Contents
Currency
Money: You don’t need cash. Everywhere takes debit/credit card. Even the most remote areas. I would suggest to use a credit card that does not have any foreign transaction fees. Here’s a website that has the best credit cards for no foreign transaction fee: LINK. My personal favorite is Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Tipping: If you haven’t ran into a country where tipping is not accepted, look no further. Tipping is generally not part of their community so you won’t be seeing a line for the tip amount on your receipt.
Transportation
Transportation: I would HIGHLY suggest you rent a car. There isn’t an easy way to get anywhere with public transportation. There are some tours that will pick you up from Reykjavik. If you get a rental car, I would also suggest renting a 4 wheel drive car in case you have to drive in the snow. We had to drive in white blankets of snow in the northern part of Iceland. The rest of the time it was mostly gravel and rain. We drove through 1 storm.
Gas: Depending on the car rental you get, make sure to check if you are using diesel or regular gas. We used N1 Gas stations throughout our whole trip. At one point we had to get gas at the Geysir and were stuck trying to figure out how to use the gas pump with our credit cards. It would only take debit. We didn’t want to use that because you will get charged a foreign transaction fee. So we bought gift cards at the gas station with our credit cards and were able to avoid that. N1 gas stations can be found throughout all of Iceland so it was not hard to come by since we only had a gift card for that only.
Driving: In Iceland, they drive on the right side of the road (like the US). They use km/hr vs miles/hr. (mph) You might feel like you are driving SUPER slow, because you are if you follow the speed limit. You SHOULD follow the speed limit. Or else you could be like our friend who got stopped by a cop and charged him a $300 ticket on the spot, in the cold. Apparently there are also traffic cameras, but we didn’t know that was what the sign meant. Here’s a link to all the different traffic signs in Iceland and what they mean: LINK.
Cellular/WiFi
Cellular: T-Mobile has unlimited data internationally. Our friends had T-Mobile so they were using their connection most of the time. The speed you will get will be 3G though. Apparently not fast enough to play any online games, in case you’re into that. Other cellular services allow you the option to buy international data. For example, Cathy bought a small amount of data from AT&T that cost $40. Less than 1g of data for emergency purposes.
WiFi: We got a WiFi box from a local store in Reykjavik called Iceland Camping Equipment. They rent per day and you can choose either 4g or 10g for the rental time amount you bought. Example if you stay for 7 days, you should get the 10g but that 10g needs to be spread out for 7 days. If you need more gigabytes, you’ll have to either email or call the company to extend the amount of gigabytes. If you only use it for posting online, directions, and music, you’ll be more than fine. We play online games, a lot, so we had to use it sparingly. It was enough though.
Sim Card: Make sure your phone is unlocked first. You probably can call your cellular provider to unlock your phone. Some phones come unlocked if you bought it that way, like the Google Pixel 2 or even the iPhone, as long as you bought it unlocked without a service provider from the beginning. I can’t say too much more about this, my sister and brother-in-law used this option when they traveled to Iceland. They mentioned it was close to the airport, cost $14, and was able to tether to the other cellphones, but had less than 2g of data.
Activities
Attractions: Almost all the nature places that you most likely have on your itinerary are free. The only things that are not free are the ones that require a guide and the Blue Lagoon. Some examples of things that are NOT free: ice cave tours, volcano tours, jetski tours, etc. Some examples of things that are free: all the waterfalls, black sand beach, geysir, all the things that you can park your car and walk into.
Weather: If it is sunny now, there’s a good chance that the weather will surely change to either cloudy, rainy, windy, or a combination of all the above in a matter of 15 minutes. So for those who are trying to take a good photo, just wait it out if time permits. It happened a lot to us near the ice caving tour and glacier lagoon.
Amount of Daylight: You’re going to be in the northern hemisphere of the world during winter so the daylight time was very limited. During our trip, sunrise started at 9am and sun set at 4pm-ish. Plan your travels wisely.
Northern Lights: As mentioned in ‘Where To Go’ post, we used the Iceland forecast to determine what day and place would give us the highest chance of seeing the Northern Lights. We weren’t chasing the Northern Lights every day, so that tool was very helpful to keep us on track and to not waste a lot of energy, time and money with a tour. A level 4-6 is a high chance. Note that it can change throughout the days of planning, but as long as it says “HIGH CHANCE” you’ll probably see it. Not responsible for you not seeing it haha. This is just a tool and suggestion to help you save money.
Drone Photography Tip: If you plan to fly your drone, be aware that there are signs that say that flying is “forbidden” at some places. So take caution. People still flew their drones. Always remember to not fly over crowded areas! These are the signs that you will be able to see in the most common entrances to popular attractions :
