Iceland by Cruise or Land?

[jocap]

Friends hired a log cabin on the opposite side of the fjord at Akureyri, for four of them They took basic things such as tea, coffee and self-catered, eating out occasionally. I'm not sure what kind of vehicle they hired, but they certainly covered some rough ground with it.

Because two of them are sheep farmers on high UK ground, I think they visited other farms to see how the Icelandic farmers worked in bad weather. Perhaps they managed this through their farming contacts.

Other friends, who ran a hostel in the UK, go each winter and stay in hostels - again, they partly self-cater.

We noticed that in Seydisfjordur, many of the cottages were holiday homes, and such places are easy to find on the internet.

[donaldsc]

2 hours ago, Flatbush Flyer said:

This was our Oceania  itinerary.

 

Actually the Sept 6 - Sept 22 portion of the cruise looks really good to me.  If I was setting up the cruise, I would trade some of the early and late days for more days in Iceland but on balance it is better than a lot of similar cruises.

 

DON

[getting older slowly]

Basically if you wish to see something.... Go by Land...... to have the time to see what you want...

 

Personally a cruise is a snap shot of the area......

( remember weather can effect your itinerary and could miss something you wanted to see )

 

But please do what makes you happy and you are comfortable with.

 

Don

[ilikeanswers]

6 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

With that in mind, can anyone recommend things to do in Iceland that are not geared around geysers, waterfalls, etc.?  Is it worth it to stay longer in Reykjavik before or after a cruise -- or with my interests will the two day stops be sufficient (for now)?

 

If your primary interest is Vikings than you are probably best served by staying around Reykjavik. Pretty much all the museums are there and there really isn't that many archaeological sites around the island. If you follow the Sagas you can visit natural sites linked to the stories but you won't find much that is man made. If there is one place you must visit in terms of Icelandic history it is Thingvellir, it is such an important place to Viking history in Iceland. 

[babs135]

We did a cruise to Norway and Iceland and loved what we managed to see.  One stop was at Akureyri where we got on the local bus (!) which stopped at a cafe where we then walked to the Godafoss Waterfall.  We then returned to the cafe for a drink before taking the bus back to the town.  May I also suggest a travel book which may give you ideas should you decide to do a land based holiday?  Have a look at :  For 91 Days in Iceland  by Michael Powell.  

[babs135]

Deleted. Repeat post

Edited December 20, 2020 by babs135

[ontheweb]

On 12/18/2020 at 8:21 PM, clo said:

I gotta admit that as hokey-touristy as it sounds we'd layover one night just to go to the Blue Lagoon again 🙂

I'm really tempted to ask DW to find the album with the Iceland pictures and take a long look at them.

[Hlitner]

As a long time frequent cruiser (love every ship and cruise) and also a frequent independent land traveler I really find it difficult to compare land travel to a cruise.  They are entirely different experiences....both of them great :).  But cruisers do sometimes make the mistake of thinking that a 1 or even 2 day cruise visit is akin to staying in a place for a few days (weeks or even months).  So I would simply tell the OP that seeing Iceland on a cruise is absolutely fine and you will have the opportunity to see and experience a snapshot of this fascinating country.  But if you really want to see and experience Iceland then you need to spend at least a couple of weeks preferably on a driving trip.  

 

Speaking of cruisers it is almost amusing when I see some cruisers say things like, "I have already seen Rome"  when they have been there for 7 hours on a cruise excursion.  I would tell that person, go back to Rome for a week and then you will have just started to experience what is Rome.  And it is the same in most places.  

 

For those who want to cruise to/from or in Europe I always suggest that they somehow find the time and money to spend a few days (or weeks) pre/post cruise in Europe.  DW have found, through decades of cruising and travel, that our perfect trip is often a combination land trip combined with a cruise. 

