Traveling to Iceland

[susiewond]

<p>A friend and I both in our 60s are wishing to travel to Iceland around August early September 2013. <br /><br />We live in Australia.<br /><br /><br />Our thoughts are to go for about 2/3 weeks<br>

Could those with the knowledge of Iceland and small tours what is the best not too expensive photographic tours to go on?<br>

If necessary we could hire a vehicle and travel around ourselves - any recommendation on doing this i.e is car hire group etc.<br>

<br />Best Photo opportunities sites at that time of the year.<br /><br />Any other useful information be graciously accepted.<br>

<br>

<br>

thank you<br>

<br>

<br>

sue</p>

[SteveH]

<p>I've been to Iceland once with Rod Planck, a photo tour leader here in the USA. His web site is here: http://www.rodplanck.com/index.html. I can recommend him for this and any other photo tour he leads. I have an Iceland portfolio from that trip here on photo.net. <br>

Generally speaking, travel to the arctic regions is best for only about a 6-8 week period from mid June to Mid August. September tends to be pretty cold and a bit late for tourism: flowers will be wilted/gone, and the migratory birds will be off to the south. <br>

Most everybody is competent in English. Icelandic is indecipherable. I understand that Iceland is fairly expensive, even after the recession, and that package deals that include lodging and hiring an automobile or caravan/camper generally give the best value for independent travel. </p>

 

[richard__]

<p>Maybe there is something for you at this site: <a href="http://www.focusonnature.is/">http://www.focusonnature.is/</a> although they look a bit expensive to me.</p>

[anil_sud]

<p>Sue, I did attend the focus on nature tour (that Richard mentioned above) back in 2011. They have been in business for several years and are extremely well run. They also sport some highly recognized photographic educators which will be a valuable asset in enhancing your experience.<br>

Our group ranged from rank beginners to working professionals and the instructor was able to accommodate everybody. This particular company provided in class as well as field instruction including some critique sessions. Everything was pretty much looked after from the time we arrived until departure. I have some images on their website under 'participants gallery' which are representative of the type of opportunities we experienced.<br>

This past summer I attended 2 back to back workshops in Iceland with another operator Johnathan Esper of Wildernesscapes (http://www.wildernessphotographs.com/) for a total of about 24 days. He does run summer tours in July and August although I believe one of his summer 2013 tours is already filled. His tours are also cost inclusive but will be about $2000 cheaper than focusonnature and will be about 13 days long instead of focus' 1 week tour. <br>

Johnathan also provides individual instruction on his workshops tailored to the individuals skill level and need. His group size is generally limited to 5 participants so he is able to provide more one on one time than was possible with focus on nature. <br>

If you contact me directly, I can provide you with a link to a gallery of images taken during the 1 month spent on his 2 tours. <br>

Both are excellent tours and I can easily say that you won't go wrong with either. Overall, I did find that we experienced more opportunities on Johnathan's tour due to the longer workshop period but this also meant more time sitting in a vehicle travelling around from place to place.<br>

Hope this helps!<br>

anil sud</p>

<p> </p>

[anil_sud]

<p>Sue, I did attend the focus on nature tour (that Richard mentioned above) back in 2011. They have been in business for several years and are extremely well run. They also sport some highly recognized photographic educators which will be a valuable asset in enhancing your experience.<br>

Our group ranged from rank beginners to working professionals and the instructor was able to accommodate everybody. This particular company provided in class as well as field instruction including some critique sessions. Everything was pretty much looked after from the time we arrived until departure. I have some images on their website under 'participants gallery' which are representative of the type of opportunities we experienced.<br>

This past summer I attended 2 back to back workshops in Iceland with another operator Johnathan Esper of Wildernesscapes (http://www.wildernessphotographs.com/) for a total of about 24 days. He does run summer tours in July and August although I believe one of his summer 2013 tours is already filled. His tours are also cost inclusive but will be about $2000 cheaper than focusonnature and will be about 13 days long instead of focus' 1 week tour. <br>

Johnathan also provides individual instruction on his workshops tailored to the individuals skill level and need. His group size is generally limited to 5 participants so he is able to provide more one on one time than was possible with focus on nature. <br>

If you contact me directly, I can provide you with a link to a gallery of images taken during the 1 month spent on his 2 tours. <br>

