Looking for advice/tips for Iceland trip

[JemC]

Hi Everyone

In 4 weeks time i will be going on holiday to Iceland for a week,so i'm kind of on the scrounge for any tips/advice from anyone who might have been to Iceland.
i have been doing some research about the place and have kind of got a rough plan in my head but you know that doesn't always work out the way you expect it to,
It's going to be mainly landscapes and waterfalls and with a little luck, fingers crossed Northern lights

I expect i'm going to be challenged with the good lady wife,the weather and the light (sunrise about 10:30am) sets just short of 5hr later, plus it's our 1st holiday in 2o years without the kids

any advice/tips will be very much appreciated

Regards
James

[NorthernFocus]

My only advice is to wait to go in July

[Mike Buckley]

My first recommendation is that you pick your favorite drink, whether it's beer, hard liquor, wine (my preference) or some other beverage even it's nothing other than water and toast to your first holiday in 20 years without the children. You deserve it!

You surely have at least a vague plan about the parts of Iceland that you plan to visit. Give us a clue about that and I guarantee that you'll get more helpful advice.

[Manfred M]

Not a lot to go on. I've been to Iceland twice (a total of 3 weeks there), but both trips were in the summer.

How are you planning to get around and where are you planning to go? Once you get out of the south-western part of the country, the population density drops right off. There are definitely waterfalls and landscapes around, but Icelandic weather is not great in the summer (lots of precipitation and high wings). Getting out in the winter, would not be my idea of a lot of fun (and I, like Dan) know winter travel / driving all too well.

That being said, the scenery is gorgeous, especially in the interior, but those roads are closed for the season. If you are planning to drive (I hope you have good winter driving experience), the following website is great:

http://www.road.is/travel-info/road-.../island1e.html

[Steaphany]

James,

I follow photographer Richard Bernabe @bernabephoto on twitter, and on 500px who just completed a photo trip to Iceland and will be leading an Epic Iceland Photo Tour in February 2016.

Richard made a twitter post regarding problems facing photographers when in Iceland:
The worst part about photographing #Iceland is all those rainbows always getting in the way.

For a few suggestions where to photograph, check out Richard's sampling from his latest trip.
.

[Shadowman]

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/iceland

A good reference website.

[DanK]

There have been several other threads about this on this site, so it would be worth searching.

If you are driving, once you are out of the SW corner, many roads other than the ring road are awful. Some are very rough dirt roads, and many have no guard rails, even when one side is a cliff going into the ocean. So make sure you have an appropriate vehicle for the areas you intend to visit, and talk with locals about conditions before going off the ring road. (on the positive side, I don't think I saw a single rude or aggressive driver when I was there.)

[lenelg]

We did the trip in late November last year, and had no problems with the weather. Being in the middle of the Atlantic keeps the Winters fairly mild. Maybe we were lucky, but only one day of rain in a week..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/len_el...57660173644850

The Blue Lagoon is a well known tourist trap, the waterfall is Gullfoss, easily accessible from Reykavik. A nice surprise was the restaurant scene in Reykavik, lots of interesting places to discover!

We did go in November for the Northern lights, but missed them. The Northern lights are big business: At 9 P.M. twelve full coaches took off and dropped us all on a desolate plain away from the city lights. And there we stood, around 700 of us, gazing in vain at the night sky, like we were waiting for the aliens to land in Close Encounters.. They offer you a free ticket for the next night if the Northern lights fail to show up, but this was our last evening.

[tao2]

Look here James...I am planning an adventure abroad
.

[CP140]

I'd like to help but my info is quite stale, having visited Iceland many times... way back when I flew for a living and there was a US Naval Air Station at Keflavik. In fact, my logbook entries say I was last there in May 1989 aboard tail number 107...

So, for what it's worth...

Watch out for the hot water. It's geothermal heated and often scalding hot.

I recall Keflavik and Reykjavik being very clean, modern cities although a tad expensive if hitting the restaurants.

