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Iceland: scenic driving advice?



 
 
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  #11  
Old December 15th, 2015, 10:35 PM posted to rec.travel.europe
poldy
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Posts: 788
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 12/14/15 4:52 PM, Don Wiss wrote:
On Sun, 13 Dec 2015 13:03:58 -0800, poldy wrote:

Do people still buy guide books?


Absolutely. Very convenient to carry around.

Or jsut print out some web sites?


You can print out all you want. But they will not have as much, or be as
organized as an inexpensive 384 page guide book. And clumsy to manage while
on the trip.

The Lonely Planet one: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1743214758
Is only $15.70. A pretty minor expense considering what the entire trip
will cost. And if you want to be cheap, you can preview most of the book on
Amazon.

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


I think the one thing I don't miss about carrying guidebooks is carrying
guidebooks, vs. a few printed pages.

I guess I could buy guidebooks in ebook form, since you can bookmark
sections and search through it.

I like the history that guidebooks cover but a lot of the hotel and
restaurant listings are out of date.

Actually, forum info can be pretty useful.
  #12  
Old December 16th, 2015, 02:52 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-13 18:48:30 +0000, tim..... said:

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...
My next trip is to Iceland for 10-14 days

The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise, making forays


um, clock-wise?


Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of
the island, etc..

I bring this up because there are other circumstances when I've
travelled where one direction is better than another, e.g.
anti-clockwise around the Ring of Kerry and Loch Ness. Having to do
with lesser traffic, more impressive view of scenery, and such. On the
scale of Iceland it would seem less important, but I though it worth
mentioning.


to visit glaciers, volcanoes, and other places resulting from research

Does anyone know, are there off-the-beaten path places I should be on
my itinerary? or otherwise, super scenic drives? I've driven in the
highlands of Scotland, and Norway, and am hopeful to see a lot of that
glaciated beauty.


The whole of Iceland is off the beaten track :-)


Awesome! Would you say it was generally like Wester Ross in the north
of Scotland, or some of the fjordlands of Norway? I've driven through
both and loved it.

what type of car (bike) will you have?


The plan was to hire a convention car, not a 4x4 for off-road, since I
frankly have little experience dealing with potential off-road issues.
I realize that will limit where I can go. I am hoping some unpaved
roads are intended for normal use and aren't rutted etc. necessitating
a 4x4.

what type of accommodation do you intend staying in?

are you going to pre book or turn up on the day?


I have always found success in the remoteness of Norway and Scotland,
of finding a place to stay with no reservation, and just driving along
until I found something decent. Maximum freedom, that way. I usually
only reserve the arrival and departure nights. My hope was that
although Iceland was also sparsely populated, I could find a place in
the various towns along that main ring-highway that circuits the
island. What do you think about that?


This will make a difference as to how far "off the beaten track" you can go

tim


Going off the beaten track was envisioned as something to do as
in-and-out excursions form the main highway.

--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe and the U.S.A. (and New Zealand too)

  #13  
Old December 16th, 2015, 02:56 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-13 20:01:08 +0000, Don Wiss said:

On Sun, 13 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote:

My next trip is to Iceland for 10-14 days

The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise, making forays
to visit glaciers, volcanoes, and other places resulting from research


Which guide books have you purchased so far?

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


I have the Eyewitness guide, the one that is photo-rich. I have al
road atlas on order too. I use the photos for inspiration and mark the
road atlas accordingly. As I've become very experienced with travel
and have tripadvisor available, I no longer need the traditional
guidebook that has all the logistics info. For example, my main
guidebook for Istanbul was the excellent _Walking Through Istanbul_.
--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan

  #14  
Old December 16th, 2015, 02:56 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-14 19:06:07 +0000, tim..... said:

"poldy" wrote in message ...
On 12/13/15 12:01 PM, Don Wiss wrote:
On Sun, 13 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote:

My next trip is to Iceland for 10-14 days

The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise, making forays
to visit glaciers, volcanoes, and other places resulting from research

Which guide books have you purchased so far?

