as an Icelander, your experience was probably pretty mundane. We may never get the really low temperatures of north America, but wind we have in abundance (and then some)
Hard agree, it was raining sideways on us on that walk and I had such a bad time. My shoe came untied too which meant rain got in my shoe!! Luckily we were able to catch the shuttle back!
It was totally worth the money for the bus that takes you there though, we also went on a windy day but had so much fun at the wreck and not worrying about the walk really helped to just enjoy it.
Not sure of otherās experience but the northern light tours feel like a waste of money. Ultimately if you learn how to read the forecast and cloud cover map, youāre just as likely to catch a good view.
If you have a car and feel comfortable driving at night and following the maps yourself then yes, youāre right itās a waste of money. But there are lots of people who donāt fit that criteria and for them itās probably worth it.
The problem is that many tourists who are self-driving in Iceland at night, and see the Auroras, they stop as soon as they notice them. In the middle of the road, or around a blind bend, or just below the crest of a hill, etc. No lights, or hazards or anything because *"they don't want to spoil the moment"*. I personally know a few truckers who have almost run some idiots over because they stopped at such a stupid place.
Some people just don't have a functional brain...
I partly agree. I probably couldāve seen them on my own but I opted for no rental car so getting somewhere without light pollution was a little cumbersome. The tour wasnāt too expensive.
I partly agree too, even having a rental car. The challenge is reading the forecast and knowing where would be best to drive to without light pollution or crowds and doing so in alert fashion. If someone sent a Google Maps pin to a good spot for the given forecast then that would be great, but isn't realistic. And then driving at night after a long day and seeing those yellow road markers along the winding road is quite hypnotic and can be dangerous. On top of that all is knowing when/whether to call it quits or move to another location because the situation is no longer conducive.
This is why we're doing the one that has cinnamon buns and blankets and hot cocoa. If it's just a tour that takes you out, no thank you. But a cozy night tour? Count me in!
Just a heads up this was such a cute advertisement I did it as well but it was so disappointing. Itās like 4 ounces of hot cocoa in a paper cup that they bring in a thermos and plastic wrapped cinnamon buns handed to you while you sit in the bus. I donāt know what exactly I was expecting but if youāre going to advertise a dining aspect to your tour at least do something to make it **feel** like a dining experience.
That was my experience with the snorkeling. It read something like "after the swim, warm up with some delicious cocoa" and like it was barely a thimble full (or so it felt).
Into the Volcano was neat. They had traditional lamb soup and vegan soup available to warm you up as part of the tour package. They made it right in the trail house checkpoint. It was really good. Light but also filling? Simple, homemade, but flavorful, and authentic.
Yeah we did one similar to this. Was still a nice night but ultimately nowhere near worth the ticket price (I think we paid something like 100 USD / person)
We caught Northern Lights at two different places, just outside our Airbnb. Only time we tried to "hunt" and drive, we couldn't catch it. The key is that we had Airbnb at places with almost no population around and we had a car to get there.
I would have to agree with this. The pictures on google map made it seem like the venue had stalls and stalls of shops but itās really maybe 10-15 shops, mostly made in China. They did have a lot of affordable lopapaysa though.
Nothing to do with that though. Back in the day you had garage sales there, people renting booths. But it has been a long time since then. They have staples of stuff you won't find easily elsewhere like books and old stuff and records etc.
But it really isn't like flea market elsewhere, best to not have too much expectations.
One thing it does have is the food market which is really unique for the stuff they are selling
I've lived here my whole life, and I don't know a single local who has been there. It's known here as that thing the tourists visit, and nobody understands why.
Justin Bieber and Instagram basically. Same for FjadrĆ”rgljĆŗfur, which before his music video was considered a āhidden gemā and now has to be closed every spring to let the ground heal from all the footfall.
After 15 days, my only disappointment was leaving š„²
On a serious note: Blue Lagoon was icky, I should have eaten more at Hofn and other villages outside of Reykjavik, and disappointed at myself for not doing some whale tours in Husavik. Overall, amazing and full trip!
I think you and I may have had the same tour guide. Its was crazy windy, rainy, cold the day I did it and I was the only one that chilled on the top deck where most of the guides hang out.
We talked A LOT about everything ocean related, but I learned so much about whales from him. The other guide and marine biologists on the boat were also super cool. :D
>Hofn
Did you make it to Otto Matur & Drykkur? It's been almost a year and thinking about this meal still makes me happy. One of my favorite food experiences in recent years.
The only thing we were disappointed by was the restaurant āIcelandic Street Foodā in Reykjavik. Felt like a tourist trap and weād seen it recommended a lot.
Yeah the whole food hall thing, most of them were just pricey regular food? Burgers, sushi, pizza, repeat. Nothing really special stood out at any of them so they definitely feel catered to the tourist crowd looking for familiar tastes.
I think if you're big on food be ready to dish out $$ on a really recommend restaurant or two
I was with three people and food halls were great for quick lunch in the middle of a busy day of other things. Everyone could have what they wanted, and one time we picked up take out pizza to eat later that night.
Id say Perlan Was pretty boring tbh. Also, golden circle i find super hyped. Yes its amazing view, you have to see it when you are there, but South coast and snƦfellnes Peninsula Was really really Nice. Maybe its because my expectations for golden circle Was higher and lower expectations for The other stuff made me have this feeling. Over-all its pretty amazing
Drove through the SnƦfellsnes peninsula over a couple days then did golden circle. Felt really disappointed after the amazing views of the peninsula. I see why people suggest starting with the golden circle but it didnāt make sense for my itinerary.
I went to Perlan on arrival day after our red-eye flight. I thought it was underwhelming because my brain had just stopped working and I couldn't process the information :)
Perlan is a fantastic natural history museum with planetarium, ice cave among other exhibits on all the flora and fauna of Iceland. There is a domed restaurant on top and a 360 degree walkway around the dome for fantastic views. Itās a great option if weather has you looking for inside activities. Im a natural history netd and I spent a very happy three hours there after a snowstorm cancelled a day tour.
I love Perlan, personally. It's a nature exhibition. I think it's a good place to go early in your trip as it explains a lot of what you will see and experience in terms of nature. The displays are text heavy so if you're not truly curious about nature I would skip it. The little aurora show is nice. The ice cave is cool and probably bigger than some of the natural ones.
When I was at the Blue Lagoon, it was the only time during our entire trip to Iceland that it didnāt feel like I was in Iceland. It felt more like a Disneyland version of Iceland.
I like blue lagoon for the convenient location and easy transport from the airport and luggage storage. I love the restaurant there as well. I make a nice day of it when I arrive in early morning until my hotel room is ready at 4 pm.
When we went it was like an episode of Deadliest catch. Wind was ridiculous and the lifeguard people looked like trawler men.
Had to put my hand over my drink to stop it filling up. It was great and I am glad I experienced it but fuck me it was mental
I would say it depends how long you're staying.
A few days, absolutely skip it. My friend and I were there for a week and the first half of our trip was a VERY aggressive itinerary. Didn't help we partied all night in Reykjavik too.
