So your trip is all planned, your hotels reserved, your itinerary all settled, but now you have to pack. And if you are traveling with children, you’re not just talking about one backpack. There are two concerns here: First, you’d like the packing process to be as simple and streamlined as possible. Second, you’d like to actually be able to make it through the airport without being crushed under a pile of luggage. Note that this advice is not specific to Iceland travel–I’m not telling you what to bring–that will be a future post, once we’ve seen what we have and haven’t used from our packing lists. [Read more…] about Tips on Packing with Kids
preparation
Cash, credit cards, and PINs in Iceland
Questions we will answer (or attempt to answer) in this post are:
- Do I need to bring or get cash for my trip to Iceland?
- Where can I get the best exchange rate on my cash?
- What do I need to do to use my credit card in Iceland?
- Which credit card is best to use in Iceland?
- What about a PIN for chip and PIN in Iceland?
Do I need to bring or get cash for my trip to Iceland?
There is no need to purchase Icelandic Krona before your trip. Typically you will pay a hefty premium to purchase Krona in your home country– up to 10%. Most currency exchange places (AAA, TravelEx) don’t even offer Icelandic Krona. [Read more…] about Cash, credit cards, and PINs in Iceland
Reykjavik? Ring Road? Planning your Iceland trip
So you’re going to Iceland, and trying to figure out how to plan your trip. The internet is full of millions of pictures of thousands of things you can see and do. How do you plan your itinerary? What should do you do, and what will you need to skip?
Here are my brief recommendations for how you should structure your trip, based on the number of days you have. Note that the categories overlap:
1-5 days: Stay in Reykjavik, and do day tours
3-8 days: Cover one or two areas, but not the whole country
7+ days: Cover the whole country. Well, more of it at least.
I think that some people will find these surprisingly conservative. Why just stay in Reykjavik for 4 days? Why not try the whole country in 6 days? [Read more…] about Reykjavik? Ring Road? Planning your Iceland trip
Planning your Iceland trip – Iceland With Kids
“Reykjavik” by Marco Bellucci is licensed under CC BY 2.0
We’ve written many posts about planning for your trip to Iceland. Here is a summary of our best advice, at least so far.
When to go to Iceland?
There will be several obvious differences in your vacation experience based on what time of year you go:
- Temperature. This isn’t as big as you think: Highs in the summer are in the mid 50s, while winter highs are in the mid 30s. See details in this post. Yes, there is snow in the winter, and so you’ll need to make your travel plans less aggressive.
- Daylight. This is a bigger deal than you may think. Summer has 24 hours of usable daylight. The middle of winter may only give you 7. More details in the same post. This picture was taken at about 11:30 PM in June:
“Midnight Sun” by Hafsteinn Robertsson is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [Read more…] about Planning your Iceland trip – Iceland With Kids
Understanding F roads in Iceland
“Iceland” by Moyan Brenn is licensed under CC BY 2.0
If you are planning to drive in Iceland, you need to understand F roads. F roads are mountain roads; Fjallið means mountain in Icelandic.
For lots more about F roads and driving in Iceland, check out our brand new Safe Driving in Iceland Video Course!
Some F roads are hardly roads at all– you might consider them mountain tracks. Here is a picture of F210, for example:
“Iceland” by Moyan Brenn is licensed under CC BY 2.0 [Read more…] about Understanding F roads in Iceland
7 tips for using AirBNB
A tiny seaside Airbnb cottage by Kristen Sloan is licensed under CC BY 2.0
For our trip to Iceland, I started by looking at hotels. Many were already sold out for the summer, or the rooms were too small. And getting two rooms would be prohibitively expensive.
Then I started looking for cottages and apartments to rent, and ended up at Booking.com. You can see my post about tips for using Booking.com.
But then I landed on airbnb.com, and ended up making more than half of my lodging reservations there. If you are traveling with kids, renting an entire house is very appealing. Here are some tips and tricks I learned along the way.
UPDATE June 2016: The Icelandic Government has passed a new law aimed at limiting Airbnb rentals. Homeowners in Iceland will only be able to rent out their properties for up to 90 days a year, unless they purchase a license. I believe this Icelandic article says the rules go into effect starting in 2017.
We’ll be watching to see how this impacts the market for home rentals. Presumably, though, if you find a place you like on Airbnb, you shouldn’t have any problems. But it may limit availability.
1. Don’t expect the same level of service with Airbnb.
First and foremost, remember that you are dealing with an individual person renting out their property to you. Property owners are referred to as “hosts.” Airbnb is just a platform that connects you to individuals who want to rent out rooms or houses to you. [Read more…] about 7 tips for using AirBNB