Iceland Travel Forum

Hi,
We are considering a trip to visit Iceland this summer, ideally a typical "round the island" trip on road n.1 with a rental car, but nothing is settled yet.

I'm just wondering if it's a good idea to do this with our little 3.5 year old son. We have no idea what to expect (none of us has been in Iceland before), and wonder if we will be able to keep him entertained enough on the way. Are there any children playgrounds and other kind of activities in the villages on the way ?

If any of you has tips or experience traveling around Iceland with a little child, I would gladly hear/read them ! :)
Thanks !

Hi, and welcome neighbors......d:o)

Well, a road trip is a road trip is a road trip. Should not really be any different than a road trip with a toddler, anywhere else. Main thing to consider are short distance driving. Most of the small towwns will have some sort of playground, although probably fairly basic. Keeping a three year old focused or even interested will be a challenge.

Be aware of the restricted roads in Iceland, known as F-roads. Unless you rented a 4X4, do not venture on those roads. Discuss the allowed roads in detail with the rental agency.

The sheer raw beauty of the landscape does not hold much for a three year old, however it is possible to see animals roaming some of the farms, like the unique Icelandic horses and sheep.

A lot more things in Reykjavik may be fun for the child, but you know your child's attention span. Since it is June already, it is not likely that you will be there for the Icelandic Independance Day on June 17th, but that would be great fun for the child. Everyone is out in the streets in Reykjavik, and children everywhere, with lots of stuff for them to enjoy.

Let me know if you need further information on my country. I will be happy to guide you along. Good Luck......do)

I think there's a petting zoo in Reykjavik. Hopefully OdinnThor or any other of the VT members can help you out with this one.

Thank you for your answers.
And yes, hi neighbour :D (I'm actually french myself but live in Sweden as you h ave seen)
My son is quite patient when it comes to driving (but we won't do more than 3 hours per day hopefully).. and yes the sceneries are not going to be his main concern :D But as long as there is some kind of goal for him as well, something impressive to watch and some places to play, climb, run and interact with other kids a bit, I think it will work.. He's a very social little dude and I think he will go crazy just alone with mum and dad for a week :D So I'm hoping for places to meet other children here and there (tourists or locals)


I do have other questions actually :)
- do people in Iceland generally speak good english ? (Icelandic is so far from swedish that I doubt we can understand each other, right ?)
- is there any consequence to the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, when it comes to tourism ? (ashes, road problems or anything else I'm not thinking of ?) I can't see any mention of that on the forums but just wanted to be sure...
- How good are the roads and how long do you think it will take to drive the daily 200'ish kilometers? (approximately)

Thanks a lot for your help :)
/Anne

Anne, l'Islande est le pays rêvé pour les enfants.
Il y a beaucoup d'aires de jeux, dans les villages, les quartiers des villes. On peut aussi toujours rentrer dans le jardin des écoles pour aller jouer sur les balançoires et autre bac à sable.
La route nr. 1 est bonne et goudronnée tout le long.
Les sanitaires sont toujours propres et avec du papier, il y a même des tables à langer partout!
Ne vous inquiétez pas des conséquences de l'éruption, la région touchée par les retombées de cendres ne fait que 30-50 km de long et il n'y aucun difficulté à la traverser.
Loger dans des fermes auberges pourrait être sympathique pour que votre enfant soit en contact avec les animaux.
N'hésitez pas à me contacter pour plus de renseignements.

Ouch, - my french is really poor. Got some of the above but not all.

So, I will add a bunch of stuff that you may be able to use, including a semi itinerary on the Ring Road. The road is fine, and the cleanup crews post eruption, are working hard to make sure that the road stays open. Here are some child related activities in Iceland:

http://www.hoteltravel.com/iceland/guides/activities_sports.htm

http://www.icelandvisitor.com/vacation_packages/family_travel/Default.asp?redirectssl=true

http://iceland.nordicvisitor.com/travel-deals/family-travel/

You should not have any problems with seeing the interior during that time period. I would highly recommend renting a 4X4 though if you intend to go on the socalled F roads, that are prohibited for regular rented vehicles. Be sure to go over the contract in detail with the agency, if you decide to stay off the F roads, and make them show you what you can and cannot do. They can and do inspect the wheels, tires and wheelwells for any sign of the F roads, and they are pretty good at telling. This is particularly true if you bring back a car with any damage.

