We flew Iceland Air from Seattle, rented a small 4wd drive from Procar, and stayed at Hotel Klettur.
Here are some of the lessons learned for April travel:
The weather in Iceland was , mild 40F to 50F along the coast ,similar to Seattle. Most of our heavy winter gear was not used and traction devices for walking were not needed. What surprised us was the high winds and the use of meters/sec for wind speed on the signs. We saw gusts from 30 to 40 m/s (40meters/sec is 90 mph). We were glad we brought fleece hats with snaps for the wind. Winds around headlands and near to buildings tend to change rapidly making walking and driving exciting.
The rental car company gave us a car with red dots all over it to indicate existing damage and they offer a confusing array of insurance options including sandblast coverage. We got the basic CDW allowance and didn’t have any issues.
Hotel Klettur is just on the outside of downtown and has some advantages with a rental car. The walk to the downtown center is about .8 miles ,but there is a parking garage at the hotel and tours can pick up here but not at downtown hotels.
We decided to take a South Coast day tour and enjoyed the trip so much that we decided to do the Snaefellsnes Peninsula with the same company. This tour was not as good and the driver did not seem to care very much and would start moving as soon as the last person stepped on board. The tour of this area is not recommended by Rick Steves but Kirkjufell is a must visit for landscape photography and GOT fans. The north side of the peninsula was beautiful. The crater we visited was not as nice as the recommended crater on the West Island driving tour in the book and if you have seen seals before the seal beach is a waste of time.
The West coast driving tour we did on our own and enjoyed it. We added a short hike to a waterfall near the crater and we went to the Karuma baths.
Iceland has a guaranteed living wage and tipping is generally not expected. However, getting a good tour guide is a gamble. Also, I noticed that the hotel room was not cleaned and the bedding unchanged, the Karuma pools were not clean and the Icelandic flight flight was dirty with garbage from the previous flight and gum on my seat.
Overall we enjoyed the trip.