Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland  (Read 4299 times)

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« on: March 23, 2015, 11:37:32 pm »

I'm going to do some globetrotting in August this year.  Have booked flights for Calgary-New York and Machu Picchu.  Before I fly out to Machu Picchu,  i'm planning on one other trip from New York to either Italy, Turkey, or Iceland.  Leaning very strongly towards Iceland.

I know it sounds crazy to go to Iceland and Peru in the same month, but wife and kids are going overseas to spend 8 weeks with her parents and i'm using the opportunity to tick of some locations from my bucket list in the 4 weeks i'm taking of in August.

I've been doing a lot of research on where to go in Iceland, and I'm planning on doing the self drive around Iceland on my own.  I wanted to get some advice on which locations to spend the more time and where to stay hotel wise, so that i'm close to the key locations for sunrise/sunset. 

From what I read, staying close to Reykjavik is good for the golden circle (Thingvellir National Park, Gullfoss waterfall and the Geysir hot spring area, as well as the blue lagoon).

The other areas i want to hit are:
- Godafoss waterfall
- Dynjandi Waterfall - supposed to be near Isafjordur, not sure if that's the best place to stay.
- Kirkjufellsfoss waterfall - situated near the impressive mount Kirkjufell, at Grundarfjordur, on the Snaefellsnes peninsula, but not sure where to stay
-Number of places on the south coast that i want to hit, but not sure if one place is a good base camp to stay at for the following locations:
  1) Skogafoss waterfall - supposed to be close to Skoger
  2) Seljalandsfoss waterfall - cool waterfall you can walk behind
  3) Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon - South Coast - south of Vatnajokull national park that is easily reached by the Ring Road.
  4) Vatnajökull glacier is the largest glacier in Iceland - and is situated in the south-east of Iceland - still trying to figure out how far it is from everything else.

I've seen a lot of tours by plane to Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, which is supposed to be a 5 hour drive, or a 1 hour plane ride, but not sure if there is somewhere close by to spend the night.  I figure i probably want at least 2 sunsets there.

Anyway, i'd appreciate some feedback on if these are the main places to hit - too much for 8 to 10 days?  Where to stay, what i can see on my own and what i should book tours for.
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

mlewis

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 118
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2015, 08:16:49 am »

As August is the in the main season accommodation could well be limited.  Make sure you book enough in advance.

There are places to stay not too far from Jökulsárlón.  When I visited I was staying on a farm stay towards Hofn.  That was my base for Jökulsárlón and Vatnajökull.  Vatnajökull isn't that far from Jökulsárlón either. There are also places to stay around Skaftafell (the main park centre for Vatnajökull) though these will fill up quickly.

Seljalandsfoss is close to Skogafoss waterfall (about 25 minutes driving west).  Skogar is next to the falls and there isn't much there.  There is some accommodation I think.

Godafoss is about half way between Myvatn and Akureyri in the north.

For Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss Laugarvatn is better base than Reykjavik as it is in the middle of them.

When I went to Iceland I didn't do any organised tours.  I just sorted out my own accommodation near to areas I wanted to visit and visited all the places.  The only think on you list that you would an organised tour for is if you actually wanted to go onto a glacier.

Check out Icelandic Farm Holidays for places to stay.

Have a sit down with Google maps and see where everything is and how far apart.  The roads are fine and not very busy.  There are a couple of unpaved sections of the ring road in the east though.
Logged

Jglaser757

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 203
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2015, 08:35:44 pm »

Vik!  There are hotels right in the area too!
Logged

Jglaser757

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 203
Logged

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2015, 11:40:46 pm »

As August is the in the main season accommodation could well be limited.  Make sure you book enough in advance.

There are places to stay not too far from Jökulsárlón.  When I visited I was staying on a farm stay towards Hofn.  That was my base for Jökulsárlón and Vatnajökull.  Vatnajökull isn't that far from Jökulsárlón either. There are also places to stay around Skaftafell (the main park centre for Vatnajökull) though these will fill up quickly.

Seljalandsfoss is close to Skogafoss waterfall (about 25 minutes driving west).  Skogar is next to the falls and there isn't much there.  There is some accommodation I think.

Godafoss is about half way between Myvatn and Akureyri in the north.

For Thingvellir, Geysir, and Gullfoss Laugarvatn is better base than Reykjavik as it is in the middle of them.

When I went to Iceland I didn't do any organised tours.  I just sorted out my own accommodation near to areas I wanted to visit and visited all the places.  The only think on you list that you would an organised tour for is if you actually wanted to go onto a glacier.

Check out Icelandic Farm Holidays for places to stay.

Have a sit down with Google maps and see where everything is and how far apart.  The roads are fine and not very busy.  There are a couple of unpaved sections of the ring road in the east though.