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


Do people still buy guide books?

Or jsut print out some web sites?


If you know of a web site[1] that's anywhere near as good as the
average guide book, please tell me

tim

[1[ Generic one, not one simply for Iceland


stepheda.com

:-)


--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan

  #15  
Old December 16th, 2015, 02:58 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-13 21:03:58 +0000, poldy said:

On 12/13/15 12:01 PM, Don Wiss wrote:
On Sun, 13 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote:

My next trip is to Iceland for 10-14 days

The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise, making forays
to visit glaciers, volcanoes, and other places resulting from research


Which guide books have you purchased so far?

Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom).


Do people still buy guide books?

Or jsut print out some web sites?


For my Scotland trip, I used the stonepages.com website to make my own
guidebook of all the ancient megalithic sites, marked up on my Michelin
road atlas. Very nice!

--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan

  #16  
Old December 16th, 2015, 03:00 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-14 09:12:32 +0000, Giovanni Drogo said:

Anyhow all the standard ring road (and sites near to it like the main
Geyser or Thingvellir or lake Myvatn) is scenic enough. Do not miss
Jokulsarlon, lake Myvatn, and the numerous waterfalls.


thanks!

--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan

  #17  
Old December 16th, 2015, 03:07 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Dan Stephenson
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Posts: 591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On 2015-12-14 19:22:19 +0000, tim..... said:

I suspect that he might be wanting to camp, hence the reason I asked
that. But I agree, turn up at lodgings [1] on the day without
pre-booking is likely not to be 100% successful, and with the next
"town" 4 hours away you are going to be stuffed.


Hmm.

Here's a trick I recently employed in Japan. With an international
voice and data plan on my iPhone, I would research hotels in the "next
town" *before* the evening, then call them to make a reservation, and
then spend the rest of the afternoon getting there, scenic-driving
along the way. Hopefully something like that will work for Iceland?

When I very first started travelling in 2002, a 3-month grand tour of
Europe, I pre-reserved all my hotels -- for the first half of the trip.
But when I got the the hotels, I kept passing up placed I would have
preferred to stay at! Nuts to that. From then on and for the past
thirteen years, I've winged-it.

Except sometimes booking the first and last nights. It is good
practice to book a room near the airport for the trip back. Booking
the first night is just a convenience, since that is usually at a big
town I want to visit without a car. I then go back to the airport to
rent the car, thus avoiding the big-town traffice. I did this first
with Palermo, and recently with Athens and Tokyo.

--
Dan Stephenson
http://stepheda.com
Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan

  #18  
Old December 16th, 2015, 06:55 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Mark Brader
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Posts: 346
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

Dan Stephenson:
The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise...


"Tim":
um, clock-wise?


Dan Stephenson:
Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of
the island, etc..

I bring this up because there are other circumstances when I've
travelled where one direction is better than another...


I believe Tim's question was not why you mentioned a direction, but whether
"clockwise" was the direction you meant to mention. (Apparently it was.)
--
Mark Brader "Relax -- I know the procedures backwards."
Toronto "Yeah, well, that's a quick way to get killed."
-- Chris Boucher, STAR COPS
  #19  
Old December 16th, 2015, 10:48 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
Giovanni Drogo
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Posts: 811
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?

On Tue, 15 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote:

I would research hotels in the "next town" *before* ...
something like that will work for Iceland?


No idea, but Iceland is sparsely populated, the only real town is
Reykjavik, the capital. One may add Akureyri, Hofn and Egilstadir. In
the latter place we slept in a school dormitory (with double rooms).
We slept in countryside hotels in other places (we were a group on a
coach, can't remember how many, perhaps about 30).

Maybe a single person or a couple can find accomodation easily. Surely
in summer they could lodge you in a school if you have a sleeping bag.
  #20  
Old December 16th, 2015, 11:03 AM posted to rec.travel.europe
tim.....
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Posts: 1,591
Default Iceland: scenic driving advice?


