Traveling to Iceland

[tommy]

I just got back from a 10 day trip to Iceland. It was fabulous -- a truly beautiful country, great people, unbelievable scenery, outdoor adventure activities galore, good food, nice places to stay, it's got everything.

Just wanted to put this out there in case anyone is considering where to go on an upcoming vacation, or if you've already decided to go there and want any info or suggestions, contact me -- I'd be happy to share our experiences.

[Reisen]

Interesting. My wife and I went for a long weekend back in 2005. That felt a little short, but 10 days seems like it might be really long. We left Friday night, got in at like 6:30am Saturday morning, and flew out on Monday. This was on the way to Europe as part of a longer vacation, which Iceland Air promotes (and makes a great deal).

We rented a car, and hit up Gulfoss, Geysir, the Blue Lagoon, and a handful of other places. My observations:

- Hyper expensive, potentially more so now? Lodging, food, alcohol, etc.
- Much of the landscape felt like being on another planet (lots of rock and lichen/moss)
- Few if any trees
- As a result, fairly boring architecture / towns.

On the flip side, we loved the natural beauty, and we didn't even make it inland to the glaciers. If I did it again, I would do a helicopter tour, possibly snowmobiling or a cat tour.

Everything felt very European, and I mean that in a good way. I guess one big plus is you get the true "European experience" without having to go as far.

Tommy, I'd be interested in hearing where you stayed, what you did, etc. We did enjoy it (and the Blue Lagoon was very cool), and it's someplace we would go back to, but probably not at the very top of our list.

[Deslok]

We did Iceland a few years back for the deal Iceland Air offered(London to Seattle was like $500 cheaper on them than any other airline and it allowed for 5 free days stopping over along the way. I'd say you either want to be there for a long weekend or for a week to 10 days. With only 5 days, it wasn't enough to spend much time overnighting outside Reykjavik and just touring from there. And 5 days was a touch too long for just long for that. We were more impressed by the Golden Circle route than the Blue Lagoon, which was neat, but to each their own. But the landscape is beautiful, but things are a bit pricy. But I'd highly recommend it as a destination.

[CameronBlue]

- Hyper expensive, potentially more so now? Lodging, food, alcohol, etc.

My brother, while accompanying a friend on his quest to circumnavigate the globe in a twin Piper Aztec, picked up the tab for the hearty flight team of 3 at their first stop in Iceland, 3 beers, 3 burgers and some fries.

$125.00

[tommy]

Interesting. My wife and I went for a long weekend back in 2005. That felt a little short, but 10 days seems like it might be really long. We left Friday night, got in at like 6:30am Saturday morning, and flew out on Monday. This was on the way to Europe as part of a longer vacation, which Iceland Air promotes (and makes a great deal).

We rented a car, and hit up Gulfoss, Geysir, the Blue Lagoon, and a handful of other places. My observations:

- Hyper expensive, potentially more so now? Lodging, food, alcohol, etc.
- Much of the landscape felt like being on another planet (lots of rock and lichen/moss)
- Few if any trees
- As a result, fairly boring architecture / towns.

On the flip side, we loved the natural beauty, and we didn't even make it inland to the glaciers. If I did it again, I would do a helicopter tour, possibly snowmobiling or a cat tour.

Everything felt very European, and I mean that in a good way. I guess one big plus is you get the true "European experience" without having to go as far.

Tommy, I'd be interested in hearing where you stayed, what you did, etc. We did enjoy it (and the Blue Lagoon was very cool), and it's someplace we would go back to, but probably not at the very top of our list.

I think there are basically two ways that folks visit Iceland. One is to just stay in Reykjavik and do that city and wherever you can reach on day trips from there, and those trips are usually 3-4 days, 5 max. The other way is what we did, which is to spend a few days in Reykjavik, but then circumnavigate the country along the Ring Road, hitting all kinds of beautiful spots along the way, ending up back in Reykjavik for your flight out on the last day. Nine or ten days was perfect for that kind of trip.

After acclimating to the time change (we had taken a redeye from NY to Reykjavik) we spent one day (from Reykjavik) doing Pingvellir National Park (beautiful and interesting historically), then Geysir and Gulfloss. That was a day. The next day we did late morning at the Blue Lagoon and then just came back and hung out in Reykjavik, my wife shopped, we wandered and moseyed and just relaxed in that small, but modern European capital. The next day we set off on the Ring Road, and did five or six stops along the way to our first overnight, which was in Hofn. The best spot was (I forget the name now but can get it if you want it) where we did about an hour and a half hike, through a light rain that didn't bother us at all and some intense mud, but getting us to a hot, steamy river that we then changed into our bathing suits and lounged in amongst incredible mountains, lava rock, other geothermal pools, and just amazing scenery, far, far away from home or anything we had ever experienced before. Great hike. We also stopped in Selfoss to see the Bobby Fischer Center (and his gravesite) as my son is a big chess player and I wanted to go there, snap some fotos, and bring back some stuff for him. We also hit a few impressive waterfalls, went to some mind-bending rock formations and black sand beaches along the southernmost points in the country, that kind of thing. Next day was maybe the highlight for me, which was the 3 hour ice walk on the giant glacier -- the only thing we used a guide for on the whole trip. Simply stunning -- other worldly. We also saw the floating icebergs, though we didn't go on the little boat ride to get right next to them. ALong the Ring Road we spent a night at Lake Myvatn, which is really picturesque in summertime, and did a terrific hike up a big mountain in that area, we spent two nights in Akureyri, the country's "second city" which was lovely and relaxing, and then we were back for out last night in Reykjavik. More details if you need them -- just let me know.

I don't agree with another poster that the scenery or the architecture in the country are boring. The architecture is very modern, lots of right angles and minimalism, but it fits with not only the artistic ethic in the country but with other aspects of the society, and besides, I think that look is pretty cool. The natural beauty of the entire country is really hard to fathom unless you see it yourself. One breathtaking view after another -- mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, gorges, rock formations, rivers, lakes -- it's got it all, and most of it looks like nothing you've seen before.

I do agree that things are not cheap in Iceland. Right now it's about 115 or 120 krona to the dollar. If you go to a nice restaurant and you order a glass of wine for you and your wife with dinner, you're probably not getting out of there for less than $80. Maybe more. My wife didn't find a lot things to buy when she shopped, either. Lots of stuff she would've loved to buy, but she didn't pull the trigger on much because the prices were just not very good.

Just a terrific country overall. Physically beautiful, 99% literacy, universal health coverage, gay/lesbian tolerant, women have real equality, wifi everywhere, no crime, friendly people, just a progressive, smart, and interesting place to be, and a place that has style in its city and enjoys breathtaking physical attributes throughout.

[Wander]

My favorite part was the black sand beaches near Vik. Hanging out on the hexagonal basalt columns is awesome. Also just wandering around the big national park in the southeast, Vatnajokull, which is also the largest park in Europe.

I would encourage doing just a small amount of reading before or during traveling to understand some of the basic earth science you're looking at, which is amazing in Iceland. Iceland is I think the only place where you can stand upon Earth's longest mountain range. One of the only places in the world you can see two tectonic plates drifting apart (East Africa is sort of the other), with a couple tourist spots with Europe labeled on one side and North America on the other. The whole island is maybe one of the main examples of mantle plumes on Earth. The effects of anthropogenic climate change on glaciers. And a lot of cool smaller scale stuff like the basalt columns.

[Jim3k]

For a buddy/roadie flick and travelogue of Iceland, go see Land Ho!

May be playing at your local art house. Very small film, limited release. R rated, beautiful photography