Iceland has been on everyone's radar since its economic recovery the last 4 years or so. It is undoubtedly all over my Facebook feed. My husband has always wanted to go to Iceland since his college years (let's not go into details here but that's a lifetime ago 😄). Basically we wanted to go to the island that actually is green vs. the country with green in its name but in reality is mostly made of ice. We can not stress enough what a great decision it was to visit Iceland, because we will definitely hope to... no, better yet, unequivocally will revisit this island again. |
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Information to know for your Iceland trip that was not easy to find on the internet.
Car and roads:
If you are a driver from the US it's pretty much the same (they drive on the left) except for a few things.
If you are a driver from the US it's pretty much the same (they drive on the left) except for a few things.
- Most cars have nail-studded tires, because (other than the major thoroughfares), the roads in Iceland are largely unpaved, with loose gravel and various potholes.
- If you are planning on going beyond Route 1 (the ring road) then it is highly recommended that you upgrade to a 4 wheel drive vehicle. This is especially true for the winter months for those who plan on exploring inner Iceland and going up the mountains.
- Not that anything bad should happen BUT... if this is your first time, it is not a bad idea to have food and warmth to last the night just incase you get stuck. It can get really remote driving in Iceland as their resident population is only roughly 323,002 as of 2013. To give you a perspective that's about 100K less people than the city of Minneapolis. If you do end up requiring assistance, help will come, but... it may be a matter of time.
- This is the link for [common road signs] in Iceland.
- Up until recently, this country's main livelihood was farming, so watch out for wayward farm animals... although we did not encounter any crossing the roads while we were there.
Places to stay, food, and cost of living:
- We are from the US so we will use standard of living here in the states to give you an idea of how much things cost in Iceland. Although a few items are similar in price to what we would find at home, the vast majority of them will cost 2 to 3 times as much as compared to the states. For instance, OGX shampoo from Target costs ~$7 in the US, but ~$15 in Iceland. (I don't happen to use that brand, but recognized it in the grocery store). Iceland has to import many of the products that we take for granted, which ultimately results in a price hike.
- Most things in the states vary in price based on where you buy them: gas station, convenience store vs the bigger stores. In Iceland prices for things seem to remain consistent regardless of venue, so if you need it and you are there, don't hold out, just buy it.
- You can drink their water from the tap. It is in my opinion very refreshing, might I say better than some places in the US.
- There are growing number of hotels popping up in Iceland, specifically Reykjavík but otherwise it is more common to find guesthouses and hostels. These options are a lot more price friendly vs. hotels (which can cost you upwards of $200-$300/day) and are also much more abundant outside of the capital city.
- Every home we visited in Iceland was well equipped with the standard amenities.
- These are the hostel, hotel and tiny home rentals we stayed at while in Iceland. We recommend them all:
- Héraðsskólinn-Boutique Hostel Laugarvatn. This place is adorable!
- Götur Cottage in Vík-South of Iceland. Booked on Airbnb, this place had a better bed than our own bed at home (and we love our bed)!
- Fossatún Country Hotel - They have 3 different options: guesthouse, pods and hotel. We stayed in the hotel with our own private bathroom. Our room overlooked the Grimsa River and the Troll Waterfalls.
Communication:
Every high school graduate in Iceland speaks 4 languages fluently: Icelandic, Danish, English (they use the British flag to indicate English) and a fourth language of their choice (we mostly heard Spanish). Needless to say there is absolutely no language barrier if you speak any of those languages, they have little to almost no accent when speaking English (unless they are European workers...you can tell the difference, but they are all phenomenal people whether native or non-native). Everyone is extremely nice and helpful, their range of emotion is from subtly happy to neutral 😂. We're sure they can get upset, we just have not seen it, and we've encountered angry people from many places that we've traveled to, so... I think that says a lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Every high school graduate in Iceland speaks 4 languages fluently: Icelandic, Danish, English (they use the British flag to indicate English) and a fourth language of their choice (we mostly heard Spanish). Needless to say there is absolutely no language barrier if you speak any of those languages, they have little to almost no accent when speaking English (unless they are European workers...you can tell the difference, but they are all phenomenal people whether native or non-native). Everyone is extremely nice and helpful, their range of emotion is from subtly happy to neutral 😂. We're sure they can get upset, we just have not seen it, and we've encountered angry people from many places that we've traveled to, so... I think that says a lot ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The hidden pool surrounded by mountains near Seljavellir at the foot of the Eyjafjoll Mountains in South Iceland. Built into the rocky mountainside so the rear of the pool is rock with natural hot water trickling into the pool along with a pipe that pumps warm water into the pool. It's a 20 mins hike from the parking lot, and you'll have to cross 2 rivers so bring waterproof boots in case the bridge is out (which it was for us!).
There is an abundant amount of information and materials on the net for places to go and attractions so we will not write more about it, but if you do have questions, feel free to ask us in the comment section. Instead, we will just post pictures of places we visited.
There is no shortage of beautiful sights to be seen in Iceland, it's pretty everywhere you turn. Just take a moment to take in all the natural beauty and enjoy it with the one you are with.
There is no shortage of beautiful sights to be seen in Iceland, it's pretty everywhere you turn. Just take a moment to take in all the natural beauty and enjoy it with the one you are with.
Fluffy animals in Iceland:
So here's the thing...part of why we wanted to visit Iceland is because of all the beautiful horses, cows, and fluffy sheep with skinny legs (omg... I can't even) photos we've seen on Instagram. We also hoped to catch a glimpse of an arctic fox or two, but had no such luck seeing as we did not make it to the northern regions of Iceland. Fortunately, the "wildlife" we DID see was (for the most part) quite happy to pose for us for as long as we wished.
So here's the thing...part of why we wanted to visit Iceland is because of all the beautiful horses, cows, and fluffy sheep with skinny legs (omg... I can't even) photos we've seen on Instagram. We also hoped to catch a glimpse of an arctic fox or two, but had no such luck seeing as we did not make it to the northern regions of Iceland. Fortunately, the "wildlife" we DID see was (for the most part) quite happy to pose for us for as long as we wished.