We are 2 mid 50s adults and will visit Iceland for the first time June 28 for 3 nights. 6:30am arrival; 7:30am July 1 departure. Experienced travelers to Iceland:
1) Rent a car or use bus and tour services? Maybe the additional cost for a small group tour with guides is a better way to get more from our trip?
2) I'm leaning toward 1st day in Reykjvik and then going to South Coast 2nd & 3rd days. Or should we go to Snaefellsness?
3) 7:30am flight on Wed means getting to airport very early. Should we stay closer to airport last night?
4) What tours/companies would you recommend for venturing outside Reykjvik, if we decide not to drive ourselves?
Posted by
Snohomish, WA
3855 posts
I answered some of your questions on TA.
Spending your arrival day in Reykjavik is a good plan. The other two days you could self drive. That’s what we normally do. However tours are good for such a short visit as you learn a lot from the guides. With two full days I would do either a 2 day south coast tour or self drive that. Or do one day along the south coast and the other day on Snaefellsness. Many people do the Golden Circle, but IMO Snaefellsness has much more to offer.
With such an early flight your last morning I would stay near the airport. The Aurora Hotel is right across the parking lot from the terminal and is perfect for this. We have done this several times. Alternatively about 15-20 minutes away is the Northern Light Inn. We have stayed there a handful of times and love it.
For tours, I wild highly recommend a local company. A few that we have used and really like are Troll, Nice Travel, and Bus Travel Iceland. Each of these have small groups, so 19 maximum. Arctic Adventures is another local company that is highly regarded. We were booked with them a couple weeks ago, but weather cancelled the tour.