What's a good length of time for a trip to Switzerland and a good length of time for a trip to Iceland? And which would you recommend the most in August or September?

I went to Switzerland last August for a week. It was a perfect amount of time for what we did. Spent 2 nights in 3 different towns and the last night in Lucerne before flying home from Zurich. Had a fantastic time! Never been to Iceland though, so I'm no help there.

Minimum a week for Switzerland would be my recommendation unless you are the type that wants to just tick off as many boxes in as little time as possible, or just don't really want to see much.

schmendeler said:

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Minimum a week for Switzerland would be my recommendation unless you are the type that wants to just tick off as many boxes in as little time as possible, or just don't really want to see much.

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I would suggest a full week at least in Switzerland. There is so much to see here, and the fall is beautiful.

I would suggest early to mid-September. October can sometimes get rainy.

All are highly suggested:

Murren
Luzern
Zermatt
Grindelwald
Montreux

I have never been to Iceland.

twk said:

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If you only have a week or so, you'd need to pick a region or two and not try to cover the whole country, lest you spend all your time on trains (and the less scenic routes at that).

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This is true. The places we visited were, at most, about 2 hours apart. We certainly didn't see the whole country in one week.

i did 2 weeks in iceland and loved it,, did 4 days in reykjavik, 10 days on a road trip around the country

twk said:

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I haven't been to Iceland, but spent 2 weeks in Switzerland in June of 2016 and thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing a lot of folks don't realize is that the Swizz rail and transport system is every bit the attraction that the mountains are. The way that they are synchronized is amazing. You may pull up at a train station and find that there is a bus waiting to leave in five minutes, that will take you to a boat that leaves five minutes after you arrive. And, if you want to hike or bike, the trains and lifts will get you up to elevation to start you excursion for the day.

We opted for a 2 week stay because that fit with the 15 day unlimited travel pass, which gets you on to all but the highest mountain trains (and gets you a discount on those), boats, and busses. The distances are so small that, in a 2 week trip, you could have 3 or 4 bases and see most of the country.

If you only have a week or so, you'd need to pick a region or two and not try to cover the whole country, lest you spend all your time on trains (and the less scenic routes at that).

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You can easily do 3-4 weeks, but most of you Americans only have 2-3 weeks vacation per year.

End to end or top to bottom. The distance by train is about 4 hours. What is Swizz rail?

I've been to both. 1 week in Switzerland. 10 days in Iceland to go around the ring road.

Thanks everyone!

It's my typing.

You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

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A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

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A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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I can't speak to Sweden but we did 7 days in Iceland and saw W, SW, S, and SE Iceland with two different hotel changes. We did two nights in the South via AirBNB and four nights in Reykjavik. For context this would let you see the Golden Circle in the West all the way over to Hof in the SE if you are looking at a map. From everything I've heard and read this part of Iceland is the most accessible and beautiful of the island anyway which is why we opted not to do the entire Ring Road which would add an enormous of driving and probably 4-5 hotel stays.

It's absolutely spectacular scenery. We went in August at the hottest time of the year which means you are dealing with 50-55 degrees as a high every day. Darn!

The Golden Circle will be crowded because everyone on the planet that goes there does this. There will be quite a few tour buses. Go everywhere early and beat the tour buses and you will probably be ok. We generally were.

Must dos:

• All day "SuperJeep" excursion. Some local dude will pick you up in the most badass 4x4 you've ever seen and drive you into the interior to see what I would consider almost non-Earth like geography. Our excursion was 12 hours; they will factor stops for eating although it might simply be running into a local roadside gas station/restaurant and grabbing something.
• Hike a glacier. Just hope you don't get any moronic Asian women in your group who don't speak English and can't follow rules.

With Wow Air going under air fare may have returned to more expensive levels so maybe the tourist numbers have died down. I've read where the traffic has fallen off so that would be a good thing.

We freaking loved this trip. We didn't really scratch the surface on the outdoor stuff you can do here including scuba diving with apparently one of the top 10 sites in the world, ice caves, and just general hiking trails.

Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

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A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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If you get a Swiss Rail Pass, you could do 2 or 3 bases and see a nice slice of the country as day trips. The Swiss transport system (the pass includes rail, boats, buses) is amazing and part of the attraction of going to Switzerland.

YouBet said:

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Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

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A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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I can't speak to Sweden

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That would be another country and was not mentioned here.

twk said:

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Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

---

A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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If you get a Swiss Rail Pass, you could do 2 or 3 bases and see a nice slice of the country as day trips. The Swiss transport system (the pass includes rail, boats, buses) is amazing and part of the attraction of going to Switzerland.

