[The following post is from the archives of my In Search Of Incredible blog, originally published on 13 May 2014. Minor edits have since been made from the original post to update some info.]
January 2014. It was the start of a new year, and also the start of a new journey for my buddies and I. To celebrate, the three of us, SY, IJ and I, decided to go on a backpacking trip to Europe. Our main destination was Iceland, the land of the mysterious aurora borealis. SY and IJ didn’t really need much persuasion after seeing pictures of the aurora borealis on the Internet. We all wanted to witness the phenomenon with our own eyes. I also managed to rope in my good friend YS to come along, so it was a party of 4, just nice to fit into a car.
As there was no direct flight to Iceland, we had to stop over somewhere in Europe. The most convenient and cheapest European city to connect to Reykjavik (Iceland’s capital) was London, due to the multitude of airlines serving the English capital. So it was set, we would fly from Singapore to London and onward to Iceland.
It would be my second time in London, my first being in 2009, when I visited London and Paris together with my other buddies KP, TH and QM. However, this was IJ’s first time in Europe and he wanted to explore London and a bit of Europe too. Being a soccer fan, IJ wanted to pop by Barcelona to watch Lionel Messi and co. in action, but Spain is a little out of the way and we would have to take another flight to get there. IJ also happened to be a Manchester United fan (like me) so I proposed going to Manchester to watch a match at Old Trafford instead, and he jumped at the idea.
And suddenly it all worked out – from London, we would head to Iceland, then to Manchester next, then head north to Scotland, and finally down south to London to catch our flight back to Singapore. It made more sense geographically as the destinations were close together. I was also excited to visit Scotland because I’ve heard good things about the country and how beautiful it is. So our route was set.
We figured we needed about 20 days to do the trip, so we set aside about 4 days in London, 7 days in Iceland, 2 days in Manchester and 6 days in Scotland. Unfortunately, Chinese New Year was on 31 January 2014, and SY and YS needed to be back home to celebrate with their families, so SY would only join us for the Iceland leg, while YS would only join us for the Iceland and Manchester legs. I would spend the entire trip with IJ. Just the two of us in Scotland, haha.
Once the dates were set, we went about booking our air tickets. I had a US$600 Delta Airlines voucher that I needed to utilise by February 2014. It was actually a compensation voucher for my Delta flight last year. As my Tokyo to Singapore flight was overbooked, the airline needed a few volunteers to catch the next day’s flight and I stepped forward. It was a no-brainer, really – I received a US$600 flight voucher, one night’s hotel stay, airport transfers and buffet meals. Plus, I get to stay an additional night in Tokyo. Of course, I’ll do it!
Yup, so with my voucher expiring pretty soon, I had no choice but to use it to book a Delta Airlines flight from Singapore to London. It was not a direct flight though, with a 5 hour 30 min stopover in Amsterdam. The transit on the return leg was even longer – 6 hours 50 min. Nevertheless, I still decided to book Delta because the US$600 would offset quite a bit from my airfare.
However, the final Delta Airlines fare was not cheap, and it came up to S$1,941.30. It was actually a few hundred dollars cheaper but I procrastinated and waited too long to book the flight, and the price shot up and never came down. So after utilising my US$600 voucher, I still had to pay S$1,194.30 for my return ticket to London. It turned out not to be too good a bargain, but at least I saved a couple of hundred bucks (IJ and SY purchased their Singapore Airlines tickets for about S$1,300+), and I didn’t let the voucher go to waste.
We then went about booking our air tickets to Iceland. There were not too many choices in fact, and we went with Iceland Air, the national carrier. The London-Keflavik ticket cost US$157.62 (S$200.53) and the Keflavik-Manchester ticket cost US$164.56 (S$209.35). So the return air ticket to Iceland cost S$409.88 altogether, which I felt was quite reasonable. So if you’re in London and considering another destination, visit Iceland. It’s not that expensive!
After the flights were done, we then looked at car rental in Iceland and Scotland. SY was in charge of car rental in Iceland and he booked us a great Suzuki Grand Vitara 4WD for 100,520 ISK (approx. S$1,109) for 7 days, which included GPS. So the four of us each paid S$277.35 for car rental in Iceland, which excluded petrol of course. It was advisable to get a 4WD as we were travelling in winter, when the roads were slippery and often icy. It was also more comfortable for the four of us.
IJ booked the car for the Scotland leg via Europcar, and he got us a Vauxhall Astra for GBP211.15 (approx. S$447) for 4 days, including GPS. So my share was S$223.50. That’s the downside of travelling with just the two of us – there are less people to split the cost with. The car was good but the only problem was that it was a manual car, which I wasn’t too comfortable driving due to insufficient practice. So IJ ended up driving it for the 4 days in Scotland. We picked up the car at Glasgow and returned it at Edinburgh.
With the air tickets and car rental sorted out, IJ and I had to book our train tickets next. For the outbound Manchester-Glasgow leg, I chose Virgin trains for the 3 hour 16 min ride, costing GBP16 (S$34). For the inbound Edinburgh-London leg, I chose East Coast trains for the 4 hour 21 minute ride, costing GBP24.50 (S$51.70). Trains are a great way to travel – they are cheap, fast, efficient, punctual, comfortable and best of all, you get to enjoy the scenery of the countryside.
Of course, for peace of mind, no trip will be complete without buying travel insurance. I bought mine from AIG, covering 20 days, costing S$104.55.
Accommodation wise, for the 19 nights, I stayed at youth hostels and guest houses throughout the trip, save for one night of luxury in Glasgow. I managed to redeem a free night’s stay at Millennium Hotel Glasgow courtesy of Amex Ascend Krisflyer credit card. It was a 4-star hotel located right smack in Glasgow city, which was fantastic. IJ and I lived like kings for that one night. So I only paid for 18 nights of accommodation in total, costing an average of S$50 per night, which was pretty decent, I feel. In fact, some of the hostels in London and Scotland cost only S$34 a night. The accommodation in Iceland were pricier, naturally, due to the fewer options available.
Other fixed expenses included the Manchester United One United membership at GBP32/S$68 (which was necessary in order to purchase match tickets), tickets for the Man Utd vs Cardiff City match (GBP44.30/S$94), Old Trafford museum & stadium tour tickets (GBP10/S$21) and the Warner Bros Harry Potter studio tour ticket (GBP30/S$63).
So in summary, my expenses incurred before setting off are:
– Singapore-London return air ticket: S$1,194.30
– Iceland air tickets (2 way): S$409.88
– Iceland car rental: S$277.35
– Scotland car rental: S$223.50
– Manchester to Glasgow train ticket: S$34
– Edinburgh to London train ticket: S$51.70
– AIG travel insurance for 20 days: S$104.55
– Manchester United membership, match day tickets, stadium & museum tour (including postage & booking fees): S$181.60
– Warner Bros Harry Potter studio tour ticket: S$63
– Accommodation for 18 nights (average of S$50 per night): S$900
SUB-TOTAL = S$3,439.88
I know it sounds like a lot for a start, but bear in mind that this was a 20-day trip to London, Iceland, Manchester and Scotland. We were committed to keeping our costs low, but we also didn’t want to starve and deprive ourselves from enjoying the trip fully. With these admin stuff sorted, let’s dive in to the trip itself!