Both are excellent tours and I can easily say that you won't go wrong with either. Overall, I did find that we experienced more opportunities on Johnathan's tour due to the longer workshop period but this also meant more time sitting in a vehicle travelling around from place to place.<br>

Hope this helps!<br>

anil sud</p>

<p> </p>

[colin carron]

<p>I'm envious. I haven't been to Iceland though I have wanted to go there for a while. But I've been put off by the cost. I went to Norway last year. In both these countries 'not too expensive' is a rarely heard expression except for puiblic services. Best of luck and have a great time.</p>

[AJHingel]

Sue, I would suggestion, that you do, as you mention yourself. Rent a cross country vehicle, and go on your own. You need a cross-country to be allowed to go into the mountains and wilderness areas. There

are lots of guides informing you on where to go and when and where to stay. A beautiful country and not so expensive for foreigners anymore after the Icelandic bank crisis.

[colin carron]

<p>Good point about the bank crisis, Anders. I will have to look at costs again...</p>

[peter_lagus]

<p>Sue:<br>

Unless you need the photographic instruction, I think you may be better served going on your own. Car rental can be a little pricey, but food and lodging are not necessarily outlandish so long as you avoid the upscale restaurant/bars. Dining is cheaper still if you don't need any alcoholic beverages.<br>

One place you might check out is the Edda chain of summer lodging. These are college dormitories that are rented out during the summer months. There are many scattered throughout Iceland. The rooms are clean and prices moderate. They often also provide a breakfast service.<br>

Iceland in the summer is so photogenic that it is hard to take a bad picture. <br>

As stated above there are many free (or low priced) guides available that provide details of what and where to go in Iceland. At any of these places you WILL find dramatic photo ops. <br>

Email me privately and I would be pleased to provide a list of useful guides for Iceland.</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>Doing it yourself is clearly an option but it depends on where you want to go and how much effort you're prepared to put into deciding where to go yourself or organising a series of guides.</p>

<p>I went on a tour with a well-known US photographer in 2010 and it was good in many respects, but there was no activity before breakfast and we had dinners arranged for right as the sun was dropping. So I missed the best light at both ends of the day and in general the activity level was a lot less intense than when I organise my own trips. </p>

<p>Doing it yourself is fine if you can handle a fair amount of isolation ( what are you going to do if you break down?) and probably best if you're planning to stick mainly to route 1 around the island and avoid the jeep roads and the deep interior. The sort of vehicle you need for the gravel roads and in particular the jeep roads is very expensive to hire. Personally if I am headed for the north, the north-west fjords or similar then I'd want to have 2 vehicles involved in case anything went awry , so I'd always have someone to come get if I had a breakdown in an area with no signal. If you're going along route 1 , especially route 1 in the south and west/southwest I wouldn't be so concerned. </p>

<p>And hiring guides yourself? Well hiring one in a specific region is probably not terribly onerous. But if you're moving about a lot then hiring and making arrangements with several guides in several different areas may be a bit of a mission.</p>

<p>So if you're a first time visitor to Iceland, wanting to get off the beaten track a bit without taking risk I think a tour might be a smart way to do that. But you do need to ask questions and get answers on what you get. I would not, using my example above, select any tour that didn't commit to putting me in the right place at the best times of day. </p>

<p>You could think of mixing and matching the self-drive and Tour approaches- hiring a moderate vehicle to get you round route 1 and picking a couple of areas where you can join up with a tour group or guide to explore the locality in more depth and in someone else's vehicle .</p>

<p> </p>

[susiewond]

<p>Thank you everyone for your useful responses - much appreciated.</p>

<p>sue</p>

[Rick Waller]

