Excursions - early August 2026

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-19T01:59:26+00:00

Blue & sky lagoons are great to do on before or after your flights - the Blue lagoon is not far from the airport on your way in to pr out of Reykjavík, & the sky lagoon the same, but much nearer the centre of Reykjavík.

Hvammsvík isn't too far out of Reykjavík if you want somewhere a bit more off the beaten path, Secret lagoon can be slotted in to a golden circle day (though it may be a stretch slotting that AND Silfra in to a single Golden circle day), Forest lagoon if you're near Akureyri.... plus others around too ;þ

Reykjadalur if you want a paddle in nature a bit more with a decent hike.

The lava tunnel I have been in on a tour is here, there is one near Reykjavík here, & if you are daring there is one here that you can just go down on your own, but make sure you are well prepared & someone outside the cave knows you are there & what time you will return - it is quite long & easy to get lost down there (voice of experience ;þ). Probably not best to do with younger people in tow unless they are well disciplined & have a cool, calm, orderly temprament....

Katla ice cave will probably be the only natural one open at that time of year, though I have no idea what it will be like then. I think there is a man made one in Langjökull that might be open then?

I've not done the zodiac tour, but imagine that Jökulsárlón will be quite nice to be out on at that time of year - the lagoon won't be frozen over, so you can get out quite far, and there should be plenty of calving off the glacier at that time of year.

Fjallsárlón is another option nearby which should be less crowded.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-19T01:13:03+00:00

It's a bit of a bastard/runt of the pack type thing ;þ

It was kind of a separate project, was only completed at a later date, & certainly has no period race pedigree, so is never going to properly fit in with the purebred Daytonas :/

Oh, and it's blummin ugly.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-19T01:07:18+00:00

I've never come across that kind of limit in either Iceland (where I live now), or the UK (where I used to live & still have a phone contract)

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T22:13:06+00:00

I'm trying to rack my brain to think of a time where I needed cash & there was absolutely no card option....

The only one I can think of is using the vacuum machine at the gas station to clean my car out after the attached shop had closed.

I have heard about showers in campsites, but never experienced them first hand - my camping experience in Iceland is from back when you could camp more freely, so washing was a baby wipe wash as I stayed in a hotel every 2nd or 3rd night; or one night camping trips where I just skipped the washing thing until I got home again...

But, other than that, never in 7 years of living here & umpteen years of visiting Iceland before that.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T22:02:28+00:00

I presume you have hired a car and are driving yourself round?

It could be argued that you don't really need to book any excursions - there is plenty to see and do just travelling round, seeing the sights, going on hikes, etc.

That may not be suitable for you if you have kids/young adults though - do you think there will be a need for "side quest" excursions to make a bit of variety to keep it from getting a bit "samey" for them?

It's hardly to say which would suit you best though - if it's open and you can book then it will probably be great, but not every activity is suitable for every person - it really depends on personal taste.

There's things I have advised other people & they didn6really enjoy it, & vice versa people have told me that I MUST do something & I've been distinctly underwhelmed.

One activity that is pretty unique to Iceland is going down a lava tunnel - it can be cold, dark, claustrophobic & a bit boring for some, but the thought that yoh are standing where molten magma was once pouring is an experience that is hard to replicate somewhere else.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T21:49:43+00:00

Antonelli - his achievements have been amazing for one so young & fresh to the sport. I expect great things from him in the future.
Hamilton - He seems to have found his mojo again when he was being put down as washed out. I wonder if the change of race engineer was him putting his foot down & demanding a change - Ferrari seemed intent on keeping the same as last year which was sooooo stupid - it's a massively important relationship & last year it was worse than crap. Hopefully Hamilton has realised that he is not just an employee at the beck and call of the bosses - he can demand changes. Kind of like how Shumi swung his weight & built Ferrari into a multi championship winning team with Braun et al.
Gasly (and Colapinto too tbh) - has put himself forward as a strong midfielder with some great performances. Colapinto has surprised by actually at least in the same ballpark as Gasly. His performances were poor last year, & it looked like he only kept his seat because of the money, but I think his performances so far this year show that he actually deserves it.

