Iceland is the most unique and exciting place I’ve visited in my life, It’s hard to imagine any one destination being so magnificent. This post will cover all thing things you need to know before you go. If you’re looking for a sample itinerary – start with this post here.
There are a lot of things to consider when planning when to go to Iceland. Things like weather, crowds, daylight and budget. The high season is from June to August – we choose the later part of August when the prices started to drop. If you want to see the lush green lands of Iceland – pick a time between May and October. If you want the snowy landscapes go during the winter months. Bare in mind some roads may be impassable during the winter and you’ll have fewer hours of daylight (aka more opportunities to see the Northern Lights!) but the prices are lower and likely less crowds.
You can definitely opt for a tour bus excursion but what is the fun in that? I highly recommend driving around the Ring Road. Make sure you pick the right vehicle for your trip, depending on the sites you want to see you may need a 4×4 for your trip for off-roading or driving in the snow (If you decide to see the West Fjords or the Highlands get a 4WD). On a random note – we did see quite a bit of hitchhikers in Iceland, might be the last place where you’ll find it safe to hitchhike! We decided to go with a campervan to save money on lodging as Iceland is pretty expensive, and how many places in the world can you pull over virtually anywhere to sleep and not get in trouble? We booked our camper through kuku campers, we got the Category A camper. It’s a little cozy but perfect for the drive. These guys did a great little video tour of their kuku – which you’ll find really helpful.
Make sure to stock up on gas cards – once outside of the city gas stations are hard to come by and in remote areas they are sometimes not monitored. So before you leave a station make sure to load up on the credits so you can fill up directly at the machines without an attendant. We often stopped at N1 gas stations – which also have free WIFI! At the end of your trip if you find yourself with more credit than you need you can use the gas cards to buy snacks and food (hot dogs!).
If you book a campervan you can essential pull off almost ANYWHERE and call it a night. There are of course some rules you can read them here but finding a place to call home for a night isn’t hard. Bring your own sleeping bags from home for extra comfort. We choose to not book any hotels because we didn’t want the reservation to dictate our trip, if we wanted to spend an extra day here or there etc. I’d definitely recommend booking in advance if you do decide since the options aren’t as plentiful around Iceland. We really wanted to stay in this sweet airbnb but maybe next time!
There are official campsites with coin showers and laundry but we opted to not stay at any of the campsites. We found that most of the sites weren’t that clean and it was better to call the land our home. If you’re looking for a nice shower, head over to any of the public pools take a swim and use the bathroom there. They were really nice to swim and relax and the bathrooms were always impeccably clean!
The majority of the attractions in Iceland are free, however everything else can get a little pricey. Since we were camper-vanning we cooked a lot of our own meals and ate on the road. Here are the major grocery stores, we often visited.
- Hagkaup Giant supermarket – sort of like your Super Target it has groceries to electronics and makeup. The prices here were definitely more expensive even for the same exact things.
- Bónus A popular budget grocery store in Iceland we found the prices to be the cheapest here compared to other stores. The lighting is sort of dark and depressing, but you’ll find all the basics here.
- Krónan Another budget store, these were bigger than Bónus had a bit more selection but generally the same vibe.
- Nettó Another budget store, this place reminded me of a Fresh and Easy but they also have some other random things you’d find at Rite Aid or CVS.
As far as what to buy – the grocery store shelves are stocked similarly to America. Of course there are an assortment of unique Iceland items to try;
- Skyr it’s a soft cheese made from pasteurized skimmed milk and a bacteria culture similar to yogurt (but is not yogurt, taste similar though!) Definitely give this a try.
- Licorice I’m not a fan but they have it everywhere mixed with everything! We did bring home some of these bars for friends though, however you can find them in the US (I found this out later!).
- Harðfiskur aka Dried fish I was expecting it to taste similar to the dried Asian squid/octopus you find at the Asian markets, but it definitely didn’t taste anything like it. Pass!
- Hákarl aka fermented shark. You can find it in some restaurants as well as its popular to the locals.
For a list of restaurant recommendations in Reykjavik check out this post here.
The weather in Iceland is extremely unpredictable. One minute you’re in a t-shirt the next it’s raining and cold. You can check the local weather on your phone but be prepared for all sorts of weather even if you go during Summer.
What to pack is really subjective based on the kind of Iceland trip you’re taking and the time of year you’re going. However I think it is safe to say regardless of the time of year definitely pack lots of layers, as I mentioned with the unpredictable weather you’ll need it. A camera, bathing suit and rain coat will definitely also come in handy!
The credit card is king. Virtually every place we stopped gas stations, small shots, restaurants, swimming pools all accept cards. We never used cash though I typically always carry cash as a back up, I didn’t this time. Keep in mind the foreign transaction fee’s you might incur on your credit card. We used our Chase Sapphire card to avoid the extra fee’s plus we got a lot of extra points out of using it as well!
Iceland was hands down one of the most amazing places to visit. I hope all of these post you’ll find helpful, leave a comment below if you have any additional questions I can help with!