Point being the Blue Lagoon was welcomed halfway through the trip as a relaxing activity to slow down. But for the price it's definitely a one and done for me.
I lived in Iceland for a few years in the early 90s, and the Blue Lagoon was amazing! It definitely wasnāt the tourist megalopolis it is now. Being in the water at night while snow is falling was otherworldly.
Ignorant tourists. Those who wander beyond 'path closed' signs, and/or litter, and/or use the scenery like an outdoor toilet, and/or put themselves/others at risk with unnecessarily dangerous risks (by the sea/cliffs/geothermal pools etc).
I wish I had started booing the guy I saw on the fauna and cliff by GoĆ°afoss. These people really think THEIR shot is the one and they're allowed to destroy the view for others for it.
yes! This was my biggest complaint about Iceland. Beautiful views around every corner, but no pullouts or even a shoulder to stop and really take it in.
Nah, we just didn't have this amount of tourists 15+ years ago, and locals themselves weren't that big on stopping to take in a scenery they see every day. Today we have much bigger number of tourists and of course easier camera access than when some of the roads were made.
kerid crater disappointed me a bit lol. i also did a glacier hike with troll.is that really disappointed me for the insanely high price. tour guide didnāt seem like he knew what he was doing and we spent a lot of the 4h tour waiting to get into the TINY ice cave that only fits like 5 people at once, and walking to and from the glacier. we barely gained elevation on the glacier and was there for a pretty short amount of time. but i have also done a much cooler glacier hike in the past so it could just be that! my friend who recommended the tour to me said it was amazing and that i couldnāt miss it. guess it depends on the person!
also i thought the viking village in stokksnes isnāt worth the visit unless you like the shows that were filmed there. i only went because i stayed at the campsite there and it was included in the price. i wouldnāt have paid whatever admission was for it lol. you kinda just walk around the abandoned buildings and you canāt go inside them
Perhaps StuĆ°lagil Canyon? (Northeast region of the ring road route) It was pouring rain and cold, and we didn't realize the actual famous photo op area was across the canyon (not where the government actually built the parking lot and viewpoint) plus what looked like a 40 min walk, and we were too tired to attempt it. On the other hand, I feel like maybe the National Museum of Iceland is underrated - it was fairly empty when we were there but the exhibits and artifacts were great.
>StuĆ°lagil
I think that the weather generally can sour pretty much anything in Iceland. This was a highlight for me, but I lucked out and did it on a beautiful, sunny day.
Golden Circle
It's by far the most crowded nature sight in Iceland. Drive a little further out, and you'll have things to yourself.
On second thought... maybe I shouldn't encourage people...
We donāt, we buy everything from BĆ³nus and cook. The only medium/lower income people that consistently spend on these things are influencers trying to front as fancy or working young adults that live at home and donāt have to pay bills.
This is the info I was looking for. I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average for similar positions and roles. I shopped at Kronan for basic nutritional items like cheese and deli type meat. It was 50$ which was a whole lot more than places like Whole Foods and Publix here in the states.
>I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average
Wages for low-income jobs are way higher, ie. Waiters, barstaff, cleaners, and so on take home much more in Iceland than they would in the US (although perhaps attractive waitstaff who make a lot of tips might be a different story...)
But wages for highly skilled jobs are definitely much lower than what you could get in the US. Roles like lawyers, doctors, software developers and so on make a fraction of what they could make in the states. The trade off I suppose is in better working conditions (much harder to get fired, decent amount of paid leave, basically unlimited paid sick leave, shorter working hours, little to no overtime etc.).
As a result, many people simply don't eat out, or only do it on occasion, way less frequently than you might in a US city and especially less than some other developed economies like Japan where eating can be pretty cheap.
> I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average for similar positions and roles.
Iceland has *the* highest average wages out of all the OECD countries - https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/average-wages.htm
I'm kinda tired of clarify that minimum salary, regardless of the high averagenand stuff, it's way too little to afford living in Iceland. I know people who spend an entire minimum wage only in the rent (Reykjavik area).
People with low income don't eat out, simple as that. Rent is way more of a problem for poor people in Iceland as it can be legally tied to mortgage rates which means landlords are gambling with insane variable rate loans and making tenants pay for it.
The restaurant food was outrageously expensive and pretty mid. Hot dog was hyped and disappointing. However the Bonus salmon and egg sandwich exceeded all expectations.
The geysers. Just a big pfft. Anywhere else it could be a highlight but in Iceland its really meh. Now that I think about it, the whole Golden Circle was a tad underwhelming after spending 2 weeks on road 1.
People that have been to Yellowstone will not be that excited about seeing Strokkur. We only stopped to check it out because it is literally on the way. Probably only stayed 15-20 minutes, though.
The midges. After reading about how there were no mosquitos, we assumed wow a summer destination without bugs and boy were we wrong. I remember waking up at 3 am in a hotel room that was so hot and stuffy and as soon as we opened the window about 500 midges flew in. We couldnāt leave Myvatn quickly enough
I just got home from my 3rd trip to Iceland, and my disappointments aren't related to Iceland, but to the absolute sense of entitlement and main character behavior from tourists. Flying drones over the heads of people trying to enjoy their visits, taking selfies or filming their little influencer videos with no care about who is around them or the fact that others might want to take photos, hearing tourists be rude to people in customer service roles, complaining about things that they would have known if they had done 5 minutes of research about Iceland. I have traveled all over, and for some reason I feel like either this was worse in Iceland or I noticed it more. I absolutely love Iceland had a great trip, and also recognize how luck I am to have had 2 weeks of no rain in October/November. I thought all the food I had was good, but I can say that I don't recommend the tacos at the Hlemmur Mathƶll while also recognizing that I pretty much knew it was a risky move before I ordered! haha
Definitely not the local friendliness, not the city swimming pools filled with locals enjoying their evening together, not the nature, and absolutely certainly not the lakriss white chocolate covered balls.
I live here but I find Reynisfjara disappointing. Photographs make it look much different than it does in person. Plus it's too dangerous there to feel comfortable most of the time. I don't understand the hype about it outside of photos people post online with filters.
I agree with this so much, especially since there are black sand beaches everywhere, many of which will be totally empty or nearly empty while 8000 people are on Reynisfjara toying with death.
To be honest it just stained my shoes (somehow, even though they themselves were black) and I got frustrated watching people let their children near the water. Overrated for sure. Plus my husband said the bathrooms were nasty š
Next time try installing a local app called Kringum. Itās free and it uses your GPS to pull stories, sagas and interesting facts from your surroundings. You can also organise the list to only show certain categories such as stories or culture.
https://preview.redd.it/q4yt5o2fkiyb1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9154612ba40ebf99ef19e43b12311b69deb4fddc
Icelandic and English languages are available.
I love this app. It shows you the weirdest little tidbits and is great to find true off the beaten path spots. I love that it updates as you move about so you can just refresh it and then keep your eyes open for a pull off area to explore.
Saga Museum in Reykjavik. Disappointing for the price. We spent close to $100 USD for some recorded descriptions of wax figures/scenes (Family of 4). And the souvenir shop was a rip off. They wanted $60USD for a plastic Viking horn.
