Iceland

“In a nutshell: Iceland is a very expensive, but when you consider the fabulous sights and experiences that are to be had in the Land of Ice and Fire, it isn’t a bad-value destination at all.

Likes

1. The Northern Lights/Aurora Borealis. That alone was worth the cost of the trip!
2. Wild, untamed nature. My favorite landscapes were at Vik, Myrdal and Dyrhólaey.
3. Perfect public safety, and a society virtually free from violence, theft, burglary and corruption
4. Modern technology allows them to grow bananas, strawberries, tomatoes and basil locally.
5. Standing by the Stokkur geyser and waiting for the next eruption
6. The ‘typical’ landscape as you cross the island: moss-covered volcanic rock, mountains disappearing into the low clouds, a herd of robust Icelandic horses grazing, smoke drifting from an active volcano, the roar of the North Atlantic and a thousand shades of green
7. The atmosphere on a whale watching trip, as several competing companies work together to try to locate a pod
8. What we think of as winter coat weather is t-shirt weather for the locals
9.  The works of nature: fjords, glaciers, fumaroles, solfataras, bubbling pools of mud, pahoehoe lava, geysers, basalt organs and volcanic sand

Dislikes

1. High prices (everyone knows this already, but who likes high prices?)
2. We didn’t see any trolls or fairies, but they definitely exist
3. All the public bathrooms at beauty spots are closed from October
4. Horizontal rain, and wind that blows the drizzle into our faces
5. A lot of buildings are painted black (but at least this makes them efficient absorbers of sunlight)
6. Dangerous one-lane bridges, where you have to wait for things coming the other way before you can cross
7. Modern construction is erasing the traditional Scandinavian face of Reykjavik
8. The whale watching excursion from Reykjavik wasn’t as much of an experience as it would have been if we’d gone from Húsavík – at least if the pictures are to be believed
9. Not much of a choice when it comes to souvenirs. It’s enough to visit one or two shops because the others are all the same.
(adam, 2017)

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,, It's funny that America doesn’t seem to have so many Elves Fairies and so on while in Iceland you can’t move without falling over them, or even falling foul of them. In Iceland, they are called the Huldufólk (hidden people). The elves of Iceland live in enchanted rocks and cliffs even I think old trees though finding a tree in Iceland must be tricky, but what better place to live. They lead lives that are very similar to those lead by humans; they keep livestock, cut hay, row fishing boats, pick berries and occasionally steal you away to other realms.

The Elves don’t like to be disturbed and the “Icelanders take this very seriously. A local defender of the elves trying to halt a road project through their homes said the elves contacted me in 2012 and pleaded with me to protect their chapel,” says the self-proclaimed seer, who runs The Elf Garden, a fairytale park of lava rocks near Reykjavík. “They told me the Ófeigskirkja had been used as a beacon to guide people through the lava field for centuries, so they asked me to write to the mayor to halt the road.’” (Guardian)

The planned road ended up being adapted to suit the elves. Hidden people are known to be extremely protective of their homes and will cause great harm to those who disturb them. Icelanders firmly believe in the existence of elves and recent polls have shown that more than 55% of the nation subscribes to such a belief.

Often described as big, stupid, and greedy, no not conservative politicians but trolls. Like elves, trolls become enraged when one does them harm, but one can expect to be richly rewarded when helping a troll in need. You should always be kind to your neighborhood Troll as they can do magic. They have a tendency to lure people into caves and places you would be better off not being and they might eat you. Most trolls can only travel by night and will turn to stone as soon as they are hit by sunlight.

“Many magnificent Icelandic rock formations are said to be the petrified remnants of trolls who suffered the harsh fate of the sun and derive their names directly from such accounts, for example, West Iceland's Skessuhorn (Troll Woman's Peak) and Tröllaskarð (Troll's Pass) in North Iceland.” (ITB)

Don’t forget when climbing that interesting-looking rock it might have been a Troll. (Alan Durant, 2021)

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The thing that always comes up about Iceland is the cost. When you are there it is expensive. An imported beer will cost you about 1200 Kr about 7 UK Pounds. An inexpensive meal fo one will cost about 2500 3000 Kr and entrance fees and tour costs tend to be high.

