Rick Steves Iceland

Quote from recent Wall Street Journal article:
"Attracted by its spectacular volcanic landscape and easy air routes, about 2.2 million tourists are expected to flow into the country of 330,000 people this year, almost five times as many as in 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund."

I've been to Iceland twice but I'd be reticent to see what it's like now. It has definitely been a victim of its own success, that's for sure.

We went to Iceland in July. We just spent one night in Reykjavík , then flew to Húsavík the next morning. The whole purpose of the trip was to see whales, just whales. Total trip was 3 nights. The flight to and from Húsavík was full, but then again the plane only had 24 seats..... The hotel in Húsavík seemed to be mostly full, but not sold out. I doubt it had more than 20 rooms. The whale watching boats were about half sold. Since time was a premium and we didn't want to miss one opportunity to get on the water i found myself having to rent this boat the first day: https://www.gentlegiants.is/media/8267/sylvia.jpg?width=1000&height=601.2834821428571 To be fair, they had a 6 person minimum but they waved the minimum once i bought 4 tickets and expressed the intent to buy two more. Great folks. We had the ship to ourselves and saw whales, more whales and more whales. Jumping, breaching, tail flipping, one at a time and in groups. Total success. https://www.gentlegiants.is/

On the other hand, this was the most expensive place i have ever visited. Puts London to shame...

As far as what it's like now with its tourism explosion...my husband and I were there in 2016 during the summer. It's still desolate and other-worldly, and crowds really were not a problem at all (outside of the airport, anyway). What I loathed...absolutely loathed...was the airport. They seemed to me to be completely unequipped to handle the influx of tourists from IcelandAir and Wow Airlines (I do realize I was part of that influx). This is not a small consideration as the weather in Iceland is temperamental. We were there on one of the long layovers and were luck to have good weather. We did the Golden Circle, camped in our SUV at a campground near the Blue Lagoon (hotel prices were really high), and had a nice time. Other travelers we have met since then said they just stayed in their airport on their 24 hour layover because the weather was so bad that they weren't going to see anything, anyway.

I'd like to try Iceland again someday...spend more time there and really take in the natural beauty. It really is astounding and different (well, at least for this Florida girl).

Went there in 1986. I noticed no other foreign tourists.

When I came home, people asked me where I had been. I mentioned Iceland. They blinked, appeared confused, and asked me again. Then they looked at me like I had two heads and asked "why on earth would anyone ever want to go there?"

Ahead of the curve is the place to be...

My son just spent 5 days in Iceland two weeks ago and absolutely loved it. No crowds or hordes of tourists anywhere he went.

We went through Keflavik airport twice in February. And my son twice in July/August. There were no crowds all 4 times. I love that airport. Super attractive, clean, new and the food was very high quality and very good. Nicest airport I've ever been to.

That's great that the airport was nice. That gives me an incentive to return. When we were there last summer, it was full to capacity, trash cans full with trash on the floor, minimal seating so people were stretched out on the floor everywhere, and one store to buy water/food/anything. One cash register with a line down the hall. I'm pretty easy going, actually, and don't mind camping out a bit, but it was dirty and rather gross. Maybe they were just having a bad day.

When I went to Iceland, there was no WOW Air and the number of airlines serving the country was pretty much limited to Iceland Air. There has been a huge surge in the number of flights and hence tourists. The airport is small and probably can't keep up with the increase in air traffic. I do remember the waiting areas being quite small/tight but back then, it didn't matter because the number of people passing through was much less (and probably the number of concurrent flights as well). It sounds like a five fold increase in tourism and large increase in flights needs to be put into airport improvements and possible expansion. Iceland is not some rinky dink place no one's ever heard of anymore and it looks like the infrastructure is getting overwhelmed. They probably got ahead of themselves with the tourism promotion and the other things need to catch up.

It's hard to imagine a full book of information related to Iceland. I've been through there four times but only stayed overnight once. The weather is unpredictable any time of year. I think the Golden Circle tour would be great; past that, I'm not too sure? Blue Lagoon and a tour of a geothermal power plant? The bright side is Switzerland doesn't seem so expensive after you've been to Iceland.

The best thing about Iceland, if you connect into Europe there, you go through customs and immigration at Keflavik and the line is non-existent. Once you get to Europe, you are already stamped into Schengen and you can leave the airport like a domestic flight.

There's a lot more in Iceland than the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon. Most people don't get far out of Reykjavik. But yes, there's a whole Lonely Planet book just on Iceland. There's plenty to do there even for a few weeks if you drive the Ring Road.

Interesting the comments on the airport. During our arrival and departure in JUly Keflavik was an unmitigated nightmare. Especially if you were one of the WOW passengers staged in the cattle chutes. Then there is the distance into town and the cost involved. Reykjavík Airport on the other had was more like a comfortable bus stop. Still out few days were well worth the effort.

I was in Iceland last October. it didn't seem too crowed outside of the airport which was a zoo.

I took the Golden Circle tour, the weather was absolutely terrible, but there were only twelve people on the tour.

The weather was so bad I had no luck in seeing the Northern Lights. I'm thinking of going back again in either November or February and include a visit to my beloved Faroe Islands. Hopefully, between the two, I'll see the lights.

And if the weather is clear, I might take the Golden Circle tour again. I'm determined to see it when it is not freezing, sleeting and cloudy. And I can't wait to spend another $18 for a bowl of lamb soup and a bottle of water.

Will a tour follow?

