- Moderator
- #1
My holiday didn’t start on the day I flew to Iceland but the day before. I caught the train from Leeds to Manchester Airport via Salford with Northern trains (no direct train available) and stayed in the Ibis budget just outside Terminal 2. This was because my flight to Iceland was at 06.40 and living in Leeds would’ve required a very early start to the day even though I was up about 03.30 on the Sunday. As my hotel was pretty much opposite the terminal I was able to use the bag drop in the afternoon which saved me queuing in the morning, though the actual check in queue in the morning wasn’t that big but I’d expect it to be more of a better option in the busier summer months.
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After a night’s stay at the Ibis hotel, I headed into Terminal 2 and through security which was quick at 04.30 in the morning. This was the first time I’d used Terminal 2 and it’s being revamped but it does look modern and nice and like most modern airports these days looks like a very nice shopping mall. I got something to eat while I waited for my gate to come up and I did try and look at the aircraft outside but unfortunately a combination of it being dark and raining meant that I wasn’t able to my usual in terminal plane spotting. This problem persisted when I got on the plane as well. Eventually my gate number came up and I headed to the 200 gates which is quite a long walk and does require essentially going back to the security area. Eventually boarding started via a passenger boarding bridge. My ride to Iceland was G-FDZD a 16 year old 737-800. This was the first time I’ve flown with TUI and I was quite surprised when they started boarding the back of the aircraft first. I think I’m too used to the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet so sitting in 9F expected to board first but I have to say it felt more organised the way they did it. Boarding complete we pushed back on time but had to wait for permission to taxi to the runway. After what was probably no more than 10 minutes we headed to runway 23L and departed for Iceland heading north over the Lake district over Scotland and then the Atlantic Ocean too Iceland. The day was cloudy so there wasn’t much to see. The crew were great, friendly and gave good service. It was noticeable to me that they seemed a bit older than Easyjet and Ryanair crews. After a flight of 2 and half hours we landed in a snowy Iceland and proceeded through immigration, picked up my luggage and then out to where the TUI reps were waiting to guide us to our coach to Reykjavik.
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The journey to Reykjavik took about 45 minutes. I stayed in the Storm hotel which was on the northern shore side of the city. Reykjavik isn’t a large city with the whole metropolitan area having around 240,000 people in it. Iceland itself has a population of 400,000.
The next 3 days of the holiday were great, I had a Northern Lights hunt and a Golden Circle tour included in the package but also added a Reykjavik city tour and South shore excursion.
On my arrival day I did the city tour of Reykjavik in the afternoon which was interesting. The city is modern but does have some interesting history and the guide was good at explaining that. This also included the FlyOver Iceland experience which was an amazing roller coaster type virtual fly over of Iceland.
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The next day (Monday) I went on the Golden Circle excursion (which included a traditional Icelandic lunch of lamb stew as part of the excursion) and got to see the Geysir geothermal area, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingvellir national park where Iceland’s first parliament where the northern American tectonic plate meets the European tectonic plate. The guide was the same as the city tour guide and gave out lots of info about Iceland in general, she even sung to us at one point! We got back to the hotel around 16.30 which gave me time for dinner and a nap before being picked up at 21.00 for the Northern Lights hunt. Sadly it wasn’t successful due to cloud cover. The Northern Lights hunt was scheduled for the arrival day but didn’t go ahead so ended up on the 2nd day.
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Next day I did the South shore excursion. This included a visit to the town of Vik and the Black Sand beach with its spectacular waves (got caught by one and got very wet feet and thankfully there was a clothing store nearby) and the Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls which were amazing sights and a drive past of a creeping glacier and i got to see more of the amazing Icelandic scenery. This was an all-day excursion like the Golden circle tour so there was quite a bit of spending time in a coach and was longer than the Golden circle about 90 minutes.
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Next day was Wednesday and it was time to head home. Picked up from the hotel at 07.30 and after a few other pickups got to the airport about 08.45. Luggage drop off was really quick and I headed up upstairs to head through security which was also pretty quick and then through duty free and into the main concourse where there are food outlets and shopping outlets. My flight back to Manchester was from D concourse which is the non-Schengen gates and after passport control has its own food outlets and shops as well which was about a 10-minute walk from the main concourse part.
After about a 20-minute wait at the gate boarding commenced using the same gate as when I arrived in Iceland and followed the same procedure of boarding the back of the plane first but in 3 groups not 2 this time.
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The aircraft taking back to the UK was G-TAWB a 12 years old 737-800. We departed on time headed out and down the southern coast then over the Atlantic passing the Faroe Islands through Scotland and then approached Manchester landing on runway 23R. The flight back was pretty good with good service from a different crew and as with my first flight I had a Cheese and Ham toastie, soft drink and pringles for £8.50, the toastie was very good. I did find this aircraft had the older style seats compared to the aircraft that brought me to Iceland which meant better storage.
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After landing we deboarded the aircraft went through immigration and then onto the baggage hall to pick up my luggage. My flight got to the gate around 13.45 and by 14.45 I was getting onto my train to take me back to Yorkshire.
