Guide to traveling to Iceland with 20 useful tips (our experience)

What clothes to wear? What is the best time to travel? Travel with or without an agency, what route to take? or if we were going to be able to see the northern lights, are some of the doubts we had before travel to iceland

And how do we know that if you are thinking visit Iceland You will have the same doubts that we had, we are going to help you solve them all.

Iceland It is a very peculiar country, full of curiosities and absolutely conditioned by its climate and nature.

Whatever the trip plan that you have, we are going to explain in steps all the information you need to know, starting with the organization of the trip.

What is the best time to travel to Iceland?

This is a question that has been with me throughout the trip, and I come away with the feeling that there is no perfect answer.

Each time of year has advantages and disadvantages.

For this reason, and as it is a topic to go into in depth, here we leave you an article where we talk about all the advantages and disadvantages that each era has.

Travel to Iceland with a travel agency or on your own

We usually like travel by free, but in certain destinations, specifically very cold ones where nature sets the rules, go with a travel agency specializing in arctic countries It is a guarantee of comfort.

In this case we we travel with TPolar lands with whom we already traveled last year to Greenland and the experience was unbeatable.

Hay international groups if you speak English and want to meet people from all over the world, and if that is not the case, they have small groups with guides They speak several languages ​​and know the island perfectly.

In addition to traveling with a fixed price, you have the advantage of having a guide who continually accompanies you and explains hundreds of curiosities that we summarize in this article. 50 curious things about Iceland.

If on the other hand you want travel by freeKeep in mind that you will have to find a vehicle, hotels and plan the entire route yourself.

Our advice is that you do it well in advance.

If you are going to tour the island, you have to know that it is a trip that requires a lot of organization.

You have to plan things like where to buy meals, because there are not many supermarkets, especially when you get away from Reykjavik.

It is important to always have a full tank, so we recommend adding gas whenever you can, because there are huge stretches of road without gas stations.

How much does it cost to travel to Iceland? budget

This is a question that you ask us a lot, which has a difficult answer. There are as many different budgets as there are travelers.

Of course you should know that Iceland is one of the most expensive countries in the world, but if you travel from a European country with the euro, the change is good.

The price of accommodation It is around 100 euros per room during the low season, and 200 euros in the high season.

An dinner in a restaurant It costs you a minimum of 20 euros for a traditional soup, up to 100 euros if you have a large dinner.

La beer in a bar It is around 1.200 Icelandic crowns, about 8 or 9 euros.

To get an idea of ​​the cultural, You have to calculate that 1000 crowns are 7 euros, although in reality it is not necessary to change currency because they accept credit cards in any establishment.

If you want to have an approximate idea of ​​the budget you are going to need, we are going to summarize it with 3 different trip examples.

Cheap travel budget to Iceland

Spend on a week trip to Iceland just over 1.000 euros, although it may seem like a lie, it is possible.

Although to this we would have to add the annual what you want to do, which are an essential part of the trip.

If you book everything in advance you save a lot of money, especially on flights.

You can travel there and back for just about 200 euros. Of course, if you rush the dates you can go to more than 400 without a problem.

If you move in camper van You also save a lot, since you don't need a hotel.

The price depends on the people traveling, but the rental would be between 100 and 300 euros per day, depending on the size of the camper, and here we include the gasoline that you are going to spend.

That price would have to be divided by the number of people traveling.

And finally, if you make your own food by buying it in supermarkets, you also save a lot of money.

Standard travel budget to Iceland with agency 

If you are not convinced by camper trip, there is the option of a cheap trip with travel agency.

For example, with Polar Lands, the agency we travel with who are specialists in Arctic trips, the basic trip has a price from 1.690 euros.

This price includes everything: food, accommodation, transportation, visits, guide, and excursions.

You don't spend anything else, except for a couple of dinners in Reykjavik, so in practice you go 7 days without using the money.

They are small groups of up to 8 people and accommodation is in hostels and shared accommodation.

You only have to take care of making dinners and meals together, but they are included in the price.

Comfort travel budget to Iceland

Now, you want to travel in a more comfortable way, the ideal is a agency trip but sleeping in hotels and dining in restaurants.

We once again take the agency as a reference Polar Lands, which also offers these more affluent trips that have a price of around 2.300 euros.

Routes to visit Iceland

En Iceland There are many must-see visits and many others that you will select and modify depending on the time you have available and the weather during the trip.

Even travel agencies do this with some visits.

First of all, we recommend that you look at this article where we tell you what is essential to see in Iceland.

How much time do I need to visit Iceland?

The answer to this question varies greatly depending on how ambitious you want your trip to be.

A roughly speaking, the south iceland You travel it in 8 days and to see the entire island doing a circular route, you need at least 11 days.

What to see in Iceland in one day

If for whatever reason you only have one day because Iceland is the stopover of a trip to another destination, focus on the Golden Circle, an area that is close to Reykjavík and in one day you can understand the entire origin of Iceland.

And you'll also have some time to see Reykjavík.