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Just now, Hlitner said:

As a long time frequent cruiser (love every ship and cruise) and also a frequent independent land traveler I really find it difficult to compare land travel to a cruise.  They are entirely different experiences....both of them great :).  But cruisers do sometimes make the mistake of thinking that a 1 or even 2 day cruise visit is akin to staying in a place for a few days (weeks or even months).  So I would simply tell the OP that seeing Iceland on a cruise is absolutely fine and you will have the opportunity to see and experience a snapshot of this fascinating country.  But if you really want to see and experience Iceland then you need to spend at least a couple of weeks preferably on a driving trip.  

 

Speaking of cruisers it is almost amusing when I see some cruisers say things like, "I have already seen Rome"  when they have been there for 7 hours on a cruise excursion.  I would tell that person, go back to Rome for a week and then you will have just started to experience what is Rome.  And it is the same in most places.  

 

For those who want to cruise to/from or in Europe I always suggest that they somehow find the time and money to spend a few days (or weeks) pre/post cruise in Europe.  DW have found, through decades of cruising and travel, that our perfect trip is often a combination land trip combined with a cruise.   Another issue with cruising is that you are very limited in what you can do and see.  We had been to New Zealand twice, on cruise visits and really fell in love with the country.  Then we spent a few weeks driving on South Island and were blown away by the places we saw and what we experienced that is not even possible when on a cruise ship.  My favorite city in NZ is Queenstown and you will never see that place on any cruise itinerary or cruise tour.  Taking the Tranzalpine Railroad from Christ Church to Greymouth will not happen on any cruise (although you can take an excursion that does about half that route).  We do agree with those say that a cruise is a great way to see a little of a place and decide if it is worthy of a return land visit.

 

Hank

 

[stormz]

Great info, thanks to everyone for participating. Seems to be an interesting topic.  Seems that maybe if we book a cruise that’s starts or ends in Iceland that I can spend a few days extra on land. Best of both worlds!

[sverigecruiser]

2 hours ago, Hlitner said:

 

Speaking of cruisers it is almost amusing when I see some cruisers say things like, "I have already seen Rome"  when they have been there for 7 hours on a cruise excursion.  I would tell that person, go back to Rome for a week and then you will have just started to experience what is Rome.  And it is the same in most places.  

 

 

I agree with you that 7 hours isn't enough to experience Rome but for some people it's enough for saying "I have already seen Rome". 

 

I have a sister who lives in Perugia, between Rome and Florence, and I think that I have seen enough of Rome but I know that I haven't really experienced Rome with the short visits I have done there.

 

Our next cruise might take us to Civitavecchia but we haven't decided yet if it's worth it to get Into Rome for only a few hours or if we shall just stay on the ship that day.

[janert]

We went to Iceland on a Vantage tour.  We spent a couple of days in Reykjavik and then got on the Diamond Ocean.  We had our own area in the dining room, with wine and beer with meals, and our own guide and tours.  The ship is fairly basic but clean and the crew is very nice.  It is not a cruise ship per say, but a means to go from one port to another.  We usually had 8+ hour tours, so we were tired.  Every evening our guide would tell us what we were doing the next day.  We did go to the Blue Lagoon. 

I would highly recommend Vantage tour.  It was 15 days, but 2 were travel days.

You can do it cheaper by booking directly, but you have to book your own tours, and they were expensive.  Plus we went more exciting places, including a snow cat ride to the top of a glacier with great views.  Highly recommended Vantage. 

We had been in Reykjavik twice before, but of course this was much more intensive.

[Hlitner]

50 minutes ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I agree with you that 7 hours isn't enough to experience Rome but for some people it's enough for saying "I have already seen Rome". 

 

I have a sister who lives in Perugia, between Rome and Florence, and I think that I have seen enough of Rome but I know that I haven't really experienced Rome with the short visits I have done there.

 

Our next cruise might take us to Civitavecchia but we haven't decided yet if it's worth it to get Into Rome for only a few hours or if we shall just stay on the ship that day.

