Iceland in November | Iceland - Lonely Planet Forum

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Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:25:39 +0000

Hi,

We are hoping to go to Iceland in November - we will be leaving the UK to return to Australia and don't have much choice about the timing. Is it worth going at this time of year or should we direct our attention to somewhere slightly warmer ? We'll be coming from Russia, so it's not so much the weather as the ability to still see some of the beautiful sights.
I have been looking at some of the tours and they seem really expensive - has anyone put together a DIY on a budget or are all activities really expensive ? (bearing in mind car hire at this time of year isn't appropriate)

Thanks for any tips !
Libby

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Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:40:33 +0000

Well, in November you are not going to be able to travel in the interior but hiring a car and exploring Reykjavík and the south-west of Iceland is entirely appropriate, there is usually little or no snow and if it should snow the main roads are all cleared quickly. The weather is likely to be much closer to what you experience in the UK than in Russia but the main problem is likely to be the wind so you should be prepared for that.

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Tue, 04 Aug 2009 09:44:14 +0000

One of the main restrictions on seeing the wonderful sights in November is the shortage of daylight. Daylength at Reykjavik shrinks from about 8 hours at the start of the month to 6 hours at the end. And you probably won't have the widespread lying snow to brighten the dimmer hours that you would get later in the winter.

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Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:55:56 +0000

If you are visiting for 2-3 days you can do tours - they cost what they have to cost in a costly country.
If a visit of reasonable length - at this off-off season period: no doubt: rent a car (did get the meaning of "not appropiate"), get the most out of the relatively short days - and cross your fingers that it won't rain too much/often

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Thu, 06 Aug 2009 12:45:09 +0000

Of course it´s in the middle of the winter, roads might be slippery, snowy or closed, then, they might not.just read the "Lonelyt planet" guidebook, or something similar.
Of course you might get lost, or find yourselve in the dark, or take a wrong turn. You will not know exactly where the dicision that turned history was taken in the year 999. Nor will you hear about the part women played in that discusion. Or why the big slope is there, or why the road is sometimes called "the road to baptism", you will not get the story of "húsmæðraskólinn" or the story of "Bergþór í Bláfelli".
You can look for "Faxi", and maybe you will find it, but what are the things in the area?.
Maybe your books tell you about "the dwarfs" or the "hidden people",
or the oldest man made things in Iceland on the mountain. You are not allowed to visit the "energy source" on the mountain, but hey, its only "raw volcanic thing" to experience, and you don´t want that.
What is the sculpture at the bottom of the mountain?, why?, by whom?, or the Hornitos, (theyre everywhere, aren´t they?).
And if you´re lucky, you can get all of this in a days tour in Nowember.
And if the roads are closed, well then you´ll find out some alternitives yourselve, or what?.