Guide to Iceland Tours in November stopover?

Guide to Iceland is a third party reseller. It is best to book directly with a tour company, preferably a local one. I personally like Troll and have used them for a number of day excursions.

Don’t worry, tours go all year.

A great northern light tour operator is Aurora Experts. We have used him on several of our trips and I can’t recommend him highly enough.

I used Troll for a tour this past June, based on mikliz97’s recommendation, and would book with them again.

https://troll.is/day-tours-iceland/day-tours-from-reykjavik/golden-circle-bruarfoss-kerid/

Adding the link to my trip report, which includes info. on the hotel I stayed at:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/6-nights-in-reykjavik-a-trip-report

Many thanks, mikliz97 and Carrie! I have just started looking at tours and didn’t realize that was a third-party reseller. Glad to know that Troll is a good company to check out.

And Carrie, I really enjoyed reading your trip report! Your comments and ideas from others are helping my plan take shape!

Laurie

Laurie— read as many trip reports as you can. We are here now on our 8th trip.

Have a great trip!! I hope you report back what you end up doing.

I’m already trying to figure out when I can squeeze in another trip. My goal now is to catch up to mikliz97. :-)

Carrie—lol! Iceland is so addictive! Reykjavik is alive early this morning as it is Culture Day. Music, marathon(or half), etc. we head up to akureyri in a bit.

Both of you are encouraging me to finalize these plans with your enthusiasm! :-) I found a Troll trip to Snaefellsnes that has an overnight there...that sounds appealing, especially after reading that mikliz97 felt like that area was a hidden gem. I'm glad to know about Aurora Experts as a well regarded tour source. I'm unsure whether it is better to spend the other two nights in Reykjavik or somewhere outside of the city?

I am very flexible in my dates - and wonder if anyone can suggest the best way to find the best airfares with direct flights? On the Icelandair site through guess and check, I've found that at least in November their direct flights from KEF to DTW seem to happen on Sat., Mon., and Th. So that's a start - but these prices are higher than I saw in some other searches (for Economy Standard ... the Economy Light isn't available on any flights I'm researching). My Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel doesn't partner with Icelandair. And maybe $891 is the best I can do with this plan in November?

I can't access the flexible dates part of Google Flights with the DTW-KEF-CDG itinerary. I guess I need some help! :-)

Thanks again,
Laurie

After just finishing the south coast minutes ago, i would suggest the Golden circle and the Snaefellnes Peninsula with your time constraints. Ok, off to see Kerio Crater.

My flight from Chicago was $1037, including seat reservation. So, $891 sounds great to me. My flights to Europe over the last few years have averaged around $1200 for economy. I do pay extra to pick a seat near the front of the plane.

I don’t worry so much about getting the “best” price. I want a nonstop flight that works with my dates. That’s what I look for. And when I find a price I can live with, I just book it.

If the timing works, you could do a 3 or 4-day tour with Troll. They really have some good options. Or you could do a couple of 1-day tours.

I was limited in what I could do because I was traveling with my sister. Too much time on a bus would not have worked for her. But, if I was traveling by myself, I would have done a longer tour or more 1-day tours. As much as I loved Reykjavik, getting out into the nature is where the Wow factor is.

Good luck!

Hi Laurie,
We just booked with Chase Sapphire Preferred rewards with Icelandic Air. I always look for best prices on the internet and then go into Chase and book through their portal to either use points or rewards! :)
We got a deal for $399 from Seattle rtn that was just advertised last week. We go end of Sept for our first time. While the flights were a good price, having a bit ot sticker shock of everything else! Our car rental for 5 days will be the price of both our tickets!
We are using Airbnb to save (compared to hotels) but lots are already booked so try and book accommodation as soon as you can once you know your itinerary if you are not using a group tours!
It will be a lot of fun! We are going horseback riding on the black beaches on the South Shore, watching how they make rye bread in thermal springs, etc. Can't wait! :)
Enjoy Laurie!! :)

Laurie—that is a good price. We fly from Seattle so pay quite a bit more. We opt for economy standard since that includes a checked bag. We almost always do carryon on the way here but check the bag going home.

syeo—it was killing me to not book that deal lol! The end of September is a great time to be here. Usually decent weather, far fewer people and odds for Aurora is good.

Laurie—I would spend that extra time outside of Reykjavik. The city is fine, but the wow factor is outside of that.