Solo trip to Iceland? Reassurance needed!

[Pocketfullofdogtreats]

DH hates going away, and the friend I used to go with died with Covid. She'd been ill before that so I haven't actually been away for four years. I want a little adventure! Too knackered for an affair Have always wanted to go to Iceland and yesterday a cheapo flight offer came up, so I booked a seat for late March 2024 for 3 nights/4 days. Have I made a horrific mistake? If I have it's not a lot of money to write off. Some points:
I'm retired. Will book a budget hotel or hostel so that I meet people as I feel a twit eating alone and hope to buddy up with someone or book onto a couple of trips, particularly Northern Lights. Can walk on the flat OK but find hills a challenge and need loo quite frequently. I do have friends but no-one I'd want to be with for four days! I won't be driving. If I love it I could always go back and do more. So, is it doable, solo, from Rekjavik? TIA.

There were definitely loos at the main sights on the Golden Circle, and at all the geothermal pools we went to, and around Reykjavik. It's a very modern, well maintained country with excellent infrastructure. They somehow don't seem to have the trouble with potholes we get, for example!

I went in January. Best holiday in years.

Do the golden circle tour, loos at every stop. Reykjavik is small and lovely, if you like knitting there’s a great handknitters association shop selling Icelandic wool.

it was cold in January so I wore some winter walking trousers, currently on sale for £69 from Rohan. Not sure how cold it’ll be in March but it was the windchill combined with the cold for me in Jan. I also have good walking boots and warm socks.

someone went on the whale tour in Jan but the sea was quite rough and they were told it wasn’t quite the right season for whale watching, so do check when would work.

we booked a tour down a volcano tunnel - amazing (also loos at the start, where you get your loaner helmets on before the 45 min tour). There is so much to do.

I want to go again!

You don't need all the outdoor gear or walking boots if you won't use them again. Base layers, more layers, a warm and wind proof coat (the wind can be brutal), hat, scarf and gloves. Comfortable sturdy footwear. Iceland is rather special.

Hi,
My brother lives there. It's a beautiful and safe place to visit. Very expensive though so take more than you think you'll need.

Have a lovely time OP!

I went this year for 3 nights in April, and had a great time. Check the weather close to when you go, as layers may not be needed. I was baking in my thermals but then they were useful for places like Galfoss where you will get sprayed from the waterfall. Northern lights will be hit and miss, I drove out to the Grotta Lighthouse to see them, but didn't. But apparently they had been there the night before.

I went alone a couple of years ago. Can’t think of anywhere easier to travel on your own tbh and you see a lot of solo travellers around. I did a mixture of group trips and stuff on my own like the Blue Lagoon and museums in Reykjavik.

I much preferred the small group tour I did (minivan) to the huge coach excursion. The latter makes you feel like a bit of a number anyway, but being on my own I barely spoke to anyone all day whereas on the minivan tour everyone naturally got chatting. You can filter for this on Getyourguide and also check out the operators’ websites.

I went in March (and saw the lights) and if I went again in summer would rent a car.

All very easy and you tend to pick up food at service stations and convenience stores when on the tours so not a holiday where you need to eat at a restaurant every day. This keeps costs manageable and the ready made sandwiches and things you find there are better than here IMO.

My other comment would be that if you’re going on very early departing / late returning tours in winter you may be walking through completely deserted streets in the dark to get to or from the designated bus stop or the main bus station. I was a little wary of this but it was absolutely fine (and statistically Reykjavik is far safer than walking around a busier city, where I’d not have given it a second thought) and you never have to walk far to get to a pickup point. This applies to hotels right in the centre where buses can’t go; outside that zone tours pick up from the hotels.

Re clothes, one of the tours I did I could have got away without proper walking boots, but another I absolutely could not. However, the latter offered the option to rent from the operator - think it was about £9. If you don’t have all the gear you can always check with the operator what they suggest and if they can provide it.

I was very thankful for having fleecy waterproof trousers as it was absolutely freezing at times. I had thermals on beneath them on the evening lights tour and was still frozen. So my advice would be that clothes definitely need to offer protection from wind and water at that time of year.

Weather is really unpredictable at any time. When I was there at the end of March a few years ago we had sunny but cold weather. The locals were walking around in t shirts, tourists were dressed for winter. The week before the weather was really bad and a friend was delayed an hour getting off the plane.

I was there at the end of April. We had a day of snow, but other days of blue skies, so we were lucky.

If you're there for 3 days, I'd do a Golden Circle tour and whalewatching, then just go round town to museums. Whales are dependent on the weather, so they won't go if it's too rough. You can book tours online from here.

You can get a city card for 1, 2 or 3 days, which gets you in to lots of the museums, free local buses and also into the public swimming pools with the thermal pools.

The city is easily walkable, and fine on your own, even after dark.

The Secret Lagoon is lovely - our tour included a stop there. And the public swimming pools are special too - we had a great time visiting them all.

Woo woo thank you all! This is all really helpful! Funnily enough, the safety thing hadn't crossed my mind. I grew up in a dodgy part of London so as long as I've got a lock on my bedroom door then I'm happy. Rather, what concerns me is not having the confidence to try things or having to go for hours without a loo (as I did on a boating trip once). But you have all put my mind at rest. Sounds as if there will be other solo women travellers. When I've stayed in hostels in Europe alone I've met up with other women and travelled around with them but that was a long time ago! If I book some tours it'll be fine. Thank you once again. The tips about windproof clothing are very helpful.