Bit of advice on foreign travel plus hotels please.

[thetime]

Well im 40 in 18 months old git. Well im going to go to iceland for my 40th as the blue lagoons is somethign ive always wanted to do.

IM not used to foreign travel to say the least and apart from the odd festival abroad have only been abroad for my honeymoon and that was a package holiday.

Would I be best to go with a package holiday to iceland with a tour thrown? For example would this be the best cover if everything goes tits up. Or would I be best to do it all on my own and book hotels, flights etc etc seperately?

[thetime]

.

The other thing to remember is if you book things independently, the insurance for each bit needs cover.

[thetime]

this is the company ive been looking at and also the package, its covered by abta so this would cover me if it goes tits up.

http://www.iceland2go.com/tours/iceland/volcanoes-glaciers-iceland-6-day-tour/

[thetime]

Cheers for the advice guys.

[Gre]

Whatever you do you should get proper travel insurance...

[lost]

I went to iceland in march and everything was piss easy to arrange, got the flights and hotel off expedia, airport transfer is waiting for you at the airport to book and they will drop you off at any hotel you want. The main excusion companies have offices in the centre, we went to the blue lagoon, northern lights tour, golden circle and eyjafjallajokull..

We used these; http://www.grayline.is/ for the golden circle

and these http://www.re.is/ for airport transfer and blue lagoon.

[thetime]

I went to iceland in march and everything was piss easy to arrange, got the flights and hotel off expedia, airport transfer is waiting for you at the airport to book and they will drop you off at any hotel you want. The main excusion companies have offices in the centre, we went to the blue lagoon, northern lights tour, golden circle and eyjafjallajokull..

We used these; http://www.grayline.is/ for the golden circle

and these http://www.re.is/ for airport transfer and blue lagoon.

[kaosmark2]

Booking seperately is generally cheaper and more suited to your needs. As English is widely spoken in Iceland, I'd probably go with that because if something goes wrong you can still easily communicate to sort things out. If I were going somewhere where I didn't think they'd be a substantial language overlap, I'd go for a package holiday because of the things like travel reps etc.

It's more hassle doing everything seperately, but generally you get both a better and cheaper holiday out of it.

No Iceland specific advice though.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I know Iceland is expensive but FROM £1000 + for 6 days seems over the top to me. I've thought about doing Iceland before. When I looked at it I was going to fly with someone like easyjet or GermanWings if I remember right. I was then going to book accomodation on line. There are then buses which go to places like the Blue Lagoon (and all over the island). I think it can be done cheaper and you can tailor it to what you want. I don't mind taking buses etc as I think it's all part of the fun. However you might want everything laid on for you since it's a special birthday treat. Remember, drinking over there is a bastard in terms of expense (as can be eating).

Sites to look at;

Skyscanner - which will give you the cheapest flight deals

TripAdvisor - where you can get advice on how to go about your trip from Iceland travel regulars (very handy site for getting all sorts of info from nearly anywhere you want to travel).

[Gothenburg83]

Didn't want to start a new thread so found this one!

Next march I am going to Serbia for a few days, anyone on the forum ever been before and have any advice?

Cheers

[Ed209]

I hate packages. Always like to free style my holidays. Me and a couple of mates did Iceland, got return flights for £150 each. We hired a car and drove around staying in little guest houses around the island. Much cheaper than spending all your time in the touristy hotels, got to meet a lot more locals and see a lot more of the Island.

Iceland is one of my favourite places on the planet. Amazing place and amazing people (especially the woman ..... good lord)

[Ed209]

oh shit, just realised the iceland stuff was from months ago. Out of interest, thetime, did you go and how did you find it?

(Can't help on Serbia I'm afraid.)

[thetime]

oh shit, just realised the iceland stuff was from months ago. Out of interest, thetime, did you go and how did you find it?

(Can't help on Serbia I'm afraid.)

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Didn't want to start a new thread so found this one!

Next march I am going to Serbia for a few days, anyone on the forum ever been before and have any advice?

Cheers

[Ed209]

We got ours with BA, direct to Reykjavik from Gatwick.

As for travel insurance. Check with your bank. At Lloyds you can upgrade to a "silver account" for a couple of quid a month and it covers you and a partner for European travel. £8 for a gold with covers World travel. There's no contract so you can start it before you go away and cancel it the day you get back.

Things to go see, A night or two out on the town in Reykjavik, preferably a Friday or Saturday. But be prepared to stay out till late. Most Icelanders don't hit the bars until past midnight. Blue Lagoon is cool. Gullfoss waterfall is easy reach of Reykjavik and the Geysers are easy reach from here. We went to Jokulsaron as well. Big iceburg lagoon, really stunning.

If you are comfortable driving on the wrong side of the road then I really recommend just getting a little automatic run around (so you don't have to worry about changing gears with the wrong hand), hiring cars is really cheap these days. Theres tours to the geysers and waterfall, but Jokulsaron is further away. With 6 days you could explore the middle a bit as well and go see some volcanos, alternatively drive north from Reykjavic and go see the fjords. I'm planning to go back in February for the northern lights.