My husband and I travelled to Iceland in May 2022, and thanks to my watching wonderful and informative videos like yours we had no mistakes and the most amazing vacation! I pre-booked everything, hotel, we stayed at the Sand Hotel with breakfast and loved it, and I pre-booked 3 single day tours, Golden Circle, South Coast to Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach and Snaefelsness including lunch on a horse farm!! What an amazing and wonderful country and people! Thanks so much Jeanie for making these videos! We are now planning a return trip to Iceland!! Love from Canada!!
The best places i stayed! Hotel Framtid in Djúpivogur. Great breakfast included! The other is Guesthouse Gamli Bær in Húsafell. Great Hospitality, dinner and breakfast included! Gamli Bær looks like a fairy tale house! Beautiful! It's near by Hraunfossar waterfall
Depending on the time of year, you can find places day of. I often travel off season and only book places to stay day of, and weather dependent. I visit twice a year mostly in the fall and winter. I have found that summer travel should be planned in advance.
Hey Jeannie! I’m only partway into this super helpful video but have some info to share on the hotel/pool situation. Our first stay last September was in Hveragerdi and we stayed at the Hotel Ork. It was a nice hotel and it DID have a nice heated outdoor pool that we enjoyed. And as an added bonus (no pun intended) it was a quick easy walk to Bonus grocery store 🙂🐷 and also to a nice food court 🙂 I don’t remember there being a pool as part of any of our other accommodations, but this one was great! I’m quite sure that we were also able to leave an Auorora call request at the front desk, where they call you if the Northern Lights become visible! Like a wake-up call service but MUCH better❣️🙂
I just got back to U.K. after spending a few days in Iceland I loved it and can’t wait to go back I bought myself a lopapeysa from the knitting association Thank you for all you’re advice
I’ve been planning a trip to Iceland in summer and just stumbled on your videos. Super helpful! One thing I would add is that in America it’s pretty typical to have rooms sleep four… so if you have two older kids they can share a bed. In Iceland all the hotels I looked at were maximum 3 per room. We ended up doing A b&b and I think I have some good bookings, but it’s a super frustrating thing for parents. I would have to split the family up for most hotels.
I would recommend that if they advertise that breakfast is included, find out what they mean by that. What's available? How long is it available? This is a problem even in the US. I stayed at a Best Western in Kansas that advertised breakfast included, but I came dowstairs after the first night and found out that it had been cleared away already. They only served donuts and coffee, and cleared it all up by 7:30-8:00. Since I was on vacation, I toddled down at 9:00 and ended up having to go to a restaurant.
When our kids were small and we were visiting Europe we often went to the local pool and to playgrounds. The playgrounds were so different from those in the US and our kids loved them.
Stayed in an air bnb in downtown Reykjavik. It was so convenient. Tour companies picked us up n delivered us door to door. Grocery store was a 2 minute walk, restaurants were walkable. The air bnb was modern, clean and warm and a very good value compared to hotels.
Perhaps we've been lucky, and I'm not recommending it, but several times we've booked the hotel the same day, once we were in their car park 😂 If going from September to April I'd say it's best to book somewhere that you can cancel or change the date at short notice. We've made several detours due to bad weather ahead and had to change our itinerary. Makes the holiday more interesting, shall we say. As Janie says, always have a Plan B and a Plan C if the weather decides to play naughty. We had to use Plan C, still had a great time though.
We went to Iceland in September 2022. We only booked one night at a hotel. We generally ate breakfast in the car on the road. The goal was to get places before other tourists arrived!!!
I booked several apartments in the north last month. I wasn't used to the key pad entry idea, whereby you are e mailed a keycode for the door key safebox on the day of your arrival. it worked ok at one of the locations, but at the one in Husavik the caretaker had forgot to send the code and we were stuck for hours not being able to contact anyone or get into the accommodation!! It was not a great start. Then at another address we arrived at the early hours only to find that the key box did not contain the key as the previous person to use it must have forgot to put it back!! The caretaker was delighted to be woken up at that time of night!