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Overall I had a great holiday with TUI. Iceland is an amazing place with some amazing scenery and geological wonders. I do think that a 4-day holiday wasn’t long enough as it’s a lot to cram in 4 days and next time I’ll look at a 6-7 day one. The TUI reps and staff were really good and helpful, and I would definitely look to holiday with TUI again but maybe from my local airport Leeds Bradford.
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After a night’s stay at the Ibis hotel, I headed into Terminal 2 and through security which was quick at 04.30 in the morning. This was the first time I’d used Terminal 2 and it’s being revamped but it does look modern and nice and like most modern airports these days looks like a very nice shopping mall. I got something to eat while I waited for my gate to come up and I did try and look at the aircraft outside but unfortunately a combination of it being dark and raining meant that I wasn’t able to my usual in terminal plane spotting. This problem persisted when I got on the plane as well. Eventually my gate number came up and I headed to the 200 gates which is quite a long walk and does require essentially going back to the security area. Eventually boarding started via a passenger boarding bridge. My ride to Iceland was G-FDZD a 16 year old 737-800. This was the first time I’ve flown with TUI and I was quite surprised when they started boarding the back of the aircraft first. I think I’m too used to the likes of Ryanair and Easyjet so sitting in 9F expected to board first but I have to say it felt more organised the way they did it. Boarding complete we pushed back on time but had to wait for permission to taxi to the runway. After what was probably no more than 10 minutes we headed to runway 23L and departed for Iceland heading north over the Lake district over Scotland and then the Atlantic Ocean too Iceland. The day was cloudy so there wasn’t much to see. The crew were great, friendly and gave good service. It was noticeable to me that they seemed a bit older than Easyjet and Ryanair crews. After a flight of 2 and half hours we landed in a snowy Iceland and proceeded through immigration, picked up my luggage and then out to where the TUI reps were waiting to guide us to our coach to Reykjavik.
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The journey to Reykjavik took about 45 minutes. I stayed in the Storm hotel which was on the northern shore side of the city. Reykjavik isn’t a large city with the whole metropolitan area having around 240,000 people in it. Iceland itself has a population of 400,000.
The next 3 days of the holiday were great, I had a Northern Lights hunt and a Golden Circle tour included in the package but also added a Reykjavik city tour and South shore excursion.
On my arrival day I did the city tour of Reykjavik in the afternoon which was interesting. The city is modern but does have some interesting history and the guide was good at explaining that. This also included the FlyOver Iceland experience which was an amazing roller coaster type virtual fly over of Iceland.
View media item 18646
The next day (Monday) I went on the Golden Circle excursion (which included a traditional Icelandic lunch of lamb stew as part of the excursion) and got to see the Geysir geothermal area, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingvellir national park where Iceland’s first parliament where the northern American tectonic plate meets the European tectonic plate. The guide was the same as the city tour guide and gave out lots of info about Iceland in general, she even sung to us at one point! We got back to the hotel around 16.30 which gave me time for dinner and a nap before being picked up at 21.00 for the Northern Lights hunt. Sadly it wasn’t successful due to cloud cover. The Northern Lights hunt was scheduled for the arrival day but didn’t go ahead so ended up on the 2nd day.
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Next day I did the South shore excursion. This included a visit to the town of Vik and the Black Sand beach with its spectacular waves (got caught by one and got very wet feet and thankfully there was a clothing store nearby) and the Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss waterfalls which were amazing sights and a drive past of a creeping glacier and i got to see more of the amazing Icelandic scenery. This was an all-day excursion like the Golden circle tour so there was quite a bit of spending time in a coach and was longer than the Golden circle about 90 minutes.
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Next day was Wednesday and it was time to head home. Picked up from the hotel at 07.30 and after a few other pickups got to the airport about 08.45. Luggage drop off was really quick and I headed up upstairs to head through security which was also pretty quick and then through duty free and into the main concourse where there are food outlets and shopping outlets. My flight back to Manchester was from D concourse which is the non-Schengen gates and after passport control has its own food outlets and shops as well which was about a 10-minute walk from the main concourse part.
After about a 20-minute wait at the gate boarding commenced using the same gate as when I arrived in Iceland and followed the same procedure of boarding the back of the plane first but in 3 groups not 2 this time.
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The aircraft taking back to the UK was G-TAWB a 12 years old 737-800. We departed on time headed out and down the southern coast then over the Atlantic passing the Faroe Islands through Scotland and then approached Manchester landing on runway 23R. The flight back was pretty good with good service from a different crew and as with my first flight I had a Cheese and Ham toastie, soft drink and pringles for £8.50, the toastie was very good. I did find this aircraft had the older style seats compared to the aircraft that brought me to Iceland which meant better storage.
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After landing we deboarded the aircraft went through immigration and then onto the baggage hall to pick up my luggage. My flight got to the gate around 13.45 and by 14.45 I was getting onto my train to take me back to Yorkshire.
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Overall I had a great holiday with TUI. Iceland is an amazing place with some amazing scenery and geological wonders. I do think that a 4-day holiday wasn’t long enough as it’s a lot to cram in 4 days and next time I’ll look at a 6-7 day one. The TUI reps and staff were really good and helpful, and I would definitely look to holiday with TUI again but maybe from my local airport Leeds Bradford.
