How to get to Iceland
As an island, the only ways to reach Iceland are by air and by sea. Most tourists arrive in the country by plane, landing at Keflavik International Airport, although some to choose to travel by cruise too.
Flying to Iceland
If you're travelling from the UK, you'll find plenty of economical flight options thanks to a number of budget airlines that connect airports in London, Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Belfast to Reykjavik. Depending on your dates and on how far in advance you book, flights can be found for as cheap as € 40 (US$ 43) from London and € 95 (US$ 102.20) from other cities. Flights take around 3 hours.
Travelling from elsewhere in the world is more expensive, but there are direct flights from cities in the eastern USA from around € 350 (US$ 376.80), and similarly priced journeys with layovers from other destinations.
In recent years, it has become popular to visit Iceland as a stopover on flights to New York, with airlines like IcelandAir offering easy search functions for multi-day layovers for no (or little) extra cost to your flight, allowing you to combine your trips.
Cruises to Iceland
Many tourists choose to travel to Iceland on cruise ships that make stops at other destinations in northern Europe. Some cruises stop only in Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, while others circle the island and make stops at the important ports of Akureyri and Isafjordur.
These large ships often depart from important northern European ports like Hamburg and Copenhagen, which you'd have to fly into from your home city. Having said that, there are cruises from UK cities like Southampton, Liverpool and Belfast, which often combine with a stop in Norway too.
Reykjavik's port is located in the heart of the city, and is a picturesque area full of restaurants and museums. The harbour also offers whale watching boat trips into the Atlantic Ocean, so cruise ship passengers will find no shortage of things to do on their shore excursions.