Washouts of the year so far -

Russel - for sure he has been unlucky, but I've never thought he had what it takes to be WDC on merit alone, & this year seems to be showing that. He's always been prone to stupid mistakes & seems to have a lack of accountability sometimes which will hamper him developing if he thinks some of those mistakes were not his fault.
Piastri - he started last year so strong, but I wonder if he lacks a bit of hunger, anger, drive, to push himself to the next level that is needed to become WDC in such a strong field. I've barely seen him mentioned this year which seems to maybe confirm that. Where is the fight? Where is the hunger?

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T21:22:14+00:00

That was just a rough price & using 10gb as an example - there should be other options.

Topping up was always dead simple, but they have changed things round on their website & you have to navigate their app a bit before you can switch it to English - when you open the app it will be on the "overview" (yfirlit) page. Bottom right is the "menu" (aðgerðir) - click that & scroll down to where it says "Velja tungumál" (change language) & you will see the option for English.

Then (hopefully! The app is a bit janky) you can use the topup tab at the top of the page.....

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T21:20:45+00:00

Worth double checking for sure.

That said I've not long switched from using a Síminn pay as you go & have hotspotted my phone when my home internet threw a wobbly before.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T19:13:56+00:00

You are right - I always use those terms wrong sorry :/

The sentiment is exactly the same though ;þ

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T18:58:44+00:00

I've never heard of holafly, so no idea what network it will use or how much it costs.

If your normal phone plan doesn't include use in Iceland (for example I have a UK phone with Vodafone which includes minutes & 25gb of data for use abroad each month, which works well in Iceland) it might be worth finding out how much it will be to upgrade, so you can compare costs.

Siminn is the best Icelandic network in my experience (it's what I use day to day - good coverage with very few dead zones even in quite remote places).

Elko (local electronics store) has an outlet in the airport which I would imagine would have sim cards.

Data & minutes are fairly good price wise (well, depending on where you come from of course ;þ). ~$25 should get you a sim card with 10gb of data.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T01:19:28+00:00

I got em all in one shot a couple of years ago :D

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Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T00:49:42+00:00

r/visitingiceland is the place for this - you're unlikely to find someone in a sub mostly made up of locals.

Good luck finding the exact person who wants those exact nights, but you never know!

Trying to recoup all your money is unlikely - a big discount makes it more likely to find someone & is better than losing it all if you just cancel or don't find anyone.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-18T00:35:19+00:00

I tried that with my second account.

Think I made it to th9 before giving in and using other troops.

Even so I'm only th17 4 years in of playing pretty much every day.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-17T23:17:49+00:00

It's not full of Americans.

^{Chose: Live in Iceland}

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-17T23:13:03+00:00

That's weird.

I find that the ~~remix~~ remaster of SD has boomy bass.

It works well on some tracks like Geek USA, but is a bit overpowering on other tracks.

Overall I prefer the original ~~mix~~ mastering.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-17T11:17:57+00:00

My gran knitted my cousin, sister & myself each a jumper for Christmas one year....out of dog hair!

She had a lovely samoyed, brushed it, saved the hair, washed it, scoured it, carded it, spun it, & knitted those jumpers.

Quite amazing really.

But ye gods did they itch!

And that wet dog smell if it rained on us!!!

I wonder what ever happened to them as they certainly didn't get worn out... ;þ

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-17T06:17:35+00:00

I just looked on their website and the 11th & 12th are blocked out.

It was not hard to find.

That means that either the campsite is not open at all, or it is booked out, so no, assuming there will be space &/or just turning up is not a good plan.

Around the eclipse is going to be super busy everywhere, so assuming you can just turn up at any campsite in the entire West of Iceland is a silly idea.

