Iceland for this September

My sister and I did Iceland last September and when we weighed out the options and cost, we ended up renting a car and self-touring. It was wonderful. Trip report here if you'd like to see how it went.

On our April 2015 trip we did a combination of single-event tours (hot springs/Northern Lights one night, and a whale watching tour one afternoon, plus a multi-day private tour covering sights along the southern stretch of Iceland, including a glacier excursion, and renting a car for 3 days to explore north of Reykjavik and drive the Golden Circle.

It was overcast the night of our Northern Lights trip, which ended it early (your September weather may be different), and the day before we departed Iceland, we witnessed a fatal, airborne car crash due partly to a patch of black ice (again, you may have a different experience - especially if you’re not planning on driving yourselves). Rick didn’t even have an Iceland guidebook out then, let alone a tour, so we relied on Lonely Planet and Rough Guide books.

A tour planned and operated by a professional company could simplify having a good itinerary and getting around. In our 9 days, we were only in Reykjavik for 2 days, so 4 could be plenty if that’s on the Gate 1 agenda.

Thanks MNFerst for a detailed and fun trip report . I can almost envision myself being there as I read through your day to day itinerary.
Thanks Cyn. My sister and I still have to muster enough courage to drive in Iceland. We are still in initial stage of planning/ deciding but will most likely take a package tour.

My sister and I still have to muster enough courage to drive in Iceland.

I'm planning my trip for September of next year, and my husband and I are planning to drive the ring road, but we will be there for about 12 days, which I know most people are not. I came across this company in my research, maybe this is something you can use? Looks like they have all kinds of tours from day tours to full ring road tours. https://www.extremeiceland.is

Please come back after your trip and report how it was. I'm really curious to hear about what September is like (even though I know Iceland is notoriously unpredictable) :)

We are looking at Reykjavik excursion tours if we do an independent travel. Prices are in dollars so I don’t need to do the conversion.

Globus offers both a 6-day and 8-day trip to Iceland. I haven’t taken either of these but have taken four European tours with them and have been very happy. I went to Iceland in September 2018 with my family and we used Reykjavik as a base and did a guided day tour of the Golden Circle and an overnight tour of the South Coast which included several waterfalls, black sand beaches, a short hike to a beautiful canyon, a glacier hike and the Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon. We also went to the Blue Lagoon upon arrival in Iceland by purchasing a transfer from the airport to Reykjavik that included Blue Lagoon. We felt like we saw and did a lot and also enjoyed spending several evenings (and one morning) in Reykjavik. We found this website, guidetoiceland.is helpful when planning which tours to book, etc.

Thank you sboh. We finally booked the independent package from
Gate 1 travel ( air + hotel) . Now , we have to start looking at tours. We are looking at a minibus tour for the golden circle, south coast and the northern lights. There are so many tours that I am not sure which to take. Thanks for your suggestions.