# Wow WOW!



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wow...rom-canada-to-iceland-149-to-europe-1.3251746

Lokks like in summer we will be able to visit Blue Lagoon on weekend


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

gibor said:


> http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/wow...rom-canada-to-iceland-149-to-europe-1.3251746
> 
> Lokks like in summer we will be able to visit Blue Lagoon on weekend


The Blue Lagoon is an interesting sight, but extremely expensive for a 1 hr dip and quite touristy.

They're some really impressive places in Iceland that are free and devoid of crowds. For anyone who hasn't been, Iceland is amazing.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

nobleea said:


> The Blue Lagoon is an interesting sight, but extremely expensive for a 1 hr dip and quite touristy.
> 
> They're some really impressive places in Iceland that are free and devoid of crowds. For anyone who hasn't been, Iceland is amazing.


My daughter always wanted to go there.... Do you care to share places that worth visit?


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

gibor said:


> My daughter always wanted to go there.... Do you care to share places that worth visit?


Depends on what you're in to. For us, we like being outside, little hikes, great scenery. In that case, our highlights were:
Jokulsarlon
Skogafoss
Reynisfjara

Reykjavik is a neat city given it's size (200,000ppl). Apparently Akureyri is neat too, but we didn't make it up there.

We only saw about 30% of the highlights.

Don't get me wrong, the blue lagoon is quite the sight to see. It's just very expensive and kind of resort-y. There's lots of hot springs pools that are way cheaper and practically empty. They range from holes in the ground to standard swimming pools to spa resorts. None of them are really blue though.


----------



## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

Are we all missing the point that you can continue on to Paris for $150?


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

andrewf said:


> Are we all missing the point that you can continue on to Paris for $150?


I've beet in France 3 times already  and I mentioned to fly on long weekend...  doable to visit Iceland, not so much for Paris


----------



## Spudd (Oct 11, 2011)

Elsewhere in Iceland we really enjoyed Heimaey in the Vesterman (sp?) islands. There was a volcanic eruption that buried half the town and you can now walk over top and see where houses used to be. It's pretty interesting. But I think for a long weekend it's probably too far from Reykjavik - I'm not sure exactly how you get there (we were on a cruise). 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestmannaeyjar


----------



## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Iceland is also the gateway into Greenland.
That is what I am really interested in.
I hope the fares stay at or around these levels for my plans to materialize...


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

> Depends on what you're in to. For us, we like being outside, little hikes, great scenery


 We too  Curious...how did you get to those places? did you rent car there?


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

out of curiosity checked prices on Wow website .... 1 week end of June cost around 471CAD + $60 for 1 piece of luggage


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

Spudd said:


> Elsewhere in Iceland we really enjoyed Heimaey in the Vesterman (sp?) islands. There was a volcanic eruption that buried half the town and you can now walk over top and see where houses used to be. It's pretty interesting. But I think for a long weekend it's probably too far from Reykjavik - I'm not sure exactly how you get there (we were on a cruise).
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestmannaeyjar


It's about a 3-4hr drive from Reyk. Plus a ferry ride. Depending on the weather, the ferry can take 45mins or 6 hrs. Serious. If the seas are too rough, they can't dock in their usual spot on the main island. We didn't go here, but we probably should have.


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

gibor said:


> We too  Curious...how did you get to those places? did you rent car there?



We flew into Reyk and rented a car. Rented a condo in Selfoss (which isn't an amazing place, but convenient location to a lot of things) for 4 nights and an airbnb condo in Reyk for 2 nights. Both of the accomodations vastly exceeded our expectations. Rental cars (and gas) are very expensive. And you have to rent a GPS there since very few of the ones sold here will have iceland maps. You don't need GPS outside of Reyk, but you probably do in town. For marriage protection. There are so many rental cars and hotel rooms on the island, so it is possible for them all to be full.

If (when!) we do it again, we would rent a small RV, stay longer maybe 10 days, and tour around the entire perimeter. We went at the end of August. I hear July is a bit warmer, but those will probably be your only months above 10C. If you live anywhere but Vanc/Victoria, the weather won't bother you.

