Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting there
Iceland's Keflavík International Airport,
about 40km west of Reykjavík, is
connected by direct flights to Europe,
the UK, Scandinavia, the US and Canada.
It's also possible to reach Iceland year-
round by sea via the Faroese superferry
Norröna, which performs a once-weekly
crossing of the North Atlantic.
Airfares always depend on the
season
, with the
highest being around June to August, when the
weather is best; fares drop during the “shoulder”
seasons - September to November and April to
June - and you'll get the best prices during the low
season, November to March (excluding Christmas
and New Year).
An all-inclusive
package tour
can sometimes
turn out to be the cheapest way of doing things.
Deals range from a weekend city-break to Reykjavík
and its surrounds to all-singing, all-dancing
adventure holidays involving snowmobiling across
Vatnajökull and whale watching in Húsavík. Check
the specialist tour operator websites (p.28).
The cheapest
airfare deals
are always available
online, either direct through the airline website or
via a discount travel website.
A BETTER KIND OF TRAVEL
At Rough Guides we are passionately
committed to travel. We believe it
helps us understand the world we live
in and the people we share it with -
and of course tourism is vital to many
developing economies. But the scale
of modern tourism has also damaged
some places irreparably, and climate
change is accelerated by most forms of
transport, especially flying. All Rough
Guides' flights are carbon-offset, and
every year we donate money to a variety
of environmental charities.
(US$1500 return); Minneapolis (US$1160 return),
New York JFK (US$1160 return); Orlando (US$850
return; Oct-March only); Seattle (US$1160 return)
and Washington DC (US$1160 return).
From
Canada
, there are flights from Halifax (C$1400
return) and Toronto (C$1660 return).
Flights from Australia, New
Zealand and South Africa
There are
no direct flights
to Iceland from
Australia, New Zealand or South Africa, so you'll
need to find a discounted airfare to somewhere
that does - such as London - and arrange a flight
to Reykjavík from there.
All return airfares to London
from Australian
East-Coast gateways
are similarly priced, with the
cheapest deals via Asia costing around
AU$2000/2400/2800 (low, medium or high season).
From Perth or Darwin, scheduled flights via Asia
cost AU$110-220 less than if departing from
eastern gateways, while flights via the USA cost
around AU$400 more.
From New Zealand
you can
fly from Auckland to London via mainland USA or
Asia for NZ$2600/2900/3200. From Wellington and
Christchurch all options cost NZ$200-$300 more.
To get to London
from South Africa
, count on
around 6000/6400/6800 ZAR for a Cape Town-
London return.
Flights from the UK and Ireland
By far the cheapest deals from the UK are with
Iceland Express
, who fly daily to Keflavík from
Edinburgh, London Gatwick and London Stansted
for around £140 return.
Icelandair
flies daily to Keflavík from London
Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow. Return
fares from London Heathrow start at £400,
whereas from Glasgow and Manchester they cost
from £250.
There are no direct flights between
Ireland
and
Iceland, so you'll need to travel first to London,
Manchester or Glasgow with Aer Lingus or discount
masters Ryanair, and then pick up an Icelandexpress
or Icelandair flight to Keflavík.
Flights from the US and Canada
Icelandair
flies out of several US and Canadian
cities. The
frequency
- and cost - of flights is
reduced during the winter months; schedules
change each year, depending on demand, and
some routes are suspended altogether.
From the US
, Icelandair flies several times weekly
from Boston (average fare US$1160 return), Denver
Airlines, agents and operators
AIRLINES
Aer Lingus
W
aerlingus.com
Air China
W
airchina.com
Air New Zealand
W
airnz.co.nz
British Airways
W
ba.com
Cathay Pacific
W
cathaypacific.com
