Iceland Eclipse Adventure - FAILURE
We flew with
Whilst much of the general public were blissfully unaware of the upcoming eclipse - many of us were putting our plans together a year in advance. I knew that flights to Iceland would be expensive and accommodation would also be more expensive than the already expensive norm.
For the flights - I chose BA. They sell a small number of AVIOS flights on each of their flights - released 355 days before departure - usually at 00:00 or 01:00 during BST.
I booked the outbound flights and inbound flights separately as I couldn’t afford to hang around until the inbound flights were released as the outbound would in all likelihood have been booked by someone else. I also needed to book for 4 passengers - which was an even bigger challenge.
Anyway - long story short - went to bed late for two nights that week, but did secure the tickets that we needed for a bucketful of AVIOS (Earned from credit card signups) and a small amount of cash. I worked it out that if I assumed an AVIOS point was worth 1p, then the equivalent cost of the AVIOS and taxes was approximately £250 for each of the tickets. The CASH ticket prices rose to over £1000 before they were sold out. Needless to say I was very pleased with sacrificing some sleep for such a saving.
I was then able to leverage my Royal Jordanian Oneworld status on the BA tickets and pick our seats for free.
The only negative was that BA only flew once a day to Iceland on our travel dates - which meant getting up at 04:00 for the run down to the airport.
Lounge was available to me and Jane with BA, but instead we used our Priority Passes to get into one of the non-airline lounges for some breakfast before boarding for some much needed catch-up sleep.
When we landed in Keflavik Airport - it was rammed. There must have been additional flights specifically for the eclipse week, and the additional passengers were overwhelming the airport infrastructure.
We parked with
Parking was booked via the Holiday Extras with a code from MSE.
This time it happened to be with MBW. Meet & Greet @ T5 when travelling as a group of 4 is a no-brainer if you are happy to leave your keys with the provider.
£90 though for 5 nights does still feel like someone is making a shed load of money - and that was booking with a discount code over 11 months in advance.
Anyway - it was seamless when we left the car off, and it was there waiting for us when we landed.
We slept in
We are frequent visitors to Iceland over the years - usually taking a lodge. Here’s our favourite location - https://gljufurbustaoir.inn.fan.
However the lodges were eye-wateringly expensive for eclipse week, and we wanted to do a little driving so selected the cheapest campervan we could find. As they only accommodated two people we hired two of them - https://cheapcampervans.is. They pretty much did what they said on the side of the van.
They are cheap - less than 100 Euro per day with full insurance and a good list of extras. We booked very early - before the rush had started for eclipse week and secured this incredibly good price.
Cheap comes with some drawbacks - they were very small, but at least they were economical and an easy drive.
We were collected from the airport, did the paperwork and had a walk around the workings of the very simple vans.
Everything- plates, cups, utensils through to the vans themselves were well used. We had warning lights for engine management on one and coil pack on the other and more dents than craters on the moon - but the vans (apparently in their last season) didn’t let us down, and took a fair battering on the bumpy roads. We were told not to worry about the warning lights - it was just sensors that don’t do well on Icelandic roads.
A great cheap alternative. But next time I will be pricing up the larger vans.
https://cheapcampervans.is https://cheapcampervans.is
We stayed
As we had the vans we stayed at campsites. In Iceland you can’t just park up and camp anywhere - you must be on recognised campsites. Campsites varied widely in the amenities available - and as we didn’t have much in our little vans we spent time selecting where we wanted to park up each night.
Campsites on the path of totality were fully booked so we chose on the basis of location to the spots we wanted to visit and avoiding getting caught up in endless traffic queues.
We spent 5 nights in Iceland at the following campsites;
Pakgil - 4/5
Once you turn off the main road from Vik, you get just the slightest inkling that the 45min journey to the campsite is going to be rough and epic.
The road quickly goes from rough and bumpy to challenging, but exciting.
The scenery is breathtaking for the passengers, the driver needs to remain focused on the road.
The campsite is a chilled location in the middle of nowhere without any mobile service. Plenty of complaints from the rest of the family that I hadn’t given them the heads up on this.
The cave for cooking looked nice - but was pretty empty whilst we were there - so there wasn't much atmosphere.
Toilets and free showers were available but could get busy.
We loved it and it’s a memory that will sit with us for a good while.
Vik - 4/5
We arrived in Vik on a damp and windy day - and didn’t want to drive much further.
We were expecting this campsite to be just average but it wasn’t - a very pleasant surprise.
Situated very close to the main road and walking distance of everything in Vik, especially the supermarket, makes it a very convenient stop.
There is a large warm communal area for cooking, dishes and eating. Very well presented and clean toilets and paid 300 ISK showers were available.
