#2

Get out of Reykjavik, it’s lovely to see for a day but will get dull so book as many excursions as you can and it’ll be amazing.

#3

Like Ant says, get out of Reykjavik. Golden circle tour is good (geysir, waterfall, amazing national park).
Head west - glacier walking is great, plus you can combine with some classic waterfalls.
Further west, I can’t recommend Jokulsarlon highly enough (it’s a glacier lake full of the most beautiful ice bergs - although friends went in April and it was basically empty of ice so check seasonality I guess).
Blue Lagoon is good fun although very touristy.

#4

When are you going? How long are you going for?

Tips! http://drownedinsound.com/community/boards/social/4465548

#5

Oh, and we were out there last November for Airwaves. If you can wait until tomorrow, I can dig out the list of where we went to eat and stuff.

#6

I was going to write my usual missive about how great Iceland is and what we’ve done there, but it’s probably in half of the threads that Marckee’s linked above.

#7

Going In January for 3 days only!

We can probably hire a car out and go out to some places.

Thanks!!

#8

For three days I reckon deffo do the Golden Circle tour and a glacier walk if you can.

#9

I’d definitely recommend a trip to Jökulsárlón (the glacial lagoon) if the roads are open. It’s a long day, but you get to see a few waterfalls on the way as well.

The Golden Circle trip is a full day as well, so do that. You’re probably not left with much time in Reykjavik itself after that. Go to a local swimming pool/sauna and the Cathedral, and the new concert hall.

More tips here, too: http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/

And there are great lists of the best places to eat drink and shop in here: http://grapevine.is/

#10

I’m going in November (same weekend as Airwaves coincidentally but not actually going to the festival)

For people who have been before - do people recommend hiring a car over doing the scheduled tours? Is it cheaper/easier? Cheers pals.

#11

Quelle surprise all you knobs are full of Reykjavik tips but zilch on Ireland. Racists.

#12

Depends how long you’re there for. If 3 days you can probs just do scheduled tours I imagine. Longer than that and I would 1) not use Reykjavik as a base the entire time and 2) hire a car

#13

Depends how long you’re going for and where you want to go.

If you’re only planning on going to the glacial lagoon and Golden Circle, then no, hiring a car won’t be worth it - the tour guides are good and informative and driving conditions can be a little treacherous at that time of year as you cross the ridge of the country.

If you’re going for longer and want to do an overnight tour around Route 1, then it might be worth hiring a car. Again though, check driving conditions before you head out.

If you’re going to be in Reykjavik during airwaves then there are loads of free gigs happening in the city in loads of different locations. The set up is very similar to SXSW in that apart from the headliners, most acts play several times during the week at various showcase events. KEX hostel, in particular is a great location for seeing afternoon gigs that are being filmed and recorded for the KEXP site.

#14

hi meo. was three days enough? was it brutally cold in january?

#15

Hello
I would have like to have done more tbh but it was nice for a little break.
We did the Blue Lagoon straight from the airport which i’d really recommend as they drop you off at your hotel/airbnb after. Then on the Saturday we did a full golden circle tour which was really good. That was brutally cold seeing the waterfalls. We could barely open our mouths or get our hands out of our pockets cause the windchill factor is a lot.
I would say there isn’t actually an awful lot to see in Reykavik itself as it’s only a few streets but it’s still nice.

I stayed here on my latest trip. https://www.booking.com/hotel/is/eyja-guldsmeden.html?aid=304142

I’ve since been back and done a week long campervan trip which was 100000 x more amazing and absolutely excellent!!

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#16

Was there in November for Airwaves. Three days definitely enough for the city. Make sure to download Reykjavik Grapevine’s “Appy Hour” app to keep track of what bars are doing deals.

We stayed next to Hlemmur Square, there’s a nice food hall there with traditional and modern options. Get a hot dog from Baejarins Betsu Pyslur.

I really enjoyed the Perlan museum, I’m a real geography nerd so it was perfect for me. The hill it’s on has some nice short walking trails too - we walked down to the Geothermal beach from there, weren’t brave enough to take a dip though!

My one regret from the trip was not taking more time to just go to hot springs and chill. We did the Secret Lagoon as part of the Golden Circle tour and it was gorgeous, a nice cheaper alternative to Blue Lagoon. There’s plenty of municipal facilities for it in Reykjavik itself too.

We did a south coast tour too taking in Skogafoss and Reynisfjara black sands beach which was great. Don’t bother going to the DC-10 plane wreck though.

Weather was bearable for me there in November but I run hot. I imagine January would be worse, depends on prevailing winds I guess

#17

Winds are the main problem in Iceland really - temperature doesn’t often drop too far below 0, but the wind can be biting.

#18

The hot springs were definitely my highlight of my longer trip. also the public pools were all thermally heated so they were proper hot!
Myvatn is my favourite if anyone is doing a longer trip.

Here was also quite good mostly cause we had rye bread baked in the earth
https://www.fontana.is/en/sauna

#19

PENIS MUSEUM

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#20

Take a coat

#21

We had the worst time in Iceland. A lot of it was probably bad luck and circumstance, but still really disappointing given how much everyone else seems to love it.

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