Moving to Iceland Forums

Iceland Info · Joined: 20 Oct 2006 Posts: 18 Home Country: iceland

ICELAND TOURISM GUIDE

REYKJAVIK

Throbbing with life by day and by night, all year round, Reykjavik is just as much a part of the Icelandic experience as the midnight sun or the magical landscapes forged by ice and fire. Reykjavik, with its neighbouring communities, has a population of around 180,000 and offers an interesting mix of cosmopolitan culture and local village roots.

Old accounts say the ancient gods themselves guided Iceland first settler, Ingolfur Arnarson, to make his home in Reykjavik. He named the place Reykjavik (Steamy Bay) after the geothermal steam he saw, which today heats homes and outdoor swimming pools throughout the city. It's a pollution-free energy source that leaves the air outstandingly fresh, clean and clear.

A beautiful salmon river runs through the city limits, and so do fine parks and even wild outdoor areas. In the outskirts are places for horse trekking and golf.

But against this backdrop of nature, Reykjavik has a packed program of familiar city joys too: art museums, several theaters, an opera house, a symphony orchestra and concerts/live music spanning the whole spectrum of age and taste.

One must for all visitors is dining out on Icelandic specialties, including delicious seafood ?ocean-fresh from the morning catch, highland lamb and unusual varieties of game. Its purely natural food imaginatively served to delight the most discerning of diners. Reykjavik is also renowned as one of Europe hottest nightspots, where the action on the friendly pub and nightlife scene lasts right through the night.

Walking distances are short downtown, and everything worth seeing outside the city centre can be quickly and conveniently reached by bus. With its long, easy-going main street and large Kringlan mall, Iceland capital is a great place to shop too with a bonus of tax-free shopping for visitors! Be on the lookout not just for souvenirs (especially woolens and handicrafts) but also for stylish consumer goods and designer labels at competitive prices.

A full range of accommodations is available in Reykjavik, from international-standard hotels with good conference facilities, through smaller hotels and cozy guesthouses, to a campsite in the city biggest park.

But the capital area is more than just Reykjavik. Adjoining it is the town of Kopavogur, with its new concert hall, art museum, and splendid sport and leisure facilities. A little farther down the road, the town of Hafnarfjordur nestles in a lava field and offers tourists both traditional and offbeat attractions. It including Viking feasts, elf-spotting tours, whale watching and horseback riding.

BLUE LAGOON

The Blue Lagoon is a unique geothermal spa where guests relax in warm geothermal seawater. A visit to the Blue Lagoon is an invigorating and exciting experience, whether you choose to bathe in the delicate waters surrounded by snow in the middle of winter, or while enjoying the long days of summer.

The geothermal spa's state-of-the-art facilities include: modern changing rooms and showers, an indoor Blue Lagoon pool, a conference room and a restaurant overlooking the Blue Lagoon are on the premises. A geothermal beach, lava caves and silica mud are parts of the lagoon area. In addition to bathing in the lagoon, guests enjoy relaxing in a lava cave and a unique geothermal steam bath.

The Blue Lagoon's warm water and natural active ingredients: salts, silica and blue green algae help our guests relax and escape the stress and strain of daily life. The Blue Lagoon's white Silica mud gently cleanses and exfoliates the skin and has revitalizing effects on the skin while the blue green algae nourishes and softens the skin. The Blue Lagoon mineral salts have balancing and relaxing effects.

The Blue Lagoon offers spa packages that include a unique combination of Blue Lagoon bathing, massage and products. Guests can choose between energy, balance and nutrition treatments. Three packages; Luxury, Deluxe and Ultimate are available within each category. In addition to the treatments, the packages include bath in the Blue Lagoon, use of a soft quality towel and a warm bathrobe. For more information on the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa visit www.bluelagoon.is.

The Water
The Sudurnes Regional Heating Corporation uses geothermal water from boreholes reaching depths of more than 6000 feet (2.000 meters). Due to the proximity of the sea that seeps into the underground water system, the water is saline and this, along with the presence of various minerals, makes it unsuitable for direct central heating purposes.

