4 days in Iceland.

magpieant

magpieant

Suspended / Banned
Messages
2,043
Edit My Images
No
It was my 40th this week, and as a present from my lovely wife, I have been given a nice trip to Iceland in late October of this year.

I am 'hoping' to see the northern lights amongst the other delights Iceland has to offer!

We'll have our 6year old son with us and will be flying in and out of Reykjavik.

What would people recommend? I am planning one day in Reykjavik - also Golden circle.

What are people's views on potential places to catch the lights from (if they are out!) and also the best photography spots? Happy to hire a car and drive places - but would prefer to spend more time outdoors than driving. Hence wondering if it's worth travelling to the north or staying south / west.

Would love to hear people's itenaries and see any images you've taken.

Cheers.

Anth.
 
Cheers guys - some good links there ... Can't wait!

Sorry Matt, only taking carry on to avoid luggage charges (EasyJet) - and my camera & tripod of course!
 
Me and my better half have always talked about going to Iceland for a few days, direct from Newcastle is reasonable at times too, might be a plan!

From speaking to someone that's been, they've said that is a beautiful place but it's very limited in terms of activities, 4 days was enough for them!
 
Last edited:
There are a couple of threads in the Meeting Place area of the forum which are about Iceland and include some links to other threads where the results are shown. A PM to the main protagonists should get some handy hints (or point them towards this thread and ask for tips.)
 
As it happens I myself am looking at this, I wanted to go around 12 years ago but got a better deal on Prague. I wonder if I can do it for less than a grand or even make something from it. It looks so good. ☺
 
A couple of highlights that I really enjoyed, none too far from Reykjavic -
In Reykjavik - Sun Voyager (Solfar) sculpture in the city on the coastal road - ever changing and beautiful, especially in early morning light, the Hallgrimur church - beautiful outside and equally impressive indside, The Pearl - great to view the whole of the city (which is really tiny!) There are also some public outdoor 'hot pools' - we didn't get to them, but go find them as they're cheaper than the blue lagoon.
Reykjanes peninsula - lava fields, fishing villages, sea stacks, viking museum, just so interesting - other side of the airport to Reykjavik, good to watch northern lights as very little light pollution http://www.visitreykjanes.is

Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls - a bit of a drive out of the city, but worth it!
Get to Vik if you can, fab sea stacks and lovely church looking over the sea.
Golden circle... :) You MUST go to Geysir, it's awesome!
A days driving, but if you can get to Jokulsarlon, it's the most beautiful place!
There's also a fab tour company that will take you on a super jeep glacier tour just past Skógafoss and Seljalandsfoss on R222 (the road name), but not cheap!

Food is really expensive, alcohol even more so! But when I go back, I'll be revisiting "Icelandic fish and chips" in the older part of Reykjavik by the fishing port, even though it was about £50 for fish & chips for two!!!!

Have a great time, I'm very jealous! ;) (ps some pics are in my flickr)
 
HopefulM .... Thank you so much!

Ironically, our itinerary is almost identical to what you have stated above !

Reyk ... Golden circle..,,waterfalls along to vik, push on to ice lagoon and then return to vik.

We are going to denmark in the summer, so might do the Viking museums / history side of things there.

Do you have any idea of road conditions in late October? Hoping we're not ploughing through snow on icy roads!
 
In 6 days i managed a good amount in the time i had. Day 1 exploring Reykjavik and a Northern Light tour in the evening. Day 2-3 Down to Jökulsárlón (Glacier Lagoon) stopping at Vik and the iconic waterfalls (which are amazing to see up close). Day 4 Golden Circle in a day. Day 5-6 Out to the Snaesfellsnes peninsula and explored round there. Id say id pretty much covered the best parts of Iceland in that time and my god was it amazing.

That was in winter too (Feb/March) so driving around in freak blizzards was quite an adventure. The 4x4 we had had studded tyres but you have to be alert all the time and got stuck a few times on unpassable roads. I think on the Peninsula in around 6 hours i saw 2 other cars - incredible place and gives you a real sense to the scale and majesty of the place. Not many people take the time to go up there and it was my favourite part of Iceland. Golden Circle although great is full of crowds.

Dying to go back and tour the whole island- just me, 4x4 and the camera.

Oh and blue lagoon although the touristy thing to do is utter bliss especially stepping straight off the plane :D
 
Last edited:
With only 4 nights, Jokulsarlon might be a stretch too far - a 4.5 hour round-trip from Vik.

Nesjavellir power station might be worth a look (not sure if tours are year-round though, so please google). The most direct route there from Reykjavik 431/435 has some bleak landscape opportunities with the pipelines. Alternatively, Hellisheidi power station is just off route 1 between Reykjavik and Hveragerdi and I believe open year-round.
 
I'm in the process of arranging a trip to Iceland at the moment, trying to decide when to go Feb, March or April..

I'll be picking your brain when you get back for ideas :)
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top