2019 Iceland - My tips and reviews page.

In keeping with my recent tradition, I am putting up my TripAdvisor reviews of the places we visited on this trip here on this page. I will also give a few personal tips on travel to Iceland.

Howard's tips on traveling to Iceland

I typically don't do this, but there were a few things I learned about traveling in Iceland during this trip, which I will share with you:

  1. Read the TripAdvisor forum!
    2. This is my standard recommendation for planning any trip, post questions if you have any, you will get some good advices there.
  2. Bring an ATM card and make sure it works in Iceland
    3. In Iceland, some gas stations do not have attendants, and the dispenser requires a pin code for using a card (debit or credit). It is my understanding that most credit cards will start charging interest on your entire balance as soon as you have a debit transaction (but this may vary with different companies); therefore it is just best to use an ATM or debit card. Regardless of what you bring, you should place a travel notice (most cards allow you to do this online nowadays, but you can also call them) on the card(s) you intend to use to make sure the transactions are not blocked.
  3. Buy comprehensive insurance for your rental car, including sand and gravel insurance.
    4. Even if you plan to drive only on paved roads in the summer, beware that some roads may be under construction or repair (Iceland's summer is short, so it is reasonable to expect that they will do a lot of construction in the good weather). Plus, Iceland is volcanic and essentially treeless, the strong winds can blow sands and gravels on your car.
  4. Check road conditions before a long drive Check road condition (paved or unpaved) here and road status (open/closure) here.

Hotel reviews

I did not review all of the hotels we stayed at, but I will list them in the order we stayed at. They are all good, we never had any bad experience in any of them; I reviewed a few exceptional ones.

  • Reykjavik: Skuggi Hotel by Keahotels: Highly Recommended! Convenient location with a garage. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Hveragerdi: Hotel Ork
  • Vik: Icelandair Hotel Vik
  • Hofn: Milk Factory: Highly Recommended Nice, clean hotel. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Egilsstadir: Icelandair Hotel Herad
  • Lake Myvatn: Fosshotel Lake Myvatn: Highly Recommended! Nice hotel with view of Lake Myvatn. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Akureyri: Skjaldarvik Guest House: Highly Recommended! Fjord living for a day. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Reykholt: Fosshotel Reykholt
  • Grundarfjorour: Grund í Grundarfirdi

Restaurant reviews

  • Hveragerdi: Olverk Pizza & Brewery: Highly Recommended A golden end to the Golden Circle tour. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Blonduos: B&S Restaurant: Not Recommended Expensive with limited choices. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.
  • Grundarfjorour: Bjargarsteinn mathus: Highly Recommended Best restaurant we dined at in Iceland! See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.

Service and tour reviews

  • Blue Car Rental: Highly Recommended I could not find this company on TripAdvisor, so I posted on the forum to recommend them, see my forum post here.
  • EyjaTours: Puffin and Volcano Tour in Vestmannaeyjar: Nuetral Good tour for what it is, but not without limitations. See my detailed TripAdvisor review here.



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