I must admit the “Land of The Midnight Sun” in the Summer is the land of rain, clouds and beauty. We never saw the Northern Lights or the sky full of stars… big deal! The immense beauty of this place was reward enough.
The reason I love to travel, aside from the normal getting away and holiday? Experience.
Iceland did not disappoint. This land of stark contrasts is a photographers dream. I think if everyday were sunny and clear, you would somehow miss the hand of Mother Nature at work. Any good traveler will come prepared for the changing climate… and change it will.
The end of the Summer months bring fog, misty rain, downpours, wind, clouds and occasional sun. The temperature is a perfect 45-60 degrees. Great for hiking and sleeping.
There are several modes of transport and visiting. You can pay for a room (150-1,000 USD/night) then travel out on daily excursions from Reykjavik. The tour companies are vast and tours range from $50-$1,000 USD or 4.900 to 110.000 ISK. You can climb glaciers, go 4 wheeling, dive in the continental divide, do the Golden Circle in a day, parasail, do a city tour, whale watching, and the list goes on.
Second, you can rent camping equipment. This can be as simple as a tent and sleeping bag to fully self-contained travel trailers. We chose the middle of the road. We rented a camper van from KuKu Campers out of Reykjavik ($2300€). It came with bed space for 4 adults, running water and a sink, a propane single burner stove, an electric cooler, utensils and plates, bowls and cups for four. The bottom bed can be converted into a table with bench seating but we just left it as a bed. We are avid campers and Delta Medallion Skymile members, so we chose to bring our own sleeping bags, backpack sleeping pads, Jet Boil backpack stove, REI backpack chairs and table without worrying about checked baggage fees. This saved us about $350 US vs renting the same equipment. Note: you will read that you can camp anywhere in Iceland… I am here to tell you that unless you like sleeping on lava, you will take advantage of one of the 170+/- developed campsites ($12-16/pp) If you are in a camper, you must use one of these campgrounds.
Third, you can do a self driving tour. This is a pre-planned tour that makes you drive from point A to point B and stay in pre-arranged hotels. You can choose budget, comfort or luxury accommodations. You also have the choice of how much of Iceland you want to see. Choices range from the entire Ring Road (RTE 1), Northern Iceland or the Southern Coast. These tours range between $2,500 to $6,000 US/pp. this only includes breakfast, car rental and your room for the night. Segway into the next point….
Food… OMG only the wealthy can afford to eat here. A hamburger with fries…$20.00. A bowl of fish or lamb stew…$25.00. Yes for a bowl of soup. The local favorites, hotdogs… $12.00. A beer…$11-14.00 USD. Petrol/Diesel 2.03-1.87 KIR/liter. We spent $85.00 and bought the staples we needed including hamburgers, produce, bread, milk, cheese, produce for sandwiches, lunch meat, pre-marinated locally caught fish and condiments. We ate on this plus pre-packed food we brought like spaghetti and sauce, canned chicken, backpacker meals, boxed milk and spices. We ate out occasionally and had major sticker shock but justified it by the mode of transport we chose and how much we saved by not staying in hotels. LOL…
We got the “touristy” stuff out of the way the first two days then ventured up towards the Snæfellsbær Peninsula and the West Fjords to escape the crowds and experience the cliffs, birds, oceans and waterfalls. There are hot pots, or hot springs as we call them, all over the island that have showers and toilets. There are swimming pools, which are geothermal which cost between $7-15/pp in just about every town you come to. Note: we never found a single “pit toilet” on Iceland. All facilities were extremely clean! There was very little trash anywhere, including the beeches.
Here are the must haves. Rent a GPS and laugh your ass off as she tells you to turn on Snafelsnesligur. Also rent a mobile WIFI to avoid major frustrations. We started our trip with only the GPS Garmin then three days in we rented the mobile WIFI too. We had 5 paper maps and guide books and a headache from trying to decipher the names and routes in tiny little print because all the road names where 15-25 characters long. Patience and the ability to roll with it will go a long way. Lastly… a good sense of humor and spirit of exploration will eventually get you to your destination.
I hope that this has been inspirational and informative. If Iceland is not on your bucket list, it should be. I would be happy to answer any questions anyone may have in planning your own trip. We did hours and hours of research and turned an otherwise expensive travel destination into an affordable one.
Two Travelin' Chicas... A Grand Adventure 
Simply beautiful!
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