Iceland Things to Do Tips by say-no-more

hot river

somewhere on iceland, close to reykjavik there is a hot river!! well, maybe there are more on iceland, but we found just this one. we went hiking through some hills and a beautiful canyon and suddelny in front of us was a small river with people sitting inside of it.. it was weird because it was pretty cold outside for bathing in a river, something like 15°. but the steam rising from the river made it all clear - it was the hot river!!! in couple of seconds we were all inside, enjoying it like some children.. really amazing experience, i recomend it warmly...

plus the nature arround it made it even nicer, everything was so green, it felt so unreal...

Directions: sorry, but i have NO idea where this was.. somewhere south from reykjavik...

thingvellir

this is the place of the world's oldest parliament in the world, named the althing. it is said that form the year 930 and over the next 300 years the representatives of the parialment gathered in this natural amphitheater to elect their leaders, argue about important matters and so on. the head of the parliament was sitted on the top of the rock, all the others were down in the walley, and the acustics of the place were so great that he could talk from up there and everybody would hear him.

another interesting thing about it this place is that the mid-atlantic ridge goes right through it, reveling one more geological wonders of iceland

there is also a beautiful small church down there, and if you can make one of your icelandic friends with their angelic voices to sing for you inside.. well, you just had to be there..;)

gullfoss

gullfoss or 'the golden falls' is just one more of the numerous breathtaking sites on iceland. this huge duble waterfall makes you feel so small and insignificant when you stand next to it.. the other things it does to you is gets you completely wet, because the water is breaking against the rocks, which, on a sunny day, makes lots of small or big rainbows on the waterfall, which adds to the magic of the place...

the blue lagoon

it's well known that icelanders like water and have lot's of spas and swimming pools.. but the blue lagoon is really something special... yet another of iceland's too-good-to-be-truth places...

the blue lagoon is a geothermal spa which consists of a big swimming pool filled with geothermal seawater, which consists of silica and blue green algae. there are also some steam baths and stuff like that, and lots of silica mud all over, which you put on your skin to make in cleaner and revitalises it. and it makes you look very funny with white mud stuck on your face :)) the water is pretty hard on your hair though, so it's recommended to put some conditioner on it before going to the water, so it won't get ruined.

you wonder why it's called the BLUE lagoon? well.... because it's very BLUE indeed :))

anyway, it's an very exiting experience to go there, i really recommend it...

geysir

the one and only - the original geysir!! the big one is a bit shy lately so it doesn't really jump, but the smaller one jumps every couple minutes, and it's really impressive to see it...

camping

camping on iceland?!? well, yes, you have to be quite brave for that :)) we really had bad luck, because it was the worst weather in the two weeks we spent on iceland - raining all the time and very very cold..

but anyway it was a great experience.. it was on some huge field, in the middle of nothing, next to a beach (black sand!!) somewhere in south-west iceland. it's some traditional camping that students in iceland do, there was a lot of students there, and concerts all the time, great atmosphere despite the rain.. and that amazing sunrise at 3 am.. (it was sunny on the last of the three days, but still cold)

black beaches

the only contact i had with the ocean, except for in reykjavik is when we went camping. the last morning we went for a walk, and after one minute we came across a black dessert! well, at least it looked like that, as far as you can see nothing but the sand and some dry grass and shells.. after a half an hour of walking suddenly we saw the ocean!! some of us were actually brave enough to go swimming (crazy enough if you ask me...). anyway, the beach is really amazing, i collected some of the small round black stones and gave them to my friends back home - great souvenirs!! cheap and original ;)

go to america :)

the mid-atlantic ridge goes right through iceland, separating the north amrican tectonic plate from the european one. that means that you can actually go to america while you're on iceland!!! (or, for those who live western than europe, you can go to europe!! :) ). for me that was a very exciting thing to find out and do.. so i went to america.. actually, my greek friend carried me back to 'europe', and now he reminds me all the time that he was 'the guy that carried me from america to europe' :D eheh funny guy.. :)

anyway, on one point of the ridge the plates are still quite close (i say still because they are separating all the time), so there is a bridge which you can cross, and in the middle of the bridge you'll find a plate saying 'america' on one side and 'europe' on the other.. a famous touristic spot i guess :))

it's a fun feeling to walk actually through the ridge.. and again: there's black sand!! (i don't know why i'm so fascinated with the black sand.. it's not THE weirdest thing i ever saw... but i like it anyway!! :)) )