# Original Iceland 2022 Plans %% Enter notes below this line %% | Starts on | Ends On | Original planned on | | ---------- | ---------- | --- | | April 4th | April 16th | July 20th, 2021 | ## Pre-trip Checklist ### TLDR; This is a _very_ rough plan so far. Almost all of this can change. 12 days in total including flying in and out. It’ll be a somewhat intense adventure doing a full tour around the perimeter of the whole country, a little over 1200 miles. If 8 people show up, that’s ~$1600 per person to cover airfare, lodging, and car rentals. That doesn’t cover cameras, gas, food, drinks, etc. Breakdowns below ⬇️ ### Passports If you don’t have your passport, it’s now taking much longer than it has in the past. Expect around twelve weeks in total. This should be the first thing you try and tackle. ### Vaccination Iceland is enforcing five-day quarantines both before **and arriving** in Iceland which would mean finding lodging for an additional 5 days in Iceland before the official trip. To avoid this, make sure you’re vaccinated before the trip. Regardless of vaccination status, everyone is required to show a negative infection test no more than 72 hours before departure. ### Flights In my experience, it’s sort of an impossible task to figure out when the optimal time is to buy a ticket but to make sure we have an official headcount, we should all have our flights booked no later than early February. Prices are currently averaging around $450~ Round Trip from the North East and $800~ from the North West. ### Hotels & Lodging This is still somewhat hard to pin down as the itinerary below is far from finalized. We should also try and group up as much as we can to lower our lodging costs. A _very_ rough estimate if we stay in hotels the whole trip and shares rooms, hotels will cost roughly $900 per person for the full 12 days. ### Cameras This is also still being worked out. If you’re looking to rent a camera and don’t know what to rent, I suggest looking at the Fujifilm XT series of cameras and at least a 50mm lens. If you choose to rent more, you would also benefit from a wide/ultra-wide such as an 18mm or on the tele side of the spectrum with a 70-200mm. Feel free to message me with questions but I’m also still working out how to keep this simple for everyone, especially the less experienced photographers. ### Vehicles This is still being worked out and will be heavily impacted by how many people can travel as well as what we’re trying to do. 4x4s will likely be more expensive but might provide us with better flexibility and safety. Not including gas, renting vehicles should be ~$1,000 per car[^camper]. If there’s 8 of us and we can fit into 2 cars, that’s $250 a person. ### Food & Daily Costs We need to figure out food for the long trips because it’s unlikely we’ll be close to easy stops. We might need to stock up in the major towns/cities and get things you would typically take hiking/camping. Right now one American Dollar is equal to about 124 Icelandic Krona (ISK). As a really rough rule of thumb you can expect things to cost: 3250 ISK for Dinner ($26), 1200ISK for Beer at a bar ($9.50), 450 ISK for a latte ($3.50), and gas at 950 ISK per gallon (**$7.60!**). ## Itinerary ### West Iceland  #### Monday, April 4th - Arrive in Iceland - Check-in to hotel in **Reykjavik** (~80-200 for 2 people) - dinner #### Tuesday, April 5th - Breakfast - pickup cars - tour **Reykjanes** peninsula & get familiar with camera gear - visit the **blue lagoon** (or Skylagoon[^skylagoon]) - stay in hotel (~200 for 2 people) #### Wednesday, April 6th - Drive to **Kirkjufell** (220km, ~3hrs) - **Glymur Waterfall** - stay in the town of **Grundarfjördur** (~$100-$300 for 2 people) - shoot at sunset @ **Kirkjufell** mountain ### North Iceland  #### Thursday, April 7th - Drive to **Akureyri** (375km, ~5hrs) - Detour in **Hvitserkur** - Spend the remaining day in **Akureyri**, Capital of North iceland - stay in **Akureyri** ($100-$200 for 2 people) #### Friday, April 8th - Drive to **Godafoss** (135km, ~2hrs) - possible detour to **Aldeyjarfoss** and **Hrafnabjargafoss (requires 4x4, adds 90km/3hrs)** - Possible whale watching tour in **Húsavik** - Sleep in **Mývatn** ($200-300 for 2 people, for 2 nights) #### Saturday, April 9th - early morning day trip to **Dettifoss** and **Selfoss** (225km, 3.5hrs) - Optional day activities: **Mývatn Nature Baths,** geothermal area of **Hverir, Dimmuborgir lava field, Hverfjall crater, Grjótagjá Cave** (a Game of Thrones filming site) - sleep in **Mývatn** again (covered previous night) ### East Iceland  #### Sunday, April 10th - Long driving day, North Iceland to southeast Iceland. 350km, 4.75hrs (split with Monday) - Possible detours: **Stuðlagil Canyon**, **Rjúkandi Waterfall**, Puffins at **Borgarfjörður eystri** (+ 150km, 3hrs), **Stokksnes peninsula** - Stay Near **Seydisfjordur** ($100-150 for 2 people) #### Monday, April 11th - Complete the trip by driving to **Höfn** ($100-200 for 2 people) - Dinner, celebrate more than half way! #### Tuesday, April 12th - Drive to **Jökulsárlón Glacier Lagoon** and **Skaftafell** (140km, 2hrs) - Options: kayaking or take a boat tour of **Jökulsárlón**, **walk on a glacier**, visit **Diamond Beach** and **Fjallsárlón Glacier Lagoon**, and hike to **Svartifoss waterfall** - Sleep near **Skaftafell** ($100-200 for 2 people) ### South Coast  #### Wednesday, April 12th - Drive down the south coast (285km, 3.5hrs) - Detours: **Fjaðrárgljúfur**, **Reynisfjara black sand beach**, **Dyrholaey Arch**, **Skógafoss**, **Seljalandsfoss**, and **Gljufrabui** - Sleep on the Golden Circle ($200-800 for 2 people for 2 nights) #### Wednesday, April 13th - Drive the Golden Circle (300km, split with Thursday)  - Detours: **Gullfoss**, the **Geysir Geothermal Area**, and **Thingvellir National Park** - Sleep on the Golden Circle (covered in previous night) #### Thursday, April 14th - Drive the Golden Circle (300km, split with Wednesday)  - Detours: **Gullfoss**, the **Geysir Geothermal Area**, and **Thingvellir National Park** - End Night in **Reykjavík** ($200-350 for 2 people for 2 nights) #### Friday, April 15th - Explore and use rest day in Reykjavík - Goodbye Dinner - Drop off cars #### Saturday, April 16th - Fly home [^skylagoon]: [https://www.skylagoon.com](https://www.skylagoon.com/) - Spa/lagoon near Reykjavik. ~$58-$110/pp [^camper]: [https://campeasy.com](https://campeasy.com/) - camper van rentals