Giving Iceland some thought

Hi:

I have no idea how similar they are, but will say in 2021 the choices were narrowed down to Iceland and Alaska and that summer Iceland was cheaper so it won. I'm adding that I'd wait for the nonstop flights to resume before considering going, they are not up for next summer, at least not yet.

I would say ease of getting there (6 hours) is a big plus, also very easy access to wilderness all over the island. I doubt Iceland has the Alaska wow factor but maybe someone who has been to both places can chime in.

Have not been other than transit at the airport, but am curious. I'll note that I had a negative stereotype in mind until I saw the recent movie "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" with Ben Stiller. Part of it is set in Iceland, during the "not-covered in snow" season. Looks fabulous.

I cruised there with multiple stops, took local tours, not those offered by the cruise line. I want to go back and do a land tour. Every turn was a different landscape and climate change. It was breathtaking.
Very much different than Alaska. I’ve been there too.

Icelandair offered an airfare deal when they started serving Denver, so we went in April a few years ago. Highlights:

Whale-watching boat, and although there were reportedly lots of whales around, I only got a brief glimpse of one. Still, Colorado doesn’t get many whales, so it was a plus.

Geothermal activity. Geysers, hot springs. Soaking at Fontana baths.

Glacier walk, in crampons and with ice axes. Do you do that much at home?

Roadside strawberry stands. Take a container, leave your cash in a box. Strawberries (actually every crop) are grown indoors, but it was fun.

April was too early to see puffins on the Westman Islands, so that wasn’t an option then, but would’ve been a highlight.

Lowlight: witnessing an oncoming car hit black ice, flip, fly off the road, and eject one passenger, who died, despite our efforts to save him. If you rent a car, be wary of changing road conditions, weather (including very high winds), and wear seatbelts - required for every passenger in a vehicle.

@stan, you might want to check out some other Icelandic films if you enjoyed that one.

Under the Tree (2017), Rams (2015), And Breathe Normally (2018).

@roubrat. Thanks! I just finished watching an Icelandic NETFLIX series, "The Valhalla Murders", and am a big fan of some of the Icelandic mystery authors, Arnaldur Indridason, Ragnar Johansson, & Yrsa Sigurdardottir. Although if you read too many of those crime novels, you might not feel safe there either 😳.

*fully aware that I cannot produce the special character that is in these names.

Yes! I love Ragnar and Yrsa! The movie I Remember You (2017) was made from Yrsa's book. The prevalence of Icelandic crime/murder novels and tv shows is curious for a country with about one murder per year.

I found Iceland very different from Alaska. OP, I suggest that you cruise around the Travel Iceland Facebook page where people post a variety of pictures every day. Iceland's geology is of volcanic origin, making it a lot more similar to Hawaii than Alaska. Lots of interesting formations. And a LOT of huge waterfalls!

Some people like Iceland in the winter, but I would urge you to go in the spring or summer for your first visit. It's really beautiful with the green flora against the lava. Beautiful flowers everywhere.

I’ve never been to Alaska, so I can’t give much comparison but I will say that Iceland was also never on my list because I always considered it way out of my price range. But last year when I was super antsy to travel, Iceland was one of the first countries to open up to Americans and I found direct flights for $350 so it kind of just fell into my lap. Let me tell you, this country BLEW ME AWAY. I think I loved most how quickly the landscape would change. I often felt like I would travel through Utah, Colorado, and Hawaii all within two hours. Being able to walk between the Eurasia and North American tectonic plates was pretty surreal and the waterfalls on the south coast are straight magical. They call Iceland the land of fire and ice and that juxtaposition can be seen everywhere. And even though the blue lagoon is so touristy and I never planned on going until I invited my mom to come along on the trip, I ended up loving the experience and spending 5 hours there. My only real perspective of Alaska are all the travel vloggers (aka youtubers) ive been watching visiting there lately, but from what I’ve seen; the landscapes are pretty different and I don’t think you will feel it is too much the same as home.

We’ve stopped over 3 times flying from Germany on the way to Denver. We stayed in apartments in Reykjavik, twice in the same complex. we booked on Booking.com. First time we did the Golden Circle, second time the south coast and last time we visited a horse farm. The Icelandair stop over program is great. I think we will probably always do it n flights back from Europe.

Thank you all for your thoughts! Now, I just need to figure out where in the travel queue I put a trip to Iceland. We have flown through the airport on Iceland Air several times, but have not done a stopover. Perhaps, I can work a stopover in and then decide if we want to do a longer trip.
@AMann-thanks for sharing your experience. Not much of a hiker or backpacker, and I hate miserable weather with wind. I will definitely only do summer in Iceland.
@ Cyn-that was an extreme lowlight. Definitely would put a damper of memories. How awful.

