My wife has told me that the next thing we are taking off our bucket list is a trip to Iceland. She saw pictures of the Northern lights and the window capped cottages and now want to go. Since our 15th wedding anniversary is coming up, what the hey.

So my invisible friends, any good recommendations on things to do, go or see while in Iceland? It looks like flights have to go through Europe, no direct flights from the states.

Thanks.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ugeesta,

There are direct flights;
Search for Icelandair.

We have flown with them and were pleased.

Should be some direct, at least from the East coast, NY , Boston?

I've heard it is great there, never been myself.

I have been to Iceland 5 times and my best friends family lives there, and he works summers there as a fly fishing guide. The country is amazingly beautiful and the people are very friendly. PM me and we can talk and I can give a lot of recommendations on where to go. Iceland Air flies direct from Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and other cities I believe. Check their website.

I flew Iceland Air from Logan (Boston) on my trips to Norway. Had a short layover in Iceland. At the time they were running a deal to extend your layover for up to 6 days without increasing the cost of the ticket... almost took them up on that. Really wished I would have.

If you do go Iceland Air, price the Saga class. It's their First Class (or business class) and was worth every penny!

We e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUuhUEc4Q4c

My daughter went a couple years back. She absolutely loved it but the cost of everything caught her off guard a bit.

Take LOTS of money.

tac

Is Iceland expensive for all Icelanders, or just tourists ?

Take Icelandair, they fly from multiple US cities. Or also check WoW airline.

It's all about the land and the vistas. Be prepared for walking and hiking, changes in weather.

Very in tune with American culture. 100 percent speak English.

Some of the best seafood you will eat. This place is great.

Kaffi Duus

<http://duus.is/?lang=en>

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
I have been to Iceland 5 times and my best friends family lives there, and he works summers there as a fly fishing guide. The country is amazingly beautiful and the people are very friendly. PM me and we can talk and I can give a lot of recommendations on where to go. Iceland Air flies direct from Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and other cities I believe. Check their website.

Email sent.

I just got back a few days ago. If you go to Iceland I HIGHLY recommend going to the Blue Lagoon.

My lovely gf is planning us a trip this upcoming year. Will be there a max of 10 days -- as of now the plan is to rent a van and circumvent the Ring Road in late March. Not sure about the cost as of now.. Would love to hear suggestions about what you would do or avoid, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by ugeesta:

quote:

Originally posted by FishOn:
I have been to Iceland 5 times and my best friends family lives there, and he works summers there as a fly fishing guide. The country is amazingly beautiful and the people are very friendly. PM me and we can talk and I can give a lot of recommendations on where to go. Iceland Air flies direct from Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, and other cities I believe. Check their website.

Email sent.

Got it...I'll give you a call tomorrow.

^^^^^. Well that failed miserably.

Next?

There was a thread on this a few months back but I can't find it. Might have gotten pruned.

For sheer beauty of the land, Iceland is just mind-blowing. We were only there for 4 days and I wish it was two weeks. Rent and car, drive around. There is an amazing view around almost every turn once you get out of the city. Waterfall all over the place.

We got a hot spot device with our rental. It's an option but well worth it IMHO. We could connect our phones to it via wifi and have internet most places we went. With the internet, we used Google Maps to navigate. We did have printed directions to the places we planned to visit but didn't really need them.

The glaciers where my favorite place to visit and we did that on our last day. Wish we had spent more time there. Visit a hot spring. Walk around the city there are some interesting site we found by the water.

quote:

Very in tune with American culture. 100 percent speak English.

In the cities but not 100% in some of the small towns. I can clearly remember one gas/convince store where no one spoke English. Not really an issue though.

Last year was the year of Iceland for a bunch of friends, they all mentioned two things:

- Awesome landscape...looked like a remote version of New Zealand...blue lagoon overrun with tourists...how does it stay blue with all the idiots in there?

- Oh my god...how much?...honey, how many more bags of gold do we have left?

I spent a month in Iceland during the winter of 2004 (got back just before Christmas).

As others have said, Blue Lagoon is a good one...touristy for sure but must-see. Depending on the time of the year you'll need a good set of Gortex outer garments. When I was there it rained or drizzled a lot and there was not a lot of daylight (about 4 hours of weak, hazy light then it became night again).

Bring plastic bags to protect your camera or other electronics.

Be aware of the wind. Iceland is totally exposed to the winds of the Atlantic and it was very windy much of the time. You'll see all rental cars have their door hinges reinforced with additional strapping to prevent what we called "Keflavik crunch", or the wind yanking the door out of your hand. All the cars we drove had a cheapie plastic "wind gauge" (basically just a plastic zip tie) affixed to the antenna so you can see the direction of the wind before opening your door.

It is beautiful, other-worldly, and reminiscent of a prehistoric era of terrestrial evolution. The people are fantastic and as also noted above speak amazingly good English. You will have no difficulty navigating around.

I spent most of my time in and around Keflavik when the Naval base was hosting our unit (Air Force) but there are many other areas to see in an around the coastal towns.

Iceland has ZERO tolerance for drinking and driving so do not forget that. Unlike the US, any detectable trace of alcohol in a driver's blood stream means arrest. No worries...if you plan to imbibe just use taxi's and life is good.

And above all, enjoy yourself and have a great time!

In the process of planning a trip there, for next winter/spring to see the Northern lights.
More advice, please

Bruce

Have a hotdog!