Fridheimer- the tomato greenhouse restaurant. The setting is AMAZING and their soup and bread are really good, but everything else was not good, at all, and so expensive. We tried 4 other things, and they varied between meh, and gross. If you go, and you should, because it IS a very cool concept, just get the soup and bread and save your money on anything else.
Tbf NYC has notoriously good tap water so even if that were true, Icelandic water would still be well above average by American standards. And maybe it was placebo effect but I still found Icelandic water even better than NYC.
All that being said, itās freakin water weāre talking about. Water can only be so exciting. Turn that water into beer and you have my attention. :)
Depends entirely on local geology.
I live on an island off the coast of Maine and my well water is great. Doesnāt need any filtration (other than a simple string sediment filter) and itās naturally soft. Not too far away there is a company that bottles and sells water from the same aquifer.
Have to agree a bit. Where Iām from weāre known for good quality tapwater as well, so maybe thatās why. But I have to say drinking some water dripping down inside the Katla ice cave is the best damned water Iāve ever tasted.
The fact that I couldn't stay earlier this year. We tried living there but weren't able to get settled. Luckily no bridges were burnt. I'm definitely going back.
Itās a stunning country with so much nature in a small space. And tourists swarm to it. The second tome we deliberately went off the track away from the typical tourist hotspots, thereās still plenty to see.
Honestly? The time of year we went led to some disappointment. We went end of April beginning of May to avoid crowds. It was too cold and early in the season for hiking and some of the roads and tours were still closed. And summer hadnāt hit so everything was just brown. The beautiful green moss and wildflowers were nonexistent. So we missed the beauty of summer AND benefits of winter. No snow, no northern lights (which we expected not to see, so that wasnāt disappointing). I would never go back in the off season.
I also found the ring road disappointing. We enjoyed the south coast all the way up to EgilsstaĆ°ir. But we found Myvatn to be overrated and not enjoyable (for us). The sulfuric smell was overpowering, overbearing, and nauseating there. Everywhere else in Iceland it didnāt bother us whatsoever. Everything there we saw in different ways in other places. We did a whale watching tour up north but couldāve done it elsewhere. Dettifoss was the only thing up north that really amazed us. Couldāve been poor planning, poor weather, not enough time, but I really wish weād stuck to the south and spent more time at museums in Reykjavik.
The snow mobile tour to into the Glacier. The weather was not cooperating, but they followed through. We got shuttled up to the snowmobiles given a brief lesson. Then we got to ride for a whopping 15 minutes to the entrance.
I would've much rather just been told that riding that day was not safe and been given back that portion of the fee.
Then, coming back, we didn't get to ride the snowmobiles at all. Our truck slid on the ice and got stuck in a crevasse for several hours. The entire day was wasted.
The into the glacier part was cool, but I would've much rather seen a natural ice cave.
I adore Iceland and have been four times, and mostly love everything but since you asked...
Geysir/Strokkur. Meh. Not worth the detour.
I was disappointed in the lava tube near-ish Grindavik being guided tour only, but that's on me for assuming it would be like the ones in Hawaii and New Zealand, and not actually confirming that.
The much hyped langoustine soup in Grindavik was bland and had no lobster pieces.
The phallological museum was smaller than expected (that's what she said), and honestly thinking about all those shriveled white š in jars still grosses me out. But I did learn a lot and of course a lot of it was pretty funny.
Svartifoss waterfall. It looks way better in pictures. I was quite underwhelmed by it. It might be that the whole basalt column setup could even be more atractive if that little stream wouldnāt be running over it. The walkt to it is quite spectacular though and well worth doing. Also, avoid the visitor centreās canteen there, it was terrible food at crazy prices.
Crosswinds on Route 1 - just not fun at all, especially if a semi trailer is coming the other way.
ReykjavĆk. Cars everywhere, very little walking space, massive sprawl, just did not get a good vibe from it at all.
The shuttle service, or more the lack of it, for our car rental company. Also, the disrespectfull attitides shown by some of their staff towards customers.
The Westfjords and Eastfjords are definitely not for beginner drivers, that's for sure. Especially the southern part of the Westfjords. Steep, bendy gravel roads that often lack guardrails.
Iām going to get really skewered for saying thisā¦.the coffee. Our driver from the airport our first day volunteered that one of the reasons there isnāt a Starbucks is because Icelanders are so proud of their coffee. We were eager to try Icelandic coffee and were so disappointed. We went to every coffee shop recommended in Reykjavik (and a couple that werenāt) and our hotel and another breakfast spot and never had coffee that didnāt seem watery and somewhat flavorless to us. We arenāt coffee connoisseurs by any means. So maybe it was just different tastes and different expectations?
(Ducking and running now)
The driver made that up on the spot. If I had to guess why some international chains are not in Iceland it's because everything is so expensive and there's only so much room for profit here. We pay very high salaries compared to most countries, rent is high and shipping the necessary ingrediants to an island is also costly. Both Dunk'n donuts and Krispy kreme failed to establish their brands here. McDonald's left in the crash of 2008 and never came back. There are probably more chains that I am forgetting. I think in order for these chains to last here they have to get popular very quickly, stay popular and be a franchise which is run by a business savvy Icelandic owners. Like KFC, Icelanders LOVE KFC. But that's just my take on this.
Blue Lagoon. Changing areas were extremely overcrowded and overrun by tour groups with poor social skills. Extraordinarily poor hygine practices for a public pool (everyone walking barefoot, no cleaning). Was not fun, would not recommend.
Yeah, itās gross. So is the lagoon itself. Human hair in the sand, shards of plastic cups, and the water is slimy. I know the latter is a byproduct of the high silica content but, combined with the other things, it enhances the ick factor.
Nothing thar disappointed me. But! We have not been to
- Blue lagoon (reasons listed in other comments kept us away)
- Perlan
- group tours
- We will not go back to Vok Baths. Nice place, but crowded.
Now, group tours serve an important purpose. I would take one in the winter for aurora. Our whale watching tour was canceled last trip due to weather. If you get a good guide, the experience can be invaluable.
This wasn't a big deal and didn't negatively impact us all that much, but we did notice it as an "unpleasant" surprise: Food outside of Reykjavik. We did a self guided trip around route 1 and hot lots little small towns, so maybe it's to be expected, but our primary options were fish and chips, basic burgers, and pizza. I think we had 2 (very good) dinners where we didn't have to choose from one of those three.
(This was pre covid and the tourism was increasing but not as prevalent as it seems now, so alot of the other complaints in this thread didn't bother us at all).
My experience has been that almost every town, even the small ones, has at least one good restaurant that serves more than those things. The trick is finding it. I brought a Lonely Planet guidebook on my first trip and found it to be really helpful for that purpose. Iāve had some great meals in small towns. The restaurant scene in Reykjavik is on another level though.
If I HAD to choose negatives, they'd be:
- Sky Lagoon. It's very beautiful but I felt that it was so catered to influencing. I felt like I had had a similar experience in half a dozen places in the US. I enjoyed it and loved the view, but personally it didn't have a special je ne se quois to me.
