Reykjavik in November

corcaigh07

Thinking of heading there for a week late November on my way home from Canada.

Has anyone here been?

I'm aware that the days are going to be extremely short (6 hour daylight) but is there enough to do near and around Reykjavik in that amount of daylight?

Greg81

I have been there in Iceland twice. Once in November. As you already know day is extremely short. It could be very clod and icy. Reykjavik is a small city. I would start visiting Hallgrímskirkja - Lutheran church, highest building on the island with observation deck/view point. Number 2 for mi in Reykjavik is "Pearl". Restaurant rotating 360 degrees. It is also a huge water supply for the city. Building looks very cool.

Next step is renting a car. Try www.geysir.is It could be a very, very expensive. Best option is a 4x4 nothing else. Roads are rough. I got Toyota Rav4. Tyres got spikes.

Places to visit (let say Reykjavik area):

- Gullfoss waterfall
- Blue Lagoon geo-thermal swimming pool, spa etc
- Vik city with black sand beach
- Golden circle route
- Geysir field near Gullfoss waterfall
- Continental shelf bridge

Take a look at my photos i took there. If you got any more questions just let me know. I hope i helped a little bit.

https://picasaweb.google.com/101801385812660753469/Iceland#

corcaigh07

Thanks Greg, some good stuff there! Is there other stuff you did outside of Reykjavik? I was thinking because of the short daylight, it may be best to not travel too far away, especially since the roads are meant to be so bad!

Greg81

Sorry for late reply.

Ask in your hotel for Golden Circle Tour. Many companies in Reykjavik organising that. They will take you with bus trough the all most important places around Reykjavik area.

November is really not the best time to visit Iceland. As I wrote before I did that once and 3 years later i went there again in June. 2 weeks after volcano eruption. Completely different story. There is no night. So you got a lot of time to explore. I went around whole Island in 4 days. Over 4000km. It was very exhausting but it was also amazing journey.

PS.

Autumn/Winter got one advantage. In really dark night you can see aurora borealis. And it is amazing.

HodgeDog

I have taken Golden Circle Tour and can say that it is just amazing, I did it also in November and it was not bad.

corcaigh07

the flights are booked anyway! Definitely gonna use 2 of the days with the Golden Circle and Blue Lagoon. Tempted to do the inside of the volcano as well one of the days but seems very pricey, or maybe just hike it. Once I'm there, I can find out what else is good and maybe bargain one on a few things since it's low-season.

ScouseMouse

Do golden circle tour WITH thermal power station. Its well worth it. I went in May and really enjoyed myself.

I never got round to reviewing it here but did on tripadvisor.com. Look up superscouse and you will find a review and photos.

Enjoy!

losthorizon

Been to Iceland myself twice once for a few days and once for two weeks. We rented a car both times. Yeah, as far as I know you should have no problems doing the Golden Circle Tour in November by Bus. Its a wonderful experience.

5p9arw38djv2b4

Lucky to have friends there so have been quite a few times. Would agree do the golden circle bus tour, great day out. Some of the summer trips are spectacular but not worth it this time if the year, though you could go glacier hiking? It's good fun. Reykjavik is a great city, depending where you stay you can join the Friday night pub tour if you fancy - you will be broke after though. If weather is not terrible the whale watching is pretty good. Do the blue lagoon either on the way to or from the airport - all the buses from airport to the city and back all stop qt it - 3 hours minimum, it's fab. Alcohol is expensive - the is a duty free at the airport when you land - watch the locals buying then and do the same. Every flight is met by buses to the city so it's really easy, and the buses take you to the main bus station where they out you in smaller buses that then drop you to y exact hotel - very easy! Get hotel/ hostel to book you on bus for way back to airport/ blue lagoon and they will collect you again! There is a cool flea Market at weekends at the 'bottom' of town, near e whale watching in a giant hall, good to pass the hours. Dont know how much you want to spend on accomodation but have stayed in 2 hotels and the YHA and the hostel was pretty good. Have a look online for the volcano cinema - tiny 15 seater in garden of a mans house, but with footage he shot from volcanoes over last 30 years, he's a geologist and it's pretty good. Mostly have fun, it's fab place to go.