Since there is very little Iceland info on this site, I thought I would start a thread asking if anyone has been there, and if they have any advice. We will be spending 9 days there in November.
We know most of the basic tourist stuff, but were wondering if anyone had any "Backdoor" advice. Thanks!
Mike, there's very little Iceland info here because I don't think Iceland is really part of Europe. You might try the Lonely Planet website.
All geographic organizations consider Iceland to be a "physical" part of Europe. Its part of the European economic zone, its sporting organizations are affiliated with its European counterparts, and most importantly participates in the Eurovision song contest :)
This is the response I posted but somehow it ended up in another thread:
Iceland is definitely part of Europe...
I know other sources to get info, but mainly I am looking to see if anyone here has opinions. I've been to tripadvisor and have a couple books already, but people here often have a different angle that I can appreciate.
Well, if they're in the Eurovision song contest, then of course I stand corrected! :)
Making the assumption you are well versed on "The Golden Circle" etc at this point my thoughts are as follows:
For a lot of the excursions outside the city Reykjavik Excursions gets most of the exposure due to their affiliation with Icelandair. However there is a competing company called Iceland Excursions that seemed to have a nice fleet etc as well. People spoke well of them.
Hotel Cabin: Nice budget accomodations, well priced. It is a tourist center again due to their affiliation with Icelandair Pacakges.
Blue Lagoon: Touristy + Expensive but well worth it. Was an incredible experience.
We were there in late May and chose not to rent a car for concern over road issues/driving outside of Reykjavik. After taking a bus tour around we were convinced we could have easily navigated and done the driving ourselves. Maybe a different sentiment in November though?
Reyjavik Card. We got it for free with our package but didn't use as much as we have used other city cards. Most everything is walkable and Reykjavik for us certainly was not the highlight of the trip it was the surrounding areas.
Down in the harbor of Reykjavik there is a local seaman who sells Fresh Lobster Soup and has an arrangement of skewered seafood/veg that they cook up for you. Reasonably priced for Iceland. Place is called the Seabaron. There was a NY Times article about it a couple years back which we found that led us there.
Mike, I recommend a visit to the tourist information center in Reykjavik (Adalstraeti 2). The staff is very helpful and patient. They assisted us with transportation arrangements and tour purchases, and made recommendations for outdoor activities. One of my favorite experiences was getting a beautiful birds eye view of the glaciers in the interior on a flight from Reykjavik to Akureyri.
I haven't been, but after reading "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner I'm very intrigued by it. Don't expect much in the way of daylight; more like a range of dark to not-quite-as-dark. Somewhat surprisingly, SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) is almost non-existent in Iceland.
Catch the "Bizarre Foods" with Andrew Zimmern on the Travel Channel. He recently did a show on Iceland.