The geothermal seawater is used to heat spring water, which is used for central heating. At the outlet point, the water from the power station, which has a temperature of 158 F (70 C) and a salt concentration approximately equal to that of the sea, has formed a lagoon in the surrounding lava field. In this unique ecosystem, high levels of silica, minerals and algae form light natural sediment on its bottom and give the lagoon its rich blue color.

The geothermal seawater is taken directly from the well and transferred via pipeline to the Lagoon. At the time the temperatures of the water is ~320 F/160 C - the water travels under air pressure and is then directed through special mixing wells where the water is cooled down to comfortable bathing temperatures ~98 - 102 F/36 - 39 C.

GEYSIR

There is only one Icelandic word used in the English language: geyser. Though the word refers to all geysers in general, it comes from a single geyser (in fact, the geyser) located in the South West of Iceland. Unfortunately, the Great Geysir has been somewhat shy in recent decades. When Geysir does perform, it lives up to its name, spewing a jet of steaming water 200 feet skyward.

Far more reliable, though less spectacular, is nearby Strokkur (“the churn”), which spouts a 60-100 foot jet about once every five minutes. The geyser area is also rich in walking paths that lead past steaming vents and colorful, mineral-rich mud formations.

GULLFOSS

In a land of Earthly beauty, one natural wonder stands above the rest, Iceland’s beloved Gullfoss, or “Golden Falls.” With a 105-foot double-cascade, Gullfoss is by far Europe’s most powerful waterfall. On a sunlit day, the mist clouds surrounding the hammering falls are filled with dozens of rainbows, providing an unparalleled spectacle of colour and motion.

Surprisingly, at one time the government planned to supplant the falls with a large hydroelectric power plant, but a nearby farmer’s daughter underwent a pilgrimage on foot to Reykjavik, where she demanded that unless the plant was stopped, she would cast herself over the falls. After the nation overwhelmingly came out in her favour, plans were halted and the government purchased the land for a national park.

AKUREYRI

At first sight, Iceland’s second largest city appears like it was transplanted from the Swiss Alps. It sits on the southwestern shores of the North Coast’s Eyjafjordur Fjord, one of the most breathtaking fjords in all of Iceland. Rising up immediately behind the city are azure farmlands that slope gently up to basalt mountains. The mountains are capped by snow year round, and in the winter they offer great skiing.

One of the most extraordinary aspects of Akureyri is its warm climate. Although its sits only 60 miles from the Arctic Circle, it has some of the best weather in Iceland. Summer temperature frequently range in the high 60's (20 C), making the city the most popular weekend getaway for citizens of Reykjavik. To get an idea of just how warm it is, one need only to visit the city’s best known attraction, the Botanical Gardens, where over 2,000 species of native and non-native plants flourish without the help of a greenhouse.

Anywhere else, Akureyri’s 15,000 people would probably constitute what most places call a “small town,” but in Iceland a number like that definitely qualifies Akureyri as a city. In fact, you could even call it “a cultural capital.” It has more than its share of museums, including a Natural History Museum, a folk museum, and museums set in the homes of native poet Matthias Jochumsson and children’s book author Jon Sveinson. Outside the city are numerous opportunities for excursions, the most popular being the road skirting the beautiful western shore of the Eyjafjordur Fjord.

THINGVELLIR

In 930 AD, while most of Europe was mired in feudalism and conflict, chieftains in Iceland gathered in a natural amphitheatre to the north and west of Reykjavik and formed the world’s first parliament, the Althing. The meeting place was called Thingvellir (“parliament plains”), and over the next 300 years representatives journeyed here once a year to elect leaders, argue cases, and settle disputes - sometimes peacefully, sometimes not. Today, Thingvellir National Park remains the ultimate symbol of Iceland’s independence and unity, a landscape inseparable from the national soul.

The founders of the Althing could hardly have chosen a more appropriate place to meet. Thingvellir tells the story of Iceland’s land as much as it does its people. Nowhere in the country is there a landscape that better vocalizes the geologic history of Iceland. In Thingvellir, you can stand on a bluff and see the Mid-Atlantic ridge as it carves its way north and east into the island’s interior.

