Hotels/ Tours in Reykjavik

[frozenpegger]

We are going to take the Celebrity Eclipse cruise from Reykjavik to Boston in August of 2024 and were planning to spend two full days there before boarding the cruise.  Was interested in a three things:

1. Reasonably priced hotels situated near the port and other sites

2. Tour operators that provide tours from Reykjavik, Isafjordur and Akuueyi

3. Best way to get from Keflavik to Reykjavik.

 

Thanks in advance 

[janetcbl]

First of all: Everything in Iceland is more expensive than you are probably used to. We like the Canopy by Hilton. Best way to get from Keflavik to Reykjavik IMO is via the Blue Lagoon. You probably arrive early in the morning and can’t get into your hotel room until afternoon. There are a number of tours that do this; check out Airport Direct to start. When I have done this, jet lag disappears and I feel wide awake and alert and on Iceland time. Don’t know how this works for other people.

[Meander Ingwa]

Agree. Flybus is an excellent way of getting from the airport.  They also do the blue lagoon transfer.  You can check your bags at the BL and when done you will be transfered to the central depot then onward by shuttle to most hotels

 

When booking a hotel, make sure they include breakfast.  

 

I used Reykjavik Excursions and was pleased with their services.  You can visit their page for more details.

 

Golden circle is a classic full day inland tour from the city, highly recommend.

[Turtles06]

Besides the Golden Circle Tour from Reykjavik, there is also the spectacularly beautiful South Coast Tour.  
 

For tour operators in each of your ports, do  a search in this forum for each port. 

[TMLAalum]

23 hours ago, frozenpegger said:

We are going to take the Celebrity Eclipse cruise from Reykjavik to Boston in August of 2024 and were planning to spend two full days there before boarding the cruise.  Was interested in a three things:

1. Reasonably priced hotels situated near the port and other sites

2. Tour operators that provide tours from Reykjavik, Isafjordur and Akuueyi

3. Best way to get from Keflavik to Reykjavik.

 

Thanks in advance 

Please join our roll call for this cruise!

16 August 2024 Iceland to Boston! - Celebrity Eclipse Roll Calls - Cruise Critic Community

There will likely be opportunities to join private tours organized by roll call members.

[PLee]

All great advise.  Yes, it is quite expensive in Iceland and Norway.  We stayed at The Edition, it is a Marriott property.  The bus station was right outside.  Marriott also partners with Viator to set up tours.  Enjoy, we would go back.  There is also a Hop on Hop Off bus that is great to explore Reykjavik for the day.

[edinburgher]

On 7/30/2023 at 2:21 PM, frozenpegger said:

Tour operators that provide tours from Reykjavik, Isafjordur and Akuueyi

you could use the search box under your user name to input each of your port calls in turn to read previous threads which you should find helpful to read. Do it on the GENERAL N. Europe and Baltic Ports forum, NOT on an individual thread.  You will get lots of results which you can read through.  I think this is a really good one for Akureyri, you only need ignore the subject line and the first few posts as it morphs into a discussion on recommended tours and tour operators.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2910739-akureyri-activities/#comment-64715461

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by edinburgher

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We used Nice Travels for three days post cruise.  Did the blue lagoon, north cast and south coast.  Great guides and experience, but it is tiring as each tour is about 12 hours long.  We stayed at the Reykjavik Centrum as there was an adjoining cafe that was open until 11 PM and it was delightful.  And it is one block from Bus stop #1, and Nice picks up each morning at city bus stops, due to local regulations they all use those stops, only a few hotels allow pick up.  Anyway, we were always the first people on the bus.  I do not remember the name of our shuttle to the bus station for airport transfer as the hotel arranged it for us.  Very efficient.   In 2025 we are returning to Reykjavik for several days of pre cruise, just not sure how many days yet.  This time sailing north of the Arctic Xircle, ending in Tromso.  Should be an interesting trip.

[llund]

On 7/30/2023 at 6:21 AM, frozenpegger said:

We are going to take the Celebrity Eclipse cruise from Reykjavik to Boston in August of 2024 and were planning to spend two full days there before boarding the cruise.  Was interested in a three things:

1. Reasonably priced hotels situated near the port and other sites

2. Tour operators that provide tours from Reykjavik, Isafjordur and Akuueyi

3. Best way to get from Keflavik to Reykjavik.

 

Thanks in advance 

We are on the same cruise. I am very late at organizing. We are also planning to stay in Reykajvik for 2-3 nights prior to the cruise.   Just wondering if you  booked a hotel yet. That's next on my list to do and then arrange tours.  I just need to find out if our friends are coming in early too.   Hope to meet you.  I posted on our roll call a while ago.   But, need to get more active on it.  

