Iceland budget, pics, review inside

[tacom]

 IT WAS AMAZING. Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who recommended Iceland as a vacation destination. As you know, this was our first international trip and it turned out to be a perfect fit. We got a wonderful mix of city life/culture/nature in a place we felt very safe. The city is small and easily accessible, there is no language barrier, everyone was so friendly, and visa/mastercard are excepted everywhere.

Because we are novice travelers, we stayed in Reykjavik every night and only did day trips/tours. For those who are more comfortable, there are plenty of more adventurous options, including renting a car and exploring rural Iceland on your own! 

Enough of that though -- time for photos and the budget!

Logistics:

• Travel: We flew overnight and arrived Friday morning (8/8) and departed Wednesday am (8/13)
• Hotel: CenterHotel Thingholt (pros: location, free breakfast, great service. cons: tacky decor, close proximity to the bar made it hard to fall asleep on the weekend)

Friday: 

We arrived at 9:30am local time (4:30am CST) and immediately paid the early check-in fee so we could nap. This was a REALLY great decision. 

After the best nap ever, we showered and spent the afternoon exploring the city and sampling street food. We hit up the Micro Bar for a 10-beer flight and it lived up to the hype. Icelandic beer is delicious! 11pm sunsets are also kind of awesome.




Saturday: The next morning we woke up and headed out for our I heart Reykjavik Tour, recommended by v. Auður is charming, knowledgable, and in love with the city. 

      

After the tour, we grabbed some infamous Icelandic hot dogs and browsed the flea market. Next it was time for the pride parade, which is huge there. It's an event the whole family attends and the overwhelming community support is heartwarming. About 320,000 people live in Iceland and this parade attracts almost 100,000. Awesome!

After the parade, we grabbed drinks at an outdoor festival then went up to the tower for this view: 

That night we went out for dinner at an unmarked pizzeria we learned about on the tour. We enjoyed pickled veggies, sausage, pizza, Icelandic cheese and bread with jam, and more beer. We stopped by a free outdoor concert at Bar 11 before heading home.

[monsterz]

Looks amazing. I need to get to Iceland one of these days.

[tacom]

Sunday: 
Sunday we went horseback riding and an afternoon Golden Circle Tour. FI and I both agree horseback riding through those mountains made for one of the best experiences we've ever had. I would highly recommend this! Laxnes Horse Farm. We enjoyed a home-cooked meal in the farm's kitchen after our tour. 


   

After horseback riding, we went on the Golden Circle Tour, which was also incredible and a trip highlight. 
We visited Thingvellir National Park (where the Euroasian and North American tectonic plates are pulling apart, Geysir geothermal area, and Gullfoss waterfall. 







After such an incredible day, we came home and grabbed an easy dinner at Hamborgarabullan. Also delicious.

[v]

Your photos are gorgeous and it looks like you mostly lucked out with the weather?

[tacom]

Monday: 
Today was treat yo'self day. We hit up the Blue Lagoon and made reservations at Grill Market, home of some of the most delicious food I've eaten!

 

We enjoyed a few drinks at the swim-up bar, rubbed silica all over our faces, and soaked our sore muscles. 

Afterwards, we continued with the relaxation theme of the day and napped before we feasted. We had warm raisin bread with butter and lava salt, lamb skewer, green salad, the fish platter, a rib eye, and beer. SO much delicious food!
 
 

[tacom]

Tuesday: 
This was our last day in Iceland. We slept in, ate a late breakfast at the hotel, then walked the city again. 

We stopped at the Reykjavík 871 +/-2 museum, drank coffee on the big rocks along the shoreline, checked out all the local shops and picked up our souvenirs (a Christmas ornament for me, a pocketknife for FI, and lava salt for both of us), ate lunch at the Deli. 

That afternoon, we went on a whale watching tour. I felt slightly seasick despite taking meds, but it was still a cool experience. We saw a couple minke, porpoise, and a variety of seabirds.

 Dinner was pizza (again ) followed by an assortment of desserts from Vegamot -- cake, brownies, and wine in bed! 


 

[sometimesrunner]

Your trip looks amazing! So glad you had a great time. How long was the flight?

[bittybomb]

My husband's grandmother was born and raised in Iceland, and when she passed, he went with his aunt there to bury some of his grandmother's ashes with her family there.

He came back with the most amazing pictures. Seriously a beautiful country.

[Deleted]

Ooo, so pretty! Thanks for the recap!!!

And glad to see you back!

[tacom]

Now, to make it MM -- the budget! We expected this trip to cost around $5,697, but we ended up coming in almost $800 under budget. We came in under on tours, food, and shopping but went slightly over on the hotel.

I have a line item breakdown below, but major spending categories were:
$596.41 food (free breakfast helped!)
$745.57 on tours, sight seeing, and museums
$28.29 shopping
$3,591 flight + hotel (package from expedia)

[tacom]

Aug 18, 2014 10:40:03 GMT -5 v said:

Your photos are gorgeous and it looks like you mostly lucked out with the weather?

