2017 Iceland...Preparations and our experiences

Much of the countryside looks like this.  The rocks are lichen-covered, volcanic and come with a nice cushion of moss.

We did a lot of research prior to our trip so were pretty well prepared for what we found there.  I'll give you the highlights and if you have specific questions or want more information, just post in comments.

In planning the trip, I started by hi-jacking an itinerary from a local tour company. I looked for one that closely matched the number of days we would be there and then modified it based on my research into things that more closely aligned with our interests. This allowed me to plan approximate locations for our rooms and also decreased the probability that I'd miss something big.

First big decision was what time of year to go. We chose the Fall because it is NOT the height of the tourist season so fewer people and better prices and there is some chance of seeing the Northern Lights unlike in the Summer. Also, weather...if you look at average weather data for different times of the year you may be surprised. Because of the North Atlantic Current, Iceland is more temperate than one would expect of a place at that latitude. Our experience was lows in the mid 40's and highs in the mid 50's with little change from day to night. We had a couple of days in the 60's. It rained some but the rain was never hard and we were able to continue our itinerary unimpeded by weather.

I don't know what it's like in other seasons but I cannot imagine they could be more beautiful. The country was alive with reds, oranges and yellows. It is the most beautiful place I've ever been and I don't say that lightly...I've been a fair number of places.

Getting there might have been the best overall deal when considering all the costs.  We used WOW airlines. A relatively new airline that arose out of the increase in tourism to Iceland that occurred after their financial collapse in 2008. WOW flies from several US cities with a stop in Iceland and then on to Europe. Our total round trip airfare for two from San Francisco was $1300.  You can fly for less if you don't check a bag and don't reserve a specific seat.  Once on board, nothing is free, however.  It is about eight and a half hours so we just made sure we were well fed before boarding and then carried on some snacks. Our only concern was that it not suddenly become MOM airlines.

It is an easy place to visit because quite literally everyone speaks English to some degree and the vast majority are fluent.  Language was never an issue.

Driving is also quite easy since they do drive on the correct (ha!) side of the road and their roads are well signed.  Gasoline is expensive compared to the US (about $7.50/gal) but overall it is not a major part of the trip expenses.  Our total was under $400 for four people over nine days.  You should know that, unlike everywhere else in Iceland, the gas stations require that your credit card have a PIN number.  You can choose to use a debit card (with PIN) but there may be an additional fee from your bank because it's treated as a cash withdrawal. Talk to you bank, just know that you won't get gas unless you have a card with a PIN number.

By the way, we did not use a single bit of real money, neither US nor Iclandic, on this trip. Everything we purchased, from a hotel room to a soda, was bought with a credit card. That seems to be the preferred payment method for everything.

With regard to finding your way around, I would recommend a GPS. Our rental had one and we used it constantly. You could get by with a good map (National Geographic is the one we used.) but the GPS just makes things so much easier.

Google/Apple maps work quite well in Iceland but, of course, you need cell service with a data plan if you are going to actually use them in the car. (You can download maps for use offline but I had mixed results with that.) The good news is that cellular coverage is nearly 100% in Iceland unless you travel in the mountains of the interior. There were very few places along the Ring Road where we had no coverage. There was no LTE coverage but we usually had 4G with it occasionally dropping to 3G. Remember those?

Being able to call in-country was important to us on a couple of occasions when we need to contact our hosts. We also used cellular data to find things in towns such as restaurants, grocery stores, etc. and to answer questions that came up about various things we were seeing.

The other good news is that ATT and Verison (and possibly others) have plans that are $10/day whereby you can just continue to use whatever plan you have in the US. Also, you are only charged for days in which you actually use the phone, not for a specific period of time. You need to activate that plan before you leave the US, however. We had that as a backup because I chose to buy a local SIM card at the airport in Reykjavik. It was $20 and it provided all the text, call time, both back to the US and within Iceland and data that I needed for nine days. A great deal. There are three cellular companies in Iceland, I'd recommend getting a SIM from Siminn. They seem to have better coverage in the countryside.

I think our accommodations were quite reasonably priced.  Our cheapest was just over $200 for four people for one night and our most expensive was about $350. Our average was around $65 per person per night.  We planned to stay in Airbnb accommodations each night and that's what we did with one exception.  We also tried to find interesting places to stay such as old cabins and working farms; something that wasn't recently built or modern, something with character. Sometimes these were cheaper and sometimes they were more expensive. Location seemed to be the deciding factor in determining cost.

With regard to expense, food is another story.  Not exactly sure why but food is expensive; especially restaurant food and alcohol.  Beer in a grocery is about $1.50 per bottle but has very low alcohol content (one we tried has 0.25%, that's right, a quarter of one percent). Regular beer, wine and hard liquor can only be purchased in a state run store (a Vinbuden) and here beer is more like $4.50 a bottle).

At one place, two fish and chips dinners and a beer cost us $55 and that was not unusual. The first night we tried to go to a sit down restaurant but needed reservations. So we went into a little place that served burgers and fish and chips and such. They also had lamb chops on the menu. They were served on a bed of french fries (or chips) and they were great, if I didn't think about the fact that they cost $25.00.

Needless to say, we hit the supermarkets and fixed our own dinners on most nights.  We also bought stuff for lunches most days.  Every little town has a bakery and we got some great breads, both sweet and savory, that would hold us over until dinner. Before leaving home, we made a batch of granola and took that along with us for breakfast most mornings. In this way we were able to manage food costs.

Iceland has a reputation for being a really expensive vacation spot. Travelling with four people, as we did, probably optimizes the costs of such things as car rental and accommodations. I was pleased when we did our final cost calculations. Total trip, including airfare was right at $2000 per person, or $200 per person per day. Not bad.

Leave questions in the comments and I'll respond. I encourage anyone who can to plan a trip there for next year.