|
Top 10
tourist attractions in Iceland |
Resources
• Blue Lagoon,
Svartsengi, Iceland >
bluelagoon.is
• Thingvellir
National Park, Thingvellir, Iceland >
south.is
• Hallgrimur's
Church (Hallgrimskirkja), Reykjavik, Iceland
• Golden Circle
Route, Reykjavik, Iceland
• Golden Falls
(Gullfoss), Geysir, Iceland
• Laugardalur Park,
Reykjavik, Iceland
• Saga Museum,
Reykjavik, Iceland >
sagamuseum.is
• The Pearl
(Perlan), Reykjavik, Iceland
• Icelandic
Phallological Museum, Reykjavik, Iceland >
mh.is
• Reykjavik Art
Museum (Hafnarhusid), Reykjavik, Iceland
P.S.: This website (eyewitness-travel-guide.com)
provides;
World
travel destinations & top ten tourist attractions interactive
photo
gallery.
You may want to explore later > if so
you can
add this website to your favorites!..
An Introduction to Iceland
Author:
Darren Cronian
As
history goes, this island was named Iceland to drive people away
from settling there and send them to Greenland instead, which was
named incorrectly in the hope to attract people to settle there.
Iceland is one of Europe’s most sparsely populated nations and the
last country to be inhabited. Most of the land is barren, rural and
uninhabitable. The culture, language and people are mostly
influenced by the Scandinavian countries with a combination of
Celtic appearances. I was prepared for a relatively small town feel
during our stay at Reykjavik and mostly countryside tourism and
hiking, but was extremely taken aback to find how isolated, barren,
unique, exotic and how extremely beautiful this place actually is!
From black sand beaches to white ice caps, glaciers to volcanoes,
hot spring baths to exploding sulphur geysers, from cliffs to dual
folding waterfalls, from dog sledging to whale watching, white water
rafting to mountain hiking, the possibilities are not only endless,
but fascinating!!! Nowhere in the world can I imagine seeing the
ocean on one side while standing atop an ice covered glacier, with
volcanic activity causing ridges and ravines in the mountainside!
For miles and miles that we drove, (in the little rental car I like
to refer to as ‘Herbie’), constantly cursing Avis for not providing
us the 4 wheel drive. There are only one or two major highways in
Iceland that run for several hundred kilometers in a direction.
Depending on how adventurous you want your trip to be and which
destination you are heading to, your deviation from the main road
will get you to a dirt road amidst a national park or a glacial
mountain climb. These roads can get rough for a small rental car,
and rather than taking a risk with a flat tire or being trapped on
the side of a mountain with not a soul in sight, no cell phone
service, nobody to come rescue you, and a car stuck in a pothole, I
strongly suggest renting an SUV. Also, there are no lights on the
highways so for the sake of safety, plan your time accordingly so
you can make your way back to a major town before sunset.
As we drove out of Reykjavik, I found myself deeper and deeper into
what felt like a dream visit to the moon. We came upon a crater on
the side of a road, beautifully holding a calm mini lake reflecting
green and blue colors among the mist that settled within the hollow
in the ground. Upon coming closer, the effort to hike down proved
worth the trek! As we drove on the highway looking for our first
stop on the Golden Circle tour, we suddenly came upon a little car
park opening on the side of the road and what looked like a little
hill in a very flat barren landscape.
Upon suggesting a quick stop, we peaked over the hill to find the
remains of a volcanic crater! Lying low at the bottom of the ‘little
hill’ which turned out to be a LARGE crater, we noticed very a step
sloped cone shaped bottom with a reflection of clear blue-green
water. We decided to walk down to the water from one of the slopes
which had a hiking trail built in. It was definitely a lunch earning
trek but the peaceful and clear water with the blue sky above was
worthwhile! Then we followed the path to the Golden Circle tour,
which includes Strokkur geyser, Gullfoss waterfall and Thingviller
Viking village.
The tour itself takes a good part of one entire day, and the horizon
reflects the barren dark ground kissing the blue skies, with a
slight layer of iced cap glaciers on occasion - The most
breathtaking sight! Driving along Route 1 that seemed to just
continue on dry barren land, with an occasional horse grazing or a
sheep running across the road, I was convinced we were lost until we
come upon a ridge with a ravine and out of absolutely nowhere, the
highway brings you upon the most fabulous ravine with a dual folding
waterfall! The dual folding waterfall basically was a waterfall with
not one, but two steep layers of folding water, coming down a cliff
with such force that the two layers of water falling from different
angles met in the middle causing a gushing flow of very rapid water
causing a rising mist before falling again down a steep cliff into a
little ravine several feet below.
