Hi,   Am planning to visit Iceland by mid-September, for the first time. for 10 day... but might shorten stay..  (have an Easyjet flight on 14 Sept)  A colleague & friend is currently over there and will report back on how to do best for arrangments. 

When are you travelling ?    Suggest we share info when we get it,   even over a drink ?  :) 

HI

Thats great, sent you a Pm.

Hello,

I had a nice stay in the Hotel Holt in Reykjavik. Its not super expensive, but not exactly on the budget end either. Its quiet but still central.

I would definitely recommend renting a car, at least for a few days. Don't remember the name of my place, but watch the opening hours for the car return (many places close early). When the weather is good I strongly recommend driving to the Snaefellsjökull volcano in the Northwest. Its a very scenic drive and can easily be done in one day (if you bring good shoes you can even hike up to the summit).  https://www.flickr.com/photos/39615668@N06/5946493273/in/album-72157627215798418/

Fairly close is also the Gullfoss waterfall (spectacular). Somewhere in the region is a field of geysers - don't miss out on those.

If you like spa's, you should visit the Blue Lagoon (not too far from the airport) - very cool place

If you're so inclined, a horseback excursion is great (a very nice way to discover the countryside and suitable for absolute beginners). Can be booked in your hotel - these providers usually pick you up from your hotel.

And if you happen to be a scuba diver, don't miss out on a dive in the Silfra Gap - its a once in a lifetime opportunity. Providers (a good one is dive.is) also pick you up.

Enjoy

I recomend you watch this movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"...

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/iceland/reykjavik#survival-guide

Yeah watched the movie.. pretty good:)

Iceland is awesome, good choice!

I stayed here: http://www.hotelleifur.is/ I don't remember how the price compared to other places but it definitely wasn't at the expensive end of the scale. The room was small and nothing special but it had everything I needed (I wasn't planning on being in the hotel much anyway with so much to see!) and it was a fantastic location - literally right in front of the church that is the city's main landmark, near the main shopping street, with bars and restaurants nearby and just a 10-15 minute walk to the port and museums etc.

I don't drive so didn't hire a car but used day trips, which provide bus transport including hotel pick-up from pretty much any hotel or guest house.

The Blue Lagoon is nice but in my opinion not worth taking a day out to get there and back from the city. It's near the airport so I recommend going on your way to or from the airport (you can book a bus transfer from the airport to Blue Lagoon and from BL to Reyjavik from Reykjavik Excursions https://www.re.is/flybus/ or Grey Line I think http://grayline.is/). Both those companies also offer other day or weekend trips; other places I booked excursions with are https://bustravel.is/ , https://www.adventures.is/ and https://guidetoiceland.is/.

If you do go to the Blue Lagoon, it's worth booking a ticket from their website in advance to save queuing.

I definitely second the recommendation to dive in the Silfra Gap, that was a highlight for me! I also did a two-day tour where we drove to the south east part of the island, stopping at notable/scenic places along the way, then stayed the night near the beautiful glacier lake and came back the next day. Unfortunatley we weren't able to go out on the glacier lake on a boat as there was too much ice (I went late Oct/early Nov) but apparently that's very rare! On the second day we also hiked on a glacier, which was possibly my favourite bit of the trip :)

I also went on a few boat tours with Special Tours http://www.specialtours.is/, mainly to see the Northern Lights but I guess September is a bit early for that...

I would have loved to go a bit further north but just couldn't fit it in - if you're hiring a car you might have a bit more flexibility to do that kind of thing.

Hope this helps and have a great time!

Thanks Jo D. Blue Lagoon is a must then. :)

If you want to rent a car to travel outside of Reykjavik, I recommend SADcars (yes, that's really the name). They are by far the cheapest because their cars are a little aged, but their maintenance is good so there's no need to worry. We drove ours halfway around the country with no problems whatsoever. As much as I loved Reykjavik, driving around and seeing the mindblowing scenery outside the city was what it's really all about for me.

If you do head out from Reykjavik, bring a good paper map, make sure to bring extra food, water, and blankets just in case, and buy gas when you hit half a tank. Iceland is VERY sparsely populated between the major cities. What do I mean by "sparsely populated"? I mean that two houses and a church qualifies as a town on the map. I mean that most of the ring road is unpaved. It's amazing. You just need to be smart about it.

The glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón is absolutely incredible, my main reason for going to Iceland. But it's several hours' drive, so it may be further than you want to go. A closer excursion would be to Vík, which is also amazing with its black sand beach and picturesque cliffs.

If you don't want to drive anywhere, there are still buses that can take you out to famous spots like Þingvellir. Be aware that Iceland's ecosystem is extremely fragile, and not necessarily equipped with great infrastructure to protect it from heavy tourism traffic, so it's especially important to be a conscientious traveler and stick to designated paths to help prevent unnecessary erosion, etc.

Basically, as long as you're prepared with food/water/warmth on your excursions, you can't go wrong! Have fun!