Great advice Jeannie, had a camper van in 2021 so finding campsites was not an issue. This year (August) we are just hiring a 4x4 and doing guest houses and hotels for a bit more comfort and a good breakfast to start the day. We booked the flights 12 months in advance and immediately booked the accommodations according to our chosen route. It pays to plan ahead as early as possible to get the accommodation you want at a reasonable cost, choice runs out quickly and costs can spiral if you don’t 😉 your channel has been invaluable both in 2021 and this years trip 👍 x
The only reason I could afford to spend 3 weeks traveling around Iceland is that I stayed at Hostels. I can recommend them....modern and clean with big puffy white duvets on your beds. Plus you have a kitchen where you can cook your meals. Oatmeal for breakfast makes it low budget.
PARKING is tough if the hotel does not have their own, and most of the smaller & cuter hotels in Reykjavík don't offer it. I've been there in the winter, and also in the summer. In the summer we booked a larger commercial hotel that had its own parking lot. Sure, it was a 10 minute walk to the restaurants but that's better than a 10 minute walk from your city center hotel to your car. ("City center" meaning the middle of the city and not the City Center hotel chain 😂)
I love your videos! I am in the process of planning my third trip back to Iceland, and each trip I’ve prepared myself by watching your videos. My last visit was 2022, hopefully I’ll bump into you at the bakery. Braud & Co. is my favorite, their cinnamon rolls are delicious 😋
I tried booking an apartment for my recent trip but it was a complete flake out. I was left scrambling to find a place after we had landed in KEF. I'm only getting from reputable hotels moving forward.
I'm staying in a guesthouse in downtown reykjavik in a couole weeks and I'm excited for the experience. The price was amazing for the location, with great reviews. The only downside is a shared bathroom which will be a new experience. But I figure I'll only be at the guesthouse to sleep and it will be great to be within walking distance of many popular places I want to visit. I'm planning tours to fill a lot of my time while there and this will help me maximize what i can do while there.
Saving money where you can is always a great idea. Nice, quiet, private, and comfortable accommodation is really important to some travelers but for others, accommodation is simply where you'll spend only a few hours each day. Thank goodness there are so many options of where to stay! I hope you have the best trip ever!
Surprisingly, finding a cooler in Iceland is nearly impossible. They are simply not sold there. A number of places we stayed didn't have a refrigerator. In Reykjavik I finally found a building supply store (they don't seem to have but a few of these either) and bought a sheet of building insulation. I cut it into the shape of a box and assembled it with duct tape. Vola! It only cost about $105 US but was well worth it. That DIY cooler kept us fed in the high country for a week. I gave it to another arriving family at the car rental place when we returned our car. They had no idea what a gift it was! Many stores and gas stations don't even sell ice. Who knew? It's called Iceland after all.
Jeannie - Thanks for all your videos and information. You are a wonderful source. I wish we had known about you when we did our first visit. Your recommendations would have made our trip even better. Thanks again.
Great information Jeannie! And you’re so right…I love the air bnbs and hostels in Iceland because you get to know people at those, but outside of Reykjavik, it’s usually not overwhelming how many people are staying at those. We’d usually only have 2-3 people/families sharing bathrooms so it still FELT like a private bathroom! And the food is always so good at all of them it seems!!!
I have seen plenty of hotels with beautiful views far from Reykjavik (And the airport). Are there any shuttles that get you to those places or how would you advise to get to those hotels?
That is a total normal breakfast for me. I eat everyday bread with cheese with tea or coffee. If I go to an other place. I just want the same. I am dutch. Dutch breakfast wil be bread with something on it. With tea or coffee.
Hi, hope you are doing fine, thank you for your response to my last comment, so i was looking for car rental, and wondering if i would need a vehicle like jeep renegade or kia sportage (basically a 4X4) or a normal car like toyota aygo will server the purpose ? I am planning to do a 10 day ring road trip during this 20th - 30th october 2023, the difference in rental is significant and i am a little skeptical about the roads and places if i would be able to travel easily with a smaller car or not ? PS i have already seen your video on renting cars and checking price from bluecarrentals 🙂
I’m planning a trip to Iceland for next year at the end of April for my wife’s 50th birthday. We want to do/ see as much as possible. How many days would you say we need in order to do so . And what are the best places to visit April? Thank you for your help in advance 🙏😁
You don't know your dates to book a hotel until you book a flight! So how far in advance to book the flight for a late May trip, so I can book a cheap hotel before they're all booked?