Tammy, we have been to Alaska and Iceland. Iceland is nothing like Alaska. I would suggest going for two weeks midsummer. The weather will be best then. Plus the puffins will be nesting. Take a day trip from Egilsstadir (sp) to Borgafjordur Eystri on the northeast coast to see the puffins up close and personal. The drive is beautiful on a good day. We had about one and a half days of rain and fog over 12 days. The weather was gorgeous and we needed the ac on in the car. Of course, weather is fickle so no guarantees. Iceland is a photographer’s dream. Like you, I initially said “Iceland? Who would go to Iceland.” But seeing all the gorgeous photos on the internet convinced me. We had such a great time there. Just do your homework on driving in Iceland. @cyn What a horrible experience for you.

I just made my fourth visit to Iceland.....and finally saw the Northern Lights. In September. Beautiful country. Nice people. Not cheap. Great hot dogs.

We have been to Iceland 3x with a 4th trip in a couple weeks and a 5th booked for the summer. Have also been to the Alaskan bush numerous times. October in Iceland did remind me a lot of Alaska, but that was it. In August 2021 we did a 12 day ring road trip, we’re home for a week and went to the Alaskan bush for 3 weeks. Even back to back they were totally opposite experiences.

Our first trip was a stopover in mid October and we fell in love with it. Now we are fully hooked!

Hi, diveloonie,

So, I've been to Iceland four trips, and will likely go many more, as it quickly became one of my favorite destinations. Like the others, I find the landscape to be absolutely stunning. But for me, the people and the lifestyle are really the things that keep me going back. The people are just so amazingly welcoming, and so incredibly proud of and willing to share in their culture. Having worked in electric utilities all of my life, I'm particularly impressed by their use of natural resources to maintain a 100% clean energy environment. Of course, it's that same natural resource that draws me in, the never-ending supply of hot water to bathe in the thermal pools.

I'm not sure if the show you watched covered Silfra or not. I think you'd be interested in checking it out. You can dive in-between the North American and European tectonic plates. I don't dive, but if I did, I think I'd put it at the top of my list!

I’ve been to both and both are beautiful and worth visiting. When I was in Iceland in September 2018 I never though or felt like I was in Alaska. I liked the Nordic feel. I loved Thingvellir National Park. The volcanic landscape past Vik, formed by a different kind of lava than in Hawaii, was stunning. And Diamond Beach. And those cute horses!

I also went to Iceland in the summer (July) of 2021 due to the limited choices of places to travel. If you are traveling for landscapes and nature, I don't think it matters where else you have been, Iceland won't disappoint. I haven't been to mainland Alaska, but I have never seen anything close to what I saw in Iceland. I am very drawn to Scandinavian culture so I also enjoyed my visit because of this.

I do recommend a good 10-15 days and a full trip around the ring road. I enjoyed the popular Golden circle and south coast sites, being in the East, North and Northwest was fabulous.

I no longer travel for landscapes and nature, but my trip to Iceland will always be treasured. It feels like I visited another planet.

Iceland is the most uniquely beautiful place I have ever been. Easy 5 hour non stop flight from Boston. Geographically it is not like America, volcanos, waterfalls, thermal pooks, hairy pony sized horses, and lots of birds. People are friendly, helpful and welcome Americans. Can’t wait to plan another trip. Went in early March, witnessed 3 days of local holidays. Would love to return in summer for long days and to see the green flora.

@Janice. I had to chuckle. It may not be like Boston, but those very things you described (geothermal features) I have seen many times at Yellowstone which I am pretty sure is part of America.

You say that you have flown thru Iceland several times. Do the Icelandair stopover ( we have 3 times ) for 3 days and get a feel for it.

We spent three weeks in Iceland by campervan last summer. We did the ring road, Westfjords, and Golden Circle. My favorite part was just the scenery on the drives- the geography changes so drastically from place to place. I felt I needed to plan it out more than a typical trip, and I'm glad I did. Although we didn't necessarily decide until that day where we would camp for the night, it was nice knowing what you definitely wanted to see ahead of time. A lot of places aren't really well marked so you wouldn't know without doing some research ahead of time. I will also add that our weather was absolutely dreadful- it was apparently the rainiest June in 30 years. We had rain nearly every day and it really changed up some of our plans.

Christine--I agree on all of that. Thankfully weather has usually been ok for us on our trips, minus last February. But even that was only one day where the roads were closed, so we just changed plans. You summed up Iceland nicely, IMO.

Stephen--I agree, flying through KEF and not seeing the country does not count.