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My favorite thing to experience is natural wonders and hot springs. I never gave Iceland much thought until I met a woman from there on a cruise. So now I'm looking around at various sites, videos, hotels, etc.
I am sort of disappointed that more hotels don't offer hot springs / mineral baths since apparently the natural hot water is everywhere. Of course, the one that immediately riveted me is the most expensive Blue Lagoon hotel, which is over $1,400 a night, lol. That's out of our league. The sister hotel has its own hot spring pool and is around $500 a night, also quite high to us, but....I'd consider it IF it really was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was thinking maybe one week there, one week in the capital.
Or is it over-hyped? We'd want to take several tours out to the sites----we don't do rental cars.
Summer is all booked up but I'd consider Sept. - Oct. when there's at least a chance to see the Northern Lights. Can't believe I'm considering a COLD vacation but those natural wonders really appeal to me.
If anyone has experience there, I'd love to hear it.
Iceland has been on my list for a long time, it's rididculously expensive to travel there - from vlogs I have seen having a dinner is something like $40 and a beer is like $15 at a bar. But there are some ways to save money like grocery shopping and drinking your beer at home Trying to watch the budget as well given the financial conditions.
I was considering Iceland for this year but I actually want to do the ring road in a camper but that is just too complicated for me to plan on such short notice (I was waiting for US to rescind the Covid testing).... I chose to go to Poland/Hungary instead which is an itinerary that I had originally planned for 2020 and got cancelled - I already had all the planning done at that time so it was just easy to just reboot that whole thing instead of doing R&D for a brand new trip.
I am solo so I also had concerns about whether I would get too lonely doing the ring road on my own... i've done things solo in Hawaii like the Road to Hana and it was just fine, but Iceland seems a bit isolated in parts. I don't mind being alone for a couple days but don't want to feel like I got stuck on Mars. Just want to plan it out properly understanding everything.
There are hot springs and pools everywhere. You don’t need to stay at the Blue Lagoon hotel. And there are better places to go than the Blue Lagoon.
Iceland is very expensive. Just accept that as you move forward with your planning. You won’t find discount deals.
Two sources of information for you. One is the Travel Iceland group on Facebook and the other is the Iceland forum on TripAdvisor. They are both very active pages and you will learn a lot!
It's just beautiful there! I KNOW you will enjoy every minute of it!
Quite expensive, yes - but definitely worth it.
Take an advantage of your trip and try to see... everything. Oh, and visit the hot springs. (Blue Lagoon is too expensive, but there are others). There are few rules but you can't skip it!
(https://www.tripsavvy.com/the-comple...quette-4177211)
I didn't do a group travel with a guide, so I probably missed few things and saw other, less touristy stuff, but I plan to be back, for a bit longer.
Iceland is absolutely stunning! I agree with the others about skipping the hotel at the Blue Lagoon, as the Blue Lagoon is quite accessible from ReykjavÃk. One thing you might want to consider is whether you want to try to see the aurora; if you do, don’t go during the height of the summer, as the days will be too long to allow you to see them. Late spring or early fall offers you a chance to see the aurora while still offering reasonably decent weather for the other outdoor sights. I haven’t personally done ring road around the island, but everyone I know who has done it says it is spectacular.
The Blue Lagoon is not a hot spring. It is a (large) man-made pool filled with a mixture of effluent from a geothermal plant and seawater. You do not need to stay at the hotel, admission to the lagoon only is available. I have done it, enjoyable and a bit weird.
A great many of the interesting sites can be seen by driving the ring road.
The Blue Lagoon is not a hot spring. It is a (large) man-made pool filled with a mixture of effluent from a geothermal plant and seawater. You do not need to stay at the hotel, admission to the lagoon only is available. I have done it, enjoyable and a bit weird.
A great many of the interesting sites can be seen by driving the ring road.
Ah, not a real hot spring! Well, thanks for that info. Yes, I'm aware you don't need to stay at the hotel there.
But where is a place to stay with hot springs? I could not find any.
Yes, the ring road looks unbelievable; like another planet!
Iceland is absolutely stunning! I agree with the others about skipping the hotel at the Blue Lagoon, as the Blue Lagoon is quite accessible from ReykjavÃk. One thing you might want to consider is whether you want to try to see the aurora; if you do, don’t go during the height of the summer, as the days will be too long to allow you to see them. Late spring or early fall offers you a chance to see the aurora while still offering reasonably decent weather for the other outdoor sights. I haven’t personally done ring road around the island, but everyone I know who has done it says it is spectacular.
Yes, that's why I was considering Sept. - Oct. to have a chance at the Northern Lights. Hopefully less crowds at the tourist sites, too.
There are hot springs and pools everywhere. You don’t need to stay at the Blue Lagoon hotel. And there are better places to go than the Blue Lagoon.
Iceland is very expensive. Just accept that as you move forward with your planning. You won’t find discount deals.
Two sources of information for you. One is the Travel Iceland group on Facebook and the other is the Iceland forum on TripAdvisor. They are both very active pages and you will learn a lot!
Like what better places? I looked at dozens of hotels and there was nothing "special" (except the Lagoon).
Yes, I accept it is expensive; understood. I'll check out those forums, thanks.
We went last August, it was amazing! Too early for Northern Lights IN Iceland, but we saw them from the plane in the middle of the night flying over there. Our first stop after landing was the Blue Lagoon, it was a great way to spend a couple hours after a long flight. We rented an AIRBNB just outside of Reykjavik for our home base and did tours on our own, saw the active volcano, the Golden Circle, black sand beach. Also explored Reykjavik a few evenings, had some really good meals. I feel we only scratched the surface of what Iceland has to offer because we did not have time to do the entire ring road and see the Eastern part of the country.
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Trying to watch the budget as well given the financial conditions.
