Reykjavik Iceland family trip

Posted by luu.jones on 05/10/20 11:50 AM

Hello,

I am planning a family trip for 8 adults and 1 child to Iceland. We are flying to Reykjavik airport and are wondering what area would be best for us to stay in if we would like to reach the main tourist spots easily such as the Golden Circle, the blue lagoon, whale watching etc. We would like to be more in a quite area potentially in lodges but have no idea where we need to be staying in order to be able to access the tourist spots without having to rent a car.
Appreciate any replies as having a nightmare, it’s for my Dad’s 50th😅
Thanks very much, Lucy

Posted by Kelly’d Rather Be Traveling

Atlanta, GA

05/10/20 02:04 PM

1131 posts

Definitely read the RS Iceland book. For 9 people I would rent 2 cars. Paying for 9 people to do the bus trips to Golden/South is going to cost you a literal fortune.

Posted by Badger

Uppsala, Sweden

05/10/20 02:43 PM

6970 posts

Renting 2 cars on Iceland isn't exactly cheap either.

Posted by Carol

Martinez, CA, USA

05/10/20 04:29 PM

1547 posts

When are you planning to go? That will impact your decisions on where to stay, whether to rent a car, availability of tours, number of daylight hours, and more. Also, how old is the child? In order to give advice we need this information.

Posted by Kelly’d Rather Be Traveling

Atlanta, GA

05/10/20 10:28 PM

1131 posts

No, renting two cars is not cheap. For our July trip to Iceland (which is now canceled) it was about $100 per person for a daylong bus tour. We would have done two of those so that would’ve been $800 over two days for bus tours. That does not include getting to and from the airport or the Blue Lagoon. We had rented a car from Hertz for four days, three nights, for about $350. Even with $30 a day parking at our hotel and gas, we would still be a great deal ahead of $800 plus there is much more flexibility about where to go and when to stop.

Posted by luu.jones OP

05/10/20 10:28 PM

2 posts

Hi, thanks for the reply.
We are going in February 2021 and the child will be 4 years old by then.
:)

Posted by Kelly’d Rather Be Traveling

Atlanta, GA

05/11/20 12:16 AM

1131 posts

OK, never mind, that greatly changes things - Rick advises against driving in Iceland in winter. Bus travel it is for you!

Posted by naalehuretiree

Big Island of Hawaii

05/11/20 12:49 AM

756 posts

There are lots of different tours you can take from Reykjavik. That way, all nine people don't need to always do the same thing together. I suggest you spend time doing some searches for tours on-line and do some reading up on the challenges with weather in February.

If you are doing the Golden Circle, know that most of the tours I've seen have been 9 to 10 hours long; is your four year old going to be able to do a tour of that length?

Posted by Lo

Tucson

05/11/20 01:37 AM

4183 posts

A good source for historical weather data is timeanddate.com. Here is a link to Reykjavik for February, 2020.

There are lots of ways to look at the data. Be sure to scroll down to research the weather well. It's going to be very cold with very short days.

And also be sure to follow how Iceland is handling the COVID-19 situation over the next few months. Depending on how things go, your trip may or may not be possible.

I hope you get to go. My husband has Icelandic heritage and we were there a long time ago. I'd love to go back. Our youngest daughter did an archeological dig there a few years ago. She'd love to go back, too.

BTW, the airport is actually in Keflavik, about 50 kilometers and about 45 minutes southwest of Reykjavik. The Flybus Airport Transfer may be the best and cheapest way to make the journey.