Iceland

[Anzxio]

At the weekend i arrived home from 12 days in Iceland. I covered the ring road in that time, and managed to drive 2,500miles!

I am currently still working on sorting through images, but thought i would post a few thoughts here to help others going on similar trips.

My route is covered here:
https://www.google.com/fusiontables/...z=7&t=1&l=col2
(the colours are for different days)

I recorded the route with my iPhone using GeotagPhotos. I am very impressed by the app as it has worked incredibly well (even when it had no signal), and didn't have a huge affect on battery life.

I am using HoudahGeo on my Mac to geotag photos using the GPX files from GeotagPhotos.

My route was as follows:
- Fly in to Keflavik and drive to Reykjavik
- Stay one night in Reykjavik
- Do the Golden Circle (Thingvelir, Geysir, Gullfoss)
- Stay in Selfoss
- Drive to Landmannalaugar and hike around
- Stay in Selfoss one last night
- Drive to Vik (photographing the waterfalls on the way)
- Stay one night in Vik
- Drive to Skaftafell
- Do a glacier hike and check out Svartifoss
- Stay in Skaftafell
- Drive to Hofn (passing Jokulsarlon and other lagoons)
- Stay one night in Hofn
- Drive to Husavik
- Passing along the East coast, and MyVatn
- Stay in Husavik
- Spend the day in MyVatn
- Go whale watching!
- Stay in Husavik again
- Drive to Akureyri (via MyVatn again)
- Stay in Akureyri (and photograph Godafoss at night)
- Drive to Stykkisholmur on the Snaefells Peninsula
- Stay one night
- Drive to Reykjavik
- Stay in Reykjavik
- Go on the 'Inside the Volcano' tour
- Fly home!


The following sites were of massive amounts of help (in addition to a proper map, and Lonley Planet guide):
- http://www.international-photographe...days_index.htm (buy the eBook. It is VERY helpful)
- http://en.vedur.is/ (you will look at this a lot...)
- http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowFor...3-Iceland.html

Random other points...
- I stayed in hotels and guesthouses, and the guesthouses were very good. I did not camp or use hostels.
- Food is the only thing i found shockingly expensive. If you have meals that aren't pizza/burger then expect to pay £25-£30 for a basic meal, and £7 for a glass on wine. The quality is also very variable, but the price less so.
- The weather was MUCH better than expected
- Having a 3g data sim for my iPhone was really helpful. Especially for checking weather, looking at what i could see the following day, and using maps. They are ~£10 from Simin or Vodafone in Iceland
- Having a 4x4 (even a small one like a Suzuki Grand Vitara is mostly essential if you go very far)
- Don't expect to get the 'midnight sun' every night, as it's very often too cloudy
- If you take cash, then only take small amounts, maybe £50 worth. They use cards for EVERYTHING!

I will post some photos soon, but if anyone has questions then please ask (whilst it's still fresh in my mind!).

[mesodan]

Overall, how much did your trip cost? Ball park, e.g. $300 per day.

[Anzxio]

~£275 (~$430)/day (this includes everything)

This was NOT a luxurious trip, but was just me.


As a rough breakdown of costs (ignoring flights):
- £60/day car rental
- £40/day fuel
- £80/day accommodation
- £20/day food