We've decided to travel around Iceland during 2 weeks, from the 21st to the 5th of July 2008. We will cover more than 3600kms on roads sometimes difficult but always in the middle of gorgeous landscapes. Our trip looks like the one displayed on the picture below. To know more about how this has been decided have a look at the section "What to see in Iceland?".
Iceland Tour - Every night's steps are marked with the plots
Flight
Before being able to visit Iceland we have to go there! And going to this island located 300kms away from Greenland, 420kms from Faroe Islands and 970kms away from Norway seems to be a very long and expensive journey but it's not necessary the case if we are enough in advance...
We booked a flight London Stansted - Reykjavík (Keflavík) with return in Iceland Express, with a flight Belfast - London Stansted with return, everything for around £250 each which is finally not too bad at all! Iceland Express is the low-cost flight company linking Iceland with several big European cities (Paris, London, Barcelona...). The flight company IcelandAir proposes also some regular flights with some interesting prices. This is the same thing with any low-cost company: you have to be enough time in advance and quite flexible with the dates to have better prices.
Ferry
The other way to go to Iceland is by boat. The company Smyril Line links regularly the harbours between Hanstholm (Denmark) and Seyðisfjðöur (Islande). Some stops are scheduled in Tórshavn (Faroe islands), Bergen (Norway), Lerwick (Shetland) and Scrabster (north of Scotland, during summer only).
The prices are more expensive than flight companies listed above and the journey is longer (count 5 days from Hanstholm and considering that a 2-days stop in Tórshavn is planned). Besides you have to go to one of these harbours which is not necessary close to your place. However this option gives some advantages such as the possibility to travel with your own vehicle and especially the stop in Faroe islands. But 2 weeks was too short for us even by leaving from Scotland and the plane was better for our budget. Maybe next time.
After looking for information about the different ways to move in Iceland we have decided to rent a car for these 2 weeks.
Here is an overview of the different ways to move in Iceland:
Car
Car is the way to move the most used in Iceland and we've chosen to rent one during these 2 weeks.
Something to know: car rentals are expensive same as petrol. This is the very bad point: the price of renting a car.
However the car gives advantages such as the freedom to move "where" and when you want. The great advantage if you travel with a big backpack is also that you can leave it in the car while you're walking outside.
There are several rental companies with their websites we can easily find on Internet. We've chosen Atak because it's was the cheapest one we have found. The rental still costed 107140 ISK, which was more than 700£ at that time.
There are 2 types of vehicles: offroads and others. The offroad vehicle (4-wheel) is necessary if you want to go on mountain roads, so if you want to go to the centre of the island for instance. However with a normal car you can do the tour of Iceland without any problem if you are careful enough in some roads...
We have chosen the smallest vehicle model because it was the cheapest and by being patient and careful it was without any problem.
Driving in Iceland is very special. Have a look at some advices about driving in Iceland.
JO: our car during the trip
Bus
Several bus lines link regularly different places in Iceland. They are well adapted to go in mountain roads as we can see on the picture that shows a bus that is far to be the most impressive one we have seen.
We can also find some Pass. Find more infos on the websites of BSI and NAT.
Some shuttles with FlyBus goes from the airport in Keflavík to the BSÍ Bus Terminal in Reykjavík in around 45 minutes for 1700 ISK / 7 € (3000 ISK / 12 € with return).
Bus in Iceland
Hitchhiking
We have met several people who were travelling around Iceland by hitchhiking.
This is obviously the cheapest way to travel and considering what we've heard it seems to work quite well.
However you obviously have to be very patient and flexible because there are some roads with very little traffic and the weather can be very difficult. But il allows as well to meet a lot of different people and of course to save a rental price and oil.
We have met in the campsite in Selfoss a couple of French who were travelling by this way and they said everything was fine.
Cycling
As insane as it seems to be given the conditions we have met several people travelling by bike.
It requires a lot of bravery and a good physical condition but travelling on Icelandic roads by cycling should be priceless.
Plane
There are some possibilities to fly over some places in Iceland such as some glaciers for instance.
We should be able to find some air lines between some cities in the country. However this method might not be much developed.
Camping
Once more for economic reasons we've decided campsites as accomodations during these 2 weeks of trip. The temperatures in Iceland can be low even during summer and we had to get some sleeping bags that can protect in these conditions.
The other reason for this is that we didn't have any fixed schedule at the beginning and so we couldn't book any hotel or guesthouse.
We can find some campsites pretty much everywhere in Iceland even in some isolated villages that can leave a grassy area with toilets.
Quality and facilities available (cooking, bathroom...) vary for some prices around 700 ISK each per night. We can find campsites without any reception and there is someone walking around to ask newcomers to pay for the night. It happened twice that we didn't see anyone...
Some campsites have nice cooking facilities and this is what we were looking for first. Other campsites made us pay for a shower or didn't even have some and in these cases you must not hesitate to go to the public swimming-pool which is not much more expensive and where you must take a shower anyway. These swimming-pools gives also the possibility to take a open-air warm bath which is much better.
Camping in Vík
Wild Camping
Even if we could have some nights without having to pay we didn't test the wild camping.
It seems that this method is more or less allowed under some conditions such as asking for permission to the landowner and to stay away from protected or cultivated zones.
Guesthouse
Cheaper than hotels this kind of accomodation gives also the possibility to meet local people from Iceland. We have seen some farms and other houses on the roads proposing this kind of accomodation.
It is much recommended to book in advance which is not so good for flexibility.
Some guesthouses propose some beds that can be used with your own sleeping bag which reduces a bit the price for the night.
We can find a lot of addresses on internet and booking online is much developed.
Hotels / Hostels
There are hotels pretty much everywhere in Iceland that can be found in cities. More info on the website Hotel.is.
We can also find hostels in the country that cost around 2000 ISK per person. More info on the website Hostel.is.
The map of Hostels.
Mountain refuges
This is the only accomodation available in the centre of the country and during long hiking. These are little dormitory-houses with mattresses, kitchen and common room.
It is also possible and recommanded to book in advance and it is also recommanded to brin a tent just in case as the places are limited...
Car
Because of a very bad weather we had to sleep in the car during one night...
Iceland is full of places all so beautiful where Nature shows us all what it's capable of.
2 weeks are enough to make a tour of Iceland because there is enough time to see a lot of beautiful places and to have a great trip.
Scheduling thr trip was not so difficult considering that we couldn't use mountain roads with our car. Going to the centre of Iceland then was impossible.
If I had to give only 1 advice I would say to travel freely because there is possibility to stop every 100m to enjoy a different view. But to find some suggestions and recommendations follow the story board telling what happened every day and what we could see during this trip. You can also click on the pictures to enlarge them.
Click on Story board in the left menu.
