Planning - Iceland with Kids

December 30, 2015 By Eric 5 Comments

Choosing a car rental company in Iceland

Photo by http://www.cgpgrey.com/ is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Update: We chose Blue Car rental for our Iceland trip, and we were very happy with them. We also recently partnered with them (in June 2017) to offer a 5% discount on your Blue Car rental!

Choosing a car rental company in Iceland is confounding. There are dozens of companies, each claiming to be the cheapest, or the best, or both.

I found 27 different companies; I’m sure I missed many. At each company’s web site, I ran the same search for the same types of cars for the same rental period. The results are in the graphs below.

Now, before you peek down at the results, it’s important to realize that price isn’t the only consideration here. When I rent a car, I’m looking for the best experience. So: [Read more…] about Choosing a car rental company in Iceland

December 12, 2015 By Eric 6 Comments

Power adapters and converters in Iceland

“Plug Prep” by Alan Levine is licensed under CC BY 2.0

There are 2 major differences when comparing power outlets in Iceland vs. those in the United States. First and most obvious is that the outlets are shaped differently. For example, an outlet in Iceland can look like this:

December 12, 2015 By Eric 8 Comments

Icelandair vs. Wowair vs. …

“Iceland – Airport” by Jiashiang is licensed under CC BY 2.0

IMPORTANT NOTE as of March 2019: Wow AIR has ceased operations.

The general advice of this post still applies, though. First, fees for baggage, seats, food, etc. can easily make up even a substantial difference in fare price if you find a “basic economy” fare. Second if you don’t choose seats together when you buy your ticket, you are not guaranteed to sit together!

We are in the process of totally revamping this page for 2019. Stay tuned. If there’s anything you’d like us to cover, send an e-mail to eric@IcelandWithKids.com. Thanks!

Just a few years ago, there weren’t too many options for flying to Iceland from the United States. You’d take Icelandair. But in 2012, discount carrier Wowair started and suddenly things got a lot more interesting.

Let’s plan a trip to Iceland in May of 2016.

Icelandair

Icelandair offers flights from JFK airport any day for the same price.

December 12, 2015 By Eric 2 Comments

Hours of Daylight

“Midnight Sun” by Hafsteinn Robertsson is licensed under CC BY 2.0

The time of year you visit Iceland will have a definite impact on your experience. Most people assume this is because of the temperature. And there is of course a difference in the temperature by time of year:

Source: http://www.holiday-weather.com/reykjavik/averages/

[Read more…] about Hours of Daylight

December 12, 2015 By Eric Leave a Comment

Getting from the airport to Reykjavik

“rainbow at Keflavík Airport” by Jason Eppink is licensed under CC BY 2.0

[Updated in July 2019. Prices increased again!]

Assuming our post about things to do near Keflavik airport didn’t persuade you, you may be looking for the best way to get from the airport to Reykjavik. As with most other decisions you’ll make, you have to balance price against time and convenience. A taxi that picks you up and shuttles you directly to your hotel is convenient, but not cheap. And a bus that forces you to transfer to a smaller shuttle to get to your hotel is cheaper, but not as convenient.

December 12, 2015 By Eric 37 Comments

Cell phones in Iceland, the final word: Icelandic SIM cards

Buying an Icelandic SIM card

Update: We just published our brand new post about using a cell phone in Iceland for your 2018 vacation. The post below will still have some great details, but see that post for the latest information!

Updated December 2017 with new cell phone recommendations.

The SIM card is the little thing, sometimes orange, that identifies the phone number of your cell phone. On this iPhone 5, for example, there is a tiny hole you need to push a small paperclip (or a similarly shaped SIM card remover tool) into the hole to pop the card out.

If your phone works like this, make sure to bring a paperclip or a similar SIM card removal tool with you!

Also, while we’re at it, don’t forget to bring the right power adapters for Iceland.

The process and options for getting an Icelandic Sim card are a little bit tricky. Before we dive into it, let’s walk through a step-by-step summary of how to make this work.