Latest / Explore Iceland Travel Podcast / E.2: How to Plan Your trip to Iceland – Essential Tips for 1st Time Visitors
Transcript
- Monika: If you're planning your first trip to Iceland, you may be a little overwhelmed by all the things to think about. When should you go? Where should you stay? What to see, what to pack, whether or not to rent the car. Well, this episode is for you. Let me give you a breakdown on some basics to help you answer all those questions and plan your trip. So let's get started. First, let's go over the language. It is Icelandic. But all Icelanders are fluent in English. It is widely spoken, so you barely feel the language barrier. Currency is Icelandic krona, and Iceland is pretty much a cashless country. you really don't need cash unless you're visiting some remote areas. There is also a couple of campsites if you're planning on camping that only accept cash, but generally you don't really need it. Credit cards are widely accepted, with the exception of American Express. That card is really not accepted there, so it's best to bring a Visa or MasterCard. Voltage, it's 220. So if you're coming from the US like I do, just bring dual voltage appliances and a plug adapter. And I will link the ones that I use in the show notes. Your phone, tablets, and other electronics, those chargers are worldwide. So you don't need a voltage converter, just that plug adapter to charge it. Driving is on the right side of the road. And I consider it very easy. There are some things to know, but I'll have a whole separate episode on driving soon. So we'll go over all you need to know then. A good thing to know is the format of writing the dates. in Iceland and most of Europe, the date is written in the order of day, month, and year. So keep that in mind if you're filling out forms for your rental car accommodations when you have to write birthdays and dates of stay. Now let's talk about the best time to go to Iceland. That is always a tough question to answer, and it depends on a lot of things, primarily on what it is that you would like to do in Iceland. If you want long days, the best chance of good weather, and as we know, Icelandic weather is pretty finicky, so you could have all four seasons in the span of one hour. But generally summer months, May through September, give you the longest days. and the warmest weather and the best choice to see a lot in one day. Temperatures in the summer average about 50 to 55 Fahrenheit, so it's about ten to fifteen Celsius. Sometimes it can get a lot of warmer, but it's not the norm. I have just come back from a trip. It is June at the time of recording, and it was unusually warm. But today I got a warning on the Ice Landing weather app that I still have on my phone about Galeforce winds on the south coast, so just be prepared for anything. If you like hiking nature, if you like to visit the internal, more remote part of Iceland, the highlands, the best time to visit is in the summer. If seeing puffins is on your wish list, plan your trip from May through August. They are going to be gone by September. However, if you want to see the northern lights, And that is always a gamble and never a guarantee, but your best chances are in the winter months, usually September through March. Just a tip here, please don't build your entire trip around seeing the northern lights so you are not disappointed if the weather doesn't cooperate and you don't see them. The other consideration is prices and crowds. Both are going to be higher in the summer months and much lower in the winter months or in the shoulder seasons. It can be very busy in the summer, especially in the popular areas like the Golden Circle and the South Coast. All are important things to consider. Then we have a big question of how to get around Iceland. From anywhere outside of Iceland, you will arrive at the Keflavik International Airport. It is located on Reykjavis Peninsula, about 45 minutes from Reykjavik. How you get around Iceland after you arrive will really depend on your itinerary and your preferences. If you're planning to spend most of your trip in Reykjavik or plan on going on organized tours and not renting a car, you can just take a fly bus, which is a dedicated transfer bus between the airport and the city, or a local bus called Straito. Most tour operators offer a hotel pickup from local hotels or from the BSI bus terminal in Reykjavik, which is very convenient. However, a bus is really not the best option to get around outside of Reykjavik. The public transportation in Iceland is not very well developed beyond the city. So if you're planning to explore beyond the capital on your own, you'd definitely want to rent the car. I will have a whole separate episode about renting the right car for your trip and safe driving in Iceland, but I'll give you just a couple of things to consider here. I recommend renting a car from a company that is located at the airport. Not necessarily inside the terminal, but within a walking