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"Iceland - Water, ice & lava." a Iceland Travel Page by maartenw

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"Iceland - Water, ice & lava." a Iceland Travel Page by maartenw

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maartenw   
Goodbye. I'm leaving this place.......


Real Name: Maarten
Lives In: Netherlands
Member Since: Jan 22, 2004
VT Rank: 1265

 

Page Views: 529            Last Visit to Iceland: July, 2007      

Iceland - Water, ice & lava.

by maartenw - last update: Jul 21, 2007

The best country in the world?

Ice land.
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.
View over lake Mývatn.

Some basic trivia

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

- Akureyri
- Húsavík
- Mývatn

> Add to your Custom Travel Guide [What's This?]

Pros:"Landscapes, natural beauty, vast, empty, rough, untouched."
Cons:"Hardly any. (Well, it is a bit expensive.)"
In A Nutshell:"Awesome & stunning."
maartenw's Iceland Travel Tips

OverviewThings to Do
 
RestaurantsHotels & Accommodations
 
NightlifeOff The Beaten Path
 
Tourist TrapsWarnings Or Dangers
Tips: 2 - Photos: 4
 
Transportation
Tips: 1 - Photos: 4
Local Customs
 
Packing ListsShopping
 
Sports TravelGeneral Tips
Tips: 1 - Photos: 2

maartenw's Iceland Travelogues
Title [Click to view]Travel YearPictures
Iceland Mystery PhotoJuly, 2007 1

Comments for maartenw about Iceland
pcg821 Tue Aug 19, 2008 22:44 UTC
 Hey Maarten,Great tips and photos of Iceland,I go there Sept 2
SanguiniA Tue Jul 24, 2007 18:20 UTC
 Puffins!!!!! :-) Hey, what's wrong with reptiles in a holiday destination? ;-)
Mariajoy Mon Jul 23, 2007 21:05 UTC
 So how does the Icelandic word for butter translate then?? :))
sue_stone Sat Jul 21, 2007 13:32 UTC
 Yes you!
See More Comments

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