"The Land of Ice and Fire but mostly Water" Iceland by dharmabum222

Iceland Travel Guide: 5,389 reviews and 15,676 photos

Iceland: How it came to be

We set our sights on Iceland several months ago after a failed plan for a trip to Portugal and an accidental spotting of a great deal on airline tickets right here on VT. Iceland had been on my radar for years since seeing pictures of a friend's trip and it finally came in to focus after buying our tickets. Fellow VTer and best friend Linnea13 and I spent 4 initial nights in Rekyavik, the beautiful capital of Iceland and then took off in our Nissan Micra for the Ring Road. The Ring Road is a stretch of sometimes road, sometimes gravel, that runs what is essentially the perimeter of the island. Being lovers of a challenging road trip and taking advantage of the long hours of daylight, we were convinced that we could see it in it's entirety....in 6 days...and we did, along with every sight along the way.

The Language

The famous roofs or Rekyavik

Nearly every person that we met in Iceland spoke English which made for a very unique experience. I usually enjoy learning a bit of the language when I travel and Icelandic was no different, however, many of the people that we spoke to said that they prefer to speak to foreigners in English as foreign accented Icelandic is very difficult for them to understand.

Icelanders take pride in the fact that they speak this beautiful ancient language and they should be. I was told that there are only about about 350,000 "Islenska" speakers in the world and great strides are taken to ensure that the language stays alive and well.

You can listen to some of the words spoken here:
Common Icelandic Words Spoken

Icelandic has four letters, which are not used in English:

Ð,ð(sounds like: th in gather)
Þ,þ (sounds like: th in thing)
Æ,æ (sounds like "i" in like)
Ö,ö (sounds similar to u in fur)

A few Icelandic words that we found important:

Takk fyrir or Takk- Thank you
Bless- Good-bye
Hallo or Goðan daginn-hello, good day
Talar þu ensku?- Do you speak English?
Eg heiti- My name is

***and if you are on a road trip: 'Malbik Endar' on a road sign, which means, paved road ends

My Tips

Hitting the open road!

My tips will be most applicable to people on a budget. We stayed in hostels, researched camping but never did it due to me being sick, ate when we could, hiked as much as possible, barely slept and spent the greater part of our time in Iceland outside of Rekyavik. If you are looking for information about the more remote parts of Iceland, I hope that I can help.

All of my "general tips" will pertain to the towns or villages that we stayed in or stopped in Rekyavik, Heimaey on the Westman Islands, Hof, Seiðsfjörðer, Husavik and Akureyri in that order.

All of my "off the beaten path" tips will pertain to sites outside of those towns.

All of the photos on this, as with all of my pages were taken by me or someone with me...but mainly me.

The currency in Iceland is the Krona (singluar) or Kronur (plural). Where possible, I will give prices in US dollars (my home currency) and Kronur. At the time of my trip there were 65 ISK to the dollar.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

Pros and Cons

Pros:I once read: "Some people claim that in the silence of Iceland's wilderness you come closest to hearing God"...I now agree
Cons:The 24 hour daylight makes sleep difficult, it might blow at any minute & it is more expensive than you have heard!
In a nutshell:It is simply stunning to see volcanoes and glaciers co-existing with 24 hour daylight and a sky unlike any other...unlike anywhere in the world!

Last visit to Iceland: Jun 2005
Intro Updated Jun 22, 2005
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Reviews (54)

HYDROGEN~ Transportation (6)

more travel advice

On the Road- Leaving built up area Favorites (5)

If you are lost in town and see one of these turn around, it means you are leaving! At first we thought it meant no... more travel advice

On the Road- Entering built up area Favorites (5)

These signs are at the gateways of all of the larger towns. more travel advice

On the Road- How many km to go??? - Iceland

On the Road- How many km to go??? Favorites (5)

These signs can be found along the ring road and tell you the km left to the next major towns. They are very helpful... more travel advice

Warnings and Dangers (4)
See All jokulhlaups
Hotels (4)
See All Friendly hostel in Akureyri
Local Customs (2)
See All Cairns
Nightlife (3)
See All Trendy dance club
Tourist Traps (1)
Blue Lagoon Restaurant

Travelogues (2)

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Comments (11)

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pcg821 Sep 2, 2008 at 5:48 AM

Great pages and tips on Iceland,I leave for Iceland today Sept 2 -13,can't wait to go
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Jim_Eliason Dec 12, 2007 at 8:49 PM

great page!
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Sininen Dec 7, 2007 at 8:57 AM

I loved Iceland, so browsing your lovely page was almsot like re-visiting it. As I come from Finland where everything is expensive I was not shocked with Icelandic prices, I expected them be higher. It's more expensive there than in Finland, though.
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terra_trekker Sep 12, 2006 at 12:19 PM

Great info! Thank you!
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RickinDutch Dec 12, 2005 at 5:23 PM

Wow, Iceland really does look a lot like here (Alaska). Enjoyed your photos and tips - thanks for sharing. Love the motto as well!
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gubbi1 Aug 10, 2005 at 12:24 PM

Hi, great page! Amazing that a small car like I have, makes it around winterly Iceland (it looks cold there). Do not skip Portugal in you mind! It is too beautiful to miss it... Christian.
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dassi Jul 21, 2005 at 10:53 PM

Glad you had a good time up here. Great page on Iceland.
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Anchovy56 Jun 21, 2005 at 12:21 PM

Icelandic! I am still learning English...Beautiful photos of a beautiful place
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gregoryr1m Jun 11, 2005 at 8:09 PM

Nicole, your photographs are magnificent. WOW, Iceland. Sent over a few pints of that "Viking" beer to Minnesota.
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bijo69 Jun 11, 2005 at 3:55 PM

Sounds very interesting, but surely much too expensive for me :(