1000000]

DS was chatting about Iceland and how one of his school friends had gone and visited the thermal poos, ice caves, and plateletts he said I'd love to go and see and take in a different country and culture.

So where do I start, any advice on what to do, where to stay?

The pizzas for a quid aren't bad value.

I've only been once, but for what it's worth -
It's quite expensive, but we found everybody was really friendly.
It's very safe - crime is minimal.
We stayed in a small hotel in Reykjavik. The water smells of sulphur (it's not the drains!), but you get used to it, and the bathrooms are tiny because obviously space is at a premium.
Cafe Loki, opposite the cathedral, does a really nice lunch platter of some of the local delicacies.
There is a penis museum in the city, but I'm not sure if that's what you're after...
The bus tours are brilliant - I would recommend the Golden Circle one. It's worth seeing the geysers.
If you want to go whale watching, I recommend Elding. They were fantastic, and they serve hot chocolate with rum in

not sure I'd want to visit a thermal poo to be honest

Think i’d give the thermal poos a wide berth.😳

We went in January this year
We stayed in the galaxy pod hostel about five minutes walk from Reykjavik town center did day trip to the blue lagoon the hostel was brilliant and really cheap I think the three days for two adults and one child under eight cost about 300 including flights and transfers and the blue lagoon

Would definitely stay there again
Food is quite pricey
I would suggest trying the local swimming oools as well nothing like being in an outdoor oool at night when it’s minus three outside 😂😂

Iceland is great but expensive to eat or drink. If you are into glaziers, geezers or waterfalls and don't mind the smell of rotten egg when you turn on the tap! Then it's the place for you. Easy jet do cheap flights. We hired a car at the airport as the airport to the capital return bus fare was about the same as the car hire. I'd look at Airbnb for places to stay. It has a distinctive Danish feel as it was a Danish 'colony'. I would keep away from the really expensive guided tours and drive yourself around. Just make sure the car you hire is 'suitable' for the unmade up roads in many of the parts of the country. Other things to think about is that it's much nearer the artic circle so days are short in the winter and long in the summer.

Drink was dear when I was there, but the pubs had a two-for-one happy hour and they weren’t all at the same hour of the day.

So plan carefully!

I've only been there to the airport on a layover. The airport was unbelievably expensive €20 for a sandwich! Looks beautiful though.

I lived there for 2 years, only just moved back a few months ago. Feel free to pm me and I'll try to answer any questions :)

I live there, happy for you to pm me. It is expensive especially for food and I think you’ll probably find it much cheaper if you hire a car and stay self catering. Then shop in Bonus for food. Most of the tourist things are quite accessible by car. Winter gives you a good chance of seeing the Nothern Lights and all year round it is stunning scenery

Iceland is beautiful - we spent several weeks of the summer driving a full circuit of the Island. It is also really expensive so you need to budget well. Also be aware that some attractions have to be booked well in advance especially in high season

• fantastic nature with fjords and waterfalls great for hiking
• went to the small fjord villages in the northern and eastern areas
• went Whale and Puffin watching
• visited Reykjavik where we did some more tourist things in the town and visited some of the attractions in driving distance such a Geysir we also swam at the Blue Lagoon (had to book in advance - lucky as fully booked when we arrived)
• shopping in Reykjavik there are many speciality shops and there is an indoor market near the harbour.
• drove up to the Glacier which was very dramatic (part of the road was washed away by a glacier just after we visited)
• spent time in remote fjord hotels
• If driving look out for Nesti stations as they are like a service stations with petrol, toilets, hot food service, takeway food, souvenirs, sandwiches, sweets, crisps and drinks

Look closely at what time of year you plan to go. Many of the more remote fjords have frequent winter road closures (there are permanent barriers) and you need snow chains. When we arrived in late June it was still the spring flood with the snow melting from the mountains

Fun fact - the thermal pool isn’t natural. It’s waste heats from a geothermal power plant.

Cost of living is very high. £8 for a pint outside of happy hour, £50 for an average bottle of wine in a restaurant. Food obv. expensive too.We went to the Blue Lagoon to swim, and also whale watching and to see all the wonderful waterfalls, geysers, glaciers etc. Didn't get to see the northern lights though. We stayed in Reykjavik. Went with a tour company. A fascinating place to visit.

@BumDisease

If you venture up to Northern Iceland Netto is a reasonably cheap supermarket chain. We often used to pop in for a picnic lunch when we were out and about.

We're going on Sunday for Christmas! Will feedback! X

It's lovely. We went to a festival in Reykjavik, then hired a car and drove round the golden circle, the blue lagoon is really lovely and also has a really nice spa. The food is fantastic- really healthy and fresh.

I was quite disappointed in the geezers. They all had beards and anoraks and were quite humourless.

The geysers were good though.

Eating out and particularly wine were criminally expensive.

Agree that it is wise to use the Bonus supermarkets in Reykjavik but they sometimes close at unexpected times, so don’t be caught out if you are planning to buy dinner ingredients there.

The best thing we did was ride Icelandic horses. You can do that even if you’ve never been on a horse before. Fantastic scenery and loads of fun.

Wow thanks everyone didnt think I would get that many replies!!! Not sure we would feel confident enough to drive. Thinking hotel as a base then trip to waterfalls, thermal pools, and these platelet thing DS was on about??? Whale watching sounds great but will it be a sea sicky experience

It’s amazing. Went for Christmas before we had DC, can’t wait to take the DC.
Plenty to do and easy to get around driving.
Food/drink comparable with London prices.
Unfortunately we didn’t see the Northern Lights 😢

I am disabled so not all of the whalewatching trips were suitable - some whizz around on inflatables dressed in survival suits whereas we opted for the 100 year old restored fishing boat which was accessible.

Mums go there! Seriously though I'm considering it as a long time in the future holiday plan.

Just to add we whale watched from Husavik but there are trips all over Iceland

We got back not long ago. I’d do Airbnb and buy your own food rather than hotel. We didn’t drive either but the tours were brilliant.

And good was nowhere near London prices. Even self catering was much more expensive!!