My advice is that if you think you might not be able to afford it you can’t. Save up and put off your trip or go somewhere cheaper, perhaps even warmer. Do s If you are going to be driving “make sure you read up on how to drive in Iceland safely and inform yourself about the Icelandic search and rescue teams.” (ITB) Make sure you are wearing the right gear. You can get all four seasons in the space of half an hour.

There is an old saying, “there is no such thing as the wrong weather only the wrong clothing.” (Alan Durant, 2021)

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Don’t buy beer in regular stores. “In Iceland, alcoholic beer is only sold in the stores of the state alcohol monopoly ÁTVR and at licensed restaurants and bars. Any drink sold at grocery stores must therefore have lower alcohol content than 2.25%. This means that the cans which look like beer cans, labeled Pilsner are not beer.” (Icelandic Magazine)

If you are going hiking independently make sure to inform people that will check where and when you expect to arrive. Too many people wonder of happily into the mists only to be brought later, still happy but not aware of it. Of course, the Trolls get the blame. Leave your travel plan with the search and rescue teams

The most popular hiking route in Iceland is 'Laugavegurinn', named after Reykjavík's busiest shopping street. Even though it's a busy route, you can still feel like you’re the only one on it. So don’t rely on the kindness of passing strangers. They may be kind but they might not pass. Try and spend more than a flying three-day visit. Iceland definitely puts the fan into fantastic, enjoy. (Alan, Durant, 2021)

Transport

“The level of infrastructure development around the capital is very high, and the road network is excellent. Highway 1, which runs around the island, is also very high quality, and basically pothole-free. Despite all this development, however, there are still single-lane bridges, where you have to wait until oncoming traffic has passed. The unwritten rule seems to be that you let 3-4 cars pass from the opposite direction, then someone lets you go. Most traffic accidents happen at these passing points when poor visibility means that a driver doesn’t see traffic approaching along the same lane.

The victims of these accidents are generally foreigners in hire cars, driving in an unfamiliar location. In most places, the road was created through the removal of hard basalt rock, so in most places, there is no hard shoulder or place to pull over, though turning places have been built roughly every kilometer. Stopping anywhere on the road when visibility is poor is already a life-threatening act, while of course the mossy basalt is inhabited by trolls, dwarves, and fairies, and it’s rude to disturb their tranquility. As you travel away from the capital you’ll come across fewer and fewer stopping places, but the traffic – largely made up of foreigners in hire cars and tour buses – also becomes more scarce.

All this means that travelers setting out from Reykjavik on one-star tours will find the roads excellent at the beginning of their trip. The problems start towards the eastern part of the island, where even this main road has narrow sections. The roads which cross the middle of the island, marked with an ‘F’ on maps, are not covered by hire-car insurance policies! Public transport, meanwhile, struck me as unrealistically expensive, and in any case, isn’t a practicable way to see the country. Gas is only 200 krona per liter, so renting a car or even a mobile home can be a practical option.

When it comes to car hire, I’d definitely recommend an SUV or other off-road vehicle, since if you ever turn off the main road you’ll quickly find yourself on a gravel track, and the frequently strong headwinds mean you need a vehicle with power.” (adam, 2017)

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,, You fly into Iceland via Keflavík international airport, and from there, Reykjavik is about 50 minutes drive. Don’t do like the famous American tourist who slightly misspelled his destination and ended up driving over six hours to a tiny village on the north coast. Luckily for him, Icelanders are very hospitable and helped him out. He did make lots of new friends, was featured in the international news, and had a very good time. Maybe the Trolls messed with his GPS?

There is also the alternative of rampaging ashore from a Viking longboat waving your axe. That probably comes more under the heading of adventure holiday and would be for the more hardy souls.

