Iceland - Weekend ideas

beefster

I have been given a long w/e in Iceland by my other half for Christmas. We are going late February and staying in reykjavik. I would appreciate some recommendations of places to visit, bars, trips, places to visit etc from people who have been.

The blue lagoon looks a must but would love to do some whale watching, 4 wheel drive safari but would like opinions of people who have experienced the country.

thanks

moonrakerz

I wouldn't bother going to bars in Iceland, unless you are loaded ! It is pretty expensive for most things. If you eat in a restaurant, have fish - it is wonderful and a lot cheaper than meat. There are several very good shopping malls in and around Reykjavik, mainly for window shopping.

You are going off-peak, ie: Winter, you will need a 4 wheel drive vehicle. As soon as you get there buy a decent road map from a garage. DON'T try and navigate using the stupid map from the car hire co.

This site is a must for road info: http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/

The roads are of variable quality. If it is a single digit number it is usually a good quality single carriageway; 2 digits, sometimes tarmac sometimes lava gravel; 3 digit - select 4 wheel drive ! Be very careful where you go on your own, the countryside is very sparsely populated, if you hit trouble on a side road you may be 20 miles from a "main" road - and even when you get there you may have to wait 30 mins for a car to come along. If the website says the road is impassible - don't try and disprove it ! You'll be sorreeeeeee.

Having said all that it is a terrific place to go ! The scenery is stunning, even more so in February; the two main scenic sights are Geyser and the waterfall at Gulfoss. A good day trip is to drive South East from Reykjavik to Vik, on the southern tip of Iceland. A couple of good waterfalls en route. There are several side roads from this route up to the glaciers, but be careful.

The Blue Lagoon strikes me as the archetypal "tourist trap", I'm afraid. I'm not sure if the whale watching trips will be running in Feb.

If you are going for good weather, forget it ! If you don't like the weather, just wait ten minutes and it will change !

It's a great place to visit, have a good time !

beefster

Will i need a hire car????????
Was hoping to get a few organised trips out and let them worry about the roads! Not so adventurous I will admit.

moonrakerz

beefster wrote:

Will i need a hire car????????

Depends ! I don't know what there will be in the way of trips at that time of the year. Having your own vehicle is an advantage - but again, not cheap. It may be worth seeing what you can get. It would be easier to get the car from the airport which is about 40 miles out of town.

TBeckett100

have a look on the Iceland forum on tripadvisor. everyone says visit blue lagoon and there is a bar called bellys in reykjavik which serves beer at £3 a go.

I am off on Thursday so I'll post when i get back.

be careful not to get ripped off, one company offers reykjavik to blue lagoon trips for £250!!!!!!!!

I am hiring a car for £45 from Avis for my stay, there is an Avis code on the codes thread.

beefster

Have fun.
I look forward to hearing how you got on.

TBeckett100

at the end of the long shopping street that begins with L (you'll know it!) there is Cafe Paris, carry on down to a little square. on the right adjacent to the Plaza hotel is Cafe Victor. Wonderful good value food (ask for the burger that has an egg on top!) its mega!

TBeckett100

if you need a car, get avis.co.uk and use AWD code D086533 this saved hundreds on tour prices! £70 return for 2 to blue lagoon!

ramit

Definetly hire a car. It will work out cheaper than the tours.

The roads are mainly deserted in Iceland so you should have no problem driving there