5 Pro-Tips When Visiting Iceland in the Fall
We just got back from a tour with Collette to Iceland! It was a jam packed 7 day adventure that we’ll never forget, but Iceland is a little different from other European countries we’ve visited in the past. Here are our 5 tips to make things easier when taking a guided tour in Iceland:
1. Layers, Layers, Layers
At first, you’ll probably feel like you've overpacked… do it anyway! We visited southern Iceland in late October, and the weather wasn’t the frozen hellscape that we’d been warned about. When you get closer to glaciers or waterfalls, we were definitely affected more by the cold air and mist. Black sand beaches were beautiful, but windy. Indoors, everything was heated a little too much. The trick to beating all these competing extremes? Layers! You’re on a bus, you can take off and put on whatever you need for that situation, and that’s the key to staying comfortable.
The weather stayed around 40 F (4.4 C), but the wind, rain and sun went in and out of the picture, changing the way it felt outside dramatically. At first, I couldn’t help thinking that I had over packed as I walked through the streets of Reykjavik with just a long sleeve t-shirt and a light jacket the first two days. That perception changed as we got out into the country and started doing activities. Gloves, hats, thicker waterproof jackets, light jackets/hoodies, leggings, and swim trunks… all of these played a role at some point in the week we spent exploring. Don’t leave something at home because you think you know what the weather is going to be. The weekend we left, we had rain on the forecast daily, but only really ran into it once. Things in Iceland ARE NOT CHEAP (but more on that later), so an extra half pound in your bag is well worth not having to buy a new coat.
2. Buy Booze at Airport Duty Free
I’m the type of person who does research on the culture and tips for visiting a country before I make a move. All the Youtubers were talking about how expensive booze and beer are in Iceland. I grew up in Chicago though, and everything’s slightly more expensive in big cities, so maybe these small town people were right that things were slightly pricier, but how bad could it be? Boy was I wrong. The “country” parts of Iceland have peak time big city prices for a beer at happy hour. We’re talking about $12 for their equivalent of a Bud Light in some cases.
Luckily for us, we did take some heed of what fellow travelers had said, and bought a bottle of vodka and some beer. Had we known how extreme this was going to be, we definitely would have loaded up on more. Load up at duty free. I repeat: LOAD UP AT DUTY FREE! Our tour was Go Go Go. From 8 am to 5 pm we were on the bus, moving from experience to experience: having a little travel booze was nice. From 5 to 7, we’d get back to the hotel and enjoy one of my favorite parts of Iceland, a geothermal hot tub: sharing booze was a great way to get good stories out of fellow travelers and locals. We hung out late night hunting for the Northern Lights: a good way to stay warm and share the experience was with a warning shot.
3. You don’t need cash… or do you?
Iceland is slowly working its way to becoming a cashless society. If you have a card with a chip, you can easily tap and pay for everything in the country you could ever want, from street meat to experiences to expensive art work. Iceland doesn’t have a minimum wage, but everyone we talked to from cashiers to bus drivers told us they were paid very well (with a median household income of almost $10k USD over the US).
For better or worse, Americans have become known around the world for our propensity to tipping for service. Whether or not you need to carry cash on you depends on whether or not you’re willing to accept the “shame” of not tipping for things. We tried to balance our tips with what service was actually performed, so while we didn’t necessarily tip the way we would here in the States, we definitely still used paper money here and there. Towards the end of the trip though, we realized we had taken too much Krona out of the ATMs and were looking for opportunities to burn some on airport snacks and postcards.
4. Embrace the Weird
We got into Iceland a day earlier than our trip was scheduled to begin, so we had to find stuff to do to keep ourselves busy. First Stop? A penis museum! The Icelandic Phallological Museum is a collection of penises from all over the animal kingdom. What started as teasing turned into a lifelong passion for the founder, and the museum is now home to hundreds of specimens with fun facts. There are all kinds of random adventures that don’t get as much attention as walking waterfalls and playing in geothermal spas.
If you’re in a hot tub and someone tells you about their scuba diving experience between the two continental plates… look into it. Hear about a random museum about the Northern Lights? Might be worth checking out. (Spoiler alert: Aurora Reykjavik is definitely worth visiting with the 3D experience, comfy nap inducing viewing room, and deep background on the phenomenon.) A bite of shark and a shot? Gulp it down! Most of the odd food comes with someone telling you an interesting story.
5. Slow down- Bonus: Book a Hotel with a Hot Tub
Like I said, our tour was very GO GO GO. If you don’t know your own preferences and limitations, it's hard to tell yourself, “I’ve already seen 3 waterfalls, do I need a fourth? We tried shark in Reykjavik? Is it going to be a better experience in Vik, or would I feel better if I took that hour to myself to relax? We’ve been around the world, and this might be the most jam-packed schedule I’ve ever been subjected to, particularly since after a full day of running around the daytime experiences, it was then time to hunt for the Northern lights for a few hours after dinner.
There were some days where I took refreshing naps on the bus from experience to experience instead of socializing, and there were times where I said no thanks to certain things, like more shark and Brenin (the local schnapps). My favorite way to relax was to jump straight off the bus and throw on my swimsuit and hop in the geothermal pool at the hotel for the hour before dinner. Normally, I would just relax in the room, but the water helped soothe everything sore from the day's adventures, and get me pumped for the evening’s activities. You have to find your zen, and don’t be afraid to say no.