Hmm.  Perhaps 7 hours is enough in Perugia :).  Doing Rome from Civitavecchia is a good question.  When we have been there for a long port day we will often take the train into Rome.  But on shorter turn around days we generally stay on the ship or just go into Civitavecchia for a few hours (nothing like McDonalds after a long cruise).  There are other options from Civitavecchia such as Astia Antica (near the airport) or even Orvieto (a nice one day driving trip if one rents a car).  I know one lady who takes advantage of a day in Civitavecchia to take all her laundry to a laundromat in town.  I kid you not about the laundry thing and in fact, a couple of us here on CC have been known to give directions how to get to a laundromat.  If I even suggested such an idea to DW I would likely end up spinning around in the dryer.

 

Hank

[sverigecruiser]

21 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

If I even suggested such an idea to DW I would likely end up spinning around in the dryer.

 

 

That should probably happen to me too if I suggested that!

[clo]

36 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

If I even suggested such an idea to DW I would likely end up spinning around in the dryer.

Well, if you were planning on doing it - and that's what i assumed - why would she care?

[GeeDunk]

Another suggestion --

 

My Son and I took a northern TA (Southampton to NYC).

 

We left the Ship, in Reykjavik, for five days;

rented a car and toured Iceland on the Ring Road.

We stayed in Hostels each evening.

 

Came back to Reykjavik, flew to Halifax and re-boarded the

Ship to NYC.

 

We had permission from Princess for this.

[iancal]

At one time, IF you booked an Icelandic Airlines flight to Europe you could stop over in Iceland for no additional cost.  Moreover, their fares were typically very competitive.  The proviso is you need to be near an airport that they service.

[Hlitner]

On 12/20/2020 at 6:16 PM, iancal said:

At one time, IF you booked an Icelandic Airlines flight to Europe you could stop over in Iceland for no additional cost.  Moreover, their fares were typically very competitive.  The proviso is you need to be near an airport that they service.

That may still be true although I have not looked at their rules for a few years.  Another airline with a similar policy was (and may still be) Aer Lingus which allows long stopovers (use to be up to 2 weeks) in Ireland for those flying to or from North America.  It was a great way to visit Ireland.   Aer Lingus used to fly all over Europe so it worked well for folks heading to any European cruise port.  Icelandic offered fewer European destinations but they had enough to work into most independent itineraries.

 

Hank

[iancal]

Another plus for Icelandair.....their price structure.   They offer (or they did) offer very reasonable one way fares to many European hubs.

 

  The only rub was that the flights are/were not direct.  Change of plane in Iceland.  Icelandair was on our short list several times when we were shopping for one way fares going to or home from Europe.

Edited December 24, 2020 by iancal

[clo]

9 minutes ago, iancal said:

Another plus for Icelandair.....their price structure.   They offer (or they did) offer very reasonable one way fares to many European hubs.

 

  The only rub was that the flights are/were not direct.  Change of plane in Iceland.  Icelandair was on our short list several times when we were shopping for one way fares going to or home from Europe.

https://www.icelandair.com/flights/stopover/pass/

[ontheweb]

1 hour ago, iancal said:

Another plus for Icelandair.....their price structure.   They offer (or they did) offer very reasonable one way fares to many European hubs.

 

  The only rub was that the flights are/were not direct.  Change of plane in Iceland.  Icelandair was on our short list several times when we were shopping for one way fares going to or home from Europe.

They are not direct because they would rather you stay some days in Iceland and then continue your journey from North America to whatever European city you are going to.

[iancal]

Yes.  But they do give you a choice of whether to stay for a few days or just a few hours to connect to the next flight.  The choice is yours. This would be an excellent offer for someone wanting to spend a few days in Iceland.  

 

I was seriously considering them for a last minute one way booking home from Europe a few years ago.   Instead we were fortunate enough to get a last minute Med cruise to BCN that also offered excellent cruise air-pricing/routing/airline.