I don't know the answer to that question, but I don't think there's much point in going on a tour to Iceland. It is so very accessible for independent travel. If you rent a car you can easily explore the ring road on your own, and if not, there are tons of day tours available from a multitude of private tour agencies in Reykjavik, which is itself easy to get around and explore on your own. Virtually everyone speaks English. I can't think of any advantage to be gained by visiting with a tour group and traveling on a coach.

I fully agree with Lane. Iceland is one of the most tourist friendly countries I've ever been to. They made it that way. There are day trip companies (with the right vehicles to traverse any type of terrain) that you can take any day to see all sorts of places throughout the country. You can go to Iceland with no plan at all and get all your info at the tourist center in Reykjavik. Or look up tourist info online - both Reykjavik and Iceland put a lot of good info out there for trip planning. Couldn't be easier.

They already have cruise ships.

Visited Iceland for 5 days the middle of May 2017 and really enjoyed it. We were fortunate that the weather was wonderful! Rented a car to tour around and had a fantastic time. Would return but...I have to agree with Wendy .... the airport was an absolute nightmare. Seems nothing has improved! Dirty, confusing, only 1 check-in kiosk was working, limited staff to help, very limited seating and people sprawled all over the floors. There was construction going on so hopefully things will improve!

Could I have been in a different part of the airport from Wendy and Pam? The area we were in (on two levels) was new, clean and tons of seating. There were shops, a bar and a large restaurant. The bathroom amazed me... not just sparkling clean but each stall was actually a large room with doors from floor to ceiling that closed and each had their own sink. The hallways were wide with beautiful huge photographs of Iceland. We must have been in a different area than what Wendy and Pam describe.

I was in the same airport as Wendy and Pam.

The airport is expanding so construction has been going on for awhile.

I think a lot of it has to do with the airline being flown. I saw lots of people at the WOW kiosks confused and not happy. There were a couple of WOW employees trying to help.

I flew Icelanair and had no problems. Security was tight as they made us take all electronics out of our bags and the walk to the gate through the shops seems typical of new airport terminals.

The only issue I had was that we were bussed out to our plane. It was still dark out (very early) and snowing. When we got to the plane, they wouldn't let us out because the plane was having some "technical" problem. (It turns out, the toilets weren't working.) After 30 minutes of standing in a packed bus, the people were getting hot, both in temperature and temperament. They opened the door to let fresh air in and advise us of the problem. Within a few minutes, it was freezing on the bus and they closed the doors again. Finally after about 45 minutes we were allowed to board. The only reason to have us bussed out to the plane when they knew there were problems was so we could board as soon as the problem was fixed and not delay they're schedule. The comfort of the passengers was not taken into consideration.

I was told by the manager of my hotel in Reykjavik that the demand for hotel rooms was so great they couldn't build them fast enough. Iceland tourism has grown too fast. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to go to Iceland, you pretty much had to fly Icelandair. Now I believe more than two dozen airlines have scheduled flights. And on a daily basis.

And for those who say a tour isn't necessary because the place is tourist friendly, everyone speaks English and there are lots of day tours---couldn't you say the same about London, Paris and Rome yet those RS city tours are very popular.

couldn't you say the same about London, Paris and Rome yet those RS
city tours are very popular.

The size and scale is not comparable by any stretch, and yet the tourist resources you'll find in Iceland are concentrated, well-thought out and very accessible even for people with zero travel skills. I think there are city tours in large European cities partly because some folks are intimidated of navigating in a large foreign city and/or they benefit from the rich cultural history being explained to them, whereas Iceland is much smaller scale and its museums are definitely human scale and accessible (plus the folks running the day trips serve as excellent tour guides and will share everything about Iceland with you). There's less of a need to be efficient in a place that's as small as Reykjavik which you can easily conquer on foot in a day or two (although the local buses can take you to some neat sites on the outskirts). If you were to do a tour in Iceland, confining your trip to a city tour of Reykjavik would not give you a good perspective on Iceland. Iceland is already getting crushed by tourism, so I'm not in the boat of pushing for more tours there. Rick would just end up subcontracting with the existing infrastructure (outfitters like Reykjavik Excursions) which runs very well.

EDIT: Another issue is that the countryside of Iceland is mainly small villages. They don't have the tourist infrastructure that tour groups require out in the boonies of Iceland. There are no smallish/medium hotels there at all. If tour groups invade Iceland, they would definitely change the character of the countryside, first by making it harder for independent travelers to book a room or hut.

I wouldn't suggest planning to see northern lights as part of a vacation. They're like weather, sometimes the conditions are good other times they aren't. Even when conditions are good and they are forecast, they still may not appear - like forecasted rain. If you see the northern lights, occassionally they are spectacular but many times they are just a dull green; there but not what you had imagined.

The best northern lights I've ever seen were on a camping trip in the mountains of British Columbia. It had been stormy and wet all day. About 9:30 at night the clouds broke up and the lights were bright and colorful, amazing. Every other time I've seen them (dozens if not more) they weren't colorful at all. They are still neat but not like the pictures you see in magazines.

I sound like I'm raining on peoples' parades. I don't want to do that but having too high of expectations leads to disappointment.

I was flying IcelandAir and the airport experience was awful. I'm sure time of year has something to do with it, but I guess it's not airline specific since the OP flew IcelandAir and had no problems while those on WOW did.

Don't just think it's Icelandair and WOW at KEF that is causing the crowding. Some of the other airlines that have flights are: EasyJet, British Airways, Atlantic Airways, SAS, Lufthansa, Air Berlin, Delta, Norwegian, Germainia, Air Canada, Eurowings, WIZZ and more.

Iceland is not only populars with North Americans.