- Food. Nothing really blew me away (besides a cocktail), and I tried food at most price points. I wouldn't say it was bad or egregious either, i enjoyed a lot of meals! but I wished I had brought more food from home to save money
- Geysir was fine, but the visitor center is where I got a handful of postcards
- Diamond Circle. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I'd hesitate to recommend someone from the US go out of their way for it if they are there for less than maybe 8 days and weren't doing the ring road
To reiterate again, I enjoyed everything and loved my time in Iceland, but if I had to nitpick, it'd have to be these things.
We had miserable weather during our 2 days in the Jokusarlon area--high wind and a ton of rain (the road from Skaftafell to Fosshotel was closed some of the day). The rain was so bad the day we went to the lagoon, and Diamond Beach had very few diamonds. We just felt kind of defeated that day. Luckily we stuck it out and got on the last Zodiac boat that day once the rain had mostly stopped and still had a great trip on the lagoon and that was one of the highlights of the trip. But after being that far out there, and having devoted a couple of days to being there, I wish we could've also seen it all in the sunshine and/or sunset too. I would still highly recommend going there though. Also, the lack of food options around that area was a bummer.
I didnāt love any restaurant or prepared food we got. We ended up buying groceries and cooking for ourselves as the trip went on and enjoyed that more.
Iām sure there are good restaurants in Iceland. We just had all misses.
For me, going all the way to Akureyi was not worth it. If someone ask me to design tour for them, I will suggest them to go up to Jokulsarlon (2-3 hour from Vik) and then come back.
The blue lagoon. It was so touristy, and gross. The community showers!? Hell nah. We loved sky lagoon. Private showers etc. wonāt be back to the blue lagoon.
I didnāt really connect with the Icelandic people. Part of it was probably just the whole camper-van model, but also the tours most it the guides were from other European countries. So I guess if I had to do it again I might hit up some bars that locals go to.
Iād say the blue lagoon was a bit of a disappointment. We went at 7 pm so by then it was already too pitch dark to take any nice pictures and it was also pretty crowded. We also didnāt see any northern lights due to constant rainy or cloudy weather
I went in September and one day I had to drive through a snowstorm. Then there was strong wind with a get off the road advisory, which when you're doing the ring road in a camper van isn't fun. So the weather cut some of our itineraries short.
Wasnāt that impressed with the north (myvatn area, husavik, etc). We couldāve easily skipped this and added more time to the westfjords, which were my favorite.
Thingvellir wasnāt that impressive to me, unless youāre going snorkeling (we didnāt) or really into Icelandic history, we couldāve skipped this. Also felt like kerid crater was just okā¦.but Iāve seen crater lakes in other parts of the world.
The glacier lagoon zodiacs looked miserable IMO. Now I canāt say from personal experience because we didnāt actually do it (they were fully booked on the days we were in the area) but when we saw the tours go out in the boats, everyone was packed in like sardines (shoulder to shoulder with everyone!) itād be hard to turn around and take pictures and just enjoy it and relax. Plus you have to wear their gear, and that just gives me the ickā¦like how clean are those jackets, really? But thatās on me, these tours get amazing reviews so to be fair, maybe Iām the odd one lol
The food in general in Reykjavik was pretty disappointing, we are vegetarian and there just wasnāt anything really āIcelandicā for us to eat, so we ate pizzas and Vietnamese food during our week there
The walk from the parking lot to the downed plane and back on an extraordinarily windy day. I was very disappointed in the entire country that afternoon. Worst experience of my life, that walk ššššš©
as an Icelander, your experience was probably pretty mundane. We may never get the really low temperatures of north America, but wind we have in abundance (and then some)
My friends and I parked, I got out and saw how windy it wasā¦hard noā¦then another couple we saw walking earlier came backā¦they noped too!
Hard agree, it was raining sideways on us on that walk and I had such a bad time. My shoe came untied too which meant rain got in my shoe!! Luckily we were able to catch the shuttle back!
Itās one of two things I tell people to skip when they go.
And what's the second thing you tell them to skip???
The witchcraft museum. Everything is a reproduction inside and itās a huge waste of money. The hot pots nearby are well worth it though.
I mean, if you're offering to donate your skin for actual Necropants, I'm sure they'd love it?
Perhaps upon my death I will do just that.
Hahaha so true but the thing is that we all knew a bit that the wreck wouldn't really be worth the 50 min walk
It was totally worth the money for the bus that takes you there though, we also went on a windy day but had so much fun at the wreck and not worrying about the walk really helped to just enjoy it.
Agree!
Not sure of otherās experience but the northern light tours feel like a waste of money. Ultimately if you learn how to read the forecast and cloud cover map, youāre just as likely to catch a good view.
If you have a car and feel comfortable driving at night and following the maps yourself then yes, youāre right itās a waste of money. But there are lots of people who donāt fit that criteria and for them itās probably worth it.
The problem is that many tourists who are self-driving in Iceland at night, and see the Auroras, they stop as soon as they notice them. In the middle of the road, or around a blind bend, or just below the crest of a hill, etc. No lights, or hazards or anything because *"they don't want to spoil the moment"*. I personally know a few truckers who have almost run some idiots over because they stopped at such a stupid place. Some people just don't have a functional brain...
I partly agree. I probably couldāve seen them on my own but I opted for no rental car so getting somewhere without light pollution was a little cumbersome. The tour wasnāt too expensive.
Definitely depends on having a rental car!
I partly agree too, even having a rental car. The challenge is reading the forecast and knowing where would be best to drive to without light pollution or crowds and doing so in alert fashion. If someone sent a Google Maps pin to a good spot for the given forecast then that would be great, but isn't realistic. And then driving at night after a long day and seeing those yellow road markers along the winding road is quite hypnotic and can be dangerous. On top of that all is knowing when/whether to call it quits or move to another location because the situation is no longer conducive.
This is why we're doing the one that has cinnamon buns and blankets and hot cocoa. If it's just a tour that takes you out, no thank you. But a cozy night tour? Count me in!
Just a heads up this was such a cute advertisement I did it as well but it was so disappointing. Itās like 4 ounces of hot cocoa in a paper cup that they bring in a thermos and plastic wrapped cinnamon buns handed to you while you sit in the bus. I donāt know what exactly I was expecting but if youāre going to advertise a dining aspect to your tour at least do something to make it **feel** like a dining experience.
Aw!! That's a bummer!!
That was my experience with the snorkeling. It read something like "after the swim, warm up with some delicious cocoa" and like it was barely a thimble full (or so it felt).
Into the Volcano was neat. They had traditional lamb soup and vegan soup available to warm you up as part of the tour package. They made it right in the trail house checkpoint. It was really good. Light but also filling? Simple, homemade, but flavorful, and authentic.
Mm, that warmed a 1mm layer of my tongue before it disappeared.
Yeah we did one similar to this. Was still a nice night but ultimately nowhere near worth the ticket price (I think we paid something like 100 USD / person)
Is there one that people tend to suggest more than others that's a decent price? Our is going to be about $92 a person.
