Iceland (the country)

plenty of restaurant reviews on trip advisor so you can view menus and be aware of what you are likely to pay



3 brewerys in town with their brewery taps so plenty of beer choice...

I am going in September so am well prepared for the prices...you just have to accept it, its the way it is as an tiny island nation that cant really grow anything

got golden circle and whale watching planned,we only going for 3 nights then flying on to New York
 


Harbour Boy said:
Hi mate,

We are looking into booking a car, is all of the insurance needed? We're looking at about £240 with all insurance added.
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That's down to you mate and how risk averse you are. I think I went for the more comprehensive insurance but it is up to you.

There aren't many cars on the road outside of Reykjavik and Reykjavik itself isn't busy but hire companies charge a fortune for any repairs.

peil said:
Just looked at my Revolut for when I was up there last May.
2 people, fish stew and a drink in Fish Veitingahus was about £55
The icelandic platter at Cafe Loki (dried fish, hakarl, brenevin and some odds and ends) was about £75
2 soups in a loaf in a place called Svarta Kaffid was £42

quickly adds up if you're not used to paying top prices - between scran and some souvenirs I spent a nudge over £500 in 2 days
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It can be expensive but a little bit of research and not just walking in anywhere for food/drink makes it not much more expensive than here.

jjarra_mackem said:
Cheers if you can ping me the list that be great
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Will do when I get home tonight.

Also, you don't need any cash. They take card everywhere and for everything. Get a Revolut card so you get the interbank rate, only place that wouldn't take it is the pay at the pump petrol stations.

The free walking tour accepts 'donations' in any currency as well so you can pay in sterling.
 
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My absolute favourite county.... I’d agree about renting a car. But be careful don’t take anything to chance with things like fuel and the weather changing.


We drove for 6 hours north and never passed a single car and garage.
 
CPK1979 said:
My absolute favourite county.... I’d agree about renting a car. But be careful don’t take anything to chance with things like fuel and the weather changing.

Yeah I'll treat it like S Africa. Have everything to hand just incase

We drove for 6 hours north and never passed a single car and garage.
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Fantastic place to visit. Definitely hire a car; we stayed in Reykjavík on the evenings but we drove off to a different spot each day. We didn't go into the Blue Lagoon as we were only there 3 days and to be honest, there were more enjoyable things to do off our own bat (i.e. without a tour group). Snæfellsjökull National Park was a particular highlight. We only had to drive 5 minutes outside of the city centre one night to see some of the Northern Lights but that depends very much on the weather and to be honest I've seen it clearer from Thurso (in Caithness).

One thing which maybe wouldn't have popped up on your radar, I'd highly recommend the Viking Museum in Keflavík. You'll have to go to Keflavík for the airport anyway so we did it on the last day before we dropped the hire car back. I can't remember the name of the hire car place but it was a few km from the airport and seemed quite a bit cheaper than the ones inside the airport. The car hire people came and picked you up from the airport (free) and dropped you off so there's no question of convenience, it just took 10 minutes from terminal to car hire.

As for money, the only advice I'd really give is to not drink alcohol in bars, because yes, it is expensive. Everything else, it's honestly not that expensive. Imagine you're taking a few days in London and these are the comparable prices. Don't compare prices to the working men's club in a pit village! We were there for 4 days are were surprised how reasonable the prices were after all the scaremongering.
 
matt228 said:
Fantastic place to visit. Definitely hire a car; we stayed in Reykjavík on the evenings but we drove off to a different spot each day. We didn't go into the Blue Lagoon as we were only there 3 days and to be honest, there were more enjoyable things to do off our own bat (i.e. without a tour group). Snæfellsjökull National Park was a particular highlight. We only had to drive 5 minutes outside of the city centre one night to see some of the Northern Lights but that depends very much on the weather and to be honest I've seen it clearer from Thurso (in Caithness).

One thing which maybe wouldn't have popped up on your radar, I'd highly recommend the Viking Museum in Keflavík. You'll have to go to Keflavík for the airport anyway so we did it on the last day before we dropped the hire car back. I can't remember the name of the hire car place but it was a few km from the airport and seemed quite a bit cheaper than the ones inside the airport. The car hire people came and picked you up from the airport (free) and dropped you off so there's no question of convenience, it just took 10 minutes from terminal to car hire.

As for money, the only advice I'd really give is to not drink alcohol in bars, because yes, it is expensive. Everything else, it's honestly not that expensive. Imagine you're taking a few days in London and these are the comparable prices. Don't compare prices to the working men's club in a pit village! We were there for 4 days are were surprised how reasonable the prices were after all the scaremongering.
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Try and remember the car hire place mate! I'm about to book this week.
 
Bring your own teabags and a flask and lots of snack bars. Even better smuggle in some Scotch whiskey and sell it to the local bars who'll pay upwards of £150 a bottle.
A bunch of us went to Finland with a crate of Glenfiddich from the NAAFI in 92 & it paid for the entire trip for all four of us. £100 a bottle back then in Turku and the first bar we went into bought the whole crate.
 
Pop said:
It can be expensive but a little bit of research and not just walking in anywhere for food/drink makes it not much more expensive than here.
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Aye fair point, I was wandering around like a fart in a trance tbh.

Do wish I'd picked up a bottle of the Brennivín (had to google how to spell it eventually) - it was pretty cheap at the duty free
 
Blyth_Pirate said:
Go alcohol free, very expensive a night on da lash.
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Buy alcohol at the airport when you land,put in a carrier bag on a night out and just buy the mixers.

mini-x2 said:
Most of the main things have been mentioned on this thread but if you’re going out on the piss it doesn’t get busy till about midnight. Also you can’t buy cans of alcoholic lager in the centre, we had to drive to some warehouse on the edge of town. I never saw the northern lights either but when we went it was only dark for a couple of hours!
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Been 3 times for football and ive never seen the northern lights.
 
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jjarra_mackem said:
Going for 4 days to Reykjavik with the Mrs (no). Any reccomendations on what to do there? aside from the blue lagoon.
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Get a hire car and have a drive out to Gulfoss waterfall and see the Great Geysir.

If your a bit adventurous shelve the blue lagoon, get some snowblades on your boots and walk about 1.5 miles at hveragerði geothermal park and find a more secluded natural volcanic spring.

I enjoyed seeing Vik and the black beach on the South Coast and the wreck of the American aircrash nearby too.
 
jjarra_mackem said:
Cheers if you can ping me the list that be great
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Bars

Bravo (happy hour all day till 8pm I think)
Kaffibarinn
Dillon
Sæta Svínið Gastropub (really good happy hour on an afternoon but not on appy hour)
Kaldi

Loads of others but they were my regulars on both trips.

Restaurants

Icelandic Fish & Chips (nice restaurant in the harbour, catch of the day is good value iirc)
Svarta Kaffid (all they do is soup in a breadbowl but it is very good)
Mandy (excellent schawarma but very casual)
Krua Thai (really good thai restaurant)
Shalimar (they do a daily special which was really nice and good value, 3 course set meal was something mental like £70 pp)
Hlollabata (good sandwiches but very casual)
Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (hot dog stands all over reykjavik, always a big queue)
Noodle Station (nice noodle soups, casual)

One other thing I forgot to mention, they love swimming over there and there are loads of public pools in reykjavik and they have massive outdoor jacuzzis and hot pools, steam, sauna etc.

We went to this one and it has just been refurbed Sundhöll Reykjavíkur but this is the biggest one in Reykjavik I think Laugardalslaug . Was pretty cheap as well. We did Blue lagoon but I thought the local pool was just as good.
 

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