Travel | Iceland Travel Guide Part 1

There is only one place in the world you can experience the 18th largest island that sits between two continental plates and has hundreds of volcanos. If that is not enough you will also find, three mountain ranges, sixty plus lakes, thirteen plus glaciers, thirty geysers, 109 fjords, countless icebergs created each day, hot springs, climate that gives you rain, sunshine, hail, snow in 2 hours all in an area just larger than the state of Kentucky.

Let’s get started and break it down with what to know before you go based on our research & experience!

Traveling Date Weather:

When we traveled to Iceland the temperature was 41 degrees on September 22nd and 46 degrees on September 25th. Make sure you bring clothes in a carryon you can change into once you land at the airport including shoes.
The weather can vary throughout the country so these numbers are for the Capital city of Reykjavik located in the southern part of the island.
December-March found highs in the upper 30’s and lows in the upper 20’s
April, October-November- had highs in the 40’s and low’s in the 30’s
May- High in the upper 40’s and lows in the upper 30’s
June-September- Highs in the 50’s and lows in the 40’s
Rained the least in June and July, most rain occurred in March and December
Mid May-Mid August you can have over 18 hours of Sunlight per day
December- early January you can have under 5 hours of Sunlight per day

Traveling flights:

We took the redeye from Orlando International airport, right into Keflavik International airport for around $500 per person round trip. The time of year plays a huge part in the pricing for travel dates into Iceland.
The best part about Iceland is there is always something to see year round, this all depends on what you want to see in your visit. We choose a time that historically saw less crowds and the chance to see the
northern lights. The cool weather was also something we were trying to find when looking for the best time to visit, both of our wants were provided. The best way to find a flight is to plan ahead a couple of
months and use an Airport on the east coast.

Wow Airlines- be ready to pay extras if you do Wow Basic and no entertainment on the flight. Flights
there are cheaper than flights returning. Just like any Airline you can choose a package that covers all
the small cost if you buy just the basic flight. The 4 packages are Wow Basic, Wow Plus, Wow Comfy,
Wow Premium. As of October 1 st 2018 you can choose from 14 cities to fly from.

Icelandair- 20 cities to choose from in the US, and comes with TV’s on every seat. More expensive if you
choose to bring check bags and a seat. There are 5 choices to choose from Economy Light, Economy
Standard, Economy Class Flex, Saga Premium, Saga Premium Flex. We choose Economy Standard and
had no issues with our experience, but did have to pay for Wifi and food. This is also a great flight to
take if you are looking to travel to another country on your trip. They also fly to other parts of Iceland if
you are looking to skip the self driving tour.

There are other airlines to choose from depending on the time of year you are traveling.
PRO TIP:  Do not go through another airline if their aircraft is not the one you will be taking, we did Jetblue (because we have points with them) and had issues once we got to the ticket counter for Icelandair.

Land Transportation:

We wanted to make sure we got to see everything we wanted on our own time so we rented a car. This is the best way to travel, you will drive past something you want to stop at every 5 or less miles. The highways in Iceland are wide open and offer plenty of side streets in order to stop and take photos or just take in the beauty. You drive on the right side of the rode, but everything is in Meters and not Miles. You drive at 90kph in Iceland highways compared to about 56mph in the States. The bulk of their intersections are roundabouts which makes it easy to navigate through their roads. The traffic is only heavy in the bigger cities or popular tourist spots.
Iceland offers plenty of ways to get around including rental cars, taxies, buses, and campers. Our rental car company was Blue Car Rental, also listed are other top ways to get around.

Blue Car Rental- I give them a 5 star rating, because we had an issue with our car and they drove another car 1 hour away from their location to switch them. If you do use them, make sure to send an email as well as call their emergency line. The pick up location for most of the rental cars is within walking distance of the airport in one location.
Day Trip Buses- You will still need to take a taxi or shared bus service from airport to hotel. The city of Reykjavik(main city) from Keflavik(int airport) is about 30 miles, which can be pricey in a taxi. I recommend the FlyBus, which is shared cost between others traveling to Iceland. When booking your hotel, make sure you are near a pick up point for the daytrip buses or close enough to get there in time of pick up. This type of traveling will save on gas money and give you a guided tour(in English) along the way. Drawbacks are you are on a timed schedule and traveling with most of the time a full bus of tourist. Pick and choose at the website the type of trip you want to take.

TIPS: We found this amazing inflatable pillow for the long flight and it made a world of a difference. We truly recommend trying to sleep on the plane. We took melatonin, and slept, so that we could hit the ground running when we landed! Our best travel products are all listed here on Amazon. You must purchase this converter/adapter, you had to have a converter at every hotel.

We decided on a 5 Day self driving tour. I mapped out our major stops I wanted to see and placed them all in a google map. I then found our hotels based off driving points along the way.

Below is the map I created on google maps that you can download and save for your trip broken down by day. On the next post  I will break down all 3 of our hotels with photos, link, and view points!

Sharing what to know before you go, the best transportation to book, and sharing our custom google map route for our golden circle Iceland trip.