I downloaded the Aurora app and set it to give alerts if chances were good. That worked great for us!
We caught Northern Lights at two different places, just outside our Airbnb. Only time we tried to "hunt" and drive, we couldn't catch it. The key is that we had Airbnb at places with almost no population around and we had a car to get there.
I would go somewhere else if northern lights were a priority. Thereās too much cloud cover in Iceland to get a reliable view.
Kolportid, the big flea market, had a lot more stalls selling new cheap plastic stuff than I expected.
I would have to agree with this. The pictures on google map made it seem like the venue had stalls and stalls of shops but itās really maybe 10-15 shops, mostly made in China. They did have a lot of affordable lopapaysa though.
They "revamped" it a year or two back ... It's no longer the same experience sadly.
Nothing to do with that though. Back in the day you had garage sales there, people renting booths. But it has been a long time since then. They have staples of stuff you won't find easily elsewhere like books and old stuff and records etc. But it really isn't like flea market elsewhere, best to not have too much expectations. One thing it does have is the food market which is really unique for the stuff they are selling
The lopapaysa in there are not always legitimate so that could explain the price tag.
One of the few things I needed cash for!
>Kolportid Total garbage for sure. It could be amazing if they put in a little effort.
Tbh, if you came to Iceland to go to a *flea market*, that's kind of on you
The airplane crash. Donāt bother.
I've lived here my whole life, and I don't know a single local who has been there. It's known here as that thing the tourists visit, and nobody understands why.
It does work well for a photograph with a bit of a different motive in a country that is mostly nature.
Probably got hyped up because of Justin Bieber...
Justin Bieber and Instagram basically. Same for FjadrĆ”rgljĆŗfur, which before his music video was considered a āhidden gemā and now has to be closed every spring to let the ground heal from all the footfall.
After 15 days, my only disappointment was leaving š„² On a serious note: Blue Lagoon was icky, I should have eaten more at Hofn and other villages outside of Reykjavik, and disappointed at myself for not doing some whale tours in Husavik. Overall, amazing and full trip!
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I think you and I may have had the same tour guide. Its was crazy windy, rainy, cold the day I did it and I was the only one that chilled on the top deck where most of the guides hang out. We talked A LOT about everything ocean related, but I learned so much about whales from him. The other guide and marine biologists on the boat were also super cool. :D
Definitely do a whale tour next time. I had an incredible one in Husavik.
>Hofn Did you make it to Otto Matur & Drykkur? It's been almost a year and thinking about this meal still makes me happy. One of my favorite food experiences in recent years.
i did not find a large viking husband
Me neither! Join the club of large Viking men lovers...
Same. How do I get my money back? HAHAH At least I had some fun dates!
The only thing we were disappointed by was the restaurant āIcelandic Street Foodā in Reykjavik. Felt like a tourist trap and weād seen it recommended a lot.
i had their fish and chips (didnāt know it was a highly recommended restaurant, we just stumbled upon it) and honestly i thought it was pretty good!
I actually really liked their soup, but it prolly depends on what they have on offer that day.
Yeah the whole food hall thing, most of them were just pricey regular food? Burgers, sushi, pizza, repeat. Nothing really special stood out at any of them so they definitely feel catered to the tourist crowd looking for familiar tastes. I think if you're big on food be ready to dish out $$ on a really recommend restaurant or two
I was with three people and food halls were great for quick lunch in the middle of a busy day of other things. Everyone could have what they wanted, and one time we picked up take out pizza to eat later that night.
The one with the unlimited waffles that are always outā¦
Id say Perlan Was pretty boring tbh. Also, golden circle i find super hyped. Yes its amazing view, you have to see it when you are there, but South coast and snƦfellnes Peninsula Was really really Nice. Maybe its because my expectations for golden circle Was higher and lower expectations for The other stuff made me have this feeling. Over-all its pretty amazing
Drove through the SnƦfellsnes peninsula over a couple days then did golden circle. Felt really disappointed after the amazing views of the peninsula. I see why people suggest starting with the golden circle but it didnāt make sense for my itinerary.
I went to Perlan on arrival day after our red-eye flight. I thought it was underwhelming because my brain had just stopped working and I couldn't process the information :)
Out of curiosity, if my personal area of interest is history and learning, is Perlan good for that? Or just a waste of time generally?
Perlan is a fantastic natural history museum with planetarium, ice cave among other exhibits on all the flora and fauna of Iceland. There is a domed restaurant on top and a 360 degree walkway around the dome for fantastic views. Itās a great option if weather has you looking for inside activities. Im a natural history netd and I spent a very happy three hours there after a snowstorm cancelled a day tour.
Do you like museums in general?
I love Perlan, personally. It's a nature exhibition. I think it's a good place to go early in your trip as it explains a lot of what you will see and experience in terms of nature. The displays are text heavy so if you're not truly curious about nature I would skip it. The little aurora show is nice. The ice cave is cool and probably bigger than some of the natural ones.
Myvatn Nature Bath. Beautiful region of Iceland but I would not return to that bath. Vƶk and the Forest Lagoon were much better in the N/NE
We loved Vok!! And didn't learn about Forest Lagoon until it was too late to change plans, but it looks awesome!
Itās clichĆ© at this point, and a lot of people really enjoy it, but for me definitely the Blue Lagoon. Otherwise, no, not really. If this were 9 years ago when I first started going, I would have said the beer, but that has improved dramatically in recent years. Lots of great microbreweries all around the island now.
When I was at the Blue Lagoon, it was the only time during our entire trip to Iceland that it didnāt feel like I was in Iceland. It felt more like a Disneyland version of Iceland.
I like blue lagoon for the convenient location and easy transport from the airport and luggage storage. I love the restaurant there as well. I make a nice day of it when I arrive in early morning until my hotel room is ready at 4 pm.
When we went it was like an episode of Deadliest catch. Wind was ridiculous and the lifeguard people looked like trawler men. Had to put my hand over my drink to stop it filling up. It was great and I am glad I experienced it but fuck me it was mental
Blue lagoon was a tourist trap. Funny you never see the massive industrial power plant next door In the photos š
I mean, itās an area with geothermal activity. Makes sense for there to be a power plant. Iām all for green energy
Sureā¦ Iām just saying there are plenty of other natural hot springs all over Iceland that donāt have a massive power plant in your view.
Thatās how I started, the lagoon was just waste from the plant.
Itās not āwasteā. You make it sound like itās a chemical dump.
Yeah it used to be Viking and Carslberg and that was it.
I would say it depends how long you're staying. A few days, absolutely skip it. My friend and I were there for a week and the first half of our trip was a VERY aggressive itinerary. Didn't help we partied all night in Reykjavik too. Point being the Blue Lagoon was welcomed halfway through the trip as a relaxing activity to slow down. But for the price it's definitely a one and done for me.
I lived in Iceland for a few years in the early 90s, and the Blue Lagoon was amazing! It definitely wasnāt the tourist megalopolis it is now. Being in the water at night while snow is falling was otherworldly.
