How I had the time of my life in Iceland and for less than $600

The 4,460' Long Langjokull Glacier in Interior West Iceland

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A few years ago I started getting the itch to travel somewhere very unique and uncommon, well, uncommon in the eyes of my friends and family; the place I wanted to go has been getting much attention over the past 5 years or so. Anyway, I have never been one to follow the ordinary path. I have always had the mindset to be different than the masses; a “shape your own journey” kind of gal, I suppose. This is why I decided that Iceland in the dead of winter was where I wanted; no, needed to be.

I had seen some very amazing photos online of these beautiful lights; green, purple, and pink. They were so picturesque and vibrant across a dark sky. I had also seen some awe inspiring scenic pictures of waterfalls, glaciers, mountains, volcanoes, a city very lively in color, and all with a rather inviting appeal.

These very attractive photos brewed up within me, a genuine desire to be where they were taken. That destination ended up being a little European island west of Norway and east of Greenland, called Iceland; I am sure you have heard of it. With that, touring Iceland became my next big trip!

Into the Glacier - Langjokull

I never really put much thought into visiting Iceland prior to being educated on its beauty. When I first saw a photo, of Iceland, I instantly fell in love. Once I opened my eyes and realized just how gorgeous this island truly is and researched the very unique Iceland qualities, I could not get out of my head, just how much I had to visit this place.

Fast forward a few months later to a Sunday night of Netflix, a glass of wine and Groupon browsing, when I noticed this fun little tab labeled “Getaways.” This definitely appealed to my travel enthusiast side. I clicked the little airplane symbol and began surfing through the vacations. Eventually, I stumble upon an amazing deal that really had me questioning its validity. I mean, it was one of those, “This is way too good to be true!” kind of moments.

Seljalandsfoss Falls, Iceland

The deal I discovered via Groupon Getaways was a 5 nights /6 day stay in Reykjavik, Iceland with round trip airfare for only $599! Yes, you heard me correctly, $599 for airfare and lodging for 6 days! The Groupon for this vacation was through “Gate 1 Travel." The deal Groupon offered had cheap round trip airfare to Iceland from 4 different locations; New York City, Boston, Chicago and Las Angeles, and 3 different hotel possibilities.

Now, I had zero experience with Groupon Getaways and little information on how it worked. Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive about purchasing this vacation. I mean, I have heard of many vacation package sites; however, Groupon was not one of them.

Soaked at Seljalandsfoss Falls

If I clicked "purchase," I would be spending $1200 total (I needed 2 Groupon vouchers). This was an amazing deal; however, was it legit? Then, I got to thinking, "This is Groupon; they are a major online company! This deal has to be authentic, right?"With that, and maybe a little bit of wine-courage, I did it. I hit "purchase" and it ended up being the most amazing place Jeff and I have visited out of all 45 locations in the past 3.5 years.

As far as our Groupon expectations; we were blown away. This was our very first Groupon Getaways purchase; we did not know exactly what we were getting into and/or the quality of the trip upon purchase! Again, however, it is Groupon so we took a chance. Everything went off without a hitch! There were no extra charges on the flights (Delta flights, by the way), nor were there additional hotel charges (name of hotel - Hotel Cabin). What I saw when purchasing was actually what I got. Additionally, Gate 1 was an excellent travel agency to work with; I give them a 5 star rating!

How does it work, you ask? When purchasing the Groupon, you choose the city you wish to depart from and the dates you wish to vacation (there is a list of dates that you can choose from). Once the Groupon is paid for, you will receive a confirmation letter with instructions to contact the travel agency. The travel agency will then assist you with all the scheduling needs; honestly, it is incredibly easy!

The Famous Reykjavik Lighthouse

Bonus! You are in luck! I just checked Groupon Getaways and discovered that Groupon is still hosting a Gate 1 Iceland deal in their Getaways section. However, it is listed at $699 for round trip airfare and hotel for 5 nights instead of the price I paid of $599. In my opinion, however, this is still a fantastic deal!

I cannot stress enough just how amazing Iceland is! Everything about the country is lovely, from the people to the locations around the island to the freshness of the food, and so on. We had an amazing time and you can have a great experience too! If you need more proof that this is an awesome deal, well, here it is.

While thinking about this post, I decided to go to Expedia, a well known vacation planning website, and look up Delta flights from JFK to Reykjavik. I also checked out how much a 5 night stay at Hotel Cabin is running. I used similar vacation dates to the ones Jeff and I vacationed in Iceland. My search results indicated that by purchasing an Iceland vacation through Groupon, we saved approximately 34% on flight and hotel costs.

Conclusion:

As previously stated, Jeff and I decided to vacation to Iceland in the dead of winter. Sure, some days were quite cold and we arrived just after a large snow storm, but what I discovered about Iceland in winter is that it is a magical place.

Honestly, when looking at pictures of Iceland, it appears the country is majestic year round, and mark my words when I say we will be back. However, our reason for traveling to Iceland during winter was because we really wanted to see the Northern Lights and if you know anything about Northern Lights in Iceland, September through March is your best bet, with November through March being even better!

Iceland in winter was an experience of a lifetime! With that said, we would love to see the greener side of Iceland and if I am being totally honest, we will definitely look to Groupon to schedule our next vacation to this gorgeous island. The process was super easy and the price cannot be beat!

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