Iceland - advice on holidaying there?

[ZaZathecat]

We're thinking of Iceland for a holiday next year as one of the family can't stand the heat, and also I've heard there is a lot to see. But can anyone advise the best way to do this - organised tour/diy, what's best? We'd like to do lots of sightseeing but not knowing where anything is, whether things are easily accessible by car, whether you need to be fit or not have a fear of heights (who, me?) makes it a daunting,
Can anyone offer advice? TIA.

Family of 4. Kids were 8 & 11 last summer. We rented a motorhome (expensive!) and drove ourselves to the other side of the island on the ring road stopping at various campsites enroute last August. Buy your alcohol from the duty free at the airport getting off the plane since that's the cheapest option. We got the taste of Icelandic berry beer there and it's hard to source back in the UK.It's extremely easy driving and although it was August, we didn't have top prebook anywhere for the night but just rocked up on the day. Still cold (we layered up as we do on a ski trip!) - I would not choose to go outside of summer unless you want to see the Northern Lights and also risk driving through snow drifts. We saw waterfalls galore, including Gullfoss, Geysir & Thingvellir (Golden Circle) at our own leisurely pace. Highlights included trekking in Skaftafell National Park to the Svartifoss waterfall and to the glacier and watching the icebergs float out to sea at the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. We visited the black sandy beach at Vik and did the uphill trek there. DH & DS went glacier hiking on Mrydalsjokull whilst I took DD ( too young) to the local pool in Vik. We passed on the Blue Lagoon (too expensive fo a family of 4 imo) and visited a local pool daily instead (they are all geo thermally heated) and chose our campsites (for a night or two) based on their proximity to the local pool! Yes, you have to shower naked before getting into the pools according to their rules. A morning horse ride at Hella on our return journey to the capital was also particularly memorable. We only had a week and didn't have time to go completely around Iceland - we managed to get to Hofn before turning back. In hindsight, we needed more than a week. We stayed our first and last nights at Reykjavik Campsite which is next door to a fabulous swimming pool (our children's favourite of the holiday). HTH.

Thanks for taking the time everyone, really useful.