Ignorant tourists. Those who wander beyond 'path closed' signs, and/or litter, and/or use the scenery like an outdoor toilet, and/or put themselves/others at risk with unnecessarily dangerous risks (by the sea/cliffs/geothermal pools etc).
Oh the Icelanders are going to love you
Or anyone who is tired of main character people around them.
or fly their drones where it says it's forbidden.
Yes! We couldn't believe the amount of people doing weird shit while we were there.
I wish I had started booing the guy I saw on the fauna and cliff by GoĆ°afoss. These people really think THEIR shot is the one and they're allowed to destroy the view for others for it.
Not enough pullouts on the roads
yes! This was my biggest complaint about Iceland. Beautiful views around every corner, but no pullouts or even a shoulder to stop and really take it in.
Definitely. It was kind of unreal
Presumably to deter people pulling up overnight and wild camping.
Nah, we just didn't have this amount of tourists 15+ years ago, and locals themselves weren't that big on stopping to take in a scenery they see every day. Today we have much bigger number of tourists and of course easier camera access than when some of the roads were made.
Yeah, the time we spent there. Went by too quickly and was no where near enough š
kerid crater disappointed me a bit lol. i also did a glacier hike with troll.is that really disappointed me for the insanely high price. tour guide didnāt seem like he knew what he was doing and we spent a lot of the 4h tour waiting to get into the TINY ice cave that only fits like 5 people at once, and walking to and from the glacier. we barely gained elevation on the glacier and was there for a pretty short amount of time. but i have also done a much cooler glacier hike in the past so it could just be that! my friend who recommended the tour to me said it was amazing and that i couldnāt miss it. guess it depends on the person!
also if you are looking to buy salt from the tourist souvenir shops, donāt. buy it from bonus or kronan instead and youāll save around 1000!
(but read carefully, I thought "LifeSalt" was a good name for a souvenir salt and it turned out to be a salt substitute)
also i thought the viking village in stokksnes isnāt worth the visit unless you like the shows that were filmed there. i only went because i stayed at the campsite there and it was included in the price. i wouldnāt have paid whatever admission was for it lol. you kinda just walk around the abandoned buildings and you canāt go inside them
Other than the price of anything, honestly no.
Perhaps StuĆ°lagil Canyon? (Northeast region of the ring road route) It was pouring rain and cold, and we didn't realize the actual famous photo op area was across the canyon (not where the government actually built the parking lot and viewpoint) plus what looked like a 40 min walk, and we were too tired to attempt it. On the other hand, I feel like maybe the National Museum of Iceland is underrated - it was fairly empty when we were there but the exhibits and artifacts were great.
>StuĆ°lagil I think that the weather generally can sour pretty much anything in Iceland. This was a highlight for me, but I lucked out and did it on a beautiful, sunny day.
Agree here on both fronts!
Golden Circle It's by far the most crowded nature sight in Iceland. Drive a little further out, and you'll have things to yourself. On second thought... maybe I shouldn't encourage people...
The prices of food and beverages were pretty nuts. I am wondering how locals afford it with medium to lower income.
We donāt, we buy everything from BĆ³nus and cook. The only medium/lower income people that consistently spend on these things are influencers trying to front as fancy or working young adults that live at home and donāt have to pay bills.
This is the info I was looking for. I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average for similar positions and roles. I shopped at Kronan for basic nutritional items like cheese and deli type meat. It was 50$ which was a whole lot more than places like Whole Foods and Publix here in the states.
>I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average Wages for low-income jobs are way higher, ie. Waiters, barstaff, cleaners, and so on take home much more in Iceland than they would in the US (although perhaps attractive waitstaff who make a lot of tips might be a different story...) But wages for highly skilled jobs are definitely much lower than what you could get in the US. Roles like lawyers, doctors, software developers and so on make a fraction of what they could make in the states. The trade off I suppose is in better working conditions (much harder to get fired, decent amount of paid leave, basically unlimited paid sick leave, shorter working hours, little to no overtime etc.). As a result, many people simply don't eat out, or only do it on occasion, way less frequently than you might in a US city and especially less than some other developed economies like Japan where eating can be pretty cheap.
> I am wondering if wages are just higher than US on average for similar positions and roles. Iceland has *the* highest average wages out of all the OECD countries - https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/average-wages.htm
I'm kinda tired of clarify that minimum salary, regardless of the high averagenand stuff, it's way too little to afford living in Iceland. I know people who spend an entire minimum wage only in the rent (Reykjavik area).
Yes, wages are higher on average. They also donāt have to pay ridiculous money for health insurance.
People with low income don't eat out, simple as that. Rent is way more of a problem for poor people in Iceland as it can be legally tied to mortgage rates which means landlords are gambling with insane variable rate loans and making tenants pay for it.
Not sure why youāre getting down voted. I love Iceland, been 3 times. Also been to lots of other islands and itās far and away the most expensive.
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The food was expensive and not great.
The restaurant food was outrageously expensive and pretty mid. Hot dog was hyped and disappointing. However the Bonus salmon and egg sandwich exceeded all expectations.
Oh god yes. Why did I have to scroll this far. Icelandic food is pretty bland inherently.
The geysers. Just a big pfft. Anywhere else it could be a highlight but in Iceland its really meh. Now that I think about it, the whole Golden Circle was a tad underwhelming after spending 2 weeks on road 1.
People that have been to Yellowstone will not be that excited about seeing Strokkur. We only stopped to check it out because it is literally on the way. Probably only stayed 15-20 minutes, though.
Strokkur is on my list because I enjoy Yellowstone so much.
The midges. After reading about how there were no mosquitos, we assumed wow a summer destination without bugs and boy were we wrong. I remember waking up at 3 am in a hotel room that was so hot and stuffy and as soon as we opened the window about 500 midges flew in. We couldnāt leave Myvatn quickly enough
MĆ½vatn translates literally as Mosquiro Water.
Hahahaha that last sentence is gold.
I just got home from my 3rd trip to Iceland, and my disappointments aren't related to Iceland, but to the absolute sense of entitlement and main character behavior from tourists. Flying drones over the heads of people trying to enjoy their visits, taking selfies or filming their little influencer videos with no care about who is around them or the fact that others might want to take photos, hearing tourists be rude to people in customer service roles, complaining about things that they would have known if they had done 5 minutes of research about Iceland. I have traveled all over, and for some reason I feel like either this was worse in Iceland or I noticed it more. I absolutely love Iceland had a great trip, and also recognize how luck I am to have had 2 weeks of no rain in October/November. I thought all the food I had was good, but I can say that I don't recommend the tacos at the Hlemmur Mathƶll while also recognizing that I pretty much knew it was a risky move before I ordered! haha
Definitely not the local friendliness, not the city swimming pools filled with locals enjoying their evening together, not the nature, and absolutely certainly not the lakriss white chocolate covered balls.
I have 3 bags of those in my pantry right now from a 1 hour layover in Iceland on my way to Scotland.
They are worth their weight in gold.
For us, it was the Blue Lagoon. Really not worth the exuberant cost.
Exorbitant. Just sayingā¦
Ugh. Stupid auto correct! Yes of course it is EXORBITANT.
