[kiku007]

Amazing travelogue. Thanks for sharing. Took me back to my Euro Trip in 2014.

Driving through multiple countries and interacting with non-English speaking natives of these countries is a much easier and enjoyable experience than traversing through different states in India.

By the way I couldn't remember a single City/Town name in Iceland. Tongue twisters they are

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by kiku007

By the way I couldn't remember a single City/Town name in Iceland. Tongue twisters they are

Haha. Maybe this will help?
http://h2g2.com/approved_entry/A2181557

[saion666]

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

Yes, it will. In fact, many people plan long stop over itineraries in the hope to get cheaper air fare. Check with VFS Global, while entering your visa form, if you need to mention or call this out.

Tickets are booked. Now time to plan.

Few questions though:
1> How difficult or to put in the right words how much do I miss out on if I do not go for self drive option? Any idea on how organised the day tours are?(I tried doing a self drive tour of New Zealand two years back and found it inconvenient and switched to intercity buses, saves a lot of trouble for ME, blame my Indian driving habits)
2> How big is Reykjavik as a city, can the city be covered by walking or a hop on hop off bus is recommended?
3> Best and affordable place(locality) to stay in Reykjavik? Am trying AirBnb.
4> Can we take cereals and nuts from india or will have to go through the hassle of declaring them at immigration?

Thanks and sorry if I may have missed these points in your previous posts. Would surely go through this thread in detail and use it as Gospel before visiting that country.

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by saion666

1> How difficult or to put in the right words how much do I miss out on if I do not go for self drive option? Any idea on how organised the day tours are?(I tried doing a self drive tour of New Zealand two years back and found it inconvenient and switched to intercity buses, saves a lot of trouble for ME, blame my Indian driving habits)

The answer depends on how long you are staying and what you are planning to cover. If all you wish to see is the Golden Circle, then I think you can "manage" with operators like Gray Line. Be warned that these are time bound and you will not have all the time in the world to consume these places. On the flipside, these operators have some really good guides who will give you some excellent insights, stories and travel tips for these places. Its a no-frills way of seeing Iceland.

BUT, and this is a big BUT, if you are doing a longer stay of 10 days or more and are keen on seeing more of the place, then you'll have to go with the self-drive option. The Drive in Iceland, by itself, contributes to 30% of the overall experience. Depending on the weather, road conditions, a self-drive option gives you the entire freedom to go anywhere, visit in any order, stop at any place, relax in the open when you feel like it.

So what's your idea so far? And what were your biggest pain points against driving in NZ - maybe I can offer insight into whether its different here?

Originally Posted by saion666

2> How big is Reykjavik as a city, can the city be covered by walking or a hop on hop off bus is recommended?

We could easily walk around the attractions in Reykjavik. After 9 days of wilderness, Reykjavik was a big yawn. They do have hop-on-hop-off buses, rest assured. I recommend doing a guided city walk in Reykjavik. The historical importance and background of the places will add three times the charm to the place.

Originally Posted by saion666

3> Best and affordable place(locality) to stay in Reykjavik? Am trying AirBnb.

We put up in a place called Guesthouse Andrea. Its walking distance from the famous church, Hallgrímskirkja. In fact, its quite accessible to the shopping district, the sun voyager monument and the Reykjavik Opera. We booked this place via Booking.com, as we had the freedom to cancel anytime. The rooms are very small here, with common toilets and three stories without an elevator. Too much luggage can dampen your experience of the place. The location, free breakfast, cheap boarding and high ratings are what drew us to the place.

Originally Posted by saion666

4> Can we take cereals and nuts from india or will have to go through the hassle of declaring them at immigration?

You can bring cereals and nuts, and other food items, upto a limit of 3Kgs. I am not sure how they will enforce this, but its the law of the land. Some uncooked meat times and poultry food aren't allowed, though. (Frommer's)

Good luck on your trip, and do keep us posted!

[saion666]

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

Good luck on your trip, and do keep us posted!

As you said did a lot of research on the daytrips and also mailed them and we could find out for most, the stops are only 10-15 mins for the south shore trip and also not covering many of the places. So if we are to cover all the places in our list we may have to book different trips and hotels. Not really working for us.
So finally bit the bullet and it's a road trip for us as well. Booked a Toyota Aygo for 7 days from Orange car rentals http://www.orangecarrental.is/ . Their prices are decent and reviews look good as well and are prompt in replying to mails. Costing me around 34000 rupees with GPS. Any idea on them?

