What to do in Iceland? Spend lots of money, that's what. The exchange rate is about 64 kroner to the dollar, and things are not cheap, especially food.
Why don't you get the new Sigur Ros album Takk and listen to that all the way there.
Wish we could trade places. I've only taken a long flight to Europe once, but flying over the ocean overnight was really kind of fascinating. My flight had video screens in each seat, and it was cool watching the progress of the plane from the US to France, airspeed, altitude, etc. Listened to Sigur Ros' ( ) album tons that night.
Song 2 on Takk, Glosoli, is just incredible. It's very different overall from ( ) but still retains all the aspects of them that makes you realize no one else on earth makes music like them.
go to the blue lagoon...
take a tour...
i went a couple years ago and it was just before the start of tourist season in the summer so a lot of things were not accessible--it's almost impossible to get to the glaciers, inner iceland, without going on an organized jeep/van tour. pricy, but completely worth it. we went to the top of a glacier--amazing.
we also just rented a car and drove along the coast--the landscape is beautiful everywhere.
one thing i would have liked to do is look for work by studio granda. didn't know about them when i went. www.studiogranda.is
walk along the main street in reykjavik (don't remember the name, but really, there's only one) on a friday night, try to choose which bar to go to...
try the dried fish...
it is really expensive--esp. food, (although bottled water is very cheap)--at one point we were choosing between getting a beer and getting dinner...went for the beer.
Get a hotel in the city. The airlines put people up at larger hotels outside of the city center. Not good as you can't walk everywhere. No trains so you're on foot or in taxi.
The advise I got from the hotel clerk was whatever I did, do not go to bed too early on Friday and Saturday. They have an amazing nightlife. Especially considering the size of the city. The locals are very friendly and will show you the best clubs or 'cafe's'
Check out the architecture. The Iceland vernacular in Reykjavik is corrugated steel. Amazing how it's used. They also have some good examples of modern design. Reykjavik city hall comes to mind. The new international terminal at Keflavik is nice too.
If you've got extra $$, go fashion shopping. A lot of new European styles are available there before the rest of Europe.
The Blue Lagoon is a must. I was there in the winter and it was so refreshing to be in there with the snow falling on us.
Go on at least one jeep tour in the country. They have all kinds of vehicles with snorkels for driving through high water. It's a rugged landscape unlike anything I've seen elsewhere.
Iceland is probably the most integrated credit card culture in the world. You can pay for everything...absolutely everying using credit card.
And I'm sure you're flying Iceland Air. Enjoy that. Best service I've ever received on an airplane.
Expensive? Yes and no. I think it was 100 kroner to $1 when I was there. Which was comporable with the exchange in Norway and Sweden at the same time. They have some excellent fine dining that's very expensive, but a decent meal wasn't what I thought to be too outrageous. Did spend $300 at the bars one night though.
definitely get ahold of takk (i've been flying hiiiigh with it all week) and one of the songs is even called hopping puddles (hoppipolla in icelandic)...truly enough to make my heart melt. and since they haven't already been mentioned mum is another band worth checking out.
and if you still have the time before leaving, take a look at noisedfisk for more info on islandic and scandinavian culture.
on the architecture front, i'll second the work of studio granda. see the city hall and the supreme court building. other than that, nothing left to say except that i am jealous, verrry jealous.
I second the blue lagoon (of course) and the city hall by studio granda (by the lake) Also Perlan ("pearl") is the rotating restaurant/visitor centre set inbetween huw now-redundant water tanks. Take a tour to see the usual stuff, it's all worth it, there's a route you can do which shows you a lot of stuff around reykjavik. I doubt that it's started in september - but check - there is a northern lights trip which takes you out from Reykjavik's city lights to catch a glimpse of them, I went in March or so and still saw some amazing sights. Normally in most coutries I would skip the tourist stuff, but in Iceland I would say most of it is really worthwhile, there's so much to see that you can't see anywhere else. So don't discount the tourist offices, there is one on Laugevegur (the main shopping street) called this.is/iceland (http://this.is/iceland/) They're quite friendly and can probably point you to something cool.
Other things you might want to see are Hallgrimskirkja - the main church in Reykjavik. Definately try some of the smaller, stranger bars on and near Laugavegur, especially "Circus" - it's the coolest, strangest little thing, trust me it's pretty special! If you're there for a while ask about "Klink og Bank" - It's a really interesting underground arts place, and there may well be something on if you're lucky, you can find it towards the top end of Laugavegur. If you get lost just ask, most (young) people speak english well and will be happy to help. Speaking of which, don't be afraid to pipe up in English, for some reason the young people of Iceland seem to find those natural English speakers very cool indeed, though they will appreciate if you give some Icelandic a go.
