This month I travelled to one of my bucket list destinations,
Iceland. I have wanted to go here for at least the last five years, and we very
nearly managed to go last year. But I’m glad we waited to go this year as it
was the most perfect trip.
We spent the whole of last year planning when the best time to
visit Iceland would be, and for us, we knew we wanted to go when it was snowy,
when it was quiet and we wanted to spend at least a week there. So in January
we decided to book our flights and hotel to Iceland for 10-17 February.
Over the next few weeks we tried to plan any excursions, but it
all felt a little overwhelming. There were thousands and thousands of different
tours, hosted by hundreds of different companies. We felt like we were a little
out of our depth. Thus, writing this blog post became an apparent necessity,
and if the responses from my stories on Instagram are anything to go by, you
guys want it.
Before The Holiday
As mentioned above, the first thing we decided to book was out
flights and hotel. Again, where to start. We knew we wanted to stay in Reykjavik.
But where. We ended up using LoveHolidays website, and found a great deal for
flights and hotel together. It took all the hard work of looking for them
separately out of our hands and made it a little simpler. We were also ATOL
protected and I paid for it all with a credit card.
We also knew that we wanted to drive around and do our own
expeditions. My boyfriend does a lot of driving around the UK and Europe so I
was confident that he would be ok. He on the other hand, was a little worried,
as he’d never driven in that much snow before. So I decided to take it to
twitter and ask people for their advice. A lot of people come back to me saying
that the roads are really good and that we will be fine. So I convinced him to
book a car, with FULL Insurance. And I say that loud and clear. When hiring a
car abroad, there is no point in taking any risks, cover yourselves fully. On
our second full day, we found our back window smashed in, the people at Sixt
told us to come by and swap the car over. No need to pay anything else as we
had covered ourselves. So I can’t recommend full insurance enough.
One of the most important things to do in Iceland for me was to visit
the Blue Lagoon. We decided to book the standard Comfort tickets, as there
really wasn’t that much point in booking the premium tickets. If there was one
criticism I could make about the Blue Lagoon the standard should offer
bathrobes.
Once we had these main things booked, we sat down and made a list
of everything we wanted to visit and researched their locations. We then
grouped them in terms of location and which destinations were close to each
other. We decided the furthest we were willing to travel was maximum three
hours from our hotel as that would mean 6 hours driving, and with daylight from
around 9.30- 5.30, that would mean a lot of driving in the dark, in icy snowy
conditions and we just didn’t want to do that.
ARRIVAL
Our flight was at 12pm, but by the time we picked up our car and checked
in to our hotel room we were shattered.
Driving in Iceland is not as hard as we initially thought it would
be. The cars you hire come equip with winter tyres, and our car even had
studded tyres that help grip better in icy conditions.
They drive on the right side of the road as does the rest of
Europe, and the roads are pretty good. There is essentially one road that goes
all around Iceland. Most if not all places are located on, or just off of this
main road.
We used Google maps throughout our whole time there, with great
GPS and 4G; we were never out of range. Even at the top of a mountain in the
middle of nowhere!
My boyfriend done most of the driving, I drove back a few times in
the evening from the restaurants, but in order to drive in the snow and ice,
you have to be extremely vigilant, more so than everyday driving in the
UK.
The systems out there are fantastic. Friday 15th, there
was a huge storm, throughout our time in Iceland, from the car rental, to the
people at reception, to signs posted at touristic destinations, there were
warnings telling people not to drive out of town that day. The night before, as
we were driving back, the storm had started and it was difficult enough. Whilst
out there check daily the www.icelandtravel.is
website for weather and driving updates.
FOOD
When travelling, food really makes or breaks my holiday. We are
big foodies, and I was really worried about the cuisine in Iceland as my
boyfriend doesn’t eat any fish, and I’m a little fussy with it. But to my
surprise, the food was incredible.
Everyone warned us that Iceland is really expensive and that the
food is where most our money would be spent on, so be prepared to spend £40 for
two sandwiches and hot drinks.
Some of the memorable places that we dined were Caruso, we both
love Italian food and my boyfriend found this restaurant a 10-minute drive away
from our hotel. We loved it so much we went there twice. It’s has a really cosy
romantic atmosphere. I highly recommend their prawn starter along with the
Portobello mushroom, which was insane. We also really enjoyed the chicken alfredo
pasta.
During our days out, we decided to bring snacks with us, but most
of the ‘touristic’ places have restaurants located where you’ll be able to get
a good hearty meal. One of our favourites was a Skogarfoss Waterfall. They had
a great menu and had the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had. Again, we decided
to go back here (just because of the hot chocolate) as it was on our way back
from the black sand beach.
