ICELAND!

>>1154371
Your weather may vary. December isn't tourist season, and the kids are all out at the boarding schools (which are hotels in summer). I don't know what hostels would be open outside of the city, you'd have to check each on individually, but might need to skip the travel around if the weather required you to have a snorkel or other special equipment on your car.

You might even find a guide for some of your activities. So you know, Blue lagoon is 25 minutes south of the Keflavik airport, which is then a good 45-60 minutes West of Reykjavik.
Plot out what you want to do while there. People usually rank Blue Lagoon, then the 3 spots on the Golden Circle tour as their must sees. You can shop and do nightlife off Laugaveger, and the couple of museums in the city. You can even see the lights in the city, only slightly dimmer than outside of the city.

I don't know how your budget is...start adding up hotels once you plot out your ideas, and then your backup plan if you can't personally drive around, but buy tours instead. Find out if you will be tehre same time as a festival. I didn't find the food any more pricey than the rest of western europe. I do suggest you BYOB, by buying some duty free bottle of booze on the plane over, and enjoying with your own mixers. Alcohol is expensive. I enjoyed a bottle of Baileys with my companion during one particular nice lights show. :P

>>1154381
Excellent, yeah we were trying to find out about all those things you said.

Its nice to hear it from someone who already went.

Thanks man, most resourceful!
We were planning actually just about the same trip you describe.

:D

>>1154371
I went to Iceland in January. To answer on your questions I would say: be sure you have a decent car. There was a lot of snow when i was there . I rented my car from Hertz, because there are a lot of car rentals who are a bit shady. I would also suggest to rent an airbnb. It will be cold so wanna have your privacy with your girlfriend. If you go south go visit Vik beach ;)
If you have to pay your car, tours, food,... 1200 won't be enough for 2 I think
And very important: don't forget your thermal underwear ;)

>>1154371
I'm also considering visiting Iceland in the beginning of December.
However, I'm a little afraid of the daylight lasting for about 4-5 hours. Does somebody know if that is an issue?

>>1154371
>plane crash site
To anyone who's interested I saw an article today which may be important to consider ;
https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.visir.is%2Fkeyrdu-nidur-ad-flugvelaflakinu-i-leyfisleysi-og-thurftu-ad-borga-100-thusund-kronur%2Farticle%2F2016160828864&edit-text=&act=url

>>1154371
Hi
Yes there are Hotels around all of Iceland.
If you rent a car be very cautious. It can be dangerous to drive there especially on gravel roads (tourists sometimes aren't aware of that and then crash..)
The blue lagoon is a bit pricey but it's definitely worth it.
Yeah there are many northern lights in the winter.
I think 1200 euro will be enough for you and your gf excluding the flight. Iceland isn't very pricey any more in general (coming from a Norwegian).
If you go there I advice you to try the dried fish ofc and icelandic candies! There's one candy that's really good with light chocolate and licorice. If you're not a pussy I also recommend lamb head or try other Icelandic dishes. there are many ''weird'' dishes ;)
I also recommend going to the swimming pool there. They have very good outdoor swimming pools with heated water in all temperatures and it's cheap to go there.
t. Parents are Icelandic

>>1155991
>However, I'm a little afraid of the daylight lasting for about 4-5 hours. Does somebody know if that is an issue?

It is what happens -- whether or not it is going to be a issue for you is harder to predict.

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>>1156057
>Yes there are Hotels around all of Iceland.

Are the ones away from Reykjavik largely still open in the winter, though?

hmmm intredesting. I might go to Iceland too in December

>>1156086
Yeah, I should be more specific. I am mostly interested in nature sightseeing. Fjords, hills, volcanos, glaciers and stuff. I have two particular issues in mind:
1) If it is dark as in night during late November/early December for 19-20h/day, then it seems like all these activities will be either hardly possible (since I won't be able to see anything in the darkness) or I will need to woke up early and get to the place about sunrise in order to have at least these 4-5 hours. How dark it is there during that period? (I guess it depends on weather as well, but I am not expecting weather forecast - I'll appreciate any info) I mean it is impossible to move without flashlight or one is possible to see something else than the tip of his nose outside these 4-5 hours?
2) This question is related a little bit to the previous one. I did some research and the dates I'm mentioning are definitely outside the season. Are there still some buses or public transport to at least the most remarkable places outside Reykjavik during that period (unfortunately I don't have driving license so renting a car is not an option for me :^(?