<p>Couple of points to add. First, regarding this portion of an earlier reply - "arranged for right as the sun was dropping. So I missed the best light at both ends of the day" - Be advised that the sun does NOT set in Iceland in the summer. It is daylight 24 hrs. This photo was taken in early June of this year at midnight - handheld ISO 400.<br /><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-QtKuN0ioOek/UCE9xeEHhBI/AAAAAAAACOc/Crjh0VZl3B0/s720/_DSC0648-2.jpg" alt="" /><br />I agree with the idea of hiring a car rather than committing to a formal photo tour since you are planning to be there for 2 or 3 weeks. Iceland is a very driveable country and I am not sure that you need offroad capability, although I cannot speak definitively about that. It is not difficult to get around and many of the memorable sites are accessible in an ordinary car. <br />I actually found Iceland to be expensive, both for lodging and food, especially in Reykjavik. Hotel rooms are quite comfortable in the $250 -300 range. Keep in mind that rooms are tiny by European/US standards, but very confortable. You do NOT need air conditioning.<br />I recommend that you bring eyeshades for sleeping. It is difficult to go to sleep when it is broad daylight outside. Combine the lack of darkness with the fact that Icelanders make full use of the very short season of good weather and simply do not go to sleep. In downtown Reykjavik, we had the windows open for some ventilation and people were "partying" outdoors at 2 am.<br />Iceland is like a cross between Yellowstone Park in US (vast geothermal action including geysers, which is actually an Icelandic word) and the moon with rocky craters. Iceland sits atop two tetonic plates which give rise both to the geothermal and the "moonlike" landscapes. One of the major sites you will visit a short drive from the capital is where 2 of the earth's major plates abut each other and the crevices, ravines, etc are quite unique. I don't recall the name of the park, but it is listed on every to do list.<br />People are marvelous and everyone speaks English, since as the fellow above mentioned, the Icelandic language cannot be spoken by anyone other than a native. The alphabet is different and the pronunciations are NOT in any way phonetic. Forget trying to ask for a particular street by trying to pronounce it. It sounds nothing like it is written. Just take a photo of the name or keep a map in your hand and point to a spot. The inability to pronounce anything other than the name of the capital was one of the enduring memories of the country. You might as well be in an Asian or Cyrillic speaking country. For example, I was fond of the local beer which is written Gull. It is pronounced something like Glickkkkkk, with a gutterl sound that cannot be typed. I kept asking for a Gull (like the bird) which always got a laugh from the locals. Always a polite chuckle tough - truly nice people.<br />I suggest bringing wide to moderate focal length lenses for most of the trip. Long glass would be useful primarily for birding (be sure to see the puffins), but humping a long lens is just not practical unless you live for birding. A polarizer is a must since there is much time to be spent along the sea and along rivers, streams and small streams. <br />Waterfalls are a big (very big) attraction in Iceland and you must have ND filters if you are going to get the shots. Remember, there is no golden hour in Iceland during the summer. Not sure what part of August you are planning to visit and I have not been there in that month, but I would check to see the number of hours of daylight you can expect when you go.<br />Food is interesting. Obviously a lot of fish. Big on lamb if you prefer meat. But be aware, horse and puffin are quite popular foods in Iceland. I did not enjoy horse, although I suspect that had a lot more to do with my head than my stomach. Speaking of horses, Iceland is known for its special breed of horse (not for food source) that is endemic to the island . The Iceland government fiercely protects the species; no horses from elsewhere are permitted into the country to keep the strain pure. They are comparatively small and quite pretty. You will see them throughout.<br />Bring warm clothes that you can layer. "Good" clothing is unncessary. Hiking clothes are really what you need. Incidentally, if you do a lot of travel to cold climates, there is a local clothing line called 66 North (which refers to the latitude of Iceland) that is terrific. Sort of like the Northface line in the US. Apparently very effective. <a href="http://www.66north.com/">http://www.66north.com/</a> Stores are all over the big towns and cities. Great woolen sweaters also are everywhere. One specific Icelandic style knitted by everyone.<br />If you enjoy "different" locales, Iceland is the place to go. It is not like "regular" touring locales.</p>

[Rick Waller]

<p><strong>Correction to my earlier post</strong>. I just looked online and apparently in August there is a period of "night", especially toward the end of the month. I stand corrected, although the "night" is apparently not dark as we are used to it. Sort of twilighty. Best to check with someone from iceland. The site I looked at showed that there was a "sunset" officially listed for June, but I can tell you that it was completely light outdoors 24 hrs. I found Iceland Air telephone operators to be an excellent source of advice about such things. Great airline, by the way, Very comfy coach seating - nothing like the cattle cars most of us are used to.</p>

[susiewond]

<p>thanks Eric fabulous information</p>

<p>sue</p>

[david_henderson]

<p>I can assure you that it does get properly dark in Iceland at end August/early September. We had full-blown northern lights up in the Northwest Fjords, and I got up for a real sunrise every morning, albeit not always in the places I'd like to have been. You don't need someone from Iceland -just someone who's actually been there when you intend to go. And there is a "golden hour" at that time of year, just so long as the sun is getting through the clouds anyway, which sadly is not guaranteed , though we had good weather and were in T shirts or light fleeces much of the time. </p>

