"Iceland - Water, ice & lava." Iceland by maartenw

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

The best country in the world?

Just returned from an awesome trip to Iceland. Working hard on more tips and pages at the moment.

Iceland is an extraordinary holiday destination. Many things that can be such a nuisance or spoil your holiday fun in other countries are simply nonexistent here. I consider Iceland one of the most sophisticated countries because it doesn't have any: crowds, wasps, ants, reptiles, heat, traffic jams, Euros, army and railway.

In July 2007 we flew to the town of Akureyri in the north and with our little rental 4WD we drove 1670 km clockwise around the island to end 10 days later in the capital Reykjavik.

Some basic trivia

View over lake Mývatn.

- Iceland has a little over 300,000 inhabitants of which 117,000 live in the city of Reykjavik.
- Surface area is 103.125 sq.km. About the size of Kentucky.
- It is a geologically very young country; just 20 million years old,
- Only 20% of the country is covered with vegetation (for grazing). Only 1% is cultivated. Trees are very rare.
- Glaciers make up almost 11% of the land area. The largest, Vatnajökull, is bigger than all European mainland glaciers together.
- Iceland has it's own currency, the Icelandic Krona. 100 ISK = 1.21 Euro = US$ 1.67
- The Icelandic parliament, Alþingi, is the oldest in the world and dates back to the year 930.
- With the exception of the little island of Grimsey, Iceland lies just south of the arctic circle.
- Outside the country itself there is only one concentration of speakers of the Icelandic language: the town of Gimli in Manitoba Canada.

Puffins on Dyrholaey.

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I will subsequently add pages for the different towns/regions/sites we've visited along the way in chronological order:

- Akureyri
- Húsavík
- Mývatn

Pros and Cons

Pros:Landscapes, natural beauty, vast, empty, rough, untouched.
Cons:Hardly any. (Well, it is a bit expensive.)
In a nutshell:Awesome & stunning.

Last visit to Iceland: Jul 2007
Intro Updated Jul 21, 2007
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Reviews (4)

Icelandic language Favorites (1)

When I'm abroad I always try to pick up some words or at least some basic aspects of the language. Though Icelandic is... more travel advice

Single track bridges. Warnings and Dangers (2)

Most bridges in Iceland, even the longer ones on main roads, are single track. Not a real danger as most of them can be... more travel advice

Sheep! Warnings and Dangers (2)

You'll find sheep along the road throughout Iceland, even in the most desolated areas. Sheep seem to have developed a... more travel advice

4WD around the island Transportation (1)

We had arranged a rental car through the internet to be picked up at the Hertz desk at Akureyri airport. A hassle free... more travel advice

Travelogues (1)

Written Jul 19, 2007

1 photo

Iceland Mystery Photo

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Comments (5)

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pcg821 Aug 19, 2008 at 2:44 PM

Hey Maarten,Great tips and photos of Iceland,I go there Sept 2
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SanguiniA Jul 24, 2007 at 10:20 AM

Puffins!!!!! :-) Hey, what's wrong with reptiles in a holiday destination? ;-)
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Mariajoy Jul 23, 2007 at 1:05 PM

So how does the Icelandic word for butter translate then?? :))
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sue_stone Jul 21, 2007 at 5:32 AM

Yes you!
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hunterV Jul 20, 2007 at 7:47 AM

You're right: very convenient and easy to be able to enjoy all the scenery...