I´m in iceland!!!

Never stopped Sigur Ros and Prince

Oh wait, no, on second though, please don't.

Has anyone been in Iceland recently, since their economy tanked?

oh well, ours will all be in the same state soon.

I was there in July & August, which felt pretty recent until their economy tanked. Whoa. I've been thinking of going back next summer (if I can buy a plane ticket, the rest is grant-funded), and I wonder what conditions things will be in by then.

One thing that would be strange about going there would be that you would get LOADS of Krona for your foreign hard currency, but then everything there would be amazingly expensive. Mmmm. For them it must be terrifying.

My gf and her friend (and maybe myself) are planning on going in December to visit fwends.

Iceland's always been bloodthirsty for mass tourist krona. I image it will be all the more desperate now. Probably more people being beat up at bars on weekends and all that.

iceland's a bunch of cumlords

oh canklespaws

do not let them rule yr cum

iceland, more like lesbian land, am i right

no

everyone knows norway is where to lex it up. ask geir

lez it up. same thing.

Iceland likely to be any good in December or too cold?

And are Finland or Norway nicer?

Pretty dark in Dec I'd say.

Hmm. That didn't occur to me.

the outer edges of the island (even the northern coast) and vestmannaeyjar apparently don't get colder than the 30s because of the gulf stream.

but can you really count on the gulf stream to save your ass in iceland in december? i think not.

You can always count on the gulf stteam. Climate stuff in general is very stable. We can always count on the climate.

SMILE when you say that, pardner

Arriving in Reykjavik on Saturday! I'll be in Iceland for 17 days. Going to the Westfjords, then I don't know yet, what other places you guys recommend?

Anywhere you can see the northern