I did write an initial post a few weeks back. Now I’m so unsure of what to do.
2 friends and I, all female, (we will all be 67, healthy and in fairly good shape, but not mountaineers by any stretch of the imagination!) plan to go to Iceland for 1 week the first week of July 2024. We do not want to rent a car, though people seem to disagree with that. That said, we planned to stay the entire time in Reykjavik and do day tours. Yes, lots of traveling but we don’t mind. Now I’m wondering if we should do a 3 day tour to the south coast? And spend the rest of the time in Reykjavik, with some day tours.
Our wish list to see/do….
We want to do tours of the Golden Circle, the South Coast and Snaefellsnes. We’d like to do the Blue Lagoon followed by dinner there. We would probably like to do Sky Lagoon. We want to see the puffins. Perhaps an ice cave.
Can anyone help me with possible itinerary ideas? Again, we aren’t renting a car. We will arrive from Eastern US early morning. Departure is evening the following week.
What are accommodations like on these tours? We have all been to various European countries and know accommodations are different than the US. My friends are pretty fussy though. They’d not be happy with a below average place to stay. I’m just trying to be as honest as possible, so I can get the correct info for us.
Thanks so much!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9249 posts
I have 3 days planned there next month. I read through the forum here for tour companies, and then looked on Trip Advisor for tour companies too. Who was using smaller buses, where do they go, do they pick up at the hotel, and of course their reviews. Since my time there was limited, am doing a food tour the day I get there, which lets me see the city. Next day am doing the South Coast tour, and the day after, the Golden Circle which ends at Sky Lagoon. If I was going to be there longer, there are lots of other tours to do, but this was all the time I had off. My BnB (Blue House) is down near the beach, so hopefully will be able to walk down there and see the sunset and possibly the Northern Lights.
The city is filled with hotels, so just pick one out that everyone likes. I stayed at the Hilton once and it was lovely, but IcelandAir paid for it.
Posted by
OP
9 posts
Ms Jo, what tour companies are you using? Did any stand out to you as better? Thanks!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9249 posts
I won't know if they are better until I experience them myself. There are lots of recommendations here on the forum. Have you looked already?
Posted by
Big Island of Hawaii
759 posts
Look at reviews for Troll Expeditions, Arctic Adventures, and Nordic Adventures (I mentioned those in my reply to your other thread). Reykjavik Excursions also does tours in larger buses. I think they are the three mentioned the most here. Also, look through the many posts on the TripAdvisor Iceland forum, where tour companies are discussed quite often.
Spend your first day recovering from jet lag by walking around Reykjavik. Perhaps do a walking tour or a food tour or visit one or two of the interesting museums there.
We did a one-day tour of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula from Reykjavik. As I recall, it was a very long day, maybe ten hours or more? But, we weren't driving so we napped on the way back. We also did a one-day tour of the Golden Circle which might have been eight hours. And, I always say "you do you". If you don't want to drive, then it's nobody else's business.
Yes, do a three-day tour tour to the south coast. There is soooo much to see there, and you would waste a whole lot of time going out and back to Reykjavik every day. Sorry, I haven't done that tour so can't answer your question about accommodations.
Posted by
906 posts
MSNBC aired a travel documentary on Iceland last night, the first episode (one hour) of 'Rainn Wilson and the Geography of Bliss.' The next episode is scheduled for next Sunday on MSNBC. The series is also on the Peacock network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uauVON1nYk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqepZz25ekA
Posted by
Hill Country
55 posts
Just returned from 8 nights in Iceland 4 days ago. The first 4 were on a cruise ship and the last 4 were independent travel. We did what you are doing. Travel without a car. So we stayed in Reykjavik and did day tours from there with Nice Travel. I cannot say enough good things about the business side of that company. They are honest, ethical, and responsive to questions. We had 3 tours scheduled with them in 2020 and when Covid made us cancel, they returned all money, no questions asked. We just finished doing the Silver Circle (11 hours) with an awesome guide, the South Coast (11 hours) with another guide who was okay but did not do a lot of talking, maybe because of particular client on the bus, and the Golden Circle (plus Kerid Crater) (8hours)with a guide who was very knowledgeable and did a lot of talking. You can also add the Blue Lagoon on to this tour to make it 11 hours but we chose to skip that as we did an authentic experience at thermal hot baths on the Silver Circle. We had already done Snaefellsnes with the ship's vendor. However, our Silver Circle guide did that tour with Nice and it is a very long 11 hour day from Reykjavik. We saw thousands of puffins on Grimsey Island which is in the North and a few on the South Coast tour. I would use Nice Travel again. We did a walking tour of Reykavik city with CityWalk Reykjavik and finished it off with a fabulous meal at Saeta Svinio which the guide directed us to. Food prices are extremely expensive so be prepared with a credit card, as that is their preference over cash. 2 bowls of homemade tomato soup, 4 slices of bread and water was $38, just giving you warning.
Hope you have a wonderful trip. It is a very beautiful country! Lovely people and quite helpful!
Posted by
Ohio
2161 posts
Hi Linda, we just spent three days in Reykjavik after disembarking from a cruise.
We did an 11 hour tour with Nice Travel yesterday. We had a great time and would be happy to do another excursion with them. We visited Thingvellir National Park, Geyser Center, Gulfoss Waterfall, Kerid Crater, and the Blue Lagoon. It was a long but very interesting and enjoyable day. Our guide was a geologist so that was an added plus. We travelled in a shuttle bus that held 19 people. We don’t think we would have been able to see all those things in one day on our own. Nice Travel also has other tours available, check them out.
We spent 1 1/2 days walking around Reykjavik and I think we saw everything we were interested in. Be prepared for some expensive meals. Two cheeseburgers with fries and cokes at the Hard Rock was $65 USD. Pizza and two cokes $40. We stayed at the Canopy Hilton City Centre, nice, clean hotel, great location. Taxi hotel to airport $162.