It has always been the case that Sunday afternoons in January were made for researching holidays. We have been considering a trip to Greenland this year, but we’ve decided that we can’t really afford to do it justice. There are no roads on Greenland and so whilst we could afford to go one location, you really need to fly (by plane or helicopter) or take boats to get about more widely. Iceland however would be a suitable alternative, and we get the opportunity to spend a bit longer in Reykjavik and see more of my family whilst over there.
By chance, lured in by a picture of the traditional turf-roofed farm houses, I stumpled upon Ferðaþjónusta bænda, a tour company that run self-drive tours staying in farmhouses or farm guesthouses, and it looks brilliant – a full tour around the Icelandic route 1 ring-road. I will see more things that I have not seen before, and be able to show Emma some of the things I have done before.
The only question that remains is when? From 16 September their winter season starts and its cheaper, but August might be a better time for the road trip. The pre-maid tour looks good, but I wonder whether what options (and prices?) there might be to a custom one to stay in less places and stay for longer, but less time in the overall trip (the last two days and the first day) focus on bits that are quite close to Reykjavik and might be doable from there. Oh the fun of investigating these things… 😀
Before we can go anywhere we both need knew passports. We tried to pick up forms yesterday at the post office, but they appeared to be strangely missing. Discovered today that you can actually fill out the form online and they’ll post it to you complete the declarations etc. So I did, but what, the website was soooo slow, and then when I did finally get to submit (they warn you not to press submit more than once, but I’m not sure how you could considering after you’ve pressed it it disappears?!?) it took an age and then returned me to a completely different Home Office site without so much as a confirmation so I assume they received it. I shall wait and see what comes in the post…
For my own reference
- Ferðaþjónusta bænda – Icelandic Farm Holidays
- Currency converter
- Icelandair
- Visit Iceland: Icelandic tourist board
- Landmannalaugar by bus
- Traffic conditions on roads
- Travel in Iceland
- Enjoy Iceland
- Ingólfshöfði Coast Tours