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The Swiss rail is really good, and there are special trains such as the Glacier Express that can

give you spectacular views. It travels from St. Moritz to Zermatt. The great thing about Switzerland

is that we are in the center of Europe. You can make day trips to Italy, France, Austria, or Germany

from Switzerland.

Iceland, I hear, is very beautiful, but it is really a different vacation than Switzerland.

schmendeler said:

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SwissAgg said:

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YouBet said:

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Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

---

A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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I can't speak to Sweden

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That would be another country and was not mentioned here.

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Some friends of mine back in college had package meant for them sent to Swaziland when the sender thought the country code for Switzerland was SZ.

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Country code for Switzerland is CH, Confoederatio Helvetica.

twk said:

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I haven't been to Iceland, but spent 2 weeks in Switzerland in June of 2016 and thoroughly enjoyed it. One thing a lot of folks don't realize is that the Swizz rail and transport system is every bit the attraction that the mountains are. The way that they are synchronized is amazing. You may pull up at a train station and find that there is a bus waiting to leave in five minutes, that will take you to a boat that leaves five minutes after you arrive. And, if you want to hike or bike, the trains and lifts will get you up to elevation to start you excursion for the day.

We opted for a 2 week stay because that fit with the 15 day unlimited travel pass, which gets you on to all but the highest mountain trains (and gets you a discount on those), boats, and busses. The distances are so small that, in a 2 week trip, you could have 3 or 4 bases and see most of the country.

If you only have a week or so, you'd need to pick a region or two and not try to cover the whole country, lest you spend all your time on trains (and the less scenic routes at that).

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I've only been here a couple of days, but I've ridden four trains and each one has departed, to the minute, at the exact posted time. It's almost comical. As if they were synchronized to an atomic clock somewhere.
Edit: 8 trains. One train ran exactly 1 minute late. Or, perhaps my phone's clock was off.

Just got back from a week in Switzerland it was not enough. We did two days in Lucerne then four in the Jungfrau region. Mainly Grindelwald, Lauterbrunnen, and Wengen. And then just did a few hours in Bern on the way to Zurich to start making our way home.


Lots of hiking, a little mountain biking, and lots of beer (Not the best in Europe)

I couldn't recommend Switzerland enough.....

And like it says above you can set a watch to those Swiss trains. I have never seen anything like it. If that sign says that train is leaving at 4:52 then your watch will say 4:52 when it takes off. They are brutally on time. The trains are also brutally expensive. Like everything else there.

Re: Iceland - We went about a year ago and it was awesome. There's a lot of good advice on this thread.

We did 5 days, 4 nights staying in Reykjavik. While it was a great trip, I would not recommend only staying in Reykjavik or the amount of time.

My recommendation would be to either see Iceland on 24-48 hour stop overs on the way to somewhere else in Europe OR do it all over 7-10 days.

Logistically, I would plan to stay around the "Ring road" vs. driving back to Reykjavik every day. It made for a lot of time in the car. If I were to do it again, I would look into the Van campers they have.

I would spend 1-2 days at the beginning and/or end in Reykjavik then spend 5-7 going around the Ring Road.

A few other miscellaneous thoughts - Iceland is as expensive as everyone says. Within Reykjavik, you can find Happy Hour "deals" or good street food but it's still going to be $10 USD for a beer. I am primarily interested in eating and drinking when I travel but Iceland is not that trip. It's about the geography and getting outdoors. We bought groceries at the Bonus for breakfast and lunch everyday plus a few dinners. I didn't feel like we missed out on anything by eating sandwiches on the road. If anything, it added to the overall experience.

Iceland was awesome. I recommend doing it well once. Happy to post more of our itenarary / sites if that's the route you decide to go.

DonaldFDraper said:

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Iceland was awesome. I recommend doing it well once. Happy to post more of our itenarary / sites if that's the route you decide to go.

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I would love this, if you don't mind.
Thanks everyone for continuing to post all this helpful stuff!

We did a trip around the Western side of the island several years ago. Highlight listed below are all accessible by road and some ferry boats.

Reykjavik: Reagan/Gorbechev House, Local favorites: rotten shark, horse meat, minke whale. Do try the shark.

Grundarfjordur, Djpalnssandur, Arnarstapi, Mt. Helgafell

Akureyri, Lake Myvatn and Siglufjordur, Godafoss waterfall

Isafjordur, Bolungarvik, the Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik, We took the short ferry trip to Vigur Island which was very interesting.

Heimaey and Surtsey, Storhfdi, - ferry boat if you want to see Elephant rock.

