Iceland Trip Planning

Last year my wife and I decided on Iceland as our international trip for 2017. A decision that stemmed off of the idea of traveling somewhere that is winter like. At first we were thinking about London in December, but didn’t pull the trigger because we just didn’t feel comfortable traveling during the holiday when our families are expecting us to attend the various gatherings.

We ended up purchasing our typical travel book and researched the many activities that Iceland offers during the winter. I hope to provide some updates while traveling as I’ve never been successful in doing so. If not, I will surely come back and create at least two blog posts. One on the tours and a second on my observations of life, food and culture in Iceland.

Here is a list of links and comments on my research:

Research:

Before going on any trip, I really enjoy the planning part. For me, its a good way to keep the excitement and motivation high. Keep in mind you have to do this with an open mind that you might not hit all that you plan.

• Used this link to get tons of information on what to bring. I got to admit I mainly focused on the photography list but was quickly humbled by the prices for all the gear. Iceland Photo Tours
• One of the first sites I visited to pillage information was this. Great blog entires as well as the tours are something we hope to do once we get there. I Heart Reykjavik

Tours:

Tours are a great way to do things in an other country but its always a hit or miss type of situation. People typically report a great experience or something along the lines that it was hurried and not fun. The primary reason we (wife and I) decided on tours was because of the snow conditions.

• Not sure how I found this, but I believe it was from a trip advisor. The tours that they offer all seem to fall under the many things that we wanted to see based off the books that we purchased. Also a friend of mine had indicated driving would be a great way to do Iceland because of all the natural beauty that you get to see going from place to place. But given the fact that it would be winter and I have little to no driving experience in snow weather, a tour was the next best thing. Grayline Tours I'll be sure to blog about the two tours that we are doing.

Hotel:

Although there are many options with staying at a home sharing place we decided to stay at a hotel because of the price. We booked the hotel about 5 1/2 months before the date of travel and locked in a good rate at: Grand Hotel Reykjavik

Airfare:

We purchased our airfare through WOWAir. The price was right and leaving from SFO guaranteed us a direct flight. (8hr 40 min trip)