Iceland May half term

[Holidayqueen1]

Hi all
We’ve been dithering about May half term and OMG flight prices to most of Europe are ridiculously expensive!
Iceland is on my bucket list and there are some reasonable prices BA flights which are super tempting! We’d prob book a car and we’d have 7 nights. Does anybody have a suggested itinerary so I can research hotel prices before I go ahead and book please? Thank you! Oh and is May a good time to go?

May is usually a lovely time to go! It is the start of spring when everything is turning green, the summer birds are arriving and the nights have almost disappeared. It is too early to go into the highlands but everything else will be easy and accessible. You have a good chance of nice weather (though it could still be cold and rainy).

I would stay one or two nights in Reykjavík and do the golden circle as a day trip if you've never done it before. Look around the city a little in the evening.

Then I would go and see some of the other regions outside the south west. Maybe Snæfellsnes and the west fjords - I think that's what I'd recommend most, but anyway don't stay in the south west!

We did Reykjavik, snaelfeness peninsula, then to golden circle, then south to the glacier, then back to Reykjavik.
we stayed in a great hotel between snaelfeness and golden circle, I’ll see if I can find a link.

Just remember once you are there it is £££ so it might end up costing way more once you are there.

This one
excellent breakfast! We took loads of pastries with us for lunch !

we shopped at the budget supermarkets and had picnics, it was about half again as expensive as UK - so a nice seeded loaf around £2.50, salmon potato salad stuff around £3, nice mushroom cheese stuff £3.
there are usually pizza places in most towns which is cheaper than Icelandic food - around £16 for a pizza.

alcohol is expensive, so do as the locals and buy duty free at the airport. We got in at midnight and everyone in our flight was filling huge trolleys!

most places have excellent municipal thermo pools, they’re very friendly and cost around £6, no need to splash out on blue lagoon!
we went to the glacier near Skeidflator, the one that’s like a long leg. Really easy to drive to and just walk up, no guide needed.
Then two beautiful waterfalls to visit on the way back east, plus some Viking houses which are easily accessible from the road.

Wow thanks everyone! Love that hotel, and if we could manage to grab lunch from it too then not too bad! Is that ok to do ie expected?!

Eek maybe not, the Fosshotel is £340 per night!!! Is there any way of us doing this for less than £250 per night for a hotel or is that standard rate? There are 3 of us. Thanks all.

I would look at hostels and little camping sites with chalets. They are much better priced and often still have hot tubs etc. The towns do have heated geothermic pools but I would still go to the blue lagoon. It is a geological wonder and there is nothing like it any where else!

Holiday Queen - sorry if you’ve done this, but is that the price for booking in May or tonight?! It might have a different deal if you search on something like trivago or another search engine. We stayed in Reykjavik on a Tui package so not the solution for you but it was one of the best holidays of my life!
deffo the Golden Circle tour and also look at going in the lava tunnel, an extinct tunnel set up for visitors. Amazing!

Ooops sorry, it was £120 when we went in October!

I like peaceful camping sites near to mountain sites. But its is very hard to find hotels there. And such places are so much shinshonable and enjoyable.

The hotel is around £239 for most nights in May

If its your first visit to Iceland and you only have a week, I would choose the South-west region.
I would look for a self catered lodge for 5 nights, we like Laugavarten), and do something like this dependant on flight times,

Day 1 - pick up car from Airport, supermarket (Bonus is same price as Waitrose), drive to Lodge.
Day 2 - Gulfoss and Geyser
Day 3 - Activity day (horse riding, glacier trip)
Day 4 - Snaefellsness peninsular road trip to see the coast, bubbling mud, hot springs
Day 5 - TP National Park. Depending on Budget, add in Ice caving or snorkelling btw the tectonic plates.
Day 6 - Move to Reykjavik. City sights
Day 7 - Blue Lagoon before flight.

Iceland gets a bad rep for being super expensive, but apart from fuel, there's no cost involved to see any on the natural wonders. You will have to pay to go to the blue lagoon and do activities but they really are optional. Have a super time!