What to do in Iceland in 2 days 

If you have a second day, we recommend visit the Snæfellsnes peninsula with its incredible landscapes and volcanoes, and if you have time, a swim in the Blue Lagoon (Blue Lagoon).

What to see and do in Iceland in 7 days

If you have a week, you already have time to do everything, see volcanoes, waterfalls, bathe in the Blue Lagoon with its hot springs, walking through glaciers, seeing lava deserts and even the northern lights.

You can also spend a couple of days in Reykjavík with their colored houses in the Nordic style with its facades covered in graffiti.

¿How much time do I need to see Iceland in its entirety?

To see south iceland you need at least a week, so a 10 or 11 day trip it gives you enough visit the entire island and travel its entire mythical N1 highway.

This way you can also see the west fjords and get to know the north of the island.

What is best travel insurance for Iceland?

There are places in the world where it is essential to travel with insurance.

To give you an idea, there are only two hospitals on the island and it is full of plains adapted for small planes and helicopters to land.

If something happens to you in any area of ​​the island other than the two big cities, they will have to come pick you up by air, and in the sixth most expensive country in the world, healthcare is tremendously expensive.

Nowadays travel insurance is very cheap, for only 41 euros you will have 7 days and you are fully covered.

Of course, you have to know which clauses it is essential to contain and which not, because there is nothing worse than taking out insurance and then it turns out that it does not cover the incident that has arisen.

• Here we leave you an article where we specify all the Things that good travel insurance for Iceland should have.

How to get from the airport to the hotel in Reykjavík

El Iceland main airport It is not found in Reykjavik, the capital of the country, but in Keflavik, which was a former United States air base in the Second World War, and is located about 40 minutes by car from the aforementioned capital.

El Reykjavík airport, which is in the city, is only used for internal flights or small connections with Greenland.

Car transfers from the airport to the center of Reykjavík

Something very curious is that There are no trains in Iceland., so the transfers from the airport to your hotel They are limited to cars or buses.

The fastest option for a transfer is a car that picks you up at the airport, which is also the most comfortable because you hire it in advance and this way you ensure that they are waiting for you when you arrive and drop you off at the door of your hotel.

Also, if several people go it is usually the best option, and you can pay with a credit card without problems.

How to go by bus from the airport to Reykjavík

If your option is go in bus You have two options, the cheapest being local bus 55 which stops in all the towns, takes an hour and a half and costs about 12 euros. We do not recommend it because it is very slow.

On the other hand you have the Flaybus which connect the airport to the city, are faster than the normal bus as they take about 50 minutes, and cost just under 20 euros if we convert with the Icelandic crown.

If you purchase round-trip ticket, you have a 20 percent discount.

What to wear to Iceland

One of the most important topics and one that creates the most doubts when you travel to Iceland, is to know what clothes do you need to wear.

We are going to quickly summarize what you need.

Whatever season you go. you absolutely need inner thermal clothing, both for the body and for the legs, and also waterproof garments.

Then, depending on what you are going to do during the day, you need one type of garment or another.

To stand or in places where you are not going to sweat, cotton and thick clothing are very appreciated.

But by the time you go to walk or do physical activity, it is important to avoid cotton because it absorbs moisture, and if you then stop and stay cold, it can make you have a hard time.

That is why our recommendation is to take waterproof and breathable technical clothing to do activities, with many layers that you can take off, and for when you return to the hotel, thicker sweaters or sweatshirts.

And this is very noticeable in socks, since you have to wear both types.

Of course, a windbreaker, hat, gloves, and a buff or bra and neck brace can be very helpful.

What to eat in Iceland?

One of the topics that interests us most when planning a trip is knowing what to eat at each site and what are the typical dishes of the gastronomy of the place

En Iceland the main thing is the sea ​​products like cod, which is eaten dehydrated or in soups.

The soups They are another of the things that we recommend trying, especially the lobster and lamb.

As for the meat, the main one is the lamb, far ahead of the beef that is harder to find.

But if you want to embark on the adventure, you have to try the rotten shark o the whale, although we recommend these two dishes with nuances.

In this article where we teach you more in depth what to eat in iceland We tell you why.

Excursions in Iceland

When you travel through icelandThere places that are essential to visit.

If you don't feel like driving, you can sign up for excursions that include everything and take you with a private transportation y guide so you know well what you are seeing.

It is a mix between exploring Iceland with the ease that travel agencies give you, but with the autonomy of choosing yourself what you see every day.

We definitely recommend you visit the Golden Circle, bathe in the waters of the Blue Lagoon, visit the Snaefellsnes peninsula, see waterfalls, go through a lava tunnel y glaciers o watch whales.

Luckily there are many options.

Northern Lights in Iceland

The Aurora borealis They are one of the most impressive phenomena that can be seen in the world, and Iceland is one of best places to see them.

There is a very large magnetic force that means they can be seen with quite a bit of continuity and clarity, although it is a phenomenon that is only seen in winter, from the end of October to the beginning of April and really justifies a trip to the Arctic.

Here we leave you an article where we talk more about them and explain what they are, how they are formed and the best places to see the northern lights.