Thank you 😊! This video is so helpful. My sister and I have a overnight stopover in Iceland for our upcoming vacation to the 🇬🇧. Would you suggest booking the Blue Lagoon in advance?
It depends on the time of year but you should book your accommodation as soon as you have a general plan/itinerary figured out - at LEAST 6 months in advance of trips in May - September and at LEAST 4 months in advance for October - April for a decent selection of accommodation types.
Thanks Jeannie, this is really very useful info. Im travelling to Iceland in Jul 2023to go on a cruise . WHats the best way to get from Center Hotels Plaza in Reykjavik to Skarfabakki Pier for a party of 4 (with luggages)?
I will be booking an 8-day Ring Road tour so I won’t have accommodation control-I’m ok with that. And staying a few extra days. Question: do most accommodations have a hair dryer. I researched the adapter you suggested and it said to not use a hair dryer.
Most accommodations have a hair dryer but if you'd like to bring your own, you'll need a CONVERTER. A converter converts the voltage to the right amount so that the outlet nor the appliance blows up. An adapter is so that the shape of your prongs can fit into the wall.
Oh, and I'd love for you to consider getting my pre-written itinerary for an 8-day Ring Road adventure (icelandwithaview.com/product/8-day-itinerary-rr-gc/). I've outlined each and every single thing for you to do on your trip. It also includes my recommended accommodations for each night restaurants and the hidden gems you'll probably miss on a guided tour. You'll still need to rent a car, make the hotel reservations, and drive yourself around but you may find it to be less costly and you'll have a lot more freedom to do things when you want.
I'm trying to book room. I see Standard rate and 2 for 1 Opening rate. Not sure what that means. What is 2 for 1 Opening rate? I'm booking room for 1 person for 1 night on Westman Islans
I have never been to Iceland and have wanted to go for a long time. Are you able to recommend a family friendly hostel in a walkable area of Reykjavik? With a food store close by?
My Reykjavik digital map would be the perfect tool to help you plan! It lists my recommend accommodations, grocery stores, activities, etc. Check it out on my website! ~ icelandwithaview.com/product/reykjavik-map/
Hi Jeannie, very interesting and helpful videos. Jeannie we will be travelling to Iceland from Frankfurt next May/June, obviously arriving round about 4.00PM. I decided to drive to our accommodation in Vik the same day . Is it a good idea ? What is our opinion please ? Thanks in advance.
Hey Jeannie, i am planning to travel in second week Nov23. I Dont drive so want to book tours. Do u recommend i should book in advance on certain website or should i book it when i arrive in Reykjavik. On website am getting tours which include accommodation too what do u suggest is this cheaper option or once in city i can look for day tours.
Thank you for sharing this very useful information ♥ Here is a bit about social injustice that exists in all countries not only Iceland. Hostel or a shared house is a great option if one wants to save money. I have Class 3 ASD. Over 90% of people like me are either unemployed or have very limited income. So we would love to save money by staying at a shared accomodation right?.. Wrong. Most of us have sensitivity to noise light smell and close proximity. Plus crippling social anxiety. If we stay with people we have never met before we are going to have one crisis after another until we come to harm so great that we will end up in ER. For example I develop seizures from loud noise and can become blind from intense smells. To another family member with the same condition bright light and loud noise will cause a heart failure if exposure to them is prolonged. Something for all of you to think about. The world is very unjust towards disabled people.
Hi Melissa! The Reykjavik EDITION is fairly new to the scene and I have not stayed there. It seems very nice and fancy though! I certainly wouldn't turn it down if I were offered a free room 😉
Hello Basically you are saying that there is a high demand for such a large number of tourists and they need some kind of investment in that sense. If that is the case (The need for Investment) could you tell me who to contact to make that type of investment? Best Regrads
Your waiting too long thing is what I have been trying to drill into my husband's head and he dragged his feet and now we are paying for it. I am really bummed.
Wow. What a lousy place. I've been wanting to go to Iceland for over 5 years now. But after watching this video I'm going to forget Iceland. In addition to being expensive, the place is just unpleasant and inconvenient. Cold breakfast? Screw Iceland. I'll keep my money.
