OK in order to introduce our trip to Iceland, I realized we should start with the basic logistics. First, book a flight. Seriously, book it now because it is an awesome place to visit!! Now second, you have a couple options if you want to explore the 'southern rim' of Iceland - should you rent a car in Iceland or stay in Reykjavik? We talked to friends and did some research, and we compared the two main options for you.
Option 1: Rent a car and stay in various towns.
In this first option, you rent your own car and design your own route, staying overnight in towns along the way.
Pros:
Super flexible for a fluid itinerary - including as much time as you want at each of the beautiful stops
Ability to find hyper local pockets along the way (the non-touristy side of the country)
Eat, shop, take pictures whenever and wherever you want
Potentially see the northern lights from your own room
Cons:
Additional stress - mostly around the driving itself -
relying on cell service for maps since many of the signs are in Icelandic
the risk of randomly terrible weather on difficult roads
the horror stories (from my brother) about getting a stick shift car when you rented an automatic... all the things
Option 2: Stay in Reykjavik and take tours each day.
In this second option, you stay at a hotel in Reykjavik every night, and then each day you take a tour to explore all the great places to see across southern Iceland.
Pros:
Don't worry as much about all the driving stresses (like road conditions, directions, and the car itself) - your experienced local guide will have the right vehicle and make a call on whether the familiar roads are safe for travel
Have a drink at lunch (yeah, it made the list - it is vacation!)
No need to pack and unpack all your stuff each day
Cons:
At the mercy of your guides to see all the things (sites, food, etc.) and have enough time for everything you want to do there
More time in a vehicle (as you aren't in a one-way drive around - you're heading back to Reykjavik and out again each day)
Need to contend with calling taxis (and then related wait times) if needed in Reykjavik, as there is no Uber in Iceland
We were originally going to do Option 1, but after a lot of overthinking, we picked Option 2. And we were SO glad that we did. Staying in Reykjavik was pretty stress-free! The weather was mostly good for us in October, but even during our few days there some of the roads were closed due to high wind - so we were very happy to have a navigator.
Yeah it was more time in the car, but we used that time to get to know our guides and look out the big windows. Plus, we were happy to do LOTS of research before we traveled to find the perfect tours (which we'll share on in other posts!), so we saw everything on our list (and more!).
And an extra surprise, we LOVED the city of Reykjavik (more on that in another post), so we were super happy to be able to explore it most days - for a cup of coffee in the morning or a delicious dinner at night. Loved it!
More posts on Iceland coming right up! :)
PS My brother and sister-in-law rented a car when they went to Iceland a couple summers ago, and they had a few challenges (even though it was summer and supposed to be easier!). I asked him to send me a picture of himself with his rental car so I could share here... he sent me this. Seemed right to share it even though it's not helpful. :) In fairness, I have zero pictures of me with the tour bus... next time!
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