>>1156057
I'm tagging you as well anon, since you seem well informed :^)

>>1156097
1) I've never been there in the winter so idk
2) I would think that there are busses and guided tours to golden circle(in the hours when it's light i guess?)because there are so many tourists on Iceland. It's a bus tour to geysers, a waterfall and thingvellir that most tourists go to. There is insanely many tourists in the summer so many so you mostly hear foreign languages when walking down the pedestrian zone, so I guess there are also at least some tourists in the winter. But I'm not sure because I was never there in the winter

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>>1154371
Never been there in mid-winter, but was there in March 2014. Pic related is driving on the peninsula west of Reykjavik on day one. On later days, it was sunny and pretty warm. Weather fluctuates a lot, at least in March. Major roads were fine, but anything else tended to be under thick snow and ice. Was there with some family, we hired a driver because getting anywhere off of the south coast would have been difficult for us, we are from a warm climate and know fuck-all about driving in a lot of snow. My sense is that driving around in December would be Hellish for those not experienced in dealing with that. FWIW.

December is the wrong time of year for sightseeing, unless you are an owl, or bring night goggles.
I was there in May 2000, and have wanted to return for the Winter Solstice (only a couple hours of daylight).
The public swimming pools (2 kroner at the time) and hotpots are the best. That's the national pasttime.

I checked, and the daylength in esrly December is around 4 hours. Sunrise at 10:45, sunset at 3:15.

Anyone got any good pictures of Iceland? Apparently there are a million good hikes there you can do in summer

>>1156653
I got some pictures, on the home computer how good they are I'll leave up to you. Will post some in the morning.

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>>1156653
Took this, this summer on the top of a mountain. It's on the east coast though, so t's pretty far away from Reykjavik

>>1156789
Wow, what a place. I'm desperate to go there but from Australia it's just so expensive. What are the people like? Friendly or over tourists?

>>1156319
fuck that is shitty. I was thinking about going to Iceland in December too but now there is no way

>>1156057
>There's one candy that's really good with light chocolate and licorice.
Confirmed. Delicious chocolate with licorice in a couple candy bars. Get the licorice popsicle at blue lagoon (upstairs in the solarium kind of room just off the pool. I didn't try the lamb head, but I did greatly enjoy all my meals. Icelandic bar in Reykjavik has some ways to sample of lot of their best dishes in small bites meals.

I think in winter, it might be trickier getting a hotel, or getting around the country much at all :/ As far as gravel goes, there's little reason to even leave the paved Ring Road, aside from driveways to houses.

>>1156087
>largely still open in the winter, though?
largely not

>>1156097
>. Are there still some buses or public transport
no. I think there isn't. I think people fly around instead, or they stay put. Those Edda large hotels are boarding schools for children in the winter. If there are or were B&Bs, I have no clue if those people operate them in the winter, or if they themselves are back in Reykjavik. The latest I've been was last week in Sept, and the buses were stopped at that time. It was a few years ago, so maybe it's different. I thought you needed a snorkel on your vehicle....which a personal tour guide might operate (for a fee).

>>1156653
>Anyone got any good pictures of Iceland? Apparently there are a million good hikes there you can do in summer
What do you consider "a good hike"? There's a cross-country walk...walk, not hike, really. There's a mountain outside of Reykjavik people ski or hike, but it's a hill, and not considered difficult. I have to say the ocean is within eyesight of much of the Ring Road, and there ya go.

I basically drove my car around. Stopped for a sight. Walk 150 feet back to the car to and from the sight's parking lot. I took a lavafield walk in Budir. Walked into a gorge crack in the Snaefellsnes, the supposed inspiration to Jules Vernes, which had a steep 25 yards hill, and then about 20 feet into the interior, not rough, called Rauðfeldargjá gorge. There are some lava tubes and cave hikes to do ONLY with a guide in a few places. Here's one I did not do, because it was hidden and I didn't know about it!
http://www.iheartreykjavik.net/2013/10/vatnshellir-cave-snaefellsnes/

I really can't imagine a winter vacation there outside of clubbing/festival stuff :/ Sorry I'm not more help.