Above all, enjoy the trip!

[Mike Buckley]

a tad expensive if hitting the restaurants.

They're a LOT more than a tad expensive now.

[JemC]

Good day to all

Thank you all for replying,
and apologies for being a little vague in my first post,

I don't intend to be driving myself however i must admit i did think about it, however we have decided to book onto some of the arranged tours that cater for smaller groups rather than the big coach tours,
Due to limited light we are going to have i don't think we will be wandering much further than south side of the Island, that will have to be on another visit,

My Planned Highlights to visit are going to be

Volcanic crater Kerið
The farming districts of the South
Faxi waterfall(pronounced Foxy)
Geysir area
Gullfoss waterfall
Thingvellir National Park, including the rift-valley and the Rock of Law, the site of the first Viking parliament.
Seljalandsfoss
Skógafoss
Sólheimajökull (Glacier)
Black sand beach
Vík
and all the while hoping the northern lights put on a show while we are there,i believe a boat trip can be booked out to Videy island which is not as crowded as the coach tours for the northern lights

thank you again for tips/advice given as there are some good points to consider

Regards
James

[AlwaysOnAuto]

Only thing I've got is pack some warm clothes and have fun!

[Manfred M]

Kerio, Geysir, Gullfoss and Thingvellir can all be done in a single trip. If you are driving this area is some 45 minutes out of Reykjavik and can all be done in a single day, even given the relatively short daylight hours you will have.

A note of caution on Kelio; I slipped and dropped my new camera (D90) there (cracked the housing) but other than the flash release not working, I was able to keep on shooting. A trip back to Nikon happened right after our return home. Sejlandfoss and Sokgafoss we did on another day. Both were worth the visit. Sejlandfoss one can walk behind it (I don't know what it will be like in late November, though) and the view from the top of Sokgafoss is fantastic.

The black sand near Vik, is not that exciting.

[Polar01]

Another thing besides ash that Iceland has a lot of is wind, their idea of a breeze and your idea may not be the same. Suggest something that will turn the wind, so you can layer under it, that way you will can adjust for the conditions.

Cheers: Allan

[JemC]

Another thing besides ash that Iceland has a lot of is wind, their idea of a breeze and your idea may not be the same. Suggest some that will turn the wind, so you can layer under it, that way you will can adjust for the conditions.

Cheers: Allan

Just been shopping today and got kitted out with cold weather clothing, so hopefully that side of it is taken care of :-)

[Mike Buckley]

Your list of planned activities ensures that you'll have a great time assuming the weather proves to be reasonably enjoyable. My wife and I enjoyed the scenery even in the rain a couple of days. You seem to be in good hands with your small tour groups with probably little opportunity to change plans and no reason I can think of to do so.

Seeing Manfred's posts and remembering his photos of Iceland remind me that he bailed me out big-time during my trip there. My camera stopped working and he got it working for me again thanks to a recommendation he made. Even he wasn't confident that his recommendation would be effective but there was nothing else to try. His solution worked perfectly.

Allan's post about the strong wind reminds me of the time my wife and I were on the plateau of the small mountain in Vik in a strong wind. It literally prevented us from walking in the direction that would have taken us directly to our car. We had to walk in a roundabout direction and even then we were blown to the ground several times. It took us about four times as long to get to our car than if the strong wind had not been blowing.

[JemC]

Do you think it would be wise to invest in some sort of rain cover for the camera? or would I just be wasting money.

[Mike Buckley]

If you plan to be capturing photos during the rain, definitely invest in protective equipment. Even if you'll leave your camera in your bag when it's raining, make sure you have some method of making the bag waterproof (as opposed to water-resistant) such as by wearing a waterproof poncho that covers the bag.

As for the possibility of wasting money, the cost of the protective equipment will be very small compared to the cost of your photo gear and your trip.

[Mike Buckley]

The black sand near Vik, is not that exciting.

Gotta disagree!