48 reviews and 3 photos of ICELANDAIR "Icelandair made it possible for The Mr to tick a Bucket List item as done with a direct flight out of Denver at a reasonable price.
We purchased a package from IcelandAir which had us arriving early on a Saturday AM and leaving the following Tues early eve.
The airplane was nicely appointed and the staff was helpful.
Our decision to take the night flight was so that we could sleep the 6+ hours and then wake up at landing, ready to take on the day w/ activities. The plane was incredibly hot, though, and we were not able to sleep, defeating the purpose of choosing a night flight. So we pissed most of that first day away catching up on sleep.
The day flight back in the day was equally as warm, so perhaps this is a norm.
We stayed at Natura, the Icelandair hotel near the local airport. It is a decent walk into town (15-20 mins); if it is windy (which is often is), use a bus pass from the hotel front desk w/ a deposit. The bus is an easy ride.
The hotel was nicely appointed and the restaurant/bar is a surprise - well thought out and good quality.
The rooms are akin to Motel-6, gussied up w/ some wood siding a la Ikea....nothing wrong w/ that, we weren't spending all of our time there anyway.
Our glacier tour was canceled for bad weather, a disappointment. supposedly this is not uncommon. We rented a car and drove out to the Northeast and Pingveller, etc. I could not compare the car experience to the tour - since we did not have the tour - but the car trip was nice and touring the countryside at our leisure was fun.
The Icelandair tour/travel contact resides in the gift shop at Natura. She was good at neither gift sales nor tour information. She failed to inform us that the bus to pick us up was actually a shuttle, not a bus as it had been when we were dropped off. Shuttles come & go constantly w/ a few buses in between.
Our 1:00 shuttle passed us by for pick-up to go to the airport because we were looking for a bus. Also, while attempting to purchase an item on display in the gift shop, I had to wait through a long-winded conversation between herself and what appeared to be an acquaintance in order to pay her for the item. Even when the conversation was over, I had to engage her attention first...it's not like we were in a large area and a lot of people...the shop is the size of a large walk-in closet and I was the only person standing there.
Descriptions by locals of how to get somewhere are very literal and remind me of how my grandmother gave directions in the country..."straight down the road, right at the cow barn, left at the white house". Also, "house" is any building. Straight means straight - we were given walking instructions by the front desk to the mall as "just go straight" ... they were right, but very literal. Straight would have gotten us there but we also would have had to walk through resident back yards, apartment complexes, etc. We found it funny, but also learned to clarify that we wish to stay on sidewalks or paths.
Iceland is beautiful - I would recommend the trip overall.
The airline could be a better experience and be sure you clarify travel instructions & directions as much as possible."
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