distance, there's a few of them, or you can take a really short shuttle bus ride. We always rent from a local Icelandic company called Blue Car Rental. I'll link that in the show notes and there is an instant 5% discount if you book through that link as well to help you save some money. They have really excellent customer service and really nice cars. You want to consider the size of the car, both for the number of passengers and for your luggage. Just read the descriptions very carefully of how many people it sits and how many bags and what size of the bags it holds in their trunk. Especially if you're planning to move around the island. If you're planning to just stay in one place as a base, it is not such a big deal if someone has to hold a small carry-on on their lap for the drive. We actually had to do that on our first trip. We did not read the trunk size description and were barely able to fit everything in. So here is my mistake for you to learn from. But if you're planning to travel around Iceland and change accommodations, You want to make sure that all your luggage can be stored in the trunk of your car. You also want to make sure that you're renting the proper car for the roads you're going to drive on. If you are planning to just stick to the ring road, which is the main road that runs along the island, and stay on other paved roads, a two-wheel drive will be sufficient. In the summer. In the winter you do need a four-wheel drive. But if you're planning to venture out on some gravel roads or on some F-roads, which are the mountain roads in the Highlands, you definitely want a four-wheel drive rental car. Even some roads that are not marked as F-roads, but they are gravel, can be very bumpy and you will do much better with a four wheel drive. So that's car rental and getting around Iceland in a nutshell. by the way, there are no trains in Iceland and no Uber. there are taxis, but they tend to be quite pricey, so that's something to definitely keep in mind. Another big question is where to stay in Iceland. Again, it really depends on what your plan is for your trip. If you are not planning to rent the car and instead go on guided tours, then you should probably stay in Reykjavik. As I mentioned, most of the tour operators offer hotel pickups, so that would be a good convenience place to stay. But if you're planning to explore beyond the capital city, I personally prefer to just stay a little bit outside of Reykjavik in one of the suburbs. You'll usually get a bigger apartment at a better price with free parking and still be close to the Capitol and the Ring Road. We stayed a couple of times in the suburb of Kopovaj. I think I'm hopefully pronouncing it correctly. It's spelled K-O-P-A-V-O-G-U-R. and really loved both the places and the location. And I'll link both apartments for you in the show notes. The other thing I recommend is renting an apartment with the kitchen. Eating out in Iceland is pretty expensive. So if you eat breakfast at home and prepare at least one of your meals on your own, and I don't mean a lot of cooking, you can get ready to eat or reheat delicious meals from the grocery store. That will definitely help your budget and also packing your own lunch and snacks can save you time on the road while you're exploring. A lot of the accommodation may seem pretty basic in description, but everywhere we stayed so far we had everything that we need comfy beds, clean bathrooms, and well-appointed kitchens. You'll most likely be out and about all day and will just need a place to sleep and take a hot shower. Speaking of hot showers, you may smell some sulfur. That's normal. That's just Icelandic geothermal hot water. And another tip: cold tap water is very safe to drink in Iceland. Just let the tap run for a little bit. Do not pay for bottled water. Back to accommodations. The main thing to remember is to book your hotels way in advance of your trip. Especially if you're going to visit Iceland in the peak season and if you're traveling with a bigger group. Even a family of four may have a hard time booking a room on a short notice. Also, the farther away from Reykjavik you go, the fewer choices you'll have and hotels and guest houses will fill up very quickly. The next thing to talk about is food and grocery shopping, which is definitely a good way to save some money and stay on budget. just remember grocery stores, especially the budget friendly ones like Bonos and Cronan. open a little bit later than we're used to in the US and close a little bit sooner. They're open typically at 9 or 10 a.m and they close around eight or nine p.m. So just be mindful of that when planning food shopping. Also restaurants and smaller diners close much earlier than we're used to as well. so plan your food stops accordingly. The next thing to know is that you can bring some food to Iceland. It's especially important if you have dietary restrictions, allergies, and other health considerations, you're allowed to bring some