We were in Iceland Sept. 7 - 11, 2024. We relied heavily on R. Steves guidebook and also on this travel forum, both of which we found very helpful. Per Rick's suggestion, we stayed in Hafnarfjordur instead of Reykjavik. He says that Reykjavik is very expensive. We found Hotel Viking in Hafnarfjordur to be reasonable at $250/night with complimentary breakfast. The hotel is on the waterfront and we got some super sunsets. We rented a car (Enterprise) which worked out well. We got car insurance from Allianz which is also where we got travel insurance. We anticipated the worst in terms of weather based on what we had read and heard but had 5 days of almost perfect weather. We did the Golden Circle as do most people and were impressed by the sights. We had planned to do a one-day trip to the South Coast but after the Golden Circle were tired of driving and did the Perlan Museum instead. The museum is excellent. Based on a tip from this forum we did the City Walk Tour of Reykjavik which was very good. Another tip was Braud & Co. which has exceptional cinnamon buns! We did a tour of the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with Troll & Co. which was recommended in this forum. We were happy with the tour which saved us a lot of driving. We skipped the Blue Lagoon, again based on Rick's recommendations. We liked the Secret Lagoon which is a thermal bath on the Golden Circle. I never bothered to get Icelandic cash. As per the guidebook, you can pay for just about everything via Google Wallet or Apple Pay. We liked the Efstidalur Farmhouse Restaurant along the Golden Circle; all the soup and bread you can eat with homemade ice cream at a dairy bar downstairs. Another good eating tip was the Botanic Garden in Reykjavik where we had an enjoyable lunch in greenhouse atmosphere. I hope to get back to Iceland and do the Ring Road sometime in the future.
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Ottawa, Ontario
89 posts
We were in Reykjavik Aug. 31 to Sept. 1 this year. Then in 3 more ports in Iceland: Isafjordur, Akureyri and Seydisfjordur on a cruise.
We took Rick's recommendation and did a walking food tour in Reykjavik. Having little time and the fact that the weather was harsh (lots of wind, rain and cold) - plus exhaustion from the overnight trip, we did little more than walk around a bit before the tour and then near our hotel the next morning before boarding our cruise ship.
In Akureyri we managed to have some real "Rick Steves" experiences: we joined a local walking club for their Sunday morning 2 hr walk around the town, getting their personal info about the things we were passing as well as an invitation to join them for coffee and "donuts" afterward. After a walk through the botanical gardens (fabulous!). we went to a museum in the older part of town and took a city bus back to the centre.
Iceland was great (an excellent hike in Seydisfjordur; lunch at a local micro brewery) - beautiful scenery, harsh climate...Rick's book was pretty helpful, especially regarding practicalities. We didn't get any local currency either though the odd time I wanted it for a street musician and one time a kids' school group raising funds for a trip. Next time I would change a few bucks for that reason (we ended up giving the kids a $CDA 20 bill).