Iceland

[krock]

Good to hear that there are now private cubicles!!  :)I am bringing my own towel  so I hope it won't get stolen. Question, if there are private cubicles, where do you hang your towel? Can I just hang it on the door?

[vhanya]

^yes! Better to hang on the cubicle door so it won?t get stolen

[Frozen Toes]

Leaving in a couple of weeks and haven't booked my tours, yet. By the way, I am planning to skip the Blue Lagoon. Yay or nay?

Day 1: Arrive from Bergen, Norway late in the afternoon
Day 2: Golden Circle and Northern Lights
Day 3: Just around Reykjavik and maybe the Blue Lagoon if I really must go.
Day 4: South Coast and Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon
Day 5: I don't know yet what to do on this day.
Day 6: Fly to Helsinki, Finland in the evening

[kachich]

^not a big fan of Blue Lagoon (okay to skip)

Day 1: Get the aurora tour on first night. Free re sched if it gets cancelled.
Days 4-5: Arent you staying overnight in South Iceland? How about Ice caving near Jokulsarlon?

I enjoyed Snaefellsnes (Western Iceland) tour as well.

[krock]

Just came back from Iceland! It was so much fun and the country is definitely a must see.

@Frozen Toes - I suggest an overnight stay in South Iceland since it is too far from Reykjavik. The drive to Jokusarlon will take up to 4-5 hours. We did the Blue Lagoon and it was a great experience. Its definitely a very touristy stop but since we are already in Iceland, might as well experience the famous Blue Lagoon. We only spent around 2.5hours there but it was okay. We didn't regret going.

[Frozen Toes]

Just got back from Iceland. Yes, I think we should've stayed at least one night in the South Coast, but it was too late to cancel our booking in Reykjavik. We skipped the Blue Lagoon just because we went to something similar in Finland. Will probably do it next time we're in town.

We saw Aurora bright and clear on our first attempt. The nights were long; only about 5 hours of daylight each day. Sunrise at 10:30, sunset at 3:30PM. Temperature ranged from -8 to 0 C during our stay.

Everything was expensive, of course. A key chain costs about PHP 450, a regular meal about PHP 1,500, a convenience store sandwich about PHP 475. The famous hotdog sandwich from Baejarins Beztu Pylsur costs PHP 216 and bottled water about PHP 180. I know tap water is clean enough to drink, but I couldn't stand the scent of sulfur. Brought home boxes of Ris Buff for pasalubong and for myself.

Iceland is beautiful, but I felt it was too "empty" for me. The people were okay. We were mostly surrounded by other tourists because we stayed a few steps away from Laugavegur, the main entertainment street in Reykjavik.

I'll be very honest right now, I was a bit disappointed because I had very high expectations. I enjoyed the fjords of Norway a bit more. Nonetheless, I'll definitely go back, maybe in the summer, to see more of Iceland.

[MrChocNut]

Visited Iceland last end of October as part of a European trip. Simply beautiful.

Rented a car throughout the trip and the road trip sceneries were stunning. Regular and snow-capped mountains, moss-covered lava fields, glaciers, waterfalls, horses, sheep, beaches, valleys - all visible from the Ring Road, Iceland's main road.

Here was our itinerary:

Day 1 - (Arrived mid-afternoon) Car rental pick-up then Blue Lagoon. Stayed at the Blue Lagoon for around 2 hours. The water was not as hot as I expected but it was relaxing.

*Tour Operator cancelled the Northern Lights tour due to unfavorable weather. Rebooked tour for free.

Day 2 - Snaefellsness Roadtrip.

*Tour Operator cancelled again the Northern Lights tour due to unfavorable weather. We took a chance and booked another tour operator, which pushed through with the tour. Saw faint northern lights. The lights were not that visible to the naked eye, but dslr cameras were able to capture it. New tour operator offered to rebook the tour for free.

Day 3 - Golden Circle Roadtrip (Thingvellir National Park, Silfra Fissure, Geysir, Gulfoss). Overnight at Kirkub?jarklaustur.

Day 4 - South Iceland Roadtrip (Skaftafell National Park, Jokursarlon Lagoon, Diamond Beach). Ended the day with a 3-hr Glacier Hike at Vatnajokull Glacier. Overnight at Vik.

Day 5 - South Iceland Roadtrip 2 (Black Sand Beach, Dyrholaey). After returning the car rental, walked around Reykjavik City.

Scheduled the northern lights tour that night since we were leaving the next early morning. After waiting for almost an hour, we saw the northern lights! Not only green, but pinkish and bluish lights as well. And it was dancing! We were captivated by the light show, even if I couldn't feel my hands and toes anymore.

Day 6 - (Left Iceland)

While seeing the northern lights was truly enchanting, the glacier hike was our favorite experience.

Places to visit in my next Iceland trip: Kerid Crater, Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dettifoss, Secret Lagoon, Fja?r?rglj?fur, Svartifoss, Westfjords, Hornstrandir.

[barbillie]

Subscribing!

My friend told me na best to see Northern Lights during December (winter season). But I read na October-November ang best season to see it? Any thoughts on this?

We're planning a 2 week vacation. How much did you spend all-in?

Salamat sa mga sasagot!

[ohcmon]

^^ Hi, sis! What other countries did you visit besides Iceland? Last or first stop niyo ba siya? First time namin ni hubby in Europe, and while initially Iceland lang talaga gusto kong puntahan, parang sayang 'yung chance kasi andun na 'yung area so might as well sulitin na. 

[riandrew]

hola!

our winter group did our iceland roadtrip for  9 days.
amazing to know na yung chosen rent a car company namin - may pinoy na staff! katuwa! he's from Negros.

we're 4 in a group so medyo sulit ang car rental than to take tour groups na mabilisan per spot. not a fan. no regrets, we enjoyed our time. and it's so easy to catch the northern lights!

if you're planning to drive around iceland, here's the company website:
https://www.reykjavikrentacar.is/

we also attended the Ash Wednesday mass pala and we saw lots of pinoy families. swerte nga daw punta namin kasi ok ang weather. how cute their kids speaking in icelandic. hehe


total expenses for 9days in iceland (1day in germany, 1 day in norway) , 4pax in a group = P160 each. all in, with visa, flights, gas, and insurance.

less 20k if you're not doing the ice caves and ice climbing tour.

[riandrew]

^
ok, i have to take that back. easy to catch the northern lights - means easy to chase if you have a car. and it's cheap! ang mahal ng tour, nasa P4,000 each!

there are several factors to see the northern lights so swertihan talaga. solar activity, dark clear sky, no cloud cover, solar wind activity... so it's very unpredictable. we went there early march so zero expectations kami. we're into the iceland landscapes so wala ang pagchase sa IT namin. but we got lucky. we saw it for 3 nights out of our 9 days stay - for free, no tour needed!