"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...
On 2015-12-13 18:48:30 +0000, tim..... said:

"Dan Stephenson" wrote in message
...
My next trip is to Iceland for 10-14 days

The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise, making forays


um, clock-wise?


Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of the
island, etc..

I bring this up because there are other circumstances when I've travelled
where one direction is better than another, e.g. anti-clockwise around the
Ring of Kerry and Loch Ness. Having to do with lesser traffic, more
impressive view of scenery, and such. On the scale of Iceland it would
seem less important, but I though it worth mentioning.


I think you missed my point

I was querying your spelling

But you are right

most people do go clockwise

and no, it doesn't matter, outside of a few road in Reykjavík there's no
such thing as a traffic queue in Iceland (unless it's caused by them
repairing a road, in which case the direction's irrelevant)




to visit glaciers, volcanoes, and other places resulting from research

Does anyone know, are there off-the-beaten path places I should be on my
itinerary? or otherwise, super scenic drives? I've driven in the
highlands of Scotland, and Norway, and am hopeful to see a lot of that
glaciated beauty.


The whole of Iceland is off the beaten track :-)


Awesome! Would you say it was generally like Wester Ross in the north of
Scotland, or some of the fjordlands of Norway? I've driven through both
and loved it.


Scotland is definitely the nearest comparison in the rest of Europe. It's
not at all like the fjordlands of Norway, the costal area is almost flat.

And, of course, that's ignoring all of the thermal activity that nowhere
else in Europe has.

(Not been to the Faroes so can't make that comparison)


what type of car (bike) will you have?


The plan was to hire a convention car, not a 4x4 for off-road, since I
frankly have little experience dealing with potential off-road issues.


Good move.

The places in Iceland where you benefit from a 4x4 are not the place for a
4x4 novice.

I realize that will limit where I can go. I am hoping some unpaved roads
are intended for normal use and aren't rutted etc. necessitating a 4x4.


There are lots of unpaved roads that can be driven by a normal car. Though
you have to drive at half speed. (If you've never done this before you will
think that you can faster, which you can as they are often reasonably
straight - until you need to stop in a hurry and then, and only then, do you
find out why you have to drive slowly).

But none of the ones across the centre.

And AIUI, not because of the quality of the road surface, but because none
of the rivers have bridges over them. Having to drive through waist high
water is common.


what type of accommodation do you intend staying in?

are you going to pre book or turn up on the day?


I have always found success in the remoteness of Norway and Scotland, of
finding a place to stay with no reservation, and just driving along until
I found something decent. Maximum freedom, that way. I usually only
reserve the arrival and departure nights. My hope was that although
Iceland was also sparsely populated, I could find a place in the various
towns along that main ring-highway that circuits the island. What do you
think about that?


Well I didn't do it, I was pre-booked so I can't tell you whether you will
be always be able find a place to stay in X on arrival.

But what I can tell you is, if X is full your next option is not going to be
a few miles down the road, but 3 hours away. There isn't a great supply of
roadside hotels waiting for you to turn up.

assuming that you are going in the summer, the good thing about Iceland is
it's almost 24 hours of daylight, so you can happily drive until midnight to
your destination if you get behind on a day's pre-planned activities.

Back to the first point. My trip coincided with the Hofn fish festival.
Hofn is the largest place in the SE of the Island and would normally be a
stop on the itinerary that I used.

I only booked 4 weeks ahead and Hofn was full. I was allocated a hotel 150
miles further along the Island that day

This will make a difference as to how far "off the beaten track" you can
go

tim


Going off the beaten track was envisioned as something to do as in-and-out
excursions form the main highway.


You can do that, but mostly you don't need to. The best attractions are all
next to the highway

The really off the beaten track is the trek across the centre

but as above:

you absolutely need a 4x4

AND

you need to be confident about driving it in extreme conditions

tim





 




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