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Transportation - stopover under 24 hours

Posted by (Centennial, CO (Denver area)) on

We're concluding a 3-week trip through Scandinavia by stopping over in Iceland for one night, to soak our travel-weary bodies in the Blue Lagoon before heading home ("we" = 2 adults and a 10-year-old). The stopover is less than 24 hours total, and our plan was to just stay close to the airport. We've toured Iceland in the past, so no need for any other sightseeing on this trip.

Since we'll be staying in the vicinity of the airport, I thought getting around via taxi would be cheap and easy. But I've just discovered that, even for such relatively short distances, taxi prices seem to be astronomical!

Question: Is it true that taxis are super expensive? Would it make more sense to rent a car for less than 24 hours?

We'll have three legs of transportation: KEF airport to Grindavik, where our Airbnb is / Grindavik to Blue Lagoon / Blue Lagoon back to KEF airport. For that last leg, Blue Lagoon has a shuttle, but the timing is not ideal for our needs (based on flight time).

Rental car for that short period is a bit over $200, but that still seems less than 3 separate taxi trips would cost. Are there other options I'm not thinking of? Our Airbnb is cancelable, if somehow it would open up other options to stay in the town of Keflavik, for instance.

Posted by
15003 posts

An Airbnb for one night?

The Hotel Aurora is literally a five minute walk to the airport terminal. It's basic but clean. They have an onsite restaurant that is nothing fancy but a decent assortment.

https://hotelairport.is/

The shuttle buses to the Blue Lagoon are next to the terminal.

I've stayed at the hotel and it was fine for one night. There is also a Courtyard by Marriott a few minutes away by taxi. They do not have a shuttle van.

Have you looked at Reyjavik Sightseeing to see what they offer:

https://www.re.is

Posted by
45 posts

Yes, an Airbnb for one night. Shocking, I know! There are many such options that are cheaper than hotels, with more personality. Rick would approve. :-)

Thanks for the Aurora suggestion. That would seem like a fine choice, considering this new (to me) information about taxi costs. Unfortunately, it’s all booked for the dates we will be there.

Posted by
45 posts

I've contacted a couple of taxi companies, and also our Airbnb host, and they all confirm that taxi fares are astronomically high in Iceland. Here are some of the estimates they all provided:

  • KEF airport to Grindavik approx. 12000 ISK ($92 USD)
    • Grindavik to Blue Lagoon approx. 5000 ISK ($38 USD)
    • Blue Lagoon to KEF airport approx. 11000 ISK ($85 USD)

Has anyone heard of or know anything about Rás car rental? (www.ras.is) I can get an economy car for about $220 for one(!!) day, whereas every other car rental option is well over $300. I can't find any info on the www.ras.is website about their cancellation policy (I emailed them, waiting to hear back).

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