Iceland in 3 weeks - all hints and tips welcome!

[feetheart]

We got lots of great advice on here in May when we were thinking about this trip.
Now it's nearly here, what do we:

• need to do?
• need to take?

We (me, DH, DD-13 and DS--10 but 11 whilst we are there) are going for a week and staying in an AirB&B apartment in Reykjavik. We are good walkers, like to explore and anything involving mythology will go down well!
All hints and tips will be grateful received by all 4 of us.
TIA

Waterproof clothing - more rain than snow in October (we went 26th October last year). We didn't hire a car as we were concerned about winter driving but the roads are great out there and if/when we go again we will definitely hire one.
Layers
Good walking boots
Definitely book your Northern Lights tour early on. We saw them on our 3rd trip out but only had to pay once.
Definitely try Sandholt bakery - expensive but gorgeous (we stayed right next door to it.
Bonus supermarket for food if you are self catering - prices are not too bad.
For some reason Coca Cola is really cheap out there. We drank gallons of the stuff.

Golden circle tour
Try and visit the Black Beach at Vik
Hot dogs from this guy Baejarins Beztu Pylsur - he's tucked away at the bottom of the main street near the harbour but the hot dogs are amazing and cheap too.

Oh and don't forget to claim your tax back on spends over a certain amount. Most shops will give you a little envelope and form to fill in which you can then hand in at the airport and get your tax back via card. Ours came back pretty quickly.

Prepare for the smell of sulphur in the bathroom every day its truly grim.

Be prepared for evetything to cost a feckin fortune.

Keep all receipts and allow plenty of time to queue to claim your tax back.

If you go on any 'lights' tours, wrap yourself in a duvet - its shockingly cold.

You must, must, must go riding. I went for a whole week a couple of years back, but these people look great and they can cater for those who haven't ridden before vikinghorses.is/

On your day at the Blue Lagoon put an hour aside for the Viking World Museum. It is small but contains a real replica of a Viking ship which they sailed to America. It is really interesting and my boys (12 and 6) loved it. They also have some Viking stuff for them to try on ( i.e. Real swords, cloaks, shields etc,..no health and safety in Iceland) and a few Viking puzzles. Upstairs they have an audio tour of Viking myths. The 6 year old liked it, 12 year old not so much. Prepare to be amazed at food prices.

Useful thread....was just considering a half term trip....

Be aware that the water from the taps smells like sulphur. Don't have a shower/bath if you're feeling quaesy!

We went in October.... you will have an amazing time...

All types of weather on the same day....

If your going to the Blue Lagoon.... bring waterproof phone cover (it costs about £5 on amazon) as you can take lovely pictures while in the pool.
They do sell them in the pool bar but I think they are £20.

Northern lights we went with a small group.... there is a lot of standing round in the cold dark night... a drop of brandy would have been a god send. We seen a few ripples... but otherwise to cloudy.

I hope you have a fantastic time.