Are you planning a holiday, trip or vacation to Iceland? I’m going to give you the first advice I give my friends to get them started on planning their trip.
During your planning you need to think about how long are you are going to stay, your budget, your travel style, the season and what you want to see/ do.
Picking the season: Your experience can be drasticllay different depending on when you come. If you want to see northern lights you need to come between October-March realistically for the darkness increasing your chances of seeing them. I recommend coming during the equinox (October or March= to avoid the worst of the winter storms. However you may not see the drastic monocrome landscape when it snows or the gorgeous arctic sun of the short winter days. Summer is best you want to hike, explore a bit further and maximise your time here seeing really cool stuff then the summer with long daylight hours is maybe better for you.
What you want to see/ do:
Make a list of places you want to see or activities you like to do. Have you always wanted to see an ice cave, hike on a glacier, see nothern lights, dance behind a waterfall, hang out in the coolest capital city, experience volcanic activity, soak in a hot spring or hike through the rainbow mountains? Inspired by Iceland is a great place to get some ideas!
Travel style:
In Reykjavík you have great busses, bike and electric scooter rentals to get you around. However outside of Reykjavík getting around can be more challenging. So the options to maximise your time here are to either rent a car or book a tour. Tours range from private, small group to coach travel.
Hiring a car gives you so much freedom, but you do have to be aware that Icelandic weather can be very changeable and make driving difficult, especially in the winter as roads are often closed due to Ice, high winds and snow. If you’re driving check the road conditions regularly throughout your day here and the weather forecast here.
Budget:
There are so many beautiful hotels, amazing tours, bars and restaurants if you have the budget, but if you don’t all of my favourite places in Iceland are free. Waterfall after waterfall, hot springs and hiking trails. There are plenty of hostels are campsites to choose from too for a smaller budget.
So this is a really quick start to get you thinking about your trip to Iceland. This is such a big topic and we are going to blog more and more about Iceland to help you trip plan.
Please drop us a message on Facebook or Instagram if you want free personalised advice, a personalised itinerary or get in touch with our favourite Icelandic guide Biggi.
