Iceland - questions answered

[ljandgb]

I'm not a resident, but I can tell you what one would say. To see NL, you need darkness, solar flare activity, and clear skies. That is impossible to predict. The greater amount of darkness, the better chances, so February is a good time to try. There is 7-10 hours of daylight depending on when in February you go (you gain 6 minutes of daylight per day.) That would also give you a decent amount of daylight to see the rest of Iceland.

 

TripAdvisor has several tour companies listed. We've used Goecco twice and quite liked them. There are certainly others as well. ExtremeIceland is a popular one.

Edited September 19, 2016 by ljandgb

[Gainesville cruiser]

Appreciate your response. It's a less expensive time as well😀

[ljandgb]

You're welcome! I was there the first week in March. Plenty of darkness to hunt for NL's, though cloudy everywhere we went, so no luck. Plenty of daylight to see the awesome scenery.

 

For a NL tour, bring every bit of warm clothing you have, make sure you have a wind and waterproof outer layer, and bring chemical hand warmers. It is COLD out there once the sun goes down.

[Gainesville cruiser]

Thanks so much. Actually have chemical hand warmers in my travel,bag from a Breckenridge ski trip

[Gourmet Gal]

It sounds like The Blue Lagoon is a major tourist attraction. We will be spending the night in Reykjavik and our hotel concierge mentioned there are a couple of thermal pools near the hotel. Would we be missing out on a more interesting experience at Blue Lagoon if we opted to visit the local one in town?

[karlth]

It sounds like The Blue Lagoon is a major tourist attraction. We will be spending the night in Reykjavik and our hotel concierge mentioned there are a couple of thermal pools near the hotel. Would we be missing out on a more interesting experience at Blue Lagoon if we opted to visit the local one in town?

 

The Blue Lagoon is certainly more interesting but the local outdoor pools are a great alternative, cheaper and closer!

 

http://www.swimminginiceland.com/

[Gourmet Gal]

Thanks! We were thinking of stopping at The Blue Lagoon on the way from the airport but the logistics may be simpler if we go straight to our hotel and visit a local pool if our room isn't ready. Hopefully the local pools will not be as touristy.

[tidygirl]

Need some help!

We are considering a 3 night stop probably in June of 2017. There will be 6 adults and 1 infant. Thinking it would be best to self drive for flexibility with a little one?

Rental vans to accommodate all of us available? Recommendations?

Places to stay?

Do you think we could do the golden circle and Selfoss? How would you do that and where to stop?

Also thinking of getting a late flight the last day so we can do the Blue Lagoon does this sound doable?

Any tips are appreciated as this n can be overwhelming figuring out the logistics.

We are budget travels and just need clean and comfortable lodging nothing fancy.

[ljandgb]

You could do a south coast tour one day. It would be easy to self drive, and has less tourists than the Golden Circle.

 

I don't know if an infant will be allowed at the Blue Lagoon. Check their website. The water is quite hot, and there really isn't anywhere for someone to comfortably wait if you chose to not participate.

 

Reykjavik Residence Hotel has 2 and 3 bedroom apartments that were a good price for what you got, much cheaper than the 2 or 3 comparable rooms you'd pay for. You also get the benefit of a front desk, and breakfast delivered if you want. Otherwise, for a group that size, I'd look at airbnb.

 

You'll have no problems finding a rental van, I think. Consider good insurance. The wind can be very strong.

[Nitemare]

Local pools in Reykjavik are definitely not touristy

[CruisesDreamer]

Hi,

We, too, are planning a trip to Iceland in February. Questions:

1. It looks like February is a good time. Is it better beginning of February or end of February?

2. Unfortunately, we need to take our own flights to NYC and back home. The tour package departs from NYC. We are concerned about the weather in February in NYC as it is the peak of winter and its snowstorms. Our main concern would be the snowstorms. Any snowstorm or bad weather will possibly cause delays or cancelled flights. We plan to leave on a Friday into NYC and then leave on Sunday for Iceland. This way, if our flight is cancelled or delayed, we still have at least one full day to let the bad weather pass through. If the bad weather happens on Sunday, then at least, we got into NYC already.

3. I know it is very cold at that time, how should we be dreseed? What is the chemical warmer mentioned in this post?

 

Is this a good plan? What advice can you give?

 

Thank you !!!

[tidygirl]

Im guessing its the foot and hand warmers you can buy here at Walmart or outdoor stores that you put in your boots or gloves to help keep you warm for several hours.

