Iceland: My guide to 4 summer nights in Paradise. Part 2

What to do and how to do it.

FLIGHT:

Wow Airlines - this is the only nonstop flight from LA, which for me, was the only option. I want to get there and get home. Wow is a budget airline so not a lot of frills, but it’s not completely awful because there are ways to make your experience more comfortable.
Splurge for the XL seat if you can. More leg room, more recline, and food is included.
If you don’t get the XL seat, you can still book an exit row or bulkhead for a small fee. We did an XL seat for the overnight flight there, and a bulkhead row on the way back, as it was a day flight and less important to sleep. Note: coming back it’s 9 hours, so have your phone stocked with Netflix, or have a good book. It’s long. There’s no inflight entertainment on the plane.

PRO TIP: At the airport, everything is TAX FREE, so about 20% cheaper than in town, so we bought some bottles of wine and enjoyed them after our days of sightseeing. ON THAT NOTE - you can buy all souvenirs at the airport before your return flight. They sell anything and everything you can find in town at the airport and it’s all cheaper.

AIRBNB or HOTEL:

Since the economic crash in 2008, Iceland has shifted it’s focus to tourism to rebuild their economy, and it worked. 4 Million tourists are going a year, which is crazy relative to the population. Needless to say, airbnb is a big business there. Many people are renting out their apartments, to the point where it’s escalating the cost of living for locals (an unfortunate by-product of betting of tourism). That said, Airbnb is much cheaper than a hotel and you have a kitchen, so you can cook or put snacks in the fridge, if you want to save money on food, which is very expensive. If you do book an Airbnb make sure you’re in the city center. I’ve included a map that shows our Airbnb in relation to our friend’s hotel. I would stay as close to the blue line as you can and wouldn’t go any further from the 101 Hotel than our apartment. It was about a 15/20 minute walk to the hotel, which isn’t far, but it’s cold. Go for convenience if you can. The long straight blue line is the parallel street to the main shopping strip in town. You’ll be up and down that a million times during your stay.

A few members of our group stayed at the 101 hotel ( http://101hotel.is ) which is the only starwood hotel in the city. It was quite nice. Not cheap, but fancy and perfect location. If you have points or don’t mind spending the extra money, I’d recommend it. Seemed to be one of the nicest hotels in the city.