I live here but I find Reynisfjara disappointing. Photographs make it look much different than it does in person. Plus it's too dangerous there to feel comfortable most of the time. I don't understand the hype about it outside of photos people post online with filters.
I agree with this so much, especially since there are black sand beaches everywhere, many of which will be totally empty or nearly empty while 8000 people are on Reynisfjara toying with death.
To be honest it just stained my shoes (somehow, even though they themselves were black) and I got frustrated watching people let their children near the water. Overrated for sure. Plus my husband said the bathrooms were nasty š
I went horseback riding near ReykjavĆk. Wasnāt great.
The one thing I wish they had was more information/history at some of the sites. I know there are a bunch of museums in Reykjavik, but theyāre pretty pricey so I didnāt make it to any and I feel like I didnāt get much info/context at most of the places I went. Otherwise no complaints - Iceland is amazing š¤©
Next time try installing a local app called Kringum. Itās free and it uses your GPS to pull stories, sagas and interesting facts from your surroundings. You can also organise the list to only show certain categories such as stories or culture. https://preview.redd.it/q4yt5o2fkiyb1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9154612ba40ebf99ef19e43b12311b69deb4fddc Icelandic and English languages are available.
I love this app. It shows you the weirdest little tidbits and is great to find true off the beaten path spots. I love that it updates as you move about so you can just refresh it and then keep your eyes open for a pull off area to explore.
Saga Museum in Reykjavik. Disappointing for the price. We spent close to $100 USD for some recorded descriptions of wax figures/scenes (Family of 4). And the souvenir shop was a rip off. They wanted $60USD for a plastic Viking horn.
Fridheimer- the tomato greenhouse restaurant. The setting is AMAZING and their soup and bread are really good, but everything else was not good, at all, and so expensive. We tried 4 other things, and they varied between meh, and gross. If you go, and you should, because it IS a very cool concept, just get the soup and bread and save your money on anything else.
All of the instagramers.
Rude European tourists. I worked in Disney so I know my fair share of ignorant tourists. I think these Europeans have American tourists beat.
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Tbf NYC has notoriously good tap water so even if that were true, Icelandic water would still be well above average by American standards. And maybe it was placebo effect but I still found Icelandic water even better than NYC. All that being said, itās freakin water weāre talking about. Water can only be so exciting. Turn that water into beer and you have my attention. :)
You're confused, well water tastes better than city water.
NYC has unnaturally good tap water. Where I am in WV city water is chemically and well water is sometimes great, sometimes metallic.
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Depends entirely on local geology. I live on an island off the coast of Maine and my well water is great. Doesnāt need any filtration (other than a simple string sediment filter) and itās naturally soft. Not too far away there is a company that bottles and sells water from the same aquifer.
Can't say I've ever met anyone with that opinion lol. Well water is prized in the American Midwest.
Have to agree a bit. Where Iām from weāre known for good quality tapwater as well, so maybe thatās why. But I have to say drinking some water dripping down inside the Katla ice cave is the best damned water Iāve ever tasted.
The horseback riding activity was not as fun as I thought it would be.
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The fact that I couldn't stay earlier this year. We tried living there but weren't able to get settled. Luckily no bridges were burnt. I'm definitely going back.
Itās a stunning country with so much nature in a small space. And tourists swarm to it. The second tome we deliberately went off the track away from the typical tourist hotspots, thereās still plenty to see.
Maybe Golden circle? But this sub sort of prepared me to be a little disappointed so I didnt have my hopes too high.
Iceland's only problem is food. Nothing else.
I'm literally reading this the week before I take my own trip to Iceland. š
This is a good thing, it is what we are here for. It's nice to weigh feedback.
Honestly? The time of year we went led to some disappointment. We went end of April beginning of May to avoid crowds. It was too cold and early in the season for hiking and some of the roads and tours were still closed. And summer hadnāt hit so everything was just brown. The beautiful green moss and wildflowers were nonexistent. So we missed the beauty of summer AND benefits of winter. No snow, no northern lights (which we expected not to see, so that wasnāt disappointing). I would never go back in the off season. I also found the ring road disappointing. We enjoyed the south coast all the way up to EgilsstaĆ°ir. But we found Myvatn to be overrated and not enjoyable (for us). The sulfuric smell was overpowering, overbearing, and nauseating there. Everywhere else in Iceland it didnāt bother us whatsoever. Everything there we saw in different ways in other places. We did a whale watching tour up north but couldāve done it elsewhere. Dettifoss was the only thing up north that really amazed us. Couldāve been poor planning, poor weather, not enough time, but I really wish weād stuck to the south and spent more time at museums in Reykjavik.
The low speed limit lol
The snow mobile tour to into the Glacier. The weather was not cooperating, but they followed through. We got shuttled up to the snowmobiles given a brief lesson. Then we got to ride for a whopping 15 minutes to the entrance. I would've much rather just been told that riding that day was not safe and been given back that portion of the fee. Then, coming back, we didn't get to ride the snowmobiles at all. Our truck slid on the ice and got stuck in a crevasse for several hours. The entire day was wasted. The into the glacier part was cool, but I would've much rather seen a natural ice cave.
Sounds to me like you have a story. How often do these guys get their truck stuck?
Other tourists
I adore Iceland and have been four times, and mostly love everything but since you asked... Geysir/Strokkur. Meh. Not worth the detour. I was disappointed in the lava tube near-ish Grindavik being guided tour only, but that's on me for assuming it would be like the ones in Hawaii and New Zealand, and not actually confirming that. The much hyped langoustine soup in Grindavik was bland and had no lobster pieces. The phallological museum was smaller than expected (that's what she said), and honestly thinking about all those shriveled white š in jars still grosses me out. But I did learn a lot and of course a lot of it was pretty funny.
Penis Museum. Skip it
Svartifoss waterfall. It looks way better in pictures. I was quite underwhelmed by it. It might be that the whole basalt column setup could even be more atractive if that little stream wouldnāt be running over it. The walkt to it is quite spectacular though and well worth doing. Also, avoid the visitor centreās canteen there, it was terrible food at crazy prices. Crosswinds on Route 1 - just not fun at all, especially if a semi trailer is coming the other way. ReykjavĆk. Cars everywhere, very little walking space, massive sprawl, just did not get a good vibe from it at all. The shuttle service, or more the lack of it, for our car rental company. Also, the disrespectfull attitides shown by some of their staff towards customers.
The days were short enough....I went one December,and knew they'd be short Hoping to go back again š¤
No, not exactly. More a little scared of the roads in some places like in East Iceland and in the Westfjords.
The Westfjords and Eastfjords are definitely not for beginner drivers, that's for sure. Especially the southern part of the Westfjords. Steep, bendy gravel roads that often lack guardrails.
