In this blogpost I will share my experiences in from my recent trip to Iceland from the viewpoint of a content creator and traveler on a budget.
I will share how I prepared for this trip and also where I got the best deals on flights, accommodations and transportation.
Part 1 The Preparations!
After I came back from my trip to Norway, I was looking for the next destination in and or close to Europe. As it was almost October, I preferred more like a winter and cold destination to visit in the month of December.
In this period (October) I got to meet another content creator, Nicole Staal. Nicole also writes blogs and travel content so the idea to go to Iceland to create content was born.
Ticket fares.
I immediately started scanning for the cheapest roundtrip tickets to Reykjavik on Skyscanner and after comparing and trying to figure out the best dates to go, we decided that 23rd to 28th of December would be best dates. So we booked our flights with Icelandair for just €384 per person round trip on Trip.com through Skyscanner. We also opted for a direct flight with no stopovers because we didn't want to lose time due to our short stay there.
On Trip.com it was very easy to book our flight also because they have the option to pay with bankcard (in case you don't own a credit card).
After I downloaded the Trip.com app I could easily see and manage my booking and itinerary.
Tip: I got this handy tip from Nicole, switch on private mode on your phone or webbrowser when you're using Skyscanner because as you know it saves cookies otherwise every time you visit, the prices will be different and 98% of the time they can be more expensive.
Accommodations.
With the booking of flights out of the way I shifted my focus on a place to stay during this period.
I didn't know much about Iceland at that time so first thing I did is do some research on the places we wanted to see, and narrowed them down to a shortlist. I also took into account the probability that most roads mainly in northern Iceland would be closed during this period due to unsafe road conditions caused by ice and snow etc.
In the end it turned out that most of the places we wanted to go and see were in southern Iceland so I looked for the best place to stay for a reasonable price. And here's where Airbnb came in handy.
Before going on this trip I only booked an Airbnb once before for an overnight stay in the small german town in Besigheim. This was because we were on route from the Black Forrest to the Geierlay suspension bridge and the drive would have been too long to complete within a day without resting.
On Airbnb I came across this cozy looking cabin situated in the small town of Hella in southern Iceland for €47 a night hosted by Arnar Freyr.
The cabin had 2 beds, a private bathroom a kitchenette complete with small fridge and cooking accessories. It also had a small sitting area with a table.
This cabin is just right for people who don't intend to spend all day inside but just needed a place to rest, fresh-up and make their own food before they hit the road.
Because our flight on the 28th of December was so early I also booked an overnight stay on Airbnb near Kevlavik Airport in the town of Sandgerði. Otherwise we would have had to drive almost 2 hours from Hella to Kevlavik. Our room in Sandgerði was almost the same price as our cabin in Hella, but I figured that this was because it was so close to Kevlavik and people often book this room when they've just arrived in Iceland or when they have an early flight out.
Also on our last day we wanted to see some parts of Reykjavik and it was okay.
So accommodations: Check!
Tip: Research all the places you want to visit so that you have an overview of these places and book your accommodation as close as possible.
The image below shows the green flags as the locations where we wanted to visit. And the pin is where our Airbnb cabin was in Hella.
In part 2 I will talk about transportation and what gear I took with me on the trip.
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