<p>The photograph below was taken on 5th September at 7 am UK time which is 6am Iceland time (which is GMT all year btw, no summertime clock changes). For a country observing GMT, Iceland is a long way west, which explains why sunrise and sunset are later than you might expect.</p><div></div>

[susiewond]

<p>Thanks David for the update</p>

<p>Sue</p>

[susiewond]

<p>Everyone has been so helpful -</p>

<p>To assist us in booking accommodation along the way can people tell us which places that like more and why. Bearing in mind our main purpose is to take photographs.</p>

<p>thank you</p>

<p>sue</p>

[AJHingel]

<p>I'm sure everyone, that have been to Iceland, have got their own marvelous experiences from the place. It is a beautiful country to discover, by simple going there and avoid (for photographical purposes) the most visited areas of tourist buses and mass organized tours, especially near Reykjavik. For historical reasons, I would however suggest, that you go a visit the place of the remains of one of the oldest democratic "parliaments", the <em>Althing</em>, on the plains at <em>Thingvellir</em> (35 miles north-East of Reykjavik, Road 434).<br /> By the way, thanks Eric, for a very inspiring account of your Icelandic experiences. You are right, that the Icelandic language is very difficult to understand. It is one of the oldest living languages in the world and near the old Nordic language of the first settlers. It is somewhat nearer (in historical terms) to present Danish, Swedish or Norwegian. Most Icelanders speak Danish which is mandatory in school, just as English is. Danish is, however, as difficult to understand as Icelandic, for foreigners !</p>

[dfperrault]

<p>September is beautiful, you don't have to be up until midnight to get vivid and dramatic lighting. It is great all day. Often sun on one half of the sky and rainclouds on the other and a rainbow in between. It is still warm/cool similar to fall in New England. The east and West fjords are really dark and mysterious, the South Coast has some of the most beautiful sunsets, cliffs, waterfalls, and glaciers, I have ever seen, as we as the spectacular iceberg lagoon. You may see the northern lights in the West Fjords mid Sept. You will miss the birds and the flowers. I forgot about them the first day.<br>

Also there are very few tourists and tour buses clogging up the road, and you will always be able to get a room in a farmhouse with out booking ahead - I stayed in farmhouses the whole trip. Stock up on 2-3weeks of food in Reykjavic and you can cook dinner for yourself in the farmhouse kitchens. (I often made coconut lime soup w/ smoked salmon). It is the best way to get to know the locals and learn about their way of life, and get advice on the most scenic spots, and all of the secret local hot springs. THere is also a great 1-2 day loop around grindivk and keflavck with 4 beautiful lighthouses and and old church if you want to test out your SUV and get used to the roads. A car is fine if you stay on the fine.<br>

I rented and recommend that you rent an SUV and skip the tour. That way you can stop wherever and whenever you want. I thin you will get more unique perspectives this way. I probably stopped every 10-15min for 1500miles. I drove East into the highlands, then down to the south coast around the ring rode CCW up to the West Fjords in two weeks , It would be nicer to do it in 3 weeks. it was really incredible<br>

I rented a Hyundai tuscon from Blue rental (They had the best prices at the time, and have great customer service), also cheaper off season. I think they offer road side assistance as well. I never stalled crossing a river in the highland - rent a tow rope just in case<br /><br />I can send you an intenerary, and links to my photos, just PM me. I will be offline for a few days this week.</p>

[susiewond]

<p>Hi Don</p>

<p>Great information - much appreciated. I will also be off line for a week from tomorrow 27. 12.2012. However I will contact you via your email if you could send me your itinerary. Thank you</p>

<p>Sue</p>

[ArthurRichardson]

<p>Bring warm clothes. No, I do not suggest you're an idiot. It's just that a friends dad went to Iceland in the summer, so he packed for the summer. First thing he had to do after landing was buying a winter wardrobe.</p>

[susiewond]

<p>Thank you I have bought myself a down jacket for when I go to iceland in September</p>

<p>Sue</p>

[havanai]

<p>There are now several tours going to Iceland in February. Has anyone gone to Iceland for Northern Lights and winter landscapes? Is that crazy?</p>