Travel to Iceland is a lot cheaper and a lot closer than most people
imagine it to be. Icelandair (the only airline servicing Reykjavik
to most big cities in the US and Europe) offers one flight a day
from New York, San Francisco, Boston, Washington DC, London, and all
major western European cities. Flight time from NY and London being
approximately 4-5 hours, Reykjavik has become a popular destination
for young people for a long weekend and to live up the ‘Reykjavik
style party scene’. Several years ago, Icelandair launched a series
of provocative promotional campaigns, which initially began to raise
awareness and travel to this far far away land to younger folks
looking to have a good time. The marketing for Iceland boasted
statements like ‘One-night stand in Iceland’ reads as inviting
Americans and Europeans to stop over for a night on trans-Atlantic
flights.
Last year American TV show The Sopranos featured prostitutes
dressed, barely, in “Icelandic Airline” uniforms, partying in a New
York hotel room. The show was called “Money for nothing and
Icelandic Chicks for free.” These campaigns landed Icelandair in a
series of court cases and law suits, and a furious staff supported
by the Feminist Association of Iceland, but it worked in bringing
immediate attention to one of the most popular summer destinations
for bachelor parties, glacier adventures, diving and hiking.
The peak tourist months are from May to October, and although to
most people’s surprise, the winter temperatures are not as dramatic
as North America (due to the warm Gulf stream), the 4 hours of
daylight is not conducive to sightseeing, hiking or driving on those
very rough dirt roads. The month of June offers the midnight sun and
early October attraction are the Northern lights, hence these are
the two most expensive times to travel to Iceland. One can often
find very reasonable rates on icelandair.com and summer specials
closer to August/September timeframes.
So you ask, once in Iceland, what is there to do?? What are the
people like? What do they eat? How do they live? Well, it took me
all of 5 days to figure out what they do for a living, how they pass
their time in the dark winter days and what they really eat. The
sightseeing, exploration and adventurous opportunities are plenty! I
highly recommend renting a car (a four wheel drive is a MUST!) and
exploring to your own fancy and schedules. A word of caution, the
maps are not to scale and not as comprehensive, so be sure to do
your navigation before leaving the hotel or you might find yourself
on a volcanic crater instead of a waterfall! There are plenty of
tour buses from Reykjavik, but they are very expensive per person,
and take almost all day.
For you vegetarian folk, you might have to frequent the pizza stalls
a lot, but the few small and quaint traditional restaurants in
Reykjavik offer an amazing variety of sea food and lamb, very well
prepared with eclectic flavors and served at extra-ordinary prices.
If you feel adventurous, your menu choices range from reindeer
carpaccio to whale blubber to foal meat or penguin meat. If you are
not looking for haute cuisine, the local grocery store will serve to
pack the car with a picnic lunch of sandwiches, fruit, salad, juice,
chips, etc.
An average meal at a relatively famous/traditional restaurant varies
from $ 50 to $ 80. That does seem a lot for a glass of wine and a
piece of fish, which will explain why the local Icelandic youth only
step out to enjoy their cocktails post dinner around 11 PM. The
nightlife in Reykjavik is mostly confined to the bars/clubs and
restaurants on the main city street, Laugavegur. For a country that
had a 40 year prohibition on alcohol, they are surely making up for
lost time! The ’scene’ peaks at around 2 AM when all the bars/clubs
come alive at night and the street feels like a parade - a very
different vision from the week day and morning time when finding a
local eatery or a pharmacy seems like a struggle. A few woolie
shops, with fine pure wool clothing and accessories is the extent of
shopping you might enjoy in the city center. I personally preferred
to look at the sheep grazing in the highlands from where the wool
was created!
From the Golden circle tour, to the Blue Lagoon to the Langjokull
glacier, the places to see are plenty. Upon leaving the city and in
driving through the country side, you can enjoy fresh air, horse
riding, whale watching, bird watching, or spend an afternoon soaking
in minerals in the warm natural spring waters of the Blue Lagoon. If
you find yourself intrigued by geography, the Reykjanes area (close
to Keflavik by the airport) has numerous little spots one can visit.
There is a bridge that is said to be inching apart the North
American and European continental plates as a result of tectonic
activity, a bird watchers paradise where migrating birds from
Greenland find refuge and a hiking trail into the hot spring region.
So pony up some riches and I guarantee you the trip will be worth
the experience!
About the
Author:
Darren Cronian, writer and editor at Travel Rants.com is the owner
of UK-based
Worldwide Holiday Homes
Darren is available for interview please contact him.
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