Thank you! I shot everything with my iPhone and now I really want a DSLR. The weather was amazing. Mostly sunny and clear skies, which I know is usually not the case! 

[tacom]

Aug 18, 2014 11:00:28 GMT -5 sometimesrunner said:

Your trip looks amazing! So glad you had a great time. How long was the flight?

Chi--> NY 2 hr, 13 min
NY --> Reykjavik 5 hr, 33 min

Reykjavik --> NY 5 hr, 54 min
NY --> Chi 2 hr, 57 min

layovers sucked though - it took us 18 hours to get home, which felt like a bit much. I think we're going to narrow our honeymoon search to direct flights only. 

[bostonmichelle]

This is awesome. I'm marking Iceland down as a possible next trip for DH and I due to these fabulous pictures. I'm glad you had a great time and the pictures are amazing!!

[hellonurse]

Awesome, thank you for sharing! This makes me even more excited for our trip!

[cransplash]

Thank you for sharing. Iceland was never on top of my list (due to ignorance), but after reading your review, I am adding it to our travel map. Beautiful photos!

[sometimesrunner]

Aug 18, 2014 11:36:13 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

sometimesrunner, did you used to have a different screen name?

Here, no. A LONG time ago on the nest, yes.

[sicilygirl]

Looks like lots of fun! Iceland is on my short list for international vacations over the next couple of years.

[SJ]

Sounds like a great trip! Thank you for sharing.

[M]

Wow! Awesome trip! Really nice pictures you got!

[CloudBee]

The hot dogs were the highlight of your trip, RIGHT?

[tacom]

Aug 18, 2014 14:24:13 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

The hot dogs were the highlight of your trip, RIGHT?

they really were delicious.

as a condiment freak, I really felt like I belonged there. 

[CloudBee]

Aug 18, 2014 14:28:56 GMT -5 tacom said:

Aug 18, 2014 14:24:13 GMT -5 CloudBee said:

The hot dogs were the highlight of your trip, RIGHT?

they really were delicious.

as a condiment freak, I really felt like I belonged there. 

www.scandinavianfoodstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_17&products_id=186

and

www.scandinavianfoodstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7&products_id=339

and

www.scandinavianfoodstore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_7&products_id=357

You're welcome.

[tacom]

omg. we're purging the apartment of junky food right now but I'm bookmarking for later! thank you!

[mrshandy]

Awesome! I've always wanted to go. It looks amazing!

[melmel48]

What an amazing trip! Maybe I can go in two years! My vacation budget will be very low next year because I am in two weddings... so maybe the following year I can beef up the vacation budget!

Thank you for sharing!

[thebulldog]

Awesome photos and that is such a reasonable price.
Tell me more about Blue Lagoon.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[tacom]

Aug 18, 2014 15:31:10 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Awesome photos and that is such a reasonable price.
Tell me more about Blue Lagoon.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

the blue lagoon is a geothermal spa located in the middle of a lava field near Reykjavik. the water is actually heated via a geothermal power plant, which makes it the nicest (and only) waste I've ever soaked in.  it is super rich in minerals like silica and sulphur that are supposed to help with skin ailments. they have buckets of silica mud for soakers to smear all over their bodies. I have acne and hyper-pigmentation and it felt like any other mud mask to me.

you can pay $$$ to get massages while floating in the steamy water. we just went with the basic entry because I didn't want all of the stuff that came in the more expensive packages and my fiancé massaged me for free. no shame! 

[thebulldog]

Aug 18, 2014 15:44:52 GMT -5 tacom said:

Aug 18, 2014 15:31:10 GMT -5 thebulldog said:

Awesome photos and that is such a reasonable price.
Tell me more about Blue Lagoon.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

the blue lagoon is a geothermal spa located in the middle of a lava field near Reykjavik. the water is actually heated via a geothermal power plant, which makes it the nicest (and only) waste I've ever soaked in.  it is super rich in minerals like silica and sulphur that are supposed to help with skin ailments. they have buckets of silica mud for soakers to smear all over their bodies. I have acne and hyper-pigmentation and it felt like any other mud mask to me.

you can pay $$$ to get massages while floating in the steamy water. we just went with the basic entry because I didn't want all of the stuff that came in the more expensive packages and my fiancé massaged me for free. no shame! 

Oh i have heard of it but never "knew" anyone who had actually been there beside reading TA reviews.

i be typing from me phone. typos and grammer dont count.

[scout8]

Thanks for sharing. Sounds like a great trip!

[tacom]

thebulldog I had to go -- it was one the first things I ever learned about Iceland. My second favorite college professor was born and raised in Reykjavik and loved to share pictures and stories during lectures.

another local we spoke to says "everyone has to go -- once." the hot pools throughout the city seem like the more logical option for frequent soakers given how expensive the lagoon can be.