Iceland trip

[Jessie40]

Thinking of booking a winter trip to Iceland early 2022. We have never been.
Recommendations for a good area to stay for attractions, is everything accessible or do we need to higher a car. How do you book excursions?
Any advice would be great
Thank you

Bump

We've stayed by Hlemmur bus station in Reykjavik twice, which is walking distance to lots of shops, restaurants, hallagrimskirkja and the harbour.
Excursions can be booked online or usually at your hotel.

All of the main sights are far away, but I believe usually free to visit - so the excursion cost is basically travel costs. I've heard lots of recommendations to hire a car but the weather and therefore roads can be extreme

Enjoy though, it's a magical place

Im a little concerned about hiring a car due to the weather and also the shorter day light. Which is why I would need to know how you get to the lagoons/caves etc if you don't have a car.

Iceland is gorgeous! I can't wait to go back. We stayed at the Icelandair Natura hotel by the domestic airport which is a little way out, maybe 20 min walk into town but the hotel was lovely. We went for brunch at the Hilton Nordica and that was an absolutely gorgeous hotel and just at the edge of the Main Street Laugavegur so great location. I'd probably stay there if I went again. If going in winter I would definitely stay in Reykjavik and not hire a car. Can get airport bus or taxi in from airport and do day trips to see all the sights. You want to do the Blue Lagoon, Golden Circle and a Northern Lights tour for sure. There are loads of organised bus tours to these, joining one of these is the easiest way to do them. Visiticeland.com is a good place to start. Within Reykjavik you want to do Hallgrimskirkja church, shopping on Laugavegur, Harpa opera hall and waterfront. We had our best meal in Reykjavik in Fiskfelagid, absolutely delicious. Have a fantastic time, Iceland is really something special

You might be interested in this OP. I’ve shamefully stolen it from another thread.

www.ruv.is/frett/2021/03/20/live-feed-from-iceland-volcano

We stayed in ‘105 A Townhouse Hotel’ which was maybe about five mins walk from the main drag.

Booked all our excursions through the main tour provider over there (sorry can’t remember name). We didn’t hire a car as the roads aren’t great and I prefer a guided tour anyway.

Make sure you go searching for the northern lights the first night so you can keep going back if you don’t see them. We didn’t unfortunately.

@Jessie40 you can book yours to basically everything. Most people visit the Blue Lagoon directly from the airport as part of their transfer.

Iceland is wonderful. We stayed at the end of February at the FossBaron in Reykjavik with a water view. It was daylight between 9am and 4 pm. Do your research before you go about the moon. You’ll want to see the Northern Lights so try to go when the moon is new so the sky is really dark. Book the Northern Lights trip on the first night of your holiday - if you don’t see them the next night is free. The hotel will book all your trips for you if you want. We hired a car and managed to do the Golden Circle independently. But for the lights we took a coach trip. Food is expensive.

Reykjavik Excursions is the main excursion operator I think

Oh I’m so jealous. We absolutely loved it when we went. We also stayed in the fossbaron down the waterfront. Was nice although we paid for an executive room after hearing the rooms were a little basic. It was nice. We booked through tui so the northern lights and golden circle tours were included but I know from friends these are easy enough to book independently. We booked the blue lagoon direct through the blue lagoon website and was much more value for money than via tui. Got the bus from the local bus station. Leaves on the hour every hour so easy enough. Was so good. We stayed all day. There’s also an app you can download that shows where the 241 and other deals are on food and drink which can help to ease the finical burden. I can’t remember the name but I’m pretty sure there is only one. If you are planning on booming tours you won’t need a car the city is tiny so easy to walk round. We absolutely loved it.

This is a REALLY stupid question but for those that have visited when is it the warmest but still see and do the best bits? I cannot stand the cold and have Reynauds but I really want to visit Iceland.

@TheCanyon

This is a REALLY stupid question but for those that have visited when is it the warmest but still see and do the best bits? I cannot stand the cold and have Reynauds but I really want to visit Iceland.

Personally I think to appreciate it you need to have snow, plus you'll only see the Northern lights in winter. We went end October and there was snow and the Gulfoss waterfall was frozen which was amazing to see but it wasn't unbearably cold, manageable once wrapped up so that might be a good compromise. If you're not bothered about snow and Northern Lights I'd go June/July and you'll have pleasant, mild weather and almost 24 hour light

We went in February and stayed in the Icelandair Marina which was a brilliant hotel and handy for places to eat.
We saw the northern lights

@TheCanyon

This is a REALLY stupid question but for those that have visited when is it the warmest but still see and do the best bits? I cannot stand the cold and have Reynauds but I really want to visit Iceland.

I’ve been to Iceland twice, both times in the middle of the summer. In 2017, they were having a lovely summer - warm and sunny. The following year, it was much colder - about 12c, grey skies but mostly dry.

To be honest, I wouldn’t go in the winter. I prefer the endless days of summer - you can see and do more when it’s still light at midnight. Amazing landscape and plenty to do indoors as well.

You can't really hire a car in the winter. Most of the roads are closed because of snow so you'd really have to stay put. Also it's dark all the time.

I went in January and stayed in these apartments, would recommend them. Don't book a hire car in winter, just go on a couple of tours. I used Gateway to Iceland who were excellent, they are small group tours (no more than 16), their Hot Golden Circle Tour was great as the last stop was the lovely small Secret Lagoon for a soak in the hot springs.

I’ve an Icelandic old school friend who rents out an apartment in Reykjavik and according to her, many tourists go the AirBnB route these days both from a cost and cooking point of view. I went many years ago with eldest DD and it is expensive to eat out so having the option to self cater part of the time would be a good thing imo.

We went in an October half term and while there was no snow it was much colder than the U.K. (so much so, DD kept asking to go to Sunland next time). I don’t drive but didn’t find that an issue in terms of seeing the place - I’d booked excursions in advance but did use the local buses to get around Reykjavik (we went to some thermal heated swimming pools).

It’s an interesting and very different looking place. Just go with the right gear and lots of cash!

Thank you everyone for the tips.
Im thinking February but will definitely check out the moon first

We went February last year, stayed at the Hilton which was very easy to access main area of Reykjavik, the person I used to book our holiday booed all our excursions but easy to do through the hotel, we saw the Northern Lights