Seattle Direct Flights to Reykjavík, Iceland. Great trip. (Bellevue: rentals, hotels)

[homesinseattle]

How many of you have done the trip? It’s an easy flight, only 7 1/2 hour nonstop from Seattle. I rented a campervan from a place called Kuku Campers in Hafnarfjordur, hopped on a bus for 20 minutes from the airport to get there. GPS and phone worked great all over Iceland, my van gave me total flexibility of travel, you can just roll right up and find spots in campgrounds, many are in magical locations and all of them have hot showers and well designed common spaces, places to cook and visit with other travelers. My camper came equipped with small mattress, blankets, heater, burner with propane to warm my morning coffee water, blackout shades for the ever present summer light. Hit me up by DM if you need any info. Iceland can be expensive but doesn’t have to be the way I did it. The campervan isn’t that expensive, campgrounds are like $15/night, all the magnificent hiking trails, many natural hot springs are free. I bought food in grocery stores, ate lots of delicious Icelandic Skyr (yogurt), picked wild bilberries (blueberries) along the way, bought dried fish jerky from little self serve places along the road. Fish soup, plentiful seafood and good beer are readily available, Iceland also raises quite a few veggies and bananas (believe it) in greenhouses heated with geothermal that are available in stores. Iceland hot dogs are quite good and available at gas stations, pizza is tasty and fairly affordable too.

I spent about 9 days there, headed directly up to a region in the far NW of the country called the Westfjords, insanely beautiful and gets only 10 percent of the tourists the rest of the country does. They say “if you want to see the real Iceland, go to the Westfjords”. Waterfalls, everywhere, lovely rivers, beaches, idyllic villages, music festivals, Viking burial sites, little restaurants with affordable local food, met all kinds of great characters along the way. I had no set plans, explored all over the area, just drove until I wanted to stop each day. I actually went in July, weather was amazing, not too cold at night (like 45F), warmed to 65F during the day, I actually threw on shorts for hiking a number of times. Saw puffins, Arctic foxes, breathtaking natural beauty. Kind people, special country.

[MechAndy]

That sounds like a really good trip.
A couple of my kids friends have done Iceland in a shoestring budget and greatly enjoyed it.
Thanks for posting this.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by MechAndy

That sounds like a really good trip.
A couple of my kids friends have done Iceland in a shoestring budget and greatly enjoyed it.
Thanks for posting this.

You bet. If you want to map my route, I drove from Reykjavik to Holmavik the first day, stopped by Dragsness and amazing Djupavik, then back to the north coast of the Westfjords to a magical little place called Heydalur, then to Isafjordur, lots of cafes and pubs there, then down to Flateyri, Bolungarvik, Dynjandi waterfall, Pingeyri, Bildudalur, Patreksfjorfur, Breidavik and the amazing Latrabjarg bird cliffs, then back to Raudisander, Flokilundur then headed back towards Reykjavik. Of course there were many little settlements along the way that don’t even show on the map, I explored pretty much all of the fjords, down some little dirt roads to magical spots, found intrepid interesting travelers at the end of some roads.

[Returning2USA]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

How many of you have done the trip? It’s an easy flight, only 7 1/2 hour nonstop from Seattle.

Only 7 hours to Iceland from Seattle?!!!

Flying over the north pole!?


What a great place to go.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Returning2USA

Only 7 hours to Iceland from Seattle?!!!

Flying over the north pole!?


What a great place to go.

Yup, exactly, over the pole.

[Transmition]

I did Iceland a few years ago on my way to the UK since they offer free layovers. Food was very good and very expensive, but there is so much nature you can explore for free. Did the golden circle and a bit more besides, but I never even visited Reykjavik.

[rjshae]

Note that Reykjavík isn't major city: it's smaller than Bellevue and certainly doesn't have anything like that city's office development. However, it does have a Phallological Museum, for those who like that sort of thing.

[Johnny Wadd]

It's 6 hours from JFK so not much longer from Seattle it seems. Campers are no longer for me but hotels/AIRBNB's are really not that expensive @ $150-$200 a night and many come with kitchens.
Westfjords are good but you should take the ring road to see all that Iceland has to offer. You didn't see the reindeer, which congregate in the eastern side of the island. July also is tourist season and can get crowded with tourists. I would recommend the shoulder seasons - May and September.

[homesinseattle]

Originally Posted by Johnny Wadd

It's 6 hours from JFK so not much longer from Seattle it seems. Campers are no longer for me but hotels/AIRBNB's are really not that expensive @ $150-$200 a night and many come with kitchens.
Westfjords are good but you should take the ring road to see all that Iceland has to offer. You didn't see the reindeer, which congregate in the eastern side of the island. July also is tourist season and can get crowded with tourists. I would recommend the shoulder seasons - May and September.

Johnny Wadd, there are some pretty swanky RV rentals I saw on the road, I think you can create any level of luxury you want. I have no problem paying for Airbnbs and that's certainly in my budget, the camper van just gave me incredible freedom and the ability to be spontaneous. Have you done the Westfjords? It's amazing. I met a few travelers there who had previously been on the Ring Road and they said it was packed with tourists. Sometimes in the Westfjords you are all alone. I did an all day guided excursion to Hornstrandir National Park, incredible. The bird cliffs of Latrabjarg are mind-blowing. Here's a little video I found online to give you a taste:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6A3tyWTrcwE

[04kL4nD]

Iceland is amazing; however, Alaska is closer and a lot cheaper and imo more scenic, overall. I do plan on returning to Iceland one day, but Alaska is just easier.