Thanks for the advice!  I can't believe how expensive some of the accomadations are - considering the type of accomodations!
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2015, 11:42:14 pm »

Vik!  There are hotels right in the area too!

thanks for the suggestion!
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #6 on: March 26, 2015, 11:52:19 pm »

http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=97619.0

Thanks for the link!! The map is extremely helpfu, as are the posts in the other thread!!
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #7 on: April 03, 2015, 06:51:31 pm »

I spent the last few days researching where to go and spend the morning making hotel reservations as i've been warned that it is booking up fast and I had a heck of a time to find locations (booked at multiple hotels close together in some cases, as there was no consecutive availability).  I tried to concentrate on around 4 or 5 locations that i want to shoot at sunrise and sunset time and tried to find accommodations as close as possible.

Note, the places i chose to stay at are the closest available (and semi-reasonably priced) accommodations i could find at the locations i want to shoot at sunrise/sunset.  Everything else i'll shoot outside the golden hours.

Appreciate feedback on whether this is to ambitious of a itinerary???
Is there some places I should add???
Is there some places I should omit???

Does the following itinerary make sense:

From Aug 8 - 18:
Day 1 - arrive at Reykjavik (KEF) a 6:30AM - Drive to Laugarvatn (1hr, 3min - 77km Drive)
              (spend two nights - Day 1-2 to tour the Golden Circle - Aug 8-10)
            - Spend sunrise/sunset potentially both days at Gullfoss Waterfall
            - Geysir Geothermal Area,
            -  Þingvellir National Park - continental plates    


Day 3 - Drive from Laugarvatn to  Skógar (1hr, 42 min - 135 km drive)
Day 4 - Drive from  Skógar to Holt (14 min, 17.4km)

           - kind of screwy having to stay at two hotels, but there weren't consecutive days available
              in one location
           - Seljalandsfoss Waterfall - sunrise/sunset for Day 3 & 4 - to improve chances of good light
           -  Skógafoss Waterfall
          - Svartifoss Waterfall
          - Reynisfjara Beach
          -  Skaftafell - Vatnajökull Glacier  
          - probably be driving back and forth a lot on these on days 3 and 4, since sunrise/sunset are
             for Seljalandsfoss Waterfall
 

Day 5 - Drive from Holt to Hofn for two nights (3hr 43 min - 321 km)
             - Day 5 & 6 - will again have to stay at two separate hotels in Hofn, due to lack of availability
             - focus will be on Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon for sunrise sunset
             - is it worthwhile to book a boat tour here???


Day 7 - Drive from Hofn to Adaldalur (5hr 5min - 388km)
           - day 7 & 8 - hopefully i can see some of the locations on the way here
           -sunrise/sunset will be concentrating on Goðafoss Waterfall
           - Lake Mývatn
          - Ásbyrgi Canyon
          - Dettifoss Waterfall


Day 9 - Drive from Adaldalur to Grundarfjordur (5hr 24 min - 445 km)
          - Day 9 & 10 - concentrate on sunrise/sunset at Kirkjufell mountain waterfall (still trying to figure out
             where it is)
          - trying to figure out what else is here

Day 11 - Drive back to Reykjavik  (2hr 19 min - 176km)

            - leave around 11AM, flight out of Reykjavik is at 5PM
            - is this to tight to risk missing my flight???  Not sure what summer traffic is like in Iceland.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2015, 12:27:50 pm by Khurram »
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #8 on: April 05, 2015, 12:29:03 pm »

Can anyone provide information whether staying in Grundarfjordur is the closest place to stay in order to photograph the  Kirkjufell mountain waterfall ???
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

Daniel Bergmann

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 259
    • http://www.danielbergmann.com
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2015, 03:18:18 am »

Can anyone provide information whether staying in Grundarfjordur is the closest place to stay in order to photograph the  Kirkjufell mountain waterfall ???

Yes, Grundarfjordur is the closest town to Kirkjufell, which is indeed right outside the town border (to the west of it). It will however take you about 45 minutes to drive from Grundafjordur to the coast on the southern side of the peninsula (Arnarstapi, Hellnar, Malarrif, Djupalon), which is the most interesting landscape of Snaefellsnes, in my humble opinion.

Khurram

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 488
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #10 on: April 19, 2015, 09:19:24 pm »

Yes, Grundarfjordur is the closest town to Kirkjufell, which is indeed right outside the town border (to the west of it). It will however take you about 45 minutes to drive from Grundafjordur to the coast on the southern side of the peninsula (Arnarstapi, Hellnar, Malarrif, Djupalon), which is the most interesting landscape of Snaefellsnes, in my humble opinion.
thanks for the advice!
Logged
----
[url=http://www.pbase.com/kssphotog

mlewis

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 118
Re: Advice for 8 to 10 days in Iceland
« Reply #11 on: April 20, 2015, 03:27:04 am »

I think the view of Detifoss and nearby Selfoss is best from the eastern side.  That side is reached by a gravel road (it was still gravel in 2013).  The western side access has been paved.  It is a good 30 km off the main highway.

Is Seljalandsfoss a good sunrise location?  with your back to the falls you are looking west so you won't see the sun until it has risen above the cliffs the water falls over I think.
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up