Here's the plan, please feel free to put in your suggestions, I have 7+ months in hand

Day1: Arrive at Keflavik in the afternoon. Take free pickup to the car rental office. Drive to Reykjavik to our Airbnb which is right beside Hallgrimskirkja and get used to the Left hand drive. How difficult it is? Sleeeeep as it was a long flight.

Day2: Do nothing, just stroll around Reykjavik and take pictures. Get some supplies. Get a SIMIN connection. Maybe go on top of Hallgrimskirkja.

Day3: Start early(6 AM) and drive to VIK by noon with stopovers at Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dyrholaey, Reynisfjara. After lunch go straight to Jokulsarlon, enjoy a boat trip. Now the question, is it possible to drive back to Reykjavik on the same day or is it advisable to go to Hofn/Vik and stay there for the night?
If Hofn then can go to Stokness(if i spell correctly), If staying at Vik then can see the beautiful sunset at Reynisfjara.

Day4: Drive back to Reykjavik with more time spent at the places visited yesterday. Try to get to that plane wreck site Solheimasandur, but I hear they have closed the road as people were partying in that plane!!(Gerua/ Justin Bieber effect?)

Day5: Do the Snaefellsness peninsula- Budir church, Kirkjufell, Snaefellsjokull... what more? back to Reykjavik.

Day6: Do the Golden Circle- Gulfoss being the main attraction.Back to Reykjavik.

Day7: Drop the car. Take early morning flight to Paris.
We are not really interested in blue lagoon so skipping it.

Naive Questions:-

1. I have never used a GPS device before, always used Google maps. Is it possible to give the names of say a waterfall(with wrong spellings) and the GPS will suggest the names? Was checking some video on Garmin and there people were entering street names and what not to set the destination location. Is it that useless? I have already paid for it(nearly Rs.5600 extra) and want to use it.

2. Where to get the N1 prepaid petrol cards nearest to Keflavik? I do not wish to swipe my credit card everywhere. Also the SIMIN sim?

3. Is there any parking charges in Reykjavik? Heard that the BSI bus stand offers free parking. How congested is it and most importantly, my pain point in NZ, how difficult are the parking rules both in and outside city?

4. How are the hot dogs? Any other cheap food alternative. Any gravel road in our itinerary?

5 6 7 8.Can't think of any now but would surely have them in a few days.

Thanks in advance.

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by saion666

So finally bit the bullet and it's a road trip for us as well. Booked a Toyota Aygo for 7 days from Orange car rentals http://www.orangecarrental.is/ . Their prices are decent and reviews look good as well and are prompt in replying to mails. Costing me around 34000 rupees with GPS. Any idea on them?

Very glad you did! Orange cars seems to be really good. I am not sure why we never found this during our research. Maybe they did not have the cars we were looking for. Not sure.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day1: Arrive at Keflavik in the afternoon. Take free pickup to the car rental office. Drive to Reykjavik to our Airbnb which is right beside Hallgrimskirkja and get used to the Left hand drive. How difficult it is? Sleeeeep as it was a long flight.

Getting out of the airport is very easy. And the drive to Reykjavik is long enough for you to get used to it. Driving in Reykjavik though, takes a lot of concentration. Too many traffic signals, lane discipline, speed limit and entire dependence on your wing-man/lady for the navigation. Its easy to miss the turns on the GPS, we did - and had to circle back a couple of times. You'll get used to this in 30 minutes.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day2: Do nothing, just stroll around Reykjavik and take pictures. Get some supplies. Get a SIMIN connection. Maybe go on top of Hallgrimskirkja.

Get your supplies and the SIMINN card at the Airport Duty Free. Trust me, you'll really want the comfort of internet once you're on the road. Not much to do in Reykjavik, so you may be getting off to a slow start.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day3: Start early(6 AM) and drive to VIK by noon with stopovers at Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dyrholaey, Reynisfjara. After lunch go straight to Jokulsarlon, enjoy a boat trip. Now the question, is it possible to drive back to Reykjavik on the same day or is it advisable to go to Hofn/Vik and stay there for the night?
If Hofn then can go to Stokness(if i spell correctly), If staying at Vik then can see the beautiful sunset at Reynisfjara.

