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I know quite a few people who have traveled to Iceland, and all loved it. One friend of mine has vacationed in Iceland three times in the past ten years. He loves it and would go back again if the opportunity arose. I talked with him about it last weekend. He had no issues with Iceland Air. We are going next month, and I'm so excited! We booked flights and hotel through Expedia and received prompt confirmations for both. I did notice that, while Iceland Air includes seat choices in the basic fare it does not include meals. We made our seat choices about a month ago and last week we made and paid for our meal choices for both flights. It was easy to make the meal choices on the Iceland Air website.
We realize that in May the weather may be pretty crummy much of the time. We will be well prepared for rain, wind and cold temps. My biggest hope is for decent weather on the day of our boat tour to view puffins, but I realize that may be a pipe dream.
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I flew Icelandair to Amsterdam, and it stopped at Keflavik Airport, so I was there for one hour. It was 7 am in November, and the sun wouldn't come up until 10. But Icelandair at that time (2015) had a deal where if you stay there on your way to elsewhere, you won't get charged an additional airfare. Don't know if they still do that.
I would like to return and see Iceland for real. My niece has gone to hike there and loved it. Actual flying time from EWR was four hours and forty minutes. It's amazingly close.
A good friend and her husband went to Iceland in March and told me all about it. It seemed my friend mostly liked it, but her husband, not as much. They went through a travel company called "Intrepid Travel."
My friend said it was really windy, and one of the hikes they were taking up a mountain was so bad, wind-wise, she was being blown off the trail. My friend is 71 yrs old, all of 85 lbs and 4'10", so she realized it was too dangerous for her and she turned back, with one of the guides helping to hold her steady all the way back, and she waited back at the vehicle while the others kept climbing.
It sounded like they went to 3 towns during their week, very rural and remote, not much to do. Accommodations were simple/basic, at least one place had one bathroom on each floor that everyone on the floor had to share. Quite cold, windy. She said their meals were fine for the most part. There were some warm springs they went to and people could go in there, which my friends enjoyed.
She said the only time they saw the northern lights was from the flight arriving in Iceland. They never got to see it from the ground while there.
It sounded like they went to 3 towns during their week, very rural and remote, not much to do. Accommodations were simple/basic, at least one place had one bathroom on each floor that everyone on the floor had to share. Quite cold, windy. She said their meals were fine for the most part. There were some warm springs they went to and people could go in there, which my friends enjoyed.
She said the only time they saw the northern lights was from the flight arriving in Iceland. They never got to see it from the ground while there.
None of that is really surprising. Outside of Reykjavik, Iceland is very rural. The entire country only has about 300,000 people living in it, after all! You go there for the nature, not city attractions. As for the Northern Lights, they are always hit-or-miss. Whether or not you see them depends on what the sun is doing. We're heading into solar maximum now, so the odds of seeing them are improving, but it's never a guarantee.
None of that is really surprising. Outside of Reykjavik, Iceland is very rural. The entire country only has about 300,000 people living in it, after all! You go there for the nature, not city attractions. As for the Northern Lights, they are always hit-or-miss. Whether or not you see them depends on what the sun is doing. We're heading into solar maximum now, so the odds of seeing them are improving, but it's never a guarantee.
I don't think my friends were surprised at all -- they knew full well it was a very rural and remote environment. I wasn't surprised either; I had no prior expectations about Iceland. I reported what I was told about my friends' recent trip.
PJSaturn:
As I have posted a couple times in this thread, we have been twice...
May should not be serious 'winter' by then, and just take a few light layering outer garments.
I wore shorts 99% of the time on both trips, had a short warm jacket, a water resistant hooded jacket, a windshirt, gloves/hat, et al.
You mentioned 'hotel' singular, but I rec'd renting a car and doing at least some day trips E/SE out to Hofn, the black beach, et al.
Tours are OK, but you can cover more distance do stuff on your schedule in a rental.
If you are not in just one hotel, (Reykjavik area I presume), Akureyri in the North is worth the couple day drive and staying in for a night or so, also.
We have flown IcelandAir several times, (EWR to KEF/Faroes/Copenhagen, etc), and while we did their Saga/Biz class for over ocean flights, I guess coach will be OK.
Dunno where you are departing from, but assuming you land at KEF in early morning it is a process and you may be a bit buzzed/tired by the time you get out of airport. And, Reykjavik is ~ 45 mins away...
No need for ISK money, unless you want some for guide tips; all other purchases are CCs: they work everywhere.
Have some 'headroom' on your CCs, as it is not an inexpensive country.
Sights are remarkable, everyone speaks English, some tourist spots are packed, bus loads, etc.
Geezer here, mid 70s, but we had no prob driving, getting around, short hikes, long walks, fwiw.
If you like/do photography I rec'd your real DSLR in addition to a cell phone...cam bag is easy carry on.
Do some noodling online for TTD/stuff to see; fwiw, Facebook has several groups with lots of info.
Puffins are there/everywhere in their usual feeding/nesting grounds, in May...
I've wanted to visit iceland for a long time. I doubt it will happen though. I've yet to meet one person that has visited Iceland, that hasn't commented on the high cost of a visit there.
Was there earlier in the year, in early May. Some notes:
May is an off-season transitional month, before all the tourists, so things are a bit cheaper and less crowded. When we went we had some cold rain and wind on some days, not a big deal. No snow. I am told during the tourist months, June to August, everything must be booked months in advance.
Don't spend all your time in Reyk. Get a rental car and do the ring road to circumnavigate Iceland. We did it in 10 days with plenty of stops. The scenery is breathtaking.
Iceland is expensive. You pay everything with credit cards. You can ease the cost be reducing food and alcohol and forget about night life. We ate out a few times but also we also ate those famous very delicious hotdogs that they seem to sell everywhere including gas stations. They are a bargain. We also stayed at some lodging with kitchens and made our own meals.
You can use ARBNB to reserve lodging at reasonable rates. Reyk hotel rooms are crazy expensive but we got an apartment with kitchen for maybe $120 US per night.
Icelanders speaks English, but there are plenty of seasonal workers from like Eastern Europe that speak a more broken English.
Northern Lights are only visible during the winter months, and even then it is hit or miss. From May to September, forget it.
Puffins are not everywhere. We only saw them during a seagoing whale tour off the northern coast.
Just my opinion, Iceland, like Alaska, cannot be appreciated with a cruise. You need to get off the boat and see the interior.
I've wanted to visit iceland for a long time. I doubt it will happen though. I've yet to meet one person that has visited Iceland, that hasn't commented on the high cost of a visit there.
Went there for our honeymoon in 2018. Had a blast!
It's true, it can be relatively expensive. We cut down on this drastically by 1) renting a car, 2) renting an AirBnb w/ a kitchen, and 3) shopping at the local grocery stores for food. We ate lots of sandwiches and wraps from the local grocers and once or twice out at a restaurant. While we didn't indulge in a lot of the local fare at bars and restaurants, it had little impact on the rest of the trip. I don't think any of their food is anything to write back about anyway. Lots of beautiful, natural landscapes to see. If you're a hiking enthusiast, this is a great place.
If you opt to go, go later in the year (Nov, Dec, Jan) as these are non-peak times. Icelandair has deals with some airports for direct, non-stop flights that are fairly inexpensive.
P.s. Puffin season apparently ends late summer, early fall, so keep that in mind, too.
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