5.4.3 Iceland: More tips from various articles
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This article is from the Nordic countries FAQ, by Antti Lahelma and Johan Olofsson, with numerous contributions by others.
5.4.3 Iceland: More tips from various articles
The following part is from Dirk Grutzmacher <D.Grutzmacher@ed.ac.uk>,
compiled of replies to a query posted to the group.
"What to do"
There is a "Lonely Planet" series book on "Iceland, Greenland & Faeroes".
For a complete guide to Iceland I suggest to look into getting this. Iceland
is probably Europes most expensive country. So I imagine you'll want to camp
or go bed'n'breakfast. It's advisable to book B&B before you go. If you look
back a couple of 100 articles in the soc.culture.nordic newsgroup someone
posted about a week back a list of B&B phone numbers. Go round the whole
country. It's not all the same! Take at least one inland "lowflying" flight.
The country from above is really something. Try the horse riding. An
Icelandic horse is like no other horse.
"What not to do"
Tip. Icelanders don't like being tipped.
Don't wear your shoes in their houses. Everyone takes off their shoes as
they enter a house.
If you like a occasional beer to relax ;-) then I suggest you buy a pack of
beer in the Icelandic duty free as you enter the country. Just follow all
the Icelanders as they get of the plane. They ALWAYS buy from duty free.
You'll see why, if you go to a night club and order a beer. Usually 6 pounds
a pint.
Don't wear a jumper and jeans if you want to go out at night on the town.
Icelanders over dress no matter what the occasion. You can spot the tourist
by the jumper'n'jeans.
Some clubs get a bit wild. Be careful. Especially if you chat up local
girls.
Iceland is the most hospitable country I've ever been to. They almost seem
nicer to outsiders than they do to each other. Never be afraid to ask any
question of anyone.
Also most younger Icelanders speak English. German also, but this is not as
common. They all know Danish but refuse to speak or even understand it. :->
Answer 2
There is so much that you can see in Iceland, the nature is just out of this
world. (the NASA used the landscape of Mt. Askja to practice for the moon
voyage in the late sixties)
If you never get sea-sick, you should definetly go to Stykkishólmur, which
is a town on the Snæfellsnes peninsula. There you can sail on Breiðafjord.
Not only is it full of many small and beautiful islands, but also it is much
fun to see all the seabirds. In the middle of the trip the crew will throw
down a small trawl, which will bring back many specimens of the animals that
live on the bottom of the sea; crabs, sea-urchins, clams, scallops, and
mussels. If you are daring enough you can try to taste the scallops and the
sea-urchin's eggs, it really doesn't taste as bad as it sounds.
This is one of many package-trips that BSÍ (the Icelandic Grayhound bus
system) offers each summer. Some of the worthwhile BSÍ trips are:
A day trip to Þingvellir which is the spot where the Icelandic parliament
(Althing) was founded. This is also where the North American and the
European crustal plates meet.
The "Blue Lagoon" is a very pretty lagoon formed from excess water from a
hot water plant. In it is white silica clay, which some believe is a good
medicine for psoriasis and eczema. The clay gives the lagoon a very special
colour, and the steam gives it a very mystic atmosphere. In the Blue Lagoon
there is a resturant, from the poolside are long tables into the lagoon,
where waiters in swimsuit serve you very good fish. it is a unique
experience.
The Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar) are a group of 15 islands, named after
the Irish slaves of the first Norse settler. Only the biggest one, Heimaey
is inhabited. In 1973 all the residents had to be evacuated when a volcanic
eruption destroyed a sizable part of the island. A year later almost all of
the poeple returned to rebuild the town. On the Westman Islands is the
biggest Puffin colony in Europe.
The "Golden Circle" is the most popular tourist attraction. On this tour you
will see the "golden waterfall" (gullfoss) where hundreds of tons of glacial
water cascade down some 32 meters into the 40-70 m deep river gorge. Only
six km. to the west lies the Geysir geothermal area, with the great Geysir,
known to have erupted water as high as 80 m. in the air. Today the very
active Strokkur erupts every few minutes, some 10-20 m. high. A great tour
for two of the world's most famous natural wonders. The tour ends with a
visit to Þingvellir, and then on to Reykjavík.
The Northern part of Iceland is very beautiful. From Akureyri (the capital
of the north) you should visit the famous lake Mývatn, the beutiful
water-fall Goðafoss and the Krafla area. The Dimmuborgir area (the black
castles) is spooky. There the stories of the "Huldufólk" really come true.
The huldufólk are small people that live in the rocks of Iceland. The
Huldufólk were created when Adam and Eve were still in Paradise. One day God
decided to pay them a visit. Eve found out that God was on his way, so she
started to wash all her children, but she couldn't finish washing them all,
so she hid them. When God came he asked if the children that she showed him
were all the children that she owned, and Eve said they were. Then God said
that he knew that she was lying, and since she felt that her dirty children
were not good enough to show him, he decided that nobody should be able to
see them, and made them invisible. The Huldufólk can decide if they want you
to see them or not.
A full day tour through the black rock desert to Herðubreið, the queen of
Icelandic mountains, and the fertile oasis at its foot, on across the lunar
landscape to the great Volcanic caldera Askja. Askja last erupted in 1961.
The crater Víti (hell) formed by an immense eruption in 1875 which buried
parts of the farmland in northeast Iceland in ashes, is now filled with warm
sulphuric water (good for bathing).
Jökulsarlón and Skaftafell national park are very cool places to see.
Jökulsarlón is a glacial lagoon at the edge of Vatnajökull ice tounges,
which is full of magnificent floating icebergs. Skaftafell national park is
a beutiful contrast between the white icecap, the black basaltic sands,
muddy glacial waters and clear brooks in narrow gulches, woodlands and wide
variety of flowering plants is enough to amase anyone.
It is a unique experience to go horseback riding in Iceland. There are many
companies that offer those trips.
Many of the day-trips that I have listed above have to be booked in advance
so it is very good to decide what you are going to do before you come here,
or at least to have a good idea about what you'd like to do.
Answer 3
It depends whether you've seen fjords, glaciers or volcanic scenery before.
A week is not too much time, so you might not want to take the bus right
round the island (what I did in '88, and it was wonderful). My favourite
bits were the eastern fjords (the bus careering round gravel roads on cliff
edges) and the black sands east of Vík on the south coast. Eat skyr and
ávaxtagrautur and dried fish (because you won't find them anywhere else
probably), do try and speak Icelandic a bit (there's a good Langenscheidt
dictionary which you ought to be able to buy there), cos the Icelanders
really open up if you try a bit. Go swimming somewhere, just for the warmth
and the smell. The Blue Lagoon is OK, but there are an awful lot of
tourists; same goes for Gullfoss and Geysir and Thingvellir.
The weather will probably be OK; like Argyll but colder. And the YHs are
pretty good...
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