If you want to go clubbing (and I mean properly) Nasa is about the only place, it has some big nights on, and is the biggest club around. Also if you're going out a-drinking don't go out earlier than 11. The night only really gets started about 1am and will keep going happily to 4/5am and further. Trust me, there'll just be a ghost town any earlier! This is partly thanks to alcohol being so expensive Icelanders like to drink at home first and then go out half-cut!
If you have the time (say at least a week in Iceland) then do go to the second town of Akureyri (my parents home town) It's a beautiful little place and it's a great journey there. If you want you can go a little further to Husavik and go whale watching, which I also recommend, in fact a member of my family has a whale watching business there so if you do go, go on the little wooden boats rather than the big green one (that's the competition!)
Feel free to email me with any questions that I can maybe help with. Otherwise have a great time and expect the unexpected.
Oh and be adventurous! It's the only way to really experience Iceland.
I wrote this at the behest of the ever thoughtful John Devlin of archinect who pointed this thread out to me, so you have him to thank if any of this info is useful!
Oh and Noi Albinoi is not depressing, it's probably the most 'Icelandic' film I've ever seen, and reflects the fact that it can be a hard and unforgiving place to live, and that needn't be depressing at all!
Thank you for all of the wonderful tips! I just returned last night and had a great time. I truly appreciated the 'just pipe up' advice as I was feeling rather guilty about not speaking icelandic. After your advice I truly felt better.
I did some organized tours such as the golden circle, the blue lagoon and the northern lights - sadly it was too early in the season - but we did get some wonderful night views of areas while they were drenched in the moonlight.
I had a wonderful time and thank you again for your input. I have posted some of the pictures on flickr -
What to do in Iceland?
Any ideas for what to do/see in Iceland?
Rent and watch the movie Noi.
Then go to Iceland, get a shotgun, and go shoot ice hanging off of cliffs.
ahhh... would be good were I not leaving tomorrow.
Noi also sounds rather depressing. I'll leave it for the reflection period upon my return.
You know the 'what does it all mean' period.
chill with bjork
She is ready and willing on the Ipod - although I wouldn't mind meeting her husband Matthew Barney - now that would be an experience!
What to do in Iceland? Spend lots of money, that's what. The exchange rate is about 64 kroner to the dollar, and things are not cheap, especially food.
Why don't you get the new Sigur Ros album Takk and listen to that all the way there.
Wish we could trade places. I've only taken a long flight to Europe once, but flying over the ocean overnight was really kind of fascinating. My flight had video screens in each seat, and it was cool watching the progress of the plane from the US to France, airspeed, altitude, etc. Listened to Sigur Ros' ( ) album tons that night.
Thanks for the idea MM - () is a perfect album to fly to.. ahh.. I'm dreaming already!
... and I can't wait to check out takk... it's getting good reviews I hear.
No problem.
Song 2 on Takk, Glosoli, is just incredible. It's very different overall from ( ) but still retains all the aspects of them that makes you realize no one else on earth makes music like them.
go to the blue lagoon...
take a tour...
i went a couple years ago and it was just before the start of tourist season in the summer so a lot of things were not accessible--it's almost impossible to get to the glaciers, inner iceland, without going on an organized jeep/van tour. pricy, but completely worth it. we went to the top of a glacier--amazing.
we also just rented a car and drove along the coast--the landscape is beautiful everywhere.
one thing i would have liked to do is look for work by studio granda. didn't know about them when i went.
www.studiogranda.is
walk along the main street in reykjavik (don't remember the name, but really, there's only one) on a friday night, try to choose which bar to go to...
try the dried fish...
it is really expensive--esp. food, (although bottled water is very cheap)--at one point we were choosing between getting a beer and getting dinner...went for the beer.
Get a hotel in the city. The airlines put people up at larger hotels outside of the city center. Not good as you can't walk everywhere. No trains so you're on foot or in taxi.
The advise I got from the hotel clerk was whatever I did, do not go to bed too early on Friday and Saturday. They have an amazing nightlife. Especially considering the size of the city. The locals are very friendly and will show you the best clubs or 'cafe's'
Check out the architecture. The Iceland vernacular in Reykjavik is corrugated steel. Amazing how it's used. They also have some good examples of modern design. Reykjavik city hall comes to mind. The new international terminal at Keflavik is nice too.
If you've got extra $$, go fashion shopping. A lot of new European styles are available there before the rest of Europe.
The Blue Lagoon is a must. I was there in the winter and it was so refreshing to be in there with the snow falling on us.
Go on at least one jeep tour in the country. They have all kinds of vehicles with snorkels for driving through high water. It's a rugged landscape unlike anything I've seen elsewhere.
Iceland is probably the most integrated credit card culture in the world. You can pay for everything...absolutely everying using credit card.
And I'm sure you're flying Iceland Air. Enjoy that. Best service I've ever received on an airplane.