Edit: We flew on Icelandair direct from Edmonton. That airline is my preferred choice for cross Atlantic now. No food was included (though available for purchase), but everything else was outstanding and that's been the impression I get from others who have travelled with them.


----------



## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Those are some great prices... WOW indeed. Let the airline battle heat up!


----------



## steve41 (Apr 18, 2009)

My Own Advisor said:


> Those are some great prices... WOW indeed. Let the airline battle heat up!


Hmmmm Edmonton to Iceland...... something better 'heat up'.


----------



## avrex (Nov 14, 2010)

The CBC webpage says,


> Discount airline WOW Air has unveiled a plan to fly from Montreal or Toronto to Iceland for $99 one way


...but I see no such rate on the worair.ca website.


----------



## gibor365 (Apr 1, 2011)

nobleea said:


> We flew into Reyk and rented a car. Rented a condo in Selfoss (which isn't an amazing place, but convenient location to a lot of things) for 4 nights and an airbnb condo in Reyk for 2 nights. Both of the accomodations vastly exceeded our expectations. .


In your opinion, for 7 nights, 4 nights in Selfoss and 3 in Vik sounds OK? Or better have 3 different base points?


----------



## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

steve41 said:


> Hmmmm Edmonton to Iceland...... something better 'heat up'.


Well, just costed a trip to Paris next May. $1200 CDN for 2 people return. Pretty solid.


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

steve41 said:


> Hmmmm Edmonton to Iceland...... something better 'heat up'.


I think you're joking about the weather. In the summer, Edmonton is way warmer. In the winter, Iceland is way warmer. It actually doesn't get very cold in Iceland in the winter. -10.
Though leaving Edmonton in August to go to Iceland is a head scratcher. +30C, 90% sun to +14C, 10% sun.


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

My Own Advisor said:


> Well, just costed a trip to Paris next May. $1200 CDN for 2 people return. Pretty solid.


That's with Wow? Icelandair doesn't fly from Ottawa yet, but I think it's about $1000 to Paris (from TO) and they have 2 free bags for everyone.

For those who aren't aware, you should be signed up for the email alerts from XXXdeals.com, where XXX is your canadian airport code. For Ottawa that would be YOWDeals.com. They email out whenever a smoking flight deal comes out.
As an example for Edmonton, the last 4 flight alerts were (return all taxes in):
Dublin $522
Rio de Janeiro $715 (a record low)
Florence $699
Phoenix $266
It's pretty hard to get a flight within Canada for those prices.

The best deal I've ever seen on there is Edmonton to Tokyo for $400, return all in. That was 6 yrs ago.


----------



## My Own Advisor (Sep 24, 2012)

Geez, that's wild nobleea, the Tokyo price.

Yes, I've heard of XXXdeals.com. Have signed up for the air fare alerts in the past with them....YOWdeals.com. The deals can be great there.


----------



## lost in space (Aug 31, 2015)

*202*

I didn't look to deeply but the prices look close to Icelandic Air, I considered flying with them but the connections are super tight, like 45 mins, if you're delayed you could be stuck for anywhere from 1 to 5 days, not to bad at the beginning of your holidays but a problem if you're coming back.

Bit off topic but is it any cheaper to fly out of Buffalo? 

anytime Iv'e looked it's been the same cost as Toronto


----------



## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

lost in space said:


> I didn't look to deeply but the prices look close to Icelandic Air, I considered flying with them but the connections are super tight, like 45 mins, if you're delayed you could be stuck for anywhere from 1 to 5 days, not to bad at the beginning of your holidays but a problem if you're coming back.
> 
> Bit off topic but is it any cheaper to fly out of Buffalo?
> 
> anytime Iv'e looked it's been the same cost as Toronto


Icelandair pretty much owns the Reyk airport. 95% of the planes there will be theirs. It's not a big place, and being at least 2 hrs flight from anywhere else, pilots can easily make up time in the air if they leave late. Our experience was that all the flights we took with them arrived on time or early, even if they left late. It's not a super busy airport either, 45mins is plenty of time. You have to clear customs upon arrival from N. America. I get the feeling they would hold the plane for guests arriving late.


----------

