ICELAND

mojo

mojo

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SOUTH WOODHAM FERRERS
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2002
Any advice much appreciated for a Iceland trip we are planning.Leave Hirtshals,Denmark on Smyril Line Ferries to Iceland via the Faroe Islands.This seems to be the only way to get the van there.
Whats the best place to find & book sites and who to use for breakdown cover.
Funsters always get to places before us so I am sure there are some out there who can advise.

Thanks
 
Can't give any advice but it sounds fantastic(y) When I did look into this it was the wrong side of £2500 in ferry costs:eek:
 
I am sure there was a thread on here about 2 years ago where a funster had done Iceland (y)
and I can't find it (n)

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It does sound like a terrific adventure but I have to share with you an experience I had when travelling back to Manchester from Vancouver about thirty years ago.

The captain came on and said "I have good news and bad news. The good news... for those of you who have never been to Iceland... you're going tonight. The bad news.... for those of you who have been to Iceland... you're going again."

Must admit we did just sit on the runway for a refuelling stop.
 
Robert Clark said:
Expensive? Depends how you look at it.
Click to expand...

all is relative , it depends on your personal finances....

to some, £3k is pocket money.. for others it's about 6 months of their state pension money.

It's also a matter of value for money .. Cost of the ferry to Iceland would cover the costs for several months Europe.
 
Can't help with your questions, just thought I'd say a few folk from my running club go every year for the Marathon and always come back raving about the place.

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Would it not be simpler to fly and rent a vehicle on arrival, then all the insurance etc. aggro and any damage caused by the non metalled roads in the more remote parts are not your problem.

Great place to go but I would think that some local support in case of problems would be beneficial.
 
mojo said:
Any advice much appreciated for a Iceland trip we are planning.Leave Hirtshals,Denmark on Smyril Line Ferries to Iceland via the Faroe Islands.This seems to be the only way to get the van there.
Whats the best place to find & book sites and who to use for breakdown cover.
Funsters always get to places before us so I am sure there are some out there who can advise.

Thanks
Click to expand...
Take a big coat. (y)(y)(y)
 
Seems the main season is June to Aug.We will go in July.Outside double bed cabin about £3,500 for our 7.6mtr van return via the Faroe Islands.There is a camping card available on board covering 44 campsites for 99.00 euro for 28 nights.
 
We went there (not in the van) last October to try to see the Northern Lights (failed :().

However we absolutely loved the country. Alien landscapes of molten lava rocks, black sand beaches, waterfalls, volcanoes, and easy driving unless in the winter, when 4x4 is essential and some roads are closed completely till the spring.

Reykjavik was great too. Loved the local architecture and the ubiquitous fish soup. Great little cafe serving the soup plus fish dishes at the harbour front. Sit on plastic buckets at a shared long table with everyone else. Cafes apparently turn into night clubs at night (we didn't do that bit).

Easy parking everywhere, including Reykjavik. People very friendly and all speak perfect English.

We'd disagree with the pilot and go back at the drop of a hat, next time in the summer though. We also saw motorhome hire companies over there too.

Steve :Smile:
 
No expert on Iceland but I know something about the Faroes. If we want to take our own car now we have to go via Hirtshals since Scrabster/Aberdeen/Lerwick has been dropped. We have shipped it from Immingham with Eimskip/Faroeskip and flown out to pick it up a couple of times. The ship actually goes to Iceland first before returning via the Faroes so we have 11 days before we need to be out there.

By the time we've added flights and getting to Immingham it's not much different in cost from the long route with Norrona. We've done Harwich/Hook and driven to Esbjerg when Norrona called there and Harwich/Esbjerg last year and up to Hirtshals. That North Sea crossing has now finished of course so the long way round in future as has been discussed on several recent Scandi threads.

You'll know better than me but I think you're in Torshavn a few hours only on the way out and 3 days on the return but that may have changed. I'll add more on the Faroes if you need specific info on the islands.

We don't particularly like Norrona, it's a big brick wall of a ship and the journey time to Torshavn is 36 long tedious hours for us. There used to be a fridge in the outside cabins so at least you could take food and keep it fresh, handy for families with on board food expensive and if the weather was rough you could stay in the cabin and snack. That's been replaced by a mini bar. The large cafeteria where you could have a cheapish meal and occupy a table for as long as you wanted has been split into 3 smaller speciality eateries and the free, open aspect has gone.

The ship operates more or less as a bus route so although it maybe won't affect you in the Faroes cabins must be evacuated 2 hours before arrival to allow cabin staff to clean before the new arrivals board. So you get people sitting about on stairwells, outside restaurants, anywhere and everywhere with luggage waiting to trip you up and nowhere to sit as the seats have long been colonised.

Oh and they like their drink!

We see a multitude of vehicles around the ports awaiting to board, some of the ugliest beasts and the largest tyres you've ever seen but well suited to Iceland, equally there are plenty of ordinary motorhomes so you'll have no problems unless you intend to go off road. You wouldn't do it here so why would you do it there?

So, not much help on Iceland I know but I just had to get Norrona off my chest. :censored:

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Oh and I forgot, I mentioned it on Shuggy's Norway thread but as you get into Hirtshals the port is well signposted and there were plenty of vans parked up overnight along the approach roads. If that's still a 3pm departure there's shops and food outlets for any last minute bits if you want to overnight and kill some time next day.
 
Just checked van hire after BritStops mention of hire companies..A standard Fiat van for 14+ days in July @280.00 euro per day ! We intend to do a month.Ferry for us I think.
 
The Spanish around here have a fascination with Iceland.
When we first came here 12 years ago loads of them were going there. Must be trying to cool down. :LOL:
 
Just been in October flew easyjet from manchester and hired a car would get a 4x4 next time to travel the F roads facinating country did the golden circle in our car and black sands coast the waterfalls and gyser and some whale watching no northern lights though that could be due to the recent volcanic eruption lovley people all speak excellent english I would do it again but fly as cost of taking motorhome is prohibative i am sure you could ship it to the east coast of the states for that price.

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mojo said:
Just checked van hire after BritStops mention of hire companies..A standard Fiat van for 14+ days in July @280.00 euro per day ! We intend to do a month.Ferry for us I think.
Click to expand...

Hmm, yeah, not that cheap then! Our car hire was MUCH cheaper. The nice lady at our hotel lent us her sat nav, and when I asked if it was in English she sighed and said, "It's in every language except for Icelandic..."

Steve :Smile:
 
Suburu 4x4 -30 days in July 77800 Krona = £3997,85 + Accomodation + flights Will keep looking at the car hire option to find cheaper but its not too promising in high season .It would have to be 4x4 to be bothered living out of a suitcase but getting in to the interior
 

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