Reykjavik



Mackem00 said:
Have just booked a trip here in December for our lasses 40th. What's the crack nowadays with beer prices and the like? Planning on a northern lights tour but anything else a must do? We'll be happy just going out on the piss tbf but open to suggestions.

Cheers.
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Download the happy hour app, it's vital! There's always somewhere with a happy hour on in the centre of reyk. Saves you 100s!
 
Hire a car marra, then you’re not stuck waiting for a bunch of other people to get back on the bus. You can drive the ‘golden circle’ easily enough and at your own pace. Parking in Reykjavik is pretty straight forward and cheap on street. As far as car hire is concerned I’d recommend Car rental in Iceland: Rent a car at KEF airport or in Reykjavik they were spot on for me.

Also what @dangermows says about the Blue Lagoon, do it to or from the airport. We did it on our last day and stayed at a hotel in Keflavik because our flight was very early next day. Don’t go into Keflavik, it’s a tiny little place with few redeeming features.

Also, if you fancy the geothermal spa thing but something a bit less commercialised, then try the Secret Lagoon. Much simpler and down to earth, and when we were there, it was much warmer than the Blue Lagoon. You can tie it in with the golden circle drive easily enough.

I’d do both like because the Blue Lagoon is very nice and stylish, whilst the Secret Lagoon gives you a bit more authenticity.

As far as northern lights go, the benefit of a tour is that the tour guides will have a better understanding of the geography and will not doubt be monitoring weather patterns regularly for the best spots. Otherwise you can do it on your own. Just find somewhere decent on a map and drive to it. We managed to see them just driving along to the lighthouse at Seltjarnanes about ten mins from downtown Reykjavik.
 
I've been to Reykjavik twice in February and twice in November and never seen the Northern Lights once. :evil: I did see them in Akureyri in September though. :cool:

Reykjavik isn't that big so, in terms of drinking and eating, it can be fun just wandering and trying somewhere you like the look of. It can be expensive but I assume you're planning for that. @Pop seems to have some decent tips.

Although it's obviously cold (but maybe not as cold as you might expect), Reykjavik itself doesn't really get the extremes of weather you get elsewhere on the island so expect changeable as much as anything.

As mentioned earlier, going out late on a weekend is a real eye-opener. It can be bedlam and we saw a couple of windows put out but it was all cleared up without much fuss by the next day.

If you're driving at that time of the year be a bit careful as what is labelled as a 'B' road over there can be not much more than a gravel / stone track and fairly treacherous in winter. Mind, it can also be rewarding - I remember coming across tons of fish-drying racks in the middle of nowhere. Quite spooky with the wind whistling through all these dangling dead fish.

Away from the 'novelty' food then smoked lamb and pan-fried guillemot are worth trying (even if my then wife described the latter as 'chicken that tastes of fish').
 
I'd strongly advise against hiring a car in December. We hired one in March last year thinking the winter season would have passed, hell no. Driving south east from Reykjavik it went from sunny to a snow blizzard, where you couldn't see the car in front, in less than 10 minutes. I thought I was a good driver until that happened. Had to pull over and slowly headed back the way we came. No good with a 4-month pregnant wife in the car with aswell :eek:

Golden Circle tour
Northern Lights tour
Download the happy hour app, tells you which bars are discounted at what times
We also went to Vidgelmir lava tunnel which was a few hours drive away in the north
 
Class place. I went in feb a few years ago and had a great time. Gan to the blue lagoon if you can. We went to the music hal/opera house on the coast and that was fantastic also. Will be going back. Didnt see the lights like.
 
I went first weekend in Jan last year.

Got lucky with the weather - clear blue skies.

So had an amazing Northern Lights tour, did whale watching and the blue lagoon which was all great. Would go back tomorrow.

Download the Appy Hour app, if you're looking after the ££. We just found bars we loved, and stayed.
 
Me and the missus went there in January 2014 for 10 days. We stayed in a place about 1 hour out of Reykjavik so hired a car. It snowed a lot the first few days but was followed by clear skies and we were fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights. Go to Thingvellir, the place where the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates rub against each other. It's also the place where the Icelandic Parliament would meet. There's an app that shows where earthquakes are happening on a daily basis, we felt one which is how we found out about the app.
 
Did Iceland in Jan. If you do hire a car be prepared for some extreme driving, im pretty sure i chewed the seat out with my arse whilst driving back over s mountain pass... zero visibility

Also be aware one bottle of becks could put you over limit

Golden circle tour easily done on your own
 

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