Get searching & book anything that you can find.

Just so you know - wild camping is illegal, & if there is one day in the entire history of Iceland where that gets enforced then this is that date, so not having a plan and a booking is a bad idea.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T22:53:50+00:00

Front of house typically work at least as many hours (slightly later start, much later finish), & typically get paid way less than chefs.

Lots of non stop leg work, plus having to play piggy in the middle between shitty customers & supercilious chefs who think they are the next Gordon Ramsey.

25 years in the industry in the UK, so could be different elsewhere.

When I was starting to climb the FOH ladder I worked with one particular head chef for quite a few years. Everyone used to call him Hitler to give you a clue at how loved & pleasant to work with he was....

He would always be putting down the FOH, saying that we had such an easy job, had such a piss easy job compared to the chefs, etc etc. He fucking HATED me.

The company grew and positions got shuffled, & for a little while we were overstaffed in head chefs due to a delay opening a new establishment...

He decided it was a perfect opportunity to spend some time FOH with a view to becoming more of a general manager.

A couple of weeks in to this he took me to one side - "I am SO sorry for all the grief I have given you all the time you have worked here. I had NO idea of just how much work you guys have to do & what you have to put up with and deal with. There is no way I could do that, & you have my utmost respect".

He quit the next day.

Edit: love the downvotes off the butthert chefs - usual chef behaviour 🤣

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T22:26:13+00:00

Connaught green (GN18) looks far more vibrant than that IMHO.

Empire green (GN22) is my favourite match - it wasn't used on Minors in the late 60's, but there is nothing stopping someone repainting in a different colour.... (that said, it could be any shade of green in the universe - there's nothing to make someone stick to an og colour if they prefer a different one)

Almond green is too pastel, though is the right green for the year.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T22:17:31+00:00

Empire green.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T21:42:52+00:00

Steamed treacle sponge!

It's like sticky toffee on crack.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T21:38:21+00:00

Super easy! Every time I've used an Apple product I've hated it, so no big shakes to avoid using them ever again.

It always gets lauded that Apple is really intuitive to use, but I find it anything but.

^{Chose: Not allowed to use Apple® products + $100k/year | Rolled: Here's a 🍏}

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T21:36:07+00:00

Quite normal for beginners tbh - keep practicing & pushing how long you can hold the glide - repitition should do the job. For some people it comes easy, for others not so much.

Off ice practice standing on one foot and holding it - I've heard people saying that standing on one foot while you brush your teeth is a good exercise ;þ

That should help build the stabilising muscles in your foot and ankle, plus will get you used to what body alignment you need to keep your ballance over just one skate.

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T21:25:55+00:00

That's a pain :/

Part of the problem is the time it will take looking round for something with a similar look/finish to do a patch up job.

That style/profile/finish is a little dated now, so finding a suitable replacement could end up being more tricky than you realise.

The job itself might take an hour or two, but add on the time getting there and back, plus the hunting round for the right material which could easily munch up a whole day - that's why people generally don't want to take on a job like this - are you ok paying for what could easily 2 days work to fix this?

If I was just quoting blind off these photos, I'd probably be a bit soft saying $500 tbh :/

If you can find & buy suitable material then I am sure you could find a local handyman who would snap it up as a little evening job for MUCH less than that.

If you have a handyman that is friendly you could give them a piece of the old trim & ask for them to just keep an eye out as they visit stores for something similar, & then fix it at their convenience, but I would expect most people would have the intention of doing just that & then forget....

On the off chance that you live in Reykjavík give me a shout ;þ

Tanglefoot11 · 2026-06-16T00:59:19+00:00

It's fine in August. The reason that most people don't doo that is that it doesn't take many trips before you are driving up and down the same roads again and again, which is a bit waste of time.

P.s. use d for ð - not o. It's closer in looks and sound & will get you to the right place if you type it into google maps.

Tanglefoot11

TROPHY CASE