[Mr. Click]

We are also on the August 24 cruise and I am a bit behind on planning because we just recently swtiched from the Aug 4 trip...I posted this question on another thread here bur I am going to repost it here...

Trying to make the most of the 4 days we have in Reykjavik before our ship sails...We arrive at KEF about 8:30am and I do have a rental car arranged for the 4 days. My original thinking was to do the shorter South Shore loop on day way because we are flying overnight and then do the Golden Circle the next day and save the town touring for the next 2 days since we have to check in at the ship on Day 3 and then be back to drop the car and get back to the ship by 2pm on Day 4.  Then I read about Glacier Lake....and I really want to go up there so is is reasonable, doable to  start the Golden Circle on Day 1, do an overnight out towards the end of it and then combine Glacier Lake and the rest of the Golden Circle on Day 2 and just do one hotel night in Reykjavik?  Night 3 we are on the ship.  Not thinking about ice caves or glacier hikes, those days are pretty much gone but a chance to do a boat tour up there appeals to me.

[ljandgb]

If you are flying in from the US or Canada I wouldn’t plan on going much further than Reykjavik the first day. The jet lag from that short flight is usually pretty brutal. 
 

You could get an early start the next day and go down the south coast, spend the night around Vik. 
 

Day 3 make your way back up to Rey, maybe swing by some of the golden circle. 
 

Day 4 consider an early Into the Volcano tour if it fits your times or one of the hot spring spas. 
 

I’m not sure what glacier lake you are talking about? 

Edited March 13 by ljandgb

[Mr. Click]

Your plan has merit because I am well acquainted with jet lag but day 3 gets cut up because we have to transition from a hotel to the ship and day 4 we have to turn the rental car by 2:30pm to insure that we are back on the ship by 4pm for the 5pm sail away.   The devil is in the details. Seriously thinking about just coming in a day sooner.  

[Mangrove Snapper]

20 hours ago, Mr. Click said:

Then I read about Glacier Lake....and I really want to go up there so is is reasonable, doable to  start the Golden Circle on Day 1, do an overnight out towards the end of it and then combine Glacier Lake and the rest of the Golden Circle on Day 2 and just do one hotel night in Reykjavik? 

 

It's almost a 2 1/2 hour drive to the Glacier Lagoon from Vik but since you have a car, I don't see why you couldn't plan a route to include it.  We enjoyed the boat ride there.

 

We did the Golden Circle and the South Shore (including the Glacier Lagoon) on two separate days on tours, both starting from Reykjavik, as we didn't have a car.  So with a car you should be able to plan this route. 

[Mr. Click]

Thanks Mangrove Snapper.  We do have a car and prefer to avoid group tours.  To be safe I did change our travel dates so we have an extra day in Reykjavik just to make sure we get to see all we want to see. 

[Mangrove Snapper]

1 hour ago, Mr. Click said:

Thanks Mangrove Snapper.  We do have a car and prefer to avoid group tours.  To be safe I did change our travel dates so we have an extra day in Reykjavik just to make sure we get to see all we want to see. 

That’s even better! I hope you have a great trip.

[Mr. Click]

Frozenpegger, I just finished booking our hotels for pre-cruise and found some good deals with centerhotels.com.  They have number of hotels in Reykjavik with different levels of pricing. Use the code BOOKDIRECT on the web site you get a discount and some extra perks. One nice thing is you don't have to pre-pay.  We are there our first night and the night before we board the ship.  Middle night we are staying in Vik so save some driving.  

[Slyfox16]

Has anyone used Prime Tours in Reykjavik? We were using them for a private tour of the Golden Circle?

[Nitemare]

16 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

Has anyone used Prime Tours in Reykjavik? We were using them for a private tour of the Golden Circle?

Troll and Arctic Adventures are the companies most recommended over on TripAdvisor

[Mangrove Snapper]

On 3/15/2024 at 3:07 PM, Mr. Click said:

Frozenpegger, I just finished booking our hotels for pre-cruise and found some good deals with centerhotels.com. 

 

We stayed at the Center Hotel Arnarhvoll in Reykjavik.  It was really nice and we loved the location.  I would stay there again.