Wow thank you all. Super helpful 😀and yes we are much more about natural wonders although snorkelling is a must do according to my 15 yo!! Love the idea of a self catering lodge, do you have any recommendations please? And @Twoshoesnewshoes no worries!!! The nights we wanted were more but one of those things, really appreciate all the advice and desperate to go! Trying to convince hubby to bite the bullet!

I usually find the self catering cottage on trip advisor or booking.com. We have stayed at one of these lodges before - "Bræðraborg Laugarvatn". They have a 3 bed for £130 a night currently. The local Fontana spa is fab. Make sure you go and see Siggi make the bread and cook it by burying it in volcanic sand. Its really reasonable to visit by Spa standards - about £25.

Ooh that sounds amazing, but I can’t find it 😬, sorry to be a pain but would you mind sending a link? The one I found is only available from 13-26/5 and we need it the following week. Thanks again!

Check these routes.
https://www.discover-the-world.com/holiday-finder/?destinations=38&types=75&seasons=summer

We did the food and wine one. Pre kids. It was fabulous. Went in June

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/VacationRentalReview-g315851-d7073768-Braeoraborg_Laugarvatn_Golden_Circle-Laugarvatn_South_Region.html#vr-detail-page-overview

This is what we did.

All the hotels were fabulous but this was a while ago

https://www.discover-the-world.com/holidays/iceland-connoisseur/

I hope that works! - 5 nights starting Sat 24th is £660. It's available the following week too. It is a 2 hr drive from the Airport so if you have a late flight you may want to do a night in the city before heading out especially if you're doing a supermarket shop too.

Thanks so much but showing as full from 26/5 onwards for me. Appreciate your help, thank you. Will have a bit more of a look for other places

Thanks @Puffinshop , out of interest why would you recommend not staying in the southwest? And do you have any recs on places to stay in the places you mention? I know you live in Iceland, have been watching the Iceland volcano thread and really appreciate your insights, thank you!

Just because the south west is the dullest part of the country in my opinion, in terms of the landscape. It's the best place to live and a lot of the best farmland but the least dramatic landscapes. It's also the busiest part. If you go in winter you are more restricted but in early summer with your own car why not make the most of it and explore further afield?

The south coast is pretty good if you wanted to go the other way, but it is waterfall heavy (I love waterfalls but how many do you want to see in a day?). If you go that way don't skip the Westman Islands - they are absolutely brilliant.

The north and the east fjords are also amazing. Especially that time of year on a clear day - absolutely gorgeous. Really I would recommend taking longer and doing the whole ring road if you can - but you can always come back 😉

Thanks, that makes sense! So would you recommend 2 days in Reykjavik including a golden circle tour then 5 days heading up toSnæfellsnes and the west fjords ? Where would be good to base ourselves and any just dos? Thank you so much, can’t wait!

Best to keep moving rather than staying in one base, so that you don't have to loop back on yourself. It's a lot of driving when touring Iceland because things are quite far apart. But it's easy driving on single carriageways through beautiful landscapes with no traffic jams, so an enjoyable experience.

I would allow two nights for Snæfellsnes, but in two different places. Maybe you could do the first night in Reykjavík, the next day drive the golden circle finishing with Þingvellir, stay near Borgarnes. Next day drive Snæfellsnes and stay on the other side near Stykkishólmur. Then you could go to the west fjords or head north towards Akureyri if that appeals more.

If you could afford a domestic flight the best way would be to end by flying back from Akureyri or Ísafjörður. Otherwise you have to count on driving back again and maybe end in Patreksfjörður or something? Just play around on Google maps.

Check out sundlaugar.is and find a natural hot spring. Hellulaug in the west fjords is amazing. Other things there are Látrabjarg (though the puffins may not have arrived yet, depending how early in May it is), Rauðisandur, Dynjandi.

If you go north, Dettifoss is absolutely jaw dropping.