Expensive? Yes and no. I think it was 100 kroner to $1 when I was there. Which was comporable with the exchange in Norway and Sweden at the same time. They have some excellent fine dining that's very expensive, but a decent meal wasn't what I thought to be too outrageous. Did spend $300 at the bars one night though.
Thank you, thank you - this is really helpful!
definitely get ahold of takk (i've been flying hiiiigh with it all week) and one of the songs is even called hopping puddles (hoppipolla in icelandic)...truly enough to make my heart melt. and since they haven't already been mentioned mum is another band worth checking out.
and if you still have the time before leaving, take a look at noisedfisk for more info on islandic and scandinavian culture.
on the architecture front, i'll second the work of studio granda. see the city hall and the supreme court building. other than that, nothing left to say except that i am jealous, verrry jealous.
noi albinoi isn't that depressing...at least, i didn't think so...thought it was kinda funny except for the end
go swimming in the hot springs
enjoy the caviar
I second the blue lagoon (of course) and the city hall by studio granda (by the lake) Also Perlan ("pearl") is the rotating restaurant/visitor centre set inbetween huw now-redundant water tanks. Take a tour to see the usual stuff, it's all worth it, there's a route you can do which shows you a lot of stuff around reykjavik. I doubt that it's started in september - but check - there is a northern lights trip which takes you out from Reykjavik's city lights to catch a glimpse of them, I went in March or so and still saw some amazing sights. Normally in most coutries I would skip the tourist stuff, but in Iceland I would say most of it is really worthwhile, there's so much to see that you can't see anywhere else. So don't discount the tourist offices, there is one on Laugevegur (the main shopping street) called this.is/iceland (http://this.is/iceland/) They're quite friendly and can probably point you to something cool.
Other things you might want to see are Hallgrimskirkja - the main church in Reykjavik. Definately try some of the smaller, stranger bars on and near Laugavegur, especially "Circus" - it's the coolest, strangest little thing, trust me it's pretty special! If you're there for a while ask about "Klink og Bank" - It's a really interesting underground arts place, and there may well be something on if you're lucky, you can find it towards the top end of Laugavegur. If you get lost just ask, most (young) people speak english well and will be happy to help. Speaking of which, don't be afraid to pipe up in English, for some reason the young people of Iceland seem to find those natural English speakers very cool indeed, though they will appreciate if you give some Icelandic a go.
If you want to go clubbing (and I mean properly) Nasa is about the only place, it has some big nights on, and is the biggest club around. Also if you're going out a-drinking don't go out earlier than 11. The night only really gets started about 1am and will keep going happily to 4/5am and further. Trust me, there'll just be a ghost town any earlier! This is partly thanks to alcohol being so expensive Icelanders like to drink at home first and then go out half-cut!
If you have the time (say at least a week in Iceland) then do go to the second town of Akureyri (my parents home town) It's a beautiful little place and it's a great journey there. If you want you can go a little further to Husavik and go whale watching, which I also recommend, in fact a member of my family has a whale watching business there so if you do go, go on the little wooden boats rather than the big green one (that's the competition!)
Feel free to email me with any questions that I can maybe help with. Otherwise have a great time and expect the unexpected.
Oh and be adventurous! It's the only way to really experience Iceland.
I wrote this at the behest of the ever thoughtful John Devlin of archinect who pointed this thread out to me, so you have him to thank if any of this info is useful!
I have photos of my last trip to Iceland here - http://andri.haflidason.com/
Cheers,
Andri
Oh and Noi Albinoi is not depressing, it's probably the most 'Icelandic' film I've ever seen, and reflects the fact that it can be a hard and unforgiving place to live, and that needn't be depressing at all!
Thank you for all of the wonderful tips! I just returned last night and had a great time. I truly appreciated the 'just pipe up' advice as I was feeling rather guilty about not speaking icelandic. After your advice I truly felt better.
I did some organized tours such as the golden circle, the blue lagoon and the northern lights - sadly it was too early in the season - but we did get some wonderful night views of areas while they were drenched in the moonlight.
I had a wonderful time and thank you again for your input. I have posted some of the pictures on flickr -
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sarah_jane/
I can't wait to head back there!
signum - your photos are fantastic! You have captured the essence of iceland very well.
those pictures are great! You should have tried to track down the entry point from Journey To The Center Of The Earth. It's true, I believe!
I think it's right through there.
ahhh.. the plates.. I did sneak into a few caves only to find a dead end and the 'hidden people.'
I eventually gave up in exchange for a beer. A much more substantial reward in my mind.
Sarah, glad you had a good time, and that my advice was useful. I can't look at your photos just now as Flickr is down, but will try later.
Oh and thanks! I appreciate your thoughts muchly :)
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