Hafnarfjordur - Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot springs area and Thingvellir National Park where two continents converge. You can be in North America and Europe at the same time.

Kleifarvatn Lake to the geothermal fields of Krysuvik-Solfataras,

Reykjanes Vikinggaheimar (Viking World museum)

Blue Lagoon

You will need to learn know to pronounce" Eyjafjallajokull" to get past Icelandic customs.

mike073 said:

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We did a trip around the Western side of the island several years ago. Highlight listed below are all accessible by road and some ferry boats.

Reykjavik: Reagan/Gorbechev House, Local favorites: rotten shark, horse meat, minke whale. Do try the shark.

Grundarfjordur, Djpalnssandur, Arnarstapi, Mt. Helgafell

Akureyri, Lake Myvatn and Siglufjordur, Godafoss waterfall

Isafjordur, Bolungarvik, the Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik, We took the short ferry trip to Vigur Island which was very interesting.

Heimaey and Surtsey, Storhfdi, - ferry boat if you want to see Elephant rock.

Hafnarfjordur - Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot springs area and Thingvellir National Park where two continents converge. You can be in North America and Europe at the same time.

Kleifarvatn Lake to the geothermal fields of Krysuvik-Solfataras,

Reykjanes Vikinggaheimar (Viking World museum)

Blue Lagoon

You will need to learn know to pronounce" Eyjafjallajokull" to get past Icelandic customs.

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This is awesome! How did you plan out where you would stay for each leg of this trip?

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you Americans

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Point - we were on a small cruise ship and met a bus at every stop to take us inland each day. I kept a map of stops and there are roads with easy access to each place. We had some friends who did pretty much the same thing a year or two later and They stayed in three places total - I guess several days in each spot. Iceland is really easy to get around. Of course, that was five years ago. I think the traffic has increased significantly since. As someone previously said, start our early each day. It is a great trip.

I found my pre-trip notes. I will try to come back and add notes. The drive times are leaving form and returning to Reykjavik but like I said, I highly recommend doing the full ring road vs. day trips.

In Reykjavik, I definitely recommend a walking tour. We did this one: https://citywalk.is/tour/free-walking-tour-reykjavik/

Download the Happy Hour app: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/reykjav%C3%ADk-appy-hour/id536126333

The all you can eat seafood lunch buffet at Messinn Granda was the food highlight for me.

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After you land or before you fly out:
Blue Lagoon

Reykjavik
- Hallgrmskirkja church
- Nautholsvik Beach
- Harpa Music Hall
- Perlan observation deck
- Old Harbour
- Laugardalslaug Pool (Bring own towel)
- Vesturbrlaug Pool
- Laugavegur Street for bars

- Store (Kronan, Bonus)
- Buy alcohol at Duty Free at Airport
- Bring a bottle for water & thermos

Food:
- Mandi ~ Shawarma & Faladel, Cheap
- Messinn Granda ~ All you can eat fresh seafood buffett, Lunch ~$22 US
- Bjarins Beztu Pylsur ~ Hot Dog

- MAT Bar
- Tjruhsi (Seafood restaraunt)
- Forrettabarinn
- Ostabudin ~ Lunch Special

http://www.hlemmurmatholl.is/english/
https://citywalk.is/tour/free-walking-tour-reykjavik/
http://www.freewalkingtour.is/

- Hrunalaug Hot Spring


The South Coast (5 hour R/T Drive)
- Vik
- Reynisdrangar basalt columns
- Reynisfjara (Blank Sand Beaches)
- Skgafoss Waterfall
- Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool
- Seljalandsfoss Waterfall (Walk behind)

- Mrdalsjkull glacier
- Diamond Beach


Snaefellsnes Peninsula (8.5 hour R/T Drive)
- Geruberg Cliffs
- Kirkjufellsoss
- Kirkjufell mountain
- Snfellsjkull National Park / Glacier
- Bakirkja Church
- Ytri-Tunga beach

- Grundarfjrur
- Stykkishlmur (Town)
- Grabrok
- Hraunfossar
- Deildartunguhver


Golden Circle (4 Hour Drive R/T)
- Thingvellir National Park
- Silfra Geysir
- Fontana Geothermal Baths *Optional*
- Bruarfoss Waterfall
- Geyers at Haukadalur (Geysir & Strokkur)
- Gullfoss Waterfall
- Secret Lagoon Hot Spring
- Kerio

Counterpoint said:

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mike073 said:

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We did a trip around the Western side of the island several years ago. Highlight listed below are all accessible by road and some ferry boats.