food, just no milk, raw meat, eggs, and things like that. I will link an official website in the show notes so you can check exactly what's allowed and in what amounts. Then next big thing is packing. The one magic word for packing for Iceland is layers. You want to pack layers. As I already said, you can get all four seasons in one day or even in the span of one hour. It could start out sunny, then be really windy, rainy, and then become sunny again. So layers and waterproof. Waterproof jacket, waterproof pants, waterproof either hiking boots or trail runners are very important. And make sure you always have those layers with you. Always have your spare clothes, hats, gloves, rain jackets, sweaters, either in a backpack or or just in a car so you're always prepared. Now let's talk about staying connected on your trip. I always rent a portable Wi-Fi hotspot from the car rental company. Most, if not all, will have that available for you. It does have an extra fee per day, but it's super convenient, especially if you have multiple devices to connect. If you have children with phones, tablets, if you're traveling with a laptop that you need, connect it to Wi-Fi on the road, That is one of the best ways to go about it. The cell service is really good in Iceland, except for some more remote places. So you would just have to contact your cell phone provider and find out what your international plan choices are. You can also get an eSIM, which is a digital SIM card, either at the airport in Iceland or ahead of time from a company like Eralos, Saley, or Simlocal. I'll link them in the show notes for you too. And they will allow you to use the internet and even make phone calls if you choose that option. You have to just calculate the cost, whether it's better to get an easy for everyone in your group or share a portable Wi-Fi hotspot. And last but not least, navigation. Navigation is pretty easy in Iceland. It's actually really hard to get lost once you're on the ring road. It is the main road with one lane going in each direction. and Google Maps works really well. I've always used Google Maps in Iceland and it always got me where I needed to get. Just make sure you double check the roads it takes you on. Sometimes it'll try to use a shortcut through a mountain pass or an F road, so just do some research of your routes ahead of time. And also don't blindly trust the times that it gives you for driving. It usually takes a little bit longer than it says. So when you're planning your trip and working out your itinerary using Google Maps, just add some time as a buffer. I will put a link to an important safety website in the show notes. It's called road.is. This is the website That you want to check every day before you take off because that's where all the roads are listed. And the road status is updated daily or even a couple of times a day if the weather changes. You'll be able to see if the roads are easily passable or closed and what the conditions are. So definitely check that, especially if you're venturing out into the highlands or if you're visiting in the shoulder season or in the winter. We just visited in late June, and some of the F roads that we were planning to go on were still closed because of the late winter ISTEM had this year. So always check the road status and the weather forecast. I will link the website for that as well for you. You do not want to use your phone weather app for that. The other thing that is good to know is that if you purchase some souvenirs on the more expensive side, like a nice Icelandic sweater, that will amount to a total of twelve thousand Icelandic krona or more on one receipt, you can get a VAT tax refund at the airport when you leave. VAT tax is just a tax that's added to everything you purchase in Iceland. And if you pay at least 12,000 krona in one transaction, you can ask the store for a tax-free receipt. and they will give you a special folder and go over everything that you need to do, but you basically need to fill out a form and present it at the tax-free window at the airport before you leave. And lastly, I never travel without travel insurance. You definitely want to have travel insurance when you're planning an international trip. It came in handy for me many times. Flights get cancelled or delay Luggage gets lost and delayed, you may have weather cancellations, there are situations where things really just don't go as planned. So definitely consider purchasing travel insurance so you have peace of mind when you travel. And that should be it for the essential Iceland travel planning tips. I will put a link in the show notes to some resources for you and to an article going over these topics in a lot more detail than I just did. And hopefully I manage to answer some common questions that most visitors have when they're trying to plan their first trip to Iceland. It can be an overwhelming process, so I'm here to help. Thanks very much for listening and I'll see you in the next episode.