I went in April 15 and rented a car from Blue Car Rental.

Highly recommend this company, local Icelandic company not a multinational rental place but their service was top notch.

Got a nice 1.6 diesel hatchback with only 1000 miles on the clock which did the job. No faults at all, and even felt bad for ragging the undercarriage it a bit on some of the roads, and drove over broken glass a few times but gave it back and had no issues.

Plus they have like 5 guys that work for them all called Magnus which I found hilarious. When I met one of the Magnus' to drop off the car, he drove me to the pub, top lad.

>>1157090
>not a multinational rental place
I used Hertz, with no issues. Had a Ford Escape last visit.

While we're on the issue of renting cars in Iceland, there are a few places in the world where people should buy the local damage waiver for high odds of needing it (IE, Russia, etc), and not rely on their amazing credit card and other coverage you may have that goes international. You want to be able to walk away without coughing up some high copay for some damn scratch, and get on your flight without worry. Everything costs more in green and beautiful Iceland. Though you are forbidden to offroad in your contract (or it voids it) you still will go on gravel driveways off/on the Ring Road to sights. Though you don't travel much on these gravel roads, most of the time the gravel isnt fine grade loveliness laid by a road crew, but actually small boulders, which kick up and dent the shit out of your undercarriage above 5mph. It sounds like a hail storm that is deafening. And, if you ever follow a vehicle closely, their rocks scratch your paint, which leads me to inform you that a paintjob, or a windshield in Iceland would be 100x more expensive there, than it would be at home for you. You will lose count of how many times wind blows a random rock into your windshield just going forward on a road with no one around for miles.

>>1156789

I love how the landscapes of Iceland go from mountainous to completely flat and then back to mountainous.

Travel in Iceland during the winter is pretty specialized because the roads are pretty shit and the weather can get nasty, for example, most of the roads leading to the west fjords are closed after the first real snow,

I'd look into a snowmobile tour that goes to some hot spring at some remote lodge then trying to get comfy for the holiday vibes. It's gonna be dark most of the time (19+ hours a day).

Make sure you visit Vic if you are traveling in the south, if you go anytime passed November, you will not be able to travel up north or might have a hard time trying to get up there, visit the western pen. Also when you get to Vic try to stay at the Icelandic air hotel, it's a good central point. It would also be easier to rent a car with Navi. You're looking at about 1200-1500 eur w/o alcohol

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>>1156653
>>1156664

Shoot, forgot about this thread -- dumping a few pics.

Scenery on the road to/from Keflavik. Just thought it was pretty.

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Oops, didn;t mean to have trip on, sorry.

Snowmobile excursion, note the glorious scenery. this was in March, weather went from sunny-but-brisk to torrential rain to white-out blizzard within ten miles or 3 hours.

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Road conditions up around Gullfoss. Just including that to give winter travel anons some feel for what roads away form Reykjavik looked like in March. Along the south coast, they were mostly fine, though.

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Glacier exploring in the rain, in a little ice-cave that gave us a chance to take the camera out. I had a water-proof camera, but rain on the lens distorted most of the pics out of recognition, lesson learned. But a weather-proof camera might ot be the worst investment you ever made, if you are going and like pictures.

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Getting all Ice and Fire wit it, ice sickles in a lava tube

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A moment in Reykjavik. We only stayed there a say, probably should have done two but it was a very short trip and most of what we wanted to see/do was elsewhere.

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Down on the SW peninsula.

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Gullfoss, with ice

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Beach near Jökulsárlón lagoon

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Under the glacier near Jökulsárlón

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One more under the glacier

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An horse, wet.

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The sun came out.

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Went there because I had never seen the aurora -- the last night the clouds parted and we got a display. My camera was spectacularly ill-suited to capturing it, so this does not even come close to doing it justice.

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>>1158061
Not Geysir, but the other one. The Yellowstone geysers are more impressive these "kettle geysers" are not bad though, if you are into geysers at all.