Talk to me about Iceland

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Looking to go perhaps the end of next year for the northern lights. Will be taking two teens, one has autism.

Hooping to do other excursions.

How long is a good time to go for? Was thinking 5 nights?

Niceish hotel recommendations as well please

We went for 3 or 4 days, its a massive country but much of it is desolate and inaccessible.
We stayed in an apartment just a short drive from the city I will post link later.
We went to the Blue Lagoon it was very expensive but good, others are cheaper. Then we left we drove up the coast it was nice to see the Geysers, fault lines etc.
Day two we went to the Golden circle it was fantastic to see all the different places and waterfalls etc.
The down side
I would get an apartment food is hit and miss as they do eat some different stuff, Soup and Coffee was £40 per person! I think I paid about £15 for a Subway
A 99p Pizza in the supermarket is £5, but dont let it put you off we ate Pizza all weekend
We went just before Christmas many of the roads are covered in Ice I have driven in some poor conditions but this was very bad, just be prepared. Most cars have studded tyres, Visibility was poor due to rain and fog. Just take your time.
Northern lights, we had the app that tells you where best to see them but never did , too much cloud, friends spent a week chasing them and only saw them on the plane trip home.
It wasnt as festive as we expected, it was on the bucket list so we went, we did wait a long time to get a good deal I think it was £1000 for the 4 of us inc a car?

We had a great holiday there two years ago at this time. Stayed in Reykjavik, and did day trips with guides - we went on a golden circle tour with a trip to the Secret Lagoon and out to the waterfalls and glaciers on the south coast, then a couple of days in Reykjavik going to swimming pools and out on boats. The Northern Lights were a highlight but we were lucky with the weather.
It is expensive but if you’re prepared for it it is not too bad - we used the supermarket for lunches, found a nice cafe for breakfast which was no more expensive than our part of south London and ate in various not very fancy pizza and noodle places at dinner.
I love Iceland. It was my third trip and I was just delighted that the DC liked it as much as I do.

Love it there. Stayed in Reykjavik for a few days. Did Blue Lagoon, golden circle and whale watching trip then went to Hotel Ranga and we did Skoga Foss, several other waterfalls, the Iceberg Laggon ( 3 hour drive both ways but most certainly worth it, and lots to see on way), Vik for lamb stew and we were meant to hike on a glacier but it started flooding.

Hire a car.

Didn't really see a big northern light show, for us that was better in Norway.

We hired a cr and stayed just outside of Reykjavik here:

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g189970-d12216020-Reviews-Iceland_Comfort_Apartments-Reykjavik_Capital_Region.html

It saved us SO much money as you could walk to two different supermarkets and eating out is just crazy. We just bought ready meals, made lunches and saved an absolute fortune.

We did the golden circle ourselves self drive, as well as going to visit the plane crash site on the beach which was cool. We also went to the big museum called Perlan which was a lovely day out.

Blue lagoon is expensive but very much worth it in our opinion, we also went to the spa in Langervatn which was nice but no where near as good as the blue lagoon. We did a pre booked tour to see the lights with GreyLine and I would definitely recommend that as they took us to see them and we would have struggled to do that as well on our own.

I went years ago with eldest DD and we stayed at a very ordinary hotel in Reykjavik for a less than ordinary price! I have an Icelandic old school friend and she rents an apartment on AirBnB - she says a lot of tourists do go the Air BnB route thanks to extortionate hotel prices and eating out costs. I completely agree with PPs up thread in that eating out is Scandinavian extortionate. I found a Chinese restaurant which was comparably cheap in central Reykjavik and we ate there a couple of times - hardly authentic but it best spending an arm and a leg elsewhere.

When we went, DD liked whale watching, horse riding and the blue lagoon (the minerals in the water turn your hair to straw so take a swim cap). If we went again, we’d probably hire a 4 wheel drive, book Air BnBs and visit the Western Fjords which according to my Icelandic friend are beautiful and not much visited. We went for 5 days in an October half term which fit our itinerary - it was a lot colder than it was in the U.K. so pack warm!

Just found the apartments we stayed in now closed I suspect they are now just rented to locals due to Covid and tourism, shame as it was excellent.
Plenty of others though

Thanks!

An apartment might actually be better given the price of eating out (sounds expensive)

Not keen on self drive, I suppose we could find coach excursions beforehand.

DS went there last year and was saying yesterday that he really wanted to go back. I’ll ask where he went - I know they went to the blue lagoon. He loved it (I was very jealous!)

If you dont want to drive them plan before you even book as many things are a long way apart

Viator has lots of day tours from
Reykjavik. You’ll probably find local tour companies on Tripadvisor though offering similar tours for less money, just depends how much time you’ll have to do research, sometimes it’s easier just to use Viator!

We went very early new year two years ago.
Stayed in an apartment found on Owners Direct, ten minute walk into central Reykjavik. It was very expensive to eat, so we took one whole case with non perishable foods, used the supermarkets and spent our money on trips instead. We got two takeaway pizzas and two beers on our last night which came close to £50!
Did the Golden Circle, Blue Lagoon and went quad biking in the lava fields. Pre book everything. Smaller group trips are best, look on Trip Advisor for reviews.
Amazing amazing time. Didn't see the Northern Lights though. And be prepared for limited daylight. We were up and out hours before sunrise to see everything before the sunset around mid afternoon.

And take a portable charger. It was so cold at Gulfoss my phone battery drained within minutes.

If seeing the northern lights is high on your bucket list check the best time of year. In Finland it's March as there is a better chance of clear skies.

We didn't see the Northern Lights but we had one of our best family holidays self driving a 4 berth campervan/RV for a week round the southern half of the island and staying at campsites. (we picked sites near local swimming pools which were all geothermally heated). I deliberately chose August/peak summer since the roads are hazardous from autumn through to late spring and it was still cold enough for us to wear thermals and our ski jackets!. We could do everything at our own pace - useful with 2 primary aged DC at the time. This isn't a cheap option but then, nothing in Iceland is cheap.
Icelandic pony riding was an unforgettable experience! In hindsight, we should have gone for 10 days/a fortnight to be able to circumnavigate the island at our own pace. I know people do it in a week but I suspect that it's a rather whistle stop tour pace whereas we like to be able to take a little more time/make more stops.