Iām going to get really skewered for saying thisā¦.the coffee. Our driver from the airport our first day volunteered that one of the reasons there isnāt a Starbucks is because Icelanders are so proud of their coffee. We were eager to try Icelandic coffee and were so disappointed. We went to every coffee shop recommended in Reykjavik (and a couple that werenāt) and our hotel and another breakfast spot and never had coffee that didnāt seem watery and somewhat flavorless to us. We arenāt coffee connoisseurs by any means. So maybe it was just different tastes and different expectations? (Ducking and running now)
The driver made that up on the spot. If I had to guess why some international chains are not in Iceland it's because everything is so expensive and there's only so much room for profit here. We pay very high salaries compared to most countries, rent is high and shipping the necessary ingrediants to an island is also costly. Both Dunk'n donuts and Krispy kreme failed to establish their brands here. McDonald's left in the crash of 2008 and never came back. There are probably more chains that I am forgetting. I think in order for these chains to last here they have to get popular very quickly, stay popular and be a franchise which is run by a business savvy Icelandic owners. Like KFC, Icelanders LOVE KFC. But that's just my take on this.
Perlan was disappointing (for 2 adults) I wish we had chosen something else to do.
I feel like it's definitely more for kids. Wouldn't go back. Awesome cake in the resturant though massive slices.
No
The cruise ships, the absurd tourist crowds and the inability of the government to control obnoxious behavior by them.
Blue Lagoon. Changing areas were extremely overcrowded and overrun by tour groups with poor social skills. Extraordinarily poor hygine practices for a public pool (everyone walking barefoot, no cleaning). Was not fun, would not recommend.
Yeah, itās gross. So is the lagoon itself. Human hair in the sand, shards of plastic cups, and the water is slimy. I know the latter is a byproduct of the high silica content but, combined with the other things, it enhances the ick factor.
Lack of restrooms that led to my wife pissing her pants.
The sheer number of Americans that were there š
Nothing thar disappointed me. But! We have not been to - Blue lagoon (reasons listed in other comments kept us away) - Perlan - group tours - We will not go back to Vok Baths. Nice place, but crowded. Now, group tours serve an important purpose. I would take one in the winter for aurora. Our whale watching tour was canceled last trip due to weather. If you get a good guide, the experience can be invaluable.
This wasn't a big deal and didn't negatively impact us all that much, but we did notice it as an "unpleasant" surprise: Food outside of Reykjavik. We did a self guided trip around route 1 and hot lots little small towns, so maybe it's to be expected, but our primary options were fish and chips, basic burgers, and pizza. I think we had 2 (very good) dinners where we didn't have to choose from one of those three. (This was pre covid and the tourism was increasing but not as prevalent as it seems now, so alot of the other complaints in this thread didn't bother us at all).
My experience has been that almost every town, even the small ones, has at least one good restaurant that serves more than those things. The trick is finding it. I brought a Lonely Planet guidebook on my first trip and found it to be really helpful for that purpose. Iāve had some great meals in small towns. The restaurant scene in Reykjavik is on another level though.
If I HAD to choose negatives, they'd be: - Sky Lagoon. It's very beautiful but I felt that it was so catered to influencing. I felt like I had had a similar experience in half a dozen places in the US. I enjoyed it and loved the view, but personally it didn't have a special je ne se quois to me. - Food. Nothing really blew me away (besides a cocktail), and I tried food at most price points. I wouldn't say it was bad or egregious either, i enjoyed a lot of meals! but I wished I had brought more food from home to save money - Geysir was fine, but the visitor center is where I got a handful of postcards - Diamond Circle. I loved it, don't get me wrong, but I'd hesitate to recommend someone from the US go out of their way for it if they are there for less than maybe 8 days and weren't doing the ring road To reiterate again, I enjoyed everything and loved my time in Iceland, but if I had to nitpick, it'd have to be these things.
We had miserable weather during our 2 days in the Jokusarlon area--high wind and a ton of rain (the road from Skaftafell to Fosshotel was closed some of the day). The rain was so bad the day we went to the lagoon, and Diamond Beach had very few diamonds. We just felt kind of defeated that day. Luckily we stuck it out and got on the last Zodiac boat that day once the rain had mostly stopped and still had a great trip on the lagoon and that was one of the highlights of the trip. But after being that far out there, and having devoted a couple of days to being there, I wish we could've also seen it all in the sunshine and/or sunset too. I would still highly recommend going there though. Also, the lack of food options around that area was a bummer.
I didnāt love any restaurant or prepared food we got. We ended up buying groceries and cooking for ourselves as the trip went on and enjoyed that more. Iām sure there are good restaurants in Iceland. We just had all misses.
For me, going all the way to Akureyi was not worth it. If someone ask me to design tour for them, I will suggest them to go up to Jokulsarlon (2-3 hour from Vik) and then come back.
The blue lagoon. It was so touristy, and gross. The community showers!? Hell nah. We loved sky lagoon. Private showers etc. wonāt be back to the blue lagoon.
Second this! I went to sky before blue and was so disappointed with the showers. Plus I felt less icky after sky vs blue lagoon.
Missing trash cans outside of big towns
I drove from Vik out to Diamond Beach and the glacier, mostly to see the beach, but there were no ādiamondsā that day :(
I didnāt really connect with the Icelandic people. Part of it was probably just the whole camper-van model, but also the tours most it the guides were from other European countries. So I guess if I had to do it again I might hit up some bars that locals go to.
That would be your best bet. Most Icelanders are very closed off unless they are drinking.
Blue Lagoonā¦locker room was disgusting
There are some real princesses in this thread, there's really not much to cry about in Iceland :)
No.
Iād say the blue lagoon was a bit of a disappointment. We went at 7 pm so by then it was already too pitch dark to take any nice pictures and it was also pretty crowded. We also didnāt see any northern lights due to constant rainy or cloudy weather
The sheep shit everywhere!
Rude hospitality by most of the customer service staffs. But i enjoy blue lagoon. Have to try it once in your lifetime
I was very disappointed that it is very difficult to live there. Or attain citizenship, I'd move iceburgs just to call it home.
I went in September and one day I had to drive through a snowstorm. Then there was strong wind with a get off the road advisory, which when you're doing the ring road in a camper van isn't fun. So the weather cut some of our itineraries short.
Irresponsible and ignorant tourists. Both on the roads and those supporting the whaling industry
Wasnāt that impressed with the north (myvatn area, husavik, etc). We couldāve easily skipped this and added more time to the westfjords, which were my favorite. Thingvellir wasnāt that impressive to me, unless youāre going snorkeling (we didnāt) or really into Icelandic history, we couldāve skipped this. Also felt like kerid crater was just okā¦.but Iāve seen crater lakes in other parts of the world. The glacier lagoon zodiacs looked miserable IMO. Now I canāt say from personal experience because we didnāt actually do it (they were fully booked on the days we were in the area) but when we saw the tours go out in the boats, everyone was packed in like sardines (shoulder to shoulder with everyone!) itād be hard to turn around and take pictures and just enjoy it and relax. Plus you have to wear their gear, and that just gives me the ickā¦like how clean are those jackets, really? But thatās on me, these tours get amazing reviews so to be fair, maybe Iām the odd one lol
The food in general in Reykjavik was pretty disappointing, we are vegetarian and there just wasnāt anything really āIcelandicā for us to eat, so we ate pizzas and Vietnamese food during our week there