Iceland

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Iceland

General

Iceland is a huge island located in the North of Europe. It has a population of less than 400.000 inhabitants and more than half of these people live in or around the capital. Reykjavik is the capital city.

Island is the land of the elements. You will find large waterfalls, glaciers, vulcanos, if you are lucky even active lava flow and in dark nights the northern lights.

Even though Iceland is not part of the EU, it has joined the Schengen Agreement. That means open borders in Europe and with the Schengen visa of another Schengen country, you can also travel to Iceland.

The international airport is located in Keflavik. If you fly with Icelandicair between Europe and North America or via versa you also have the possibility to do a stopover in Iceland without an extra charge.

I would suggest taking a camper or at least a rental car. The island is larger than you might think and it’s a lot of driving, but still worth it. It’s possible to do a lot with tours, but you cannot reach all places and you arrive always at the spots with a lot of people.

Country and People

The people speak Icelandic but also with English you will find your way around and at touristic spots you find the descriptions often in even more languages.

Iceland is so far in the north, in summer it never gets dark and in winter not really bright. The weather can always change within minutes. You should always have a rain poncho in your pocket.

When is the best time to travel iceland? I would suggest the beginning of September and have been there twice at that time. If you want to go to the highlands, then you should go in summer (July/August). You should consider early August if you want to see the Puffins. If you go in September like I did, you are before the snow with good conditions for self organised roundtrips. At night it’s getting dark and you have the chance to see the northern lights.

Money

In Iceland, you pay with Icelandic krona. Almost everywhere you can also pay with a credit card.

In comparison, Iceland is like the most northern European countries an expensive country. You have to consider this if you want to spend your vacations here. But if you do, you will be rewarded with a country of fire and ice.

Safety

Iceland is a safe country when it comes to crime. The nature is the more dangerous part. Don’t swim in dangerous areas, don’t leave the trails to get closer to the edge, don’t fall in one of the huge waterfalls, don’t walk on cold lava, if new lava is flowing next to it and so on.

Detail pages

Click on the following or location names or photos, to get more information and pictures. For a better overview I divided it into regions and listed the best spots for these areas.

To get an better overview where these places are located, I have marked them on a map.

Iceland Golden Circle

Iceland

Iceland West

Iceland

Iceland South

Iceland

Iceland North

Iceland