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Warm clothing and a good bookOriginally Posted by Osian85
Well, i'v just turned 30 today (Booooo!) and the missus has announced a trip to Reykjavik, Iceland as my gift, five days in November im so excited!
So far we booked to see the Northern Lights, a dip in the blue lagoon and the Gullfoss waterfall. We have a day spare and thought about either Skidoo/jetskee, caving in volcano's or glaciers and so on...
Anyone been? any recomendations?
Warm clothing and a good book
Make sure you set aside time to just have a mooch round Reykjavik. It's quirky but I like it. I'm assuming on your Gullfoss trip you'll stop at Geysir too? Strokkur is the 'baby' that erupts with crowd-pleasing frequency. Thingvellir (spelling?) was a groovy place that is normally combined on trips with the above.
I like the public baths at Laugardalur - pretty much the opposite to the slick Blue Lagoon experience and more like Soviet-era Russia but blazing hot tubs which are great to occupy when dark/snowy.
It's all ace really. Take warm stuff and lots of money.
We did 7 days last dec / jan and its a great place , we hired a car so did all of the sightseeing stuff on our own terms as I hate organised trips .
In addition to whats been mentioned above then its also worth considering the trip south to the waterfalls Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss , we drove down there and they were fantastic .
The blue lagoon is a "must do" for sure !
Did not find it too expensive but aint cheap either and yes take plenty of warm clothes .
Not sure if you have already sorted your hotel but if not then we stayed at the Hilton Nordica and everything about it was spot on .
Mark
Amazing place ( although I'm sure it's been covered before) .
There's always a happy hour earlier on , say 7-9 pm as the locals drink much later.
Most of the sights can easily be done by hiring your own car and following the Golden Circle route.
Reykjavik is quite small and easily covered on foot.
The hot dog stand is brilliant and cheap.
Some of the best food I've ever eaten was in Reykjavik, Do a bit of research on Tripadvisor and go for it. Eat whale, puffin and putrid shark. Grillmarkt and Fischmarkt Im sure were up there.
At Gulfoss, there's a cafe. Get the lamb soup and a roll, then get some more. When the second one is finished, get some more. The refills are free, encouraged and absolutely divine.
I scuba dived in the glacial water where the continents of Europe and America meet but people can snorkel too. The clarity of the water is amazing ( as is the taste) plus the temperature is constant all year round , freezing if you were wondering.
I've been three times now and I'm still to see the Northern Lights but that is not to take anything away from a remarkable place.
There's also a public baths just out of the centre which is thermally warmed, outdoor, free and ultimately, great fun.
And naturally: http://www.jswatch.com/
One totally touristy thing to do, but also enjoyable: The bus tours often stop at a tomato company on the way to Gullfoss, try this even if you are driving the trip yourself. They offer tomato soup usually, but (if you're not driving) the Bloody Mary with their fresh tomato juice is fantastic.
Book the Northern Lights tour as soon as possible. They offer free follow up trips if you don't see the lights so it's worth getting it in early. On this subject get your camera out and practice taking night pictures of stars so you;re not fiddling with settings on the day!
If you go to the tourist office in the centre of old town Reykjavik, a young guy gives free tours of the city (free, but he asks for donations after the tour is over) which I highly recommend. He's #1 on Tripadvisor http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attract...al_Region.html
Thingvellir - to see the continental plates.
Reykjavík - visit the hot dog stand by the water; see if there is a concert on at the Harpa; try to book a whale watching trip.
If you've got a whole day spare, book a super jeep and see the interior. I went up Hekla and had a dip in the hot spring at Landmannalaugar. It was amazing.
Please don't eat whale, they are sentient creatures on a par with us, with proven complex social interactions. Killing them is not a very nice thing to do.
Do the Golden Circle Tour: link?
When we were in Iceland we were told the Whale they eat in Iceland is beached whales, not sure if its true !
A good thing to do in Iceland is take a Halifax Clarity card as everywhere takes credit cards including the famous hot dog stand.
I'm taking the Mrs. at the end of October and asked a similar question on here a few months back, with some excellent suggestions (just do a search in G&D on Reykjavik) - Super Jeep tours were highly recommended, as was Fishmarket restaurant, where I've booked a table.
I looked into private hire for the SuperJeeps (in for a penny, etc..) so we could have some control over the itinerary, but seems they require a min. of 4 people for private tours. Means most likely we'll have to share the experience with other travellers, but hey ho.
p.s. SuperJeep is not the name of a particular operator but the term for the beefed-up landrovers they use, so googling superjeeps will bring up a number of different companies. The different tours seem to be run on set days only, so worth checking in advance.
I still haven't decided myself which of the set Jeep itineraries looks best, so if anyone has an opinion on that I'd be interested myself.
Enjoy the trip!
Brilliant place. I was there last Christmas. Would love to go back in the summer.
Hope you like the smell of sulfur! :)
We went a few years ago and loved it. Thingvellir is amazing and we really enjoyed riding snowmobiles over the long glacier.
Thanks for the good info here guys, have passed it all on to the other half and were going to book onto a few more activities.
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