I used the public transport number 55 bus from the airport to Reykjavik; it's the cheapest option and no wading through the surf involved.(Alan Durant, 2021)

Climate

,, They call it the land of ice and fire, what they don't call it, well not in the holiday brochures at least is the land of howling gales, driving rain, snow sleet, and bone-numbing cold, and that's on a good day.

An Icelandic saying is, "if you don't like the weather just wait ten minutes, and there will be different weather along. In my experience often worse. The bottom line is it's probably better to go in the summer where the hypothermia is likely to be less acute rather than spring, autumn and god help us winter.

I live in one of the least windy parts of Europe, so even though I grew up in Lancashire, England the force and persistence of the wind in Iceland came as something of a shock. At the famous black sands of Reynisfjara beach, I was distinctly impressed. It is an amazing place. I was less impressed when a gust of wind picked me up and dumped me on the black sand. I am, after all, 85 Kilos and not used to being tossed about like that.(Alan Durant, 2021)

Apparently, Reykjavík is the only capital city in the world that is home to a significant puffin breeding colony! It would appear that Iceland is a major place for Puffins to nest, hang out, go to Puffin parties maybe, have fish BBQs, and so on.

A friend of mine had heard of this and when she was in Reykjavik, spent a couple of days trying to spot some. Unfortunately, she had thought she’d heard Penguins, of which there is a scarcity and it took her a while to work it out.

Quite a few of the locals were confused when she asked for information on Reykjavik's famous Penguins.

The influence of the Puffins is also felt in areas you might not expect:
Dogs were banned in Reykjavík from 1924 to 2006? Presumably, because they pissed off the Puffins? The actual reason was that a city is no place for a dog.

Iceland was still a predominantly rural society, and the overwhelming majority of people living in Reykjavík were either first or second-generation migrants from the countryside. They considered dogs farm animals that really couldn’t adapt to urban life.- At the risk of getting lynched, I have to say I agree with this idea, and I like dogs. You’d think there must be a link with the relative scarcity of dogs as the city seemed full of cats and not a canary to be seen. They are getting the cat situation under control now; however, are we back to Puffins? (Alan Durant, 2021)

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Reykjavík is just south of the Arctic Circle; winter's darkest days are both very dark and very long. It probably accounts for all those Sagas.

At the winter solstice, on December 21, daylight lasts for only 4 hours and 8 minutes in Reykjavík. Taking into consideration cloud cover and the endless rain, sleet, or snow, those four hours barely register as day.

The other side of the coin is that it doesn’t really get dark in the summer, but it appears there is a lot of winters. (A.D., 2021)

Geysers

Of course, first on our list is the mother of all geysers. The Great Geyser, or simply Geyser, takes its name from the Icelandic verb geysa, meaning to gush - and that’s precisely what it does or at least did as it appears to be on strike.

It’s in the Haukadalur Valley of South Western Iceland Geysers can be seen on the Golden Circle route with the highly active Geyser Hot Spring Area, boiling mud pits, exploding geysers, and the lively Strokkur which spouts water 30 meters (100 ft) into the air every few minutes.

“The newly opened Geyser Center offers exhibits and informative presentations year-round. Geyser Hot Spring Area is one of the most popular tourist stops in Iceland.” (ITB) Again not cheap, but you can’t really come to Iceland and not do it; all this stuff is must-see, take out a loan. Ask you, granny.

Glaciers Vanajökull glacier is the largest glacier in Iceland - and Europe! Vatnajökull is situated in the southeast of Iceland and is so large that it has many glacial tongues on every side (like most of the largest glaciers in Iceland), each with an individual glacier name. I don’t really understand why Iceland counts as Europe. I suppose it's because of the tectonic plates. I was told there is a place where you can swim in a lagoon (extra insulated wet suits) and see the rift if that’s the right word)

Unfortunately, I didn’t go and I’ve forgotten the name of the place so you’ll have to look it up. There are so many glaciers that I will not list all of them here. The most notable would be Öræfajökull glacier, a popular one for hiking since the highest peak in Iceland is located there: Hvannadalshnjúkur. J

Just as a point of information, have the proper footwear and clothing and don’t fall down a crevasse. (Alan Durant, 2021)