Reykjavik: Reagan/Gorbechev House, Local favorites: rotten shark, horse meat, minke whale. Do try the shark.

Grundarfjordur, Djpalnssandur, Arnarstapi, Mt. Helgafell

Akureyri, Lake Myvatn and Siglufjordur, Godafoss waterfall

Isafjordur, Bolungarvik, the Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik, We took the short ferry trip to Vigur Island which was very interesting.

Heimaey and Surtsey, Storhfdi, - ferry boat if you want to see Elephant rock.

Hafnarfjordur - Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot springs area and Thingvellir National Park where two continents converge. You can be in North America and Europe at the same time.

Kleifarvatn Lake to the geothermal fields of Krysuvik-Solfataras,

Reykjanes Vikinggaheimar (Viking World museum)

Blue Lagoon

You will need to learn know to pronounce" Eyjafjallajokull" to get past Icelandic customs.

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This is awesome! How did you plan out where you would stay for each leg of this trip?

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Ignore Mike on the shark. He's pranking you.

YouBet said:

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Counterpoint said:

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mike073 said:

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We did a trip around the Western side of the island several years ago. Highlight listed below are all accessible by road and some ferry boats.

Reykjavik: Reagan/Gorbechev House, Local favorites: rotten shark, horse meat, minke whale. Do try the shark.

Grundarfjordur, Djpalnssandur, Arnarstapi, Mt. Helgafell

Akureyri, Lake Myvatn and Siglufjordur, Godafoss waterfall

Isafjordur, Bolungarvik, the Arctic Fox Center in Sudavik, We took the short ferry trip to Vigur Island which was very interesting.

Heimaey and Surtsey, Storhfdi, - ferry boat if you want to see Elephant rock.

Hafnarfjordur - Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot springs area and Thingvellir National Park where two continents converge. You can be in North America and Europe at the same time.

Kleifarvatn Lake to the geothermal fields of Krysuvik-Solfataras,

Reykjanes Vikinggaheimar (Viking World museum)

Blue Lagoon

You will need to learn know to pronounce" Eyjafjallajokull" to get past Icelandic customs.

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This is awesome! How did you plan out where you would stay for each leg of this trip?

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Ignore Mike on the shark. He's pranking you.

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But rotten shark sounds delicious!

The Greenland shark is apparently poisonous to humans unless it rots away for 6 months or so. Then it is OK to eat. One piece is enough. Best to hold your nose when taking your bite.

What did you use for phone and (more importantly) mobile data over there?

YouBet said:

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Counterpoint said:

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YouBet said:

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You can do a week in Iceland if you don't do the full Ring Road. You will still see most of what it has to offer. Just be aware that Iceland is all driving; there is no public transportation.

---

A related question: If you were going to visit either Iceland or Switzerland for 7-10 days, which of the two countries would be the most fun with the FEWEST hotel changes?

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I can't speak to Sweden but we did 7 days in Iceland and saw W, SW, S, and SE Iceland with two different hotel changes. We did two nights in the South via AirBNB and four nights in Reykjavik. For context this would let you see the Golden Circle in the West all the way over to Hof in the SE if you are looking at a map. From everything I've heard and read this part of Iceland is the most accessible and beautiful of the island anyway which is why we opted not to do the entire Ring Road which would add an enormous of driving and probably 4-5 hotel stays.

It's absolutely spectacular scenery. We went in August at the hottest time of the year which means you are dealing with 50-55 degrees as a high every day. Darn!

The Golden Circle will be crowded because everyone on the planet that goes there does this. There will be quite a few tour buses. Go everywhere early and beat the tour buses and you will probably be ok. We generally were.

Must dos:

• All day "SuperJeep" excursion. Some local dude will pick you up in the most badass 4x4 you've ever seen and drive you into the interior to see what I would consider almost non-Earth like geography. Our excursion was 12 hours; they will factor stops for eating although it might simply be running into a local roadside gas station/restaurant and grabbing something.
• Hike a glacier. Just hope you don't get any moronic Asian women in your group who don't speak English and can't follow rules.

With Wow Air going under air fare may have returned to more expensive levels so maybe the tourist numbers have died down. I've read where the traffic has fallen off so that would be a good thing.

We freaking loved this trip. We didn't really scratch the surface on the outdoor stuff you can do here including scuba diving with apparently one of the top 10 sites in the world, ice caves, and just general hiking trails.

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Which Superjeep excursion did you do? (There are several listed on their site!)

Point - my I phone did just fine. Added a limited data plan before leaving. There should be enough WiFi in most places if needed.