Iceland has become in a short time one of the fashionable tourist destinations, so much so that it becomes worrying at the ecological level because tourists do not respect anything there. But you’re ready to get there without being silly, and that’s good. So before taking off, it is better to know two or three little things to be well prepared.
1. Make the right choice for plane tickets
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Two options allow you to get out of it without breaking the bank too much. Either you go with the low-cost company Wow and it costs between 200 and 250 euros, but without checked baggage, or you go with a normal company, but in this case it is better to buy the tickets for about 6 months in advance so as not to exceed 350 euros round trip. Because starting your journey losing all your money is rarely appreciable.
2. Choose the right period
Basically, we distinguish between winter and summer. In winter we get a lot of curds, there is light only 4-5 hours a day depending on the period, many roads are blocked by snow but you can see the aurora borealis between September and April (approximately ). Summer is nicer in terms of climate, easier to walk around and to camp. Everyone has their own desires, but it is better to know beforehand. Like when you hadn’t been told that the dish you were eating had little pieces of cute cats in it, that wasn’t cool.
3. Think about the right transport to use
Who says road-trip says that we will not stay in his hotel to hang out two weeks in a row. The goal is to go see the country, and therefore to move. If you are 4 or 5, renting a car can be nice, provided you know where to stall the luggage, but it still easily costs 100 bucks a day. Otherwise the bus remains the best solution, because it is quite developed in the country.
4. Know where we are going to sleep
The hotels over there are not cheap in general, and it requires a good starting budget. We don’t want a hotel anyway, we’re on a road trip. So we take our little tent because it’s very well accepted in Iceland. Basically, there are plenty of not too expensive campsites, even in Reykjavik! And wild camping is also authorized outside national parks and provided you leave everything clean when you leave. On the other hand, avoid camping in winter, you may die.
5. Take the right clothes
Even when leaving in summer, you should know that the temperatures are not crazy either. It rarely rises above ten degrees and there is often wind. The ideal is therefore to take a jacket that protects a little from the cold and to have something light and waterproof next to it in case it floats, because that also happens in summer. For the rest, the smartest choice is to buy good hiking shoes because there are plenty of good walks to do and it would be stupid to break your ankle after two hours on the spot.
6. Have a small food budget
Already, you should know that the currency on site is not the euro but the Icelandic krona, but you can pay by card almost everywhere. In terms of prices, as Iceland is an island, it’s often a little more expensive than here, but it really depends on the products. A lot of fruit and vegetables are produced on site, for example, so it doesn’t cost a penny. Still, large supermarkets are much more affordable than very small traders. And we are not talking about traders who are less than 1m50 but small shops.
7. Know the differences in the rules of the road
If you have chosen the car option you better be aware of the little things that change there. The speed is limited to 90km/h, it is already good to know. Afterwards, as there are a lot of steep roads, you have to honk your horn when you take very tight bends just to warn whoever is coming from the other side. There are a few tricks like that to be aware of, so might as well find out in advance. Unless you prefer painful accidents, but we don’t really believe that.
8. Take something to eat and drink before going on a hike
The treks and hikes can be long, in the middle of nowhere, with no nearby store to refuel. Taking food before starting will therefore not be the worst idea. Otherwise we will talk about these three tourists found dead like morons in the fjords, and in fact it will be you.
10. Prepare well for your activities
There are so many fjords, glaciers and museums to visit that it would be stupid to miss them all by being poorly organized. The road-trip is freedom, but it’s even better with a little organization beforehand. Yeah, that’s mom’s advice but who cares.
11. (Bonus) Revise your English
No need to be fluent in Icelandic, the locals all speak very good English, so revise well.
