Iceland - Is it worth it?

[roconnell]

Soon to be DH and I are considering Iceland for our honeymoon in September. Hopefully with a trip to Copenhagen tagged on to the beginning or end. We plan to do the usual, Reykjavik and the blue lagoon.
If anyone has been please tell me about it, what to do, what not to do, and is it worth it? Is it a good option for a honeymoon?

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endof - I looked into accessible travel before we went (in the end without my DH, but we were keeping an eye out for what he could do). This company should be able to help.

Much of the golden circle is at least partially wheelchair accessible. Þingvellir you would be able to see the whole landscape from the viewing deck, but not necessarily walk down to see the Drowning Pool and so on. Geysir is definitely accessible. Gulfoss again you could see from the viewing deck but possibly not get all the way to the rocks - I've just added a pic from the viewing deck to see if I can see if it's a slope all the way to the waterfall or if there were some steps. I actually thought we would do this Super Jeep trip again with my DH - he wouldn't be able to get out when we reached the Langjökull glacier but he would be able to see an awful lot.

Thank you all for the advice.
I need to get on and plan!

We hired a campervan for a week in summer a few years ago and managed the south half of Iceland staying at campsites at various towns and visiting the local geo thermally heated pools. In addition to the Golden Circle and all the waterfalls at the side of the ring road, I would totally recommend hiking/staying at Skaftafell National Park and also horse riding! We went riding [http://www.hellahorserental.is/ here] and it was a fantastic experience! It’s still cold in August - we were wearing our ski stuff, including our thermals!

Travelled in January, it was cold and windy, but beautiful. If you like reading, there are old sagas and new stories (may help you to put things into context). A good place to take photos. Northern lights are worth the wait for several hours. I would like to return one day in the summer.

Yes, but hire a car for freedom from tours. Driving is so easy there

I loved Iceland and would definitely go back. We stayed at the Grand hotel in Reykjavik. Which had a spa attached.

Our booked excursions included...

Blue Lagoon and ate lunch in the Lava restaurant (best meal I've had in my life, well worth the expense)! We were there for 8am and left approx 4pm, it was lovely and quiet in the morning and got much busier as the day went on.

Golden Circle tour to see waterfalls, Geysers, tectonic ridge and tomato factory. The geysers and tectonic plates are spectacular to see up close and personal. But maybe that's because I'm a bit geeky that way.

Black Diamond beach and glaciers. This is at the south of the island and you spend pretty much the whole day on a coach with stop off for food and to walk behind a waterfall which was an experience in itself.

Food tour. Food walking tour was nice (except the horse meat) company was good but we did end up a bit dodgy afterwards.

If I went back I'd plan the trip more carefully to include hiring a car so we can spend more time at the black Diamond beach and glacier pool to take it all in at our own pace and stay in locations nearer to the sights we wanted to see.

Instead of walking the tectonic ridge I'd book to snorkel or dive between the tectonic plates. And I'd be going inside the volcano! Unfortunately it was overcast and we didn't see the northern light but would hope to experience this on our next visit.

I'd be booking a night in the Blue Lagoon hotel especially for Honeymoon.

There are lots of nice bars and coffee houses in the city. Have a look and see what's on at the Harpa when you will be there.

We did blue lagoon, trip to the geysirs, northern lights, snowmobiling on a glacier so there's something for everyone really. It just depends on what kind of trips you like.

We went twice last year as we loved it so much. Easter with the dcs for a week (12,9,5) then just us with another couple in Nov. Superb. Had a house in Fludir for the week and had hotels for the weekend with friends.
Thoroughly recommend Fosshotel Reykjavik in the city and Welcome Hotel Lambafell on South coast. Of all the things we did, Blue Lagoon would be the only thing I would not do again or recommend although it is cool to have said we've been and Secret Lagoon I would do over and over. Icelandair Hotel Fludir was fine but I'd probably search again if returning.

Iceland is wonderful and I couldn't recommend it enough.

This thread is perfectly timed for me; DH and I are going in February with 8yo DS.

We're only going for three nights, it's all we can afford. So want to make the most of our time there. Did anyone use Iceland Local Tours for excursions? Their website displays all the options nice and simply. Am I better off booking before we go as we're there such a short time?

We're staying at the Fosshotel so pleased you recommend it @bramblina.

There are a few Fosshotels, even very close to each other. I'm sure they are all nice but we certainly loved the "Reyjavik". Breakfast was vast

Would you drive? My dh drives abroad weekly so it's no big deal to him but I would thoroughly recommend it- the roads are brilliant and I would drive, no worries. I would recommend Go Iceland for car hire, we used them twice and last time were upgraded from a Hyundai to a BMW and they were also very understanding when our flight was delayed- let us have the car for 4 more hours with no extra charge. You would be able to avoid all the hoards of people if you could drive and you could cram a lot more in.

Sorry bramblina, I didn't notice you had posted.

I absolutely love a hotel breakfast so good to hear the Fosshotel's is good.

Neither of us minds driving abroad but we don't really want to on this trip because for what we want to do it would work out more expensive than the excursions.

Starting to get quite excited now, only a couple more weeks until we go.

Really? Do you get discounts on the trip? Most attractions are free- Geysir, Gulfoss, Thingvellir, Kerid.....?