We chose a hard stand without electricity - which worked well for us.
Grindavík - 4/5
Another great campsite.
Clean toilets and free showers available.
The cooking, washing and eating area was cosy, with no outside shoes allowed. This, along with the continual cleaning, helped maintain the clean environment. That was a really useful approach and was appreciated.
There is a restaurant and bar down by the docks which is just a short walk.
There are pictures of a swimming pool - maybe it's elsewhere in Grindavik, which would be within walking distance.
Selfoss 2/5
This was disappointing
The toilets were grim. The free showers were also grim. There also weren’t enough of either to service the large camp ground.
No trouble with parking or finding a space - it's a large area. The site is quite convenient to the main town. There is a small bar on site - which doubles as reception which closed at 10.00.
Happy Campsite Keflavik 3/5
Very convenient to Keflavík airport for early flights. The area is quite empty though, so once settled there is nothing to do. Gets cold as well - with the sea breeze. The noise of other campers arriving went on well into the early hours and made sleeping difficult.
<Not on Tripadvisor>
We visited
In no particular order and with no more than a sentence on each - check google for detailed info;
Diamond beach
Disappointing as there were no little icebergs washed up.
Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon
Very cool - colours were vibrant, with the low thud of ice colliding due to tidal flows.
Strokkur - Gyser
Money has been spent doing up access paths which makes navigating the crowds so much easier.
Gullfoss
It’s a cool sight - constant wind and damp from the spray from the waterfall, and strangely the only tourist stop with free parking.
Brúarfoss
Magical blue cloud from this smallish but very accessible waterfall
Þingvellir
Stunning scenery featuring the rift between two continental shelves that is so evident and accessible.
Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River
4km walk into the mountains, changing facilities are non-existent, and you definitely need a shower that night as you do smell of river water.
Lava fields of Grendavik
Very new as a result of the most recent volcanic activity and worth looking at along with the newly built lava defences
Reykjavik
No trip to Iceland would be complete without a wander through the capital city.
Seljalandsfoss
Epic waterfall where you can walk behind the waterfall
Fjaðrárgljúfur
An epic canyon - well worth the stop
Other locations visited on other trips that are worth a mention
Kerið (Kerid) crater
Good views from top and bottom within the crater of an aged volcano
Power Station (Hellisheiðarvirkjun)
Good for a short educational visit
Sky lagoon
Newest and most modern - situated in Reykjavik
Blue lagoon
Tourist spot conveniently situated near airport - don’t be put off going.
Secret lagoon
More basic but more authentic
Tomato farm
Lovely soup - worth looking at how the tomatoes are farmed in such a harsh environment - spoiler greenhouses and caged bees
We ate
Efstidalur II
Seen advertised on Facebook- didn’t disappoint. Crowded but well managed. Burger was good, fries were well seasoned but a little colder than I like. Ice cream - loads of flavours - was very good and being enjoyed by everyone. Eating it whilst watching the cows feeding was odd/novel. Oscar the dog looked like he owned the place.
Food hall - Selfoss
On the main roundabout with 2hrs of free parking around the back this small food hall has plenty of options for lunch and dinner. Delicious free tap water available.
Food hall - Keflavík
Larger food hall close to the airport - with plenty of good options for lunch and dinner, and free parking. Free water available.
Hard Rock - Reykjavík
Yep - how did we end up there?
Necessity over choice. We were hungry having skipped breakfast and needed something familiar and dependable. It was just ok. No one raved about the burgers or club sandwiches that we got. It’s central with parking close by.
We drank
We didn’t do much of that - Have you seen the prices of alcohol in Iceland!
Do yourself a favour and buy in the duty free located at baggage reclaim once you land in Iceland.
Iceland eclipse
Bit of a wash out in all senses. The weather didn’t cooperate and masked out the eclipse. Our period of totality though was pretty cool. A kind of accelerated sunset, a short night, and then a sunrise. All without actually seeing the sun as it was obscured by the thick drizzling cloud.
Whilst we didn’t get exactly what we were expecting we had a great time packing a lot into the days that we were in Iceland.
Random observations
There are a lot of tourists and foreign labour serving those tourists - so you don’t meet a lot of Icelanders.
The weather changes quickly and those changes can be considerable
It’s a big place - driving those long distances can be tedious
It’s a nation of coffee drinkers
Icelandic people aren’t intentionally rude, but have serious and direct vibe going on.
Seljalandsfoss Reykjavik Black beach Seljalandsfoss Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon Reykjadalur Hot Spring Thermal River Gullfoss Fjaðrárgljúfur Seljalandsfoss Exit to Iceland sign Lave flows Grindavik Iceland landscapes
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