If you do not want to do 4X4 off roading or F roads, you should stay mainly on the Ring Road. Here is some more information regarding the Ring, including a trip planner and a map of the Ring Road, with many highlites.

http://travel.yahoo.com/trip-map-1536278-around_the_ring_road_in_iceland;_ylt=AkjEh5X1ZteWpwLlGSJo5YOBotIF

http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/travel/18ring.html

On a lighter note, - if you can shift the time frame to include June 17th, our Independance Day, the celebration is well worth staying for. Practically everyone is out in the streets, with many band stands and activities galore.

Let me know if you need any other information to maximize your activities within your time frame. Matter of fact, I'll throw a few things at you just in case.

Make sure to include the Blue Lagoon in the itinerary. Depending on your flight time, a good way to catch the Blue Lagoon is the day you leave. As it is between the city and the airport, the flybus will drop you off there for a couple of hours and pick you up later and deliver you to the airport. Bring a swimsuit...

http://www.bluelagoon.com/Bath/Opening-Hours-Prices/ Two good tour companies are Iceland Excursions and Reykjavik Excurcions.

http://www.icelandexcursions.is/ http://www.re.is/?gclid=CKSzgbz3454CFRrJsgodAGJOKA

Good places to stay are the Hotel Fron and Apartment K hotels. Both within walking distance of the town center. OK, the Apartment K, is a boutique hotel and is a higher price than the Hotel Fron. Both are right in the heart of the city. Fron is on Laugavegur (street), and a short walk down the hill to the center.

http://www.hotelfron.is/

http://www.apartmentk.is/

Make sure that you do the Golden Circle. You will find it in some of the websites provided. It will take a day. If you want to go up on the glaciers, I do not recommend that you try that on your own. Should be done by either Dog sled tours, or by 4X4 tours. These will be a full day tour, although there is a half day 4x4 you can take.

http://www.exploreiceland.is/travel_bookings/tours/dog_sled_tours/ http://www.eskimos.is/english/html/dog_sledding_experience.html

The night life in Reykjavik is off the hook, and many excellent restaurants, and clubs and pubs and friendly people. This is a very nice restaurant and museum that you should sample. The restaurant revolves, I believe a full circle per hour. Make sure to visit the Saga Museum in the same building.

http://www.perlan.is/index.php/en

Here are all the restaurants you will ever need.......

http://www.restaurants.is/

In Reykjavik, you can visit Bessastadir, - the presidential residence, - Laugardalur, which is a sports complex complete with outdoor heated pools and the place for major rock concerts. You can visit Hafnarfjordur and the fishing harbor, and there are a number of art galleries, and sculpture gardens. Stroll to the Tjornin (The Pond) downtown. A two and a half hour Reykjavik tour runs about 40 Euros. Or you may want to go horseback riding with the unique pure Icelandic horses, nowhere else to be found...

http://www.icelandtotal.com/home/tours_and_activities/horse_riding/

Although Reykjavik is a metropolitan city with all the arts and culture of a major city elsewhere, - it is a city of only 200 thousand people and extremely easy to navigate. All the tours you could want are available with very little effort.

Here is the local weather report site, Keep an eye on it and you will be able to know exactly what the weather is like when you leave

http://www.timeanddate.com/weather/iceland

Go to YouTube and type in Reykjavik and/or Iceland and see some videos done both winter and summer. When you have looked around come back for further details. For overview:

http://www.icetourist.is/ The overview http://www.icelandtouristboard.com/

For Icelandair tour packages http://www.icelandair.com/

For hotel information http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g189952-Iceland-Hotels.html

For dog sled tours http://www.exploreiceland.is/travel_bookings/tours/dog_sled_tours/

For the Golden Circle tour
http://www.tour.is/

There is much much more of course, but this should get you going. Hope you enjoy my country and that this is of some help to you.....d:o)

People speak very good English in Iceland so no probs there, and if you speak Swedish then they do so as well.

This is the zoo I was talking about on my first post: http://www.mu.is/in-english/.

Don´t forget to bring swimsuit and try the swimming pools that you´ll find in almost every village along the way.

Ask at the local tourist info about child friendly activities, there are farms along the way where you can e.g. meet animals, buy home made icecream etc.

You´ll won´t have any trouble keeping your child occupied.

"I'm actually french myself but live in Sweden as you have seen"

That's why I answered in french :-)

Yeah, I got that...d:o)

I was bemused at the fact that I thought I was better at French, but was sorely disappointed in my lack of language memory......

Hello and sorry for not replying earlier, I was away from home the past few days.

Thanks a whole lot for all your answers (et merci Caroline !) :)
I will look into all this information in details; thank you all for being so helpful :)

Anne