The day feels a bit too cramped, if you ask me. I am not sure if you will be able to leave Vik before 2-3:00 PM. I am assuming you are travelling in May? So you'll have a good bit of light late in the evening. Can still go to Jokulsarlon, but stop over at Vik on your way back. I dont see why you need to drive all the way to Hofn.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day4: Drive back to Reykjavik with more time spent at the places visited yesterday. Try to get to that plane wreck site Solheimasandur, but I hear they have closed the road as people were partying in that plane!!(Gerua/ Justin Bieber effect?)

They have. But you can park by the road side and give your legs some walking. Thats a 4.5k walk to + 4.5k walk back, from the site. Its way too over-rated.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day5: Do the Snaefellsness peninsula- Budir church, Kirkjufell, Snaefellsjokull... what more? back to Reykjavik.

Please make a trek from Arnarstapi to Hellnar. You won't regret it, trust me. When you are driving in Snaefellsness, make sure to go around the glacier (Rd. Utnesvegur) instead of F570 which is a 4WD road only. The other side of the mountain has treasures aplenty, especially Olafsvik. You can consider including Vatnshellir cave in the itinerary. Its a different experience.

Originally Posted by saion666

Day7: Drop the car. Take early morning flight to Paris.
We are not really interested in blue lagoon so skipping it.

The lagoon is a great road-trip-ender. Great relaxation experience. But I am sure you have your reasons.

Originally Posted by saion666

1. I have never used a GPS device before, always used Google maps. Is it possible to give the names of say a waterfall(with wrong spellings) and the GPS will suggest the names? Was checking some video on Garmin and there people were entering street names and what not to set the destination location. Is it that useless? I have already paid for it(nearly Rs.5600 extra) and want to use it.

The GPS isnt that bad. It has trouble with the names, sure, but it offers you type ahead options. The resistive touch screens are super-painful. You'll get the hang of it pretty soon. An always-ON GPS cooks the phone battery. Although, for your itinerary, a GPS may not be the best value add-on.

Originally Posted by saion666

2. Where to get the N1 prepaid petrol cards nearest to Keflavik? I do not wish to swipe my credit card everywhere. Also the SIMIN sim?

Not sure. I did not want to depend only on N1 stations for refuelling, so did not bother with a prepaid card. You'll most probably get it on the first N1 station you see, out of Reykjavik. SIMINN, pick it up at the Airport itself.

Originally Posted by saion666

3. Is there any parking charges in Reykjavik? Heard that the BSI bus stand offers free parking. How congested is it and most importantly, my pain point in NZ, how difficult are the parking rules both in and outside city?

Reykjavik parking is definitely cramped. The place where we stayed wasn't paid. It was a residential area. Luckily found a parking spot by the side. You can check with your AirBNB host on this. S/he will be helpful.

Originally Posted by saion666

4. How are the hot dogs? Any other cheap food alternative. Any gravel road in our itinerary?

Sorry, not a hot dog person. Subway is the cheapest on the menu here. Areas around Gulfoss have some gravel road. But since you are driving from Reykjavik, I don't think you'll find any on that day. Some gravel near Arnarstapi. Can't recollect anything else.

[//M]

Originally Posted by saion666

As you said did a lot of research on the daytrips and also mailed them and we could find out for most, the stops are only 10-15 mins for the south shore trip and also not covering many of the places. So if we are to cover all the places in our list we may have to book different trips and hotels. Not really working for us.
So finally bit the bullet and it's a road trip for us as well. Booked a Toyota Aygo for 7 days from Orange car rentals http://www.orangecarrental.is/ . Their prices are decent and reviews look good as well and are prompt in replying to mails. Costing me around 34000 rupees with GPS. Any idea on them?

Here's the plan, please feel free to put in your suggestions, I have 7+ months in hand

Day1: Arrive at Keflavik in the afternoon. Take free pickup to the car rental office. Drive to Reykjavik to our Airbnb which is right beside Hallgrimskirkja and get used to the Left hand drive. How difficult it is? Sleeeeep as it was a long flight.

LHD will take a day to get used to, actually depends from person to person. Be careful with the general rules though - give enough priority to pedestrians everywhere. While on the Ring Road, be careful of sheeps.

Day2: Do nothing, just stroll around Reykjavik and take pictures. Get some supplies. Get a SIMIN connection. Maybe go on top of Hallgrimskirkja.

You may go for a nice swim at the Blue Lagoon plus explore Reykjavik on foot.

