Scandinavia / Iceland

[notanotherroast]

I would really appreciate your advice
I have had a year from hell - still not resolved and may never be! But my son has been so supposed like to do something nice for him for his 30th later this year.
he likes football and going to new places.
he isn’t a fan of heat
hr hasn’t got a lot of leave left
i was thinking maybe a 3/4 night break perhaps in Scandinavia? Neither of us have been . Not a huge budget probably around1k. I’d like two bedrooms as I doubt he’d like to share with his mum . So maybe an air b and b
where would you suggest
we live in London so airports are not an issue

Can you say a bit more about what that budget is meant to include? Hotel room with breakfast presumably, but then... flights? meals? car hire/transport? attractions?

Copenhagen is nice. Easy to get around, pleasant harbour areas to sit in. Tivoli is nice if you like that kind of thing. You can get the train to visit the Viking ships at Roskilde or go up the coast to Hamlet's castle if you want to do a trip out.

My DH has just had a holiday to Iceland with our adult son (they split costs 50/50) it was eye wateringly expensive, They absolutely loved it and packed loads in during their week and considered it the holiday of a lifetime.
Our DS is very well travelled and has been to Sweden and Norway.. alcohol is very expensive in Norway.

You can also get the train across to Sweden if you want to have visited another Scandinavian country. Go to Lund rather than Malmö though.

Iceland isn’t expensive if you have an air BnB and coon your own food. Both are great options but I would choose Iceland.

I've just spent a week in Stockholm and absolutely loved it. Stayed in a hotel on the outskirts (similar to a Premier Inn) and 5 mins walk to the metro and then 10 mins into Stockholm central. There's plenty to do - Abba Museum, Skansen open air history museum plus aquarium, Avicii experience, Nobel Prize Museum, ice skating, Vasa museum plus lovely shopping and surroundings. Hotel was around £500 including breakfast and flights £250. Travel pass for ferries, trains and tram was £40 unlimited for the week - so not too bad cost wise.

I've been to Reykjavik, Copenhagen and Stockholm and I'd choose Reykjavik by a mile. There are so many absolutely amazing day trips you can do from there, don't miss Jokulsarlon if at all possible. We saw waterfalls, glaciers, geysers and icebergs - and relaxed at the Blue Lagoon which was beautiful.

Iceland is a beautiful country, we were there during the summer months which meant we got the midnight sun, that was quite an experience.

Thankyou all so much ! Great information. I’ll start planning it !! I think we’d only have 4 nights . That money would be fares and the accommodation looks doable

If you're on a budget for food and drink, eating out in the evening might be tricky although if you avoid wine and red meat its a bit less expensive.

We found some good coffee shop deals for lunch though. Also Sbarro for pizza slices. I'd give the oft recommended hot dog stand a miss though unless you want to pay £6 for what looks suspiciously like an IKEA hot dog.

Bonus is the least expensive supermarket, there's a few branches in Reykjavik. I would get easy food for the evening and eat out at lunch time.

Or perhaps go for a walk and drink - there's a lot of happy hours with 2 for 1 drinks in the early evening. It depends what you want, when I've suggested this as a way to control costs to people on a budget, its been dismissed as 'miserable' but suits me fine as I prefer to eat more earlier in the day and can usually take or leave eating much in the evening so see little point in spending close to £100 pn on food I don't care that much for.

Try to budget for the Perlan museum (about £30 pp) and a golden circle tour (around £100 pp?). The cathedral is worth a look, including going up the tower but that is around £10 for the latter. Other than that we just enjoyed wandering around, I especially liked the pond with the wildfowl and the town hall with the big relief map if Iceland.

@cossette , can you share any more of the finer details please? I'd be really interested in looking into this.

This. We had a brilliant long weekend in Iceland. Air BnB in Reykjavik. Did the Golden Circle your with a trip to the Secret Lagoon. Went to so.e if the outdoor pools in town, mooched around the lovely shops and coffee houses, climbed Hallgrimskirk and went to a free concert there. Did a midnight Northern Lights tour. We went to the Blue lagoon but it may still be closed after the volcano eruptions.

You can spend a fortune if you eat out and drink out every night, or if you hire loads of equipment to speed across the snow. But if you buy your own food from the supermarket and booze from the only off licence on the island, then those are same price as UK.

I loved Iceland. The geyser and swimming in the Secret Lagoon alone are worth the trip.

@Mauvish1The hotel was Good Morning Hagerstan and was very similar vibe to a Premier Inn with amazing breakfast! Flights were Scandinavian Airlines outward and RyanAir coming home. There are plenty of good value AirBnB's available in Stockholm and I would say as long as you are near a metro station you'd be ok travel wise. The transport system is really efficient. Eating out prices are very similar to London prices and they have After Work concept of cut price food/drinks around 5-7pm. Also I fully embraced the concept of Fika around 11ish - coffee and cake with friends!!

Iceland is not eye wateringly expensive! You just have to be savvy! Do your homework on where to eat and, like most Scandinavian countries, stay off the booze!

Wanting 2 rooms in a hotel will cost you though. I would try and get a 2 bed appartment and I’d recommend Copenhagen too. We didn’t find it ridiculously expensive and it’s very walkable. When going to Iceland, you must do a trip out to see the Golden Ring or you miss the point of Iceland.

I have not booked an appartment in Copenhagen but I do advise that staying near an underground station is worthwhile if you are in a suburb. The area near the main station has a lot of restaurants and you arrive there from the airport. It’s easy if you stay in the Meatpacking area but it’s a bit seedy around the edges!