SNAEFELLSNES PENINSULA

On a clear day in Reykjavik, one can gaze northwest and see the shining Snaefellsjokull glacier, 60 miles away. Though the glacier is nowhere near in size to some of Iceland’s others, it is by far the most mysterious and popular. It was this glacier that French Author Jules Verne chose as his doorway into inner space in his fantastical book, Journey to the Center of the Earth. It rests near lands end on one of Iceland’s most beloved landscapes -- the Snaefellsnes Peninsula -- and its bright, mysterious beauty seems to embody the entire region.

One of the reasons why Icelander’s love the Snaefellsnes Peninsula so much (aside from its enchanting landscape brimming with lava caves, waterfalls, and mineral hot springs) is that it is a veritable heartland of history. Some of the best and most important sagas took place here, and it is said that Christopher Columbus once spent a winter in Ingjaldsholl, where he heard stories of lands to the west.

LAKE MYVATN

Bubbling mud flats, lunaresque volcanic craters, newborn lava fields, and grassy shoals teeming with waterfowl; these are among the sights of the striking Lake Myvatn region, one of the most geologically active and stunningly beautiful areas in Iceland. In 1974, the lake was declared a national conservation area, and since then it has become one of the most popular tourist destinations in the country. Its name means “Midge Lake,” after the hordes of gnats that breed in the shallow waters (so bring bug spray), but the pesky insects – perfect food for fish – support the best trout and salmon fishing in Iceland. There are also more species of duck here than anywhere in Europe, 15 in all.

The heavy volcanic activity in the region during the last few thousand years accounts for its extraordinary land formations and geology. Dimmuborgir, on the East side of the lake, is a badlands of lava pillars, some of which reach 65 feet in height. Just north is Hverfjall, a smooth, stadium-shaped volcanic cone that formed during eruptions 2,500 years ago. One of the most bizarre attractions in the region are the mud pits of Haverarond, which are so hot that they actually boil. Far cooler are the waters of Viti, an explosion crater nearby. Another unforgettable sight near Myvatn is Eldhraun (“fire lava”), an absolutely barren lava field where the Apollo 11 crew came in the late 60's to train for their impending moonwalks.

WESTMANN ISLES

In November 1963, some fisherman working off of Iceland’s south central coast noticed a black column of smoke rising high above the ocean surface. They radioed the shore, and a plane was sent in to investigate the cause of the spectacle. After a few passes, the pilot confirmed that Iceland had just expanded its territory. A fresh volcano had broken through the waves, creating the world’s youngest island, Surtsey.

Surtsey is part of the Westmann Isles, Iceland’s newest and most important group of islands. About 5,000 years ago, most of the Westmann’s were born the same way Surtsey was, by bubbling and blasting their way to the surface. Because of their youth, they are among the most ruggedly beautiful islands in the world, known for their sheer cliffs and huge bird populations (there are 10 million puffins alone). The largest island, Heimey, hosts the only populated town of the same name, which was thrust onto the world’s stage in 1973 when a nearby volcano called Eldfell erupted and nearly swallowed the town in lava flow. In an extraordinary episode of man vs. nature, most of the town was saved when firefighters used huge jets of water to cool the lava, creating a damn against the red-hot stream. Had the town been destroyed, not only would its people have suffered, but all of Iceland’s economy: Heimey is the country’s most important fishing centre.

The best way to see the Westmann Isles is by boat (tours can be arranged from Heimey, where you’ll also find accommodations). The surrounding waters are filled with orcas and whales, and there are huge, echo-filled caves that boats can actually enter. Because of its scientific value as a living laboratory illustrating how life develops on new land, Surtsey, unfortunately, is off-limits.


Regions South America North America Middle East Europe Eastern Europe Asia Pacific Africa Countries Spain Netherlands Ireland France England Others Contact Us Advertise with Us Policy Iceland News Send This Page