Day3: Start early(6 AM) and drive to VIK by noon with stopovers at Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss, Dyrholaey, Reynisfjara. After lunch go straight to Jokulsarlon, enjoy a boat trip. Now the question, is it possible to drive back to Reykjavik on the same day or is it advisable to go to Hofn/Vik and stay there for the night?
If Hofn then can go to Stokness(if i spell correctly), If staying at Vik then can see the beautiful sunset at Reynisfjara.

Driving back to Reykjavik will be too tiring, better stay at Vik. Seljalandsfoss & Skogafoss are bang on the road, no need to walk so it won't consume much time. Additionally if you have spare time you may explore Thorsmork as well.

Day4: Drive back to Reykjavik with more time spent at the places visited yesterday. Try to get to that plane wreck site Solheimasandur, but I hear they have closed the road as people were partying in that plane!!(Gerua/ Justin Bieber effect?)

Yes the road to Solheimasandur is closed for vehicles but you can walk down, its a 45-minute walk one-way till the aircraft-wreck site. Just next to Skogafoss, you will see the Solheimajokull glacier (its visible from the Ring Road). Do keep an eye for parked cars along the road opposite the glacier. That is the parking spot for Solheimasandur. You will have to walk down from here.

Day5: Do the Snaefellsness peninsula- Budir church, Kirkjufell, Snaefellsjokull... what more? back to Reykjavik.

Yes doable, do not miss the Arnarstapi to Hellnar walk along the cliffs.

Day6: Do the Golden Circle- Gulfoss being the main attraction.Back to Reykjavik.

You may try snorkelling at the Silfra fissure and cover the other attractions of the Golden Circle - Pingvallivatn, Gulfoss & Strokkur.

Day7: Drop the car. Take early morning flight to Paris.
We are not really interested in blue lagoon so skipping it.

Blue Lagoon though expensive, is a decent place to chill out. Personally I liked Jardobin Nature Baths at Lake Myvatn more than Blue Lagoon as Blue Lagoon felt more commercialised.

Naive Questions:-

1. I have never used a GPS device before, always used Google maps. Is it possible to give the names of say a waterfall(with wrong spellings) and the GPS will suggest the names? Was checking some video on Garmin and there people were entering street names and what not to set the destination location. Is it that useless? I have already paid for it(nearly Rs.5600 extra) and want to use it.

Carry maps, check spellings and type. This is the only option as it is very easy to mis-spell the Icelandic villages. I did the same on my 11-day roadtrip in Iceland recently.

2. Where to get the N1 prepaid petrol cards nearest to Keflavik? I do not wish to swipe my credit card everywhere. Also the SIMIN sim?

You can get N1 or Orkan cards at the Supermarkets at every N1/Orkan station. Petrol was approximately INR 185 a litre during my stay in Oct 2016. No idea about SIMIN sim as I had taken a wifi router in the car so everytime I had to call someone back home, I used the whatsapp call feature or Skype.

3. Is there any parking charges in Reykjavik? Heard that the BSI bus stand offers free parking. How congested is it and most importantly, my pain point in NZ, how difficult are the parking rules both in and outside city?

I don't remember paying any parking charges/entry fee/camera fee anywhere. Iceland is a very sparsely populated country, no congestion anywhere. Infact in my 11-day roadtrip, I crossed only one toll-booth between Borgarnes & Reykjavik.

4. How are the hot dogs? Any other cheap food alternative. Any gravel road in our itinerary?

No gravel road in your itinerary except maybe a few detours in the Thorsmork region that you may or may not take. Food is expensive in Iceland, hot dogs are available at most places. I carried my own food in dehydrated form and tried out local cuisine occasionally just to get an experience.

5 6 7 8.Can't think of any now but would surely have them in a few days.

Remember daylight is extremely limited, so you may not be able to cover everything in your itinerary as stipulated. Leave early and track the weather every hour. The weather can get very very windy & unpredictable in Iceland specially in these colder months. Keep an eye at the Aurora activity & KPI Index.

Thanks in advance.

My replies in Bold & Italics. Hope I have answered your questions.

EDIT: Kings_Wit has already mentioned valuable tips in his post.