[ljandgb]

Cruisesdreamer, check out TA's Iceland forum. Lots of good info.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g189952-i223-Iceland.html

 

The key for clothes in Iceland is layers, and a waterproof outer layer. Due to the Gulf Stream, the weather hovers around freezing, meaning sometimes rain, sometimes snow. Good winter boots, consider getting Yaktrax or other types of crampons. The sidewalks may be icy in town, and all the sites will have ice and snow.

 

I went the beginning of March and had a good thermal base layer on top and bottom. Then on top a fleece jacket, a down jacket, and a waterproof shell. On the bottom I had waterproof ski pants. I also had a neck gaiter, scarf, and wool hat with ear flaps. I was toasty warm, but able to shed layers in restaurants and the tour bus.

 

Good idea getting to NYC early. It would be a shame to miss your Iceland flight!

[VirginiaTraveler]

After browsing through the excellent Copenhagen thread I thought about starting one for Iceland as well:

 

I'm a regular cruiser that lives in Reykjavik, Iceland and not affiliated with any tour companies. So if you have any questions about the Icelandic ports of call and surrounding attractions feel free to ask.

 

Main port: Reykjavik (Capital).

Secondary ports: Akureyri (largest town in the north of Iceland), Seydisfjordur (a small town on the east coast) and Isafjordur (a town in the rugged northwestern part of Iceland).

 

Do you have suggestions on how to get from our Oceania Insignia cruise ship to the airport? Is the Flybus from the bus terminal a good option? Thank you in advance.

[Nitemare]

Flybus is the best way to the airport unless you have a friend in town to take you. There is also Airport Express which is the same idea but from a different company. Schedule might work better for you with one or the other company

[swin26]

We will be in the Reykjavik port in August arriving at 2pm and leaving the following day at 5 pm. Is there any way to be able to see both the golden circle and the south shore during these two days?

[Nitemare]

Unlikely you'd find a scheduled tour, but you could rent a car and do the GC on arrival day and get back to the boat around 10PM, then leave very early the next morning and be back in time for sailaway. Probably. You could also look into a private tour. Pricey, but more likely to get you where you want to go with less worry about directions and timing.

[alidor]

We will be in Iceland this summer on a cruise and will have one day where we can either take an 8 hour golden circle tour or the Blue Lagoon Tour and I am torn between the 2 tours. Any suggestions from those who have been there please?

[tidygirl]

We haven't been there yet and I've heard the Blue Lagoon is nice but would definitely choose seeing some of the real parts of Iceland than to sit in a man made thermal pool. We will be there May 21st thru 24 and our young adulr kids voted to try to just SEE it and use the time we would be in there to explore more of Iceland.

[angeleyes27]

We did Blue Lagoon. It was pricey but it was an experience that we could say we tried. We liked it better than we thought we would. We did not pay for any of the extras like the robe

 

 

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[jpalbny]

Prefer golden circle to blue lagoon, if you have to choose one. But we enjoyed both very much. The blue lagoon was the best way to spend the morning after arriving on a red eye flight!

 

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[angeleyes27]

We also did the Golden Circle. If you can only do one, that would probably be the one to do. But we enjoyed Blue Lagoon too

 

 

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[Raison]

We will be in the Reykjavik port in August arriving at 2pm and leaving the following day at 5 pm. Is there any way to be able to see both the golden circle and the south shore during these two days?

 

We were in Iceland on a cruise ship last August, we arrived about 9am and were away in our hire vehicle by about 10. We drove straight through to Vic and then made our way back stopping at various places (waterfalls, glaciers) along the way, then we headed back to Rekjavik via the Golden Circle in reverse. We got back to our ship about 9.30 that night, so it was a long day but fantastic!

Have you contemplated spending a night off the ship? and staying on the south coast area somewhere and then doing the Golden Circle on your return to the ship? This would save a fair bit of travel time.

[Raison]

We will be in Iceland this summer on a cruise and will have one day where we can either take an 8 hour golden circle tour or the Blue Lagoon Tour and I am torn between the 2 tours. Any suggestions from those who have been there please?

 

If you only have one day I would definitely do the Golden Circle.

The Blue Lagoon is lovely for a relaxing few hours, but the sights on the Golden Circle are fantastic IMO.

[alidor]

Thank you for your advice and it sounds like the Golden Circle Tour is the way to go and that is what we will do!