I saw the England/Ireland thread and decided to copy it. Sue me. I have been to the Land of Ice and Fire and not only lived to tell the tale, but loved it. Now I want to take my kids and husband as a last BIG family vacation. We will go for 5-6 days in August, the only time we can all get away. Here is what I already know:
We will stay at least one day/ night in Reykjavik, probably the first day.
We will go to the Blue Lagoon at some point.
We will take a Golden Circle Tour because it’s neat, convenient and (relatively) inexpensive.
The rest is up for grabs. I’m a bit overwhelmed by planning for 5 people. When I travel alone, I tend to just wander around and LOOK at stuff and do stuff on impulse. That doesn’t work well with 5 very different people.
We’d like to see a volcano and a glacier, but not necessarily THAT volcano. We do not want to go to Greenland. We have little interest in sagas, but a fair amount of interest in natural history, and culture and (this is The Husband) geothermal energy (a tour of one such plant is included on the Golden Circle).
Any ideas? Thoughts? Places you went and loved and want to share? I need to book these flights and get accommodations, SOON. I just seem to get paralyzed by all the details. Thanks in advance for the help.
I’ve visited Iceland a few times and I have to say my all-time favorite side trip was a day trip to Akureyri, in the north. We booked the whole thing through our hotel in Reykjavik. I don’t remember it being terribly expensive, but that may have changed.
The trip itself involved an early morning flight out of the Reykjavik city airport. We were met by a local guide at the Akureyri airport and drove around in his SUV all day. He was an Akureyri native and had an enormous pride in his country. He explained everything we saw with a lot of historical background information and was knowledgeable.
The city of Akureyri was so interesting and has an amazing botanical garden. We drove out to Godafoss (horseshoe shaped waterfall) and Lake Myvatn. We saw lava fields, mud pools, the works.
At around 8 pm, we caught a flight back to Reykyavik.
If the price isn’t too steep, I’d definitely recommend it.
Nothing really to add, other than I was in Iceland once for three days - ages ago - and loved every minute of it! It is someplace I have always wanted to return and visit - even though people look at me oddly when I say it.
Someone on the bus from the airport at Keflavik to the city of Reykjavik said the landscape was like driving on the moon - and they were so right! But man, was that one hell of a ride - and worth the trip alone!
Sigh…if only I had the money and time…wish I could go again!