[Nilesh5417]

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

EPILOGUE

Iceland continues to be crafted by the forces that created it. An island that lives between two continental plates is a permanent witness to change. Volcanoes, earthquakes, river systems and climate are working in tandem to reshape its majestic beauty, every single moment. The natives continue to live in harmony- a mystical life, without disturbing too much around them. They are few and far in between, and constitute one big family. In such a lovely confluence of nature and man, Iceland leaves its visitors enchanted. To some it can open new perceptions on life and for others it can entirely alter it. There's something here for everyone, waiting to be explored & experienced.

A summer road trip in Iceland on a 2WD means that we missed out on Auroras, West Fjords, the Highlands, Ice caves and much more. But that's also an opportunity to go back again sometime in the future and make new memories. That's what we left behind. A promise to return.

That is the most delightful epilogue i've read ever! When most rue the fact that there wasn't enough time or money to "see" everything in the trip, its refreshing to know you skipped some to take in the most of what you could. I absolutely enjoyed reading through and loved the pictures. You should print a personal coffee book.

[saion666]

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

Very glad you did!


The lagoon is a great road-trip-ender. Great relaxation experience. But I am sure you have your reasons.


The GPS isnt that bad. It has trouble with the names, sure, but it offers you type ahead options. The resistive touch screens are super-painful. You'll get the hang of it pretty soon. An always-ON GPS cooks the phone battery. Although, for your itinerary, a GPS may not be the best value add-on.

Originally Posted by //M

My replies in Bold & Italics. Hope I have answered your questions.

Thanks a lot both of you. These are invaluable inputs.
Am going in summer, so no Northern lights but Midnight sun.

Seems like the GPS was a bad decision for me, maybe I will trade it off for a 4G internet box or a gravel protection with the car rental company. A power bank/travel charger for the mobile phone to keep the google map on will be more VFM.

As for the blue lagoon, I find it expensive and we are averse to water. We did a 10 day tour of Philippines and never got wet.

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by saion666

Am going in summer, so no Northern lights but Midday sun.

Are you sure you can still see the sunset at Reynisfjara, at this time?

Originally Posted by saion666

..we are averse to water.

Iceland might still surprise you.

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by Nilesh5417

I absolutely enjoyed reading through and loved the pictures. You should print a personal coffee book.

Gee, thanks. A coffee book idea is awesome. Should've thought of it before. Will get started on it, next weekend!

[//M]

Originally Posted by saion666

Am going in summer, so no Northern lights but Midnight sun.

Oh my bad, I did not go through your previous posts. Summers are pleasant, no worries with the weather and ofcourse you get maximum daylight so you can cover more places.

Originally Posted by saion666

Seems like the GPS was a bad decision for me, maybe I will trade it off for a 4G internet box or a gravel protection with the car rental company. A power bank/travel charger for the mobile phone to keep the google map on will be more VFM.

Exactly what I did. I had many gravel roads planned in my itinerary so I chose Gravel Insurance, Collision Insurance & a 4G WiFi Router.

[Kings_Wit]

Just to add about summers, you'll have driveable light until 10PM. Make sure you inform your hosts/guesthouses that you'll be checking in late. Although our reservations weren't transferred to other guests on a late show, there is a good chance they might.

[saion666]

Originally Posted by //M

Oh my bad, I did not go through your previous posts. Summers are pleasant, no worries with the weather and ofcourse you get maximum daylight so you can cover more places.
Exactly what I did. I had many gravel roads planned in my itinerary so I chose Gravel Insurance, Collision Insurance & a 4G WiFi Router.

Originally Posted by Kings_Wit

Just to add about summers, you'll have driveable light until 10PM. Make sure you inform your hosts/guesthouses that you'll be checking in late. Although our reservations weren't transferred to other guests on a late show, there is a good chance they might.

Done with the trip. The inputs by you two were invaluable.
Kings_Wit, probably going for the self drive option instead of the bus was the best decision ever made. I can't thank you enough for influencing this.

BTW i got a free upgrade to a Toyota Auris diesel instead of the Toyota Aygo from Orange car. Not sure if I would be able to put up such excellent travelogue like you two, would try if time and patience permit.

Here's the car:

[Kings_Wit]

Originally Posted by saion666

Kings_Wit, probably going for the self drive option instead of the bus was the best decision ever made. I can't thank you enough for influencing this.
Here's the car:

Wow, thanks! I am super happy that you had a great trip!

If not a travelogue, please do add pointers/tips that might come in handy for other travelers. It's becoming a hot destination these days.

P.S. Wife and I have resolved to visit again in September - more of Ice and Auroras.