Thanks to Alaska Air partnering with Icelandic Air, we’re thinking it would be a nice little treat after a hectic summer to go somewhere neither of us have ever been before. The prices are definitely right.
Does anyone have any tips/suggestions/stories about Iceland? I’ve never considered going to a place where I don’t have at least the roughest grasp of their language so that will be daunting. I’ve done some rudimentary websearches of Icelanding tourism and the sites are pretty vague.
We both love gorgeous scenery, fly fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing, history, and general meandering.
No it won’t. Absolutely everybody in Iceland speaks English–not well enough, perhaps, to discuss the meaning of life, but well enough for any ordinary tourist interaction.
Be warned, Iceland is still expensive. (I was there in June.) With the currency devaluation it’s no longer insanely out-of-this-world expensive, but it’s still quite expensive. Just about anything that doesn’t come from sheep or fish has to be flown or shipped in.
As I have mentioned often on the boards, I went to Iceland ages ago for a three day weekend (stop over on the way to Germany).
Loved it!
Really great landscape - like you have never seen before - and nice people and a place you will never forget, nor regret visiting!
Yeah, a tad expensive - but if you look around you can find less expensive places to eat and stay, and most of the adventure is just being there and traveling around.
Sorry to bump this but I wanted to say ‘thanks’ to you that posted. It turns out that I can’t use my credit for Iceland (dammit) so I’m looking into Nova Scotia now.
Iceland is a beautiful country and I’d definitely recommend a vacation there. One thing I would also recommend is the Lanmannalaugar - Skogar hike. You can do it pretty easily in four days and it encompasses the best Iceland has to offer.
Anyone know what a bottle of beer (something a local would order) would run (in US Dollars) these days in an average pub in Reykjavik?
I know that Iceland is supposedly much more affordable now than in the past, but how does it compare to places like Findland or Sweden (two of the most expensive countries in Europe)?
While I haven’t actually have traveled to Sweden or Finland yet (June 2011), from all my research and experiences there, Iceland is more expensive. Expect to spend $8-12 for a beer in Reykjavik pubs.
While that might seem expensive, coffee over there is damn cheap. At least when I was there the Icelandic government was subsidizing coffee imports (while heavily taxing alcohol) for obvious reasons.
Ask the Icelandic dude. Great thread by WormTheRed, who did a number of other Icelandic threads, but sadly is no longer with us (he’s on another board I believe).
You should also take a look a Newfoundland. You got your wildlife, fishing, hiking and…Vikings. Plus everyone speaks english.*
*Newfoundland English - an interesting part of the trip in and of itself.
L’Anse aux Meadows is a 22 hour drive from Halifax. I’m still working on talking my hostess into the drive but she didn’t sound very keen. A shame since I don’t know when I’ll ever be in the area again. I’d at least like to zip into Newfoundland though. (I’ve spent a couple weeks in PEI before.)
There are some other cool UNESCO sites around that are on the docket. I just need to get myself there!