Another of our favourites was Svarta Kaffid. Come here for
delicious soup in a bread bowl. They have a small restaurant in the city centre
of Reykjavik, where you have to queue to get into, and the extremely small menu
changes daily. We were lucky to have the creamed mushroom soup in brown bread,
and it’s so worth the wait!
The last place I recommend visiting it Hlemmur-Matholl. We went
here on our first and last day, just because there are so many different cuisines
under one roof. It’s a little like Dinnerama, or street food markets, just not
on the street. There’s something for everyone from pizza, tacos, Vietnamese
vegetable spring rolls, a Michelin star Icelandic fish restaurant and many
more. It’s definitely worth a visit if you’re after a quick bite to eat and not
sure what you fancy.
PLACES TO SEE
Where to even start! There is so much to see. Our 7 days in
Iceland were the perfect amount to see the east and south east of the country,
but there is still so much more to see. It’s a lot bigger than we initially
thought. Some of the ice caves that we wanted to visit would have been a
four-five hour journey each way, and we just didn’t want to be spending that
much time doing it, so another time, we would probably stay in a different
area.
But if you’re looking to do the usual Iceland tour, then Reykjavik
is the place to be. If you haven’t hired a car, there are so many tours to do.
Book anyone and they are usually very similar, so don’t be overwhelmed.
Golden Circle
If you have a car though, it’s a lot easier. We done the Golden
Circle which is starts with the Thingvellir National Park, then you move on to
the Geysirs, Gullfloss waterfall and the crater (we had to do this last one on
a different day as it we took our time enjoying the other sites). All of them
were incredible, but I think Gullfloss was our wow moment. We just stood there
for 15 minutes getting soaked from the water splashes admiring the beauty and
general vastness of it. All of the touristic attractions have great trails
where you can walk around looking at the waterfalls from different locations
and I highly recommend doing this. Don’t just go get the photo and move on.
Iceland is the sort of place you stop and take a real good look at because it
is all just so incredible.
Blue Lagoon
If you want a truly relaxing experience then make sure you head to
the Blue Lagoon. I’ve already stated above what I recommend booking, but the
entire experience is so wonderful. We happened to hear that a guy named
Alexander was giving a talk about the Blue lagoon and 2pm, and I think he does
these talks daily, definitely go and have a listen. He’s extremely charming and
funny, and gives you a deep understanding about Iceland, Icelandic people and
The Blue Lagoon.
Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Vik and Black Sand Beach are another
tour you can do in the same day. These waterfalls were extremely beautiful, and
the beach was just wow. Although it was extremely windy and we had sand hitting
our faces at 40mph, it was still so beautiful. A lot of places were also used in the filming of Game of Thrones, so it's always worth having a little look to see. There's also a Plane Wreck on the Black Sand Beach that's worth a visit as it's so fascinating.
Porufoss is another waterfall we found by simply searing maps and
looking for waterfalls, again, this was just off of the main road that goes
around Iceland so was so easy to go to.
I highly recommend sitting down with a printed map and circling
all the things you want to do to be able to visualise your trip. We also sat
with our phones and worked out the distance between everything and were able to
find more locations nearby. Your phone will be your best friend on your trip,
alongside this blog post!
Most of these trips can be done by either group tours, or driving.
If you have hired a car however, there is no point in doing these particular
tours as you can just drive yourselves.
Northern Lights
Now we didn’t have a great experience. Not that we didn’t see them
because we were fortunate enough to have seen them, we were just a little
disappointed. It wasn’t the dancing magical lights show we expected. Instead,
it was a slightly greener sky that come and went in about 15 minutes. That’s
not to say that I wouldn’t try to look for them again, but I just want everyone’s
reality to be adjusted, as it’s not always going to be as magical as the
pictures.
GOOD TO KNOW
Iceland is expensive, so be prepared to spend money, we spent the
majority of our money on food
Local Currency- Icelandic Króna- We changed up cash, but most
places accept card. Most car parks only accept card. If we realised this, we
would have changed up a lot less cash and just used my Monzo card.
Transport: Car. I would recommend driving if you can, but, Iceland
is so organised, they have great shuttle services for excursions, and hotels
and restaurants can book cabs for you.
Fact: Viking's built set up their homes near the edge of the country
as this is where most of the hot springs are located. They used to bathe in hot
springs to keep themselves warm, thus, bathing in the Blue Lagoon is one of the
most touristic things you will do, yet it is the most traditional Icelandic
thing too.
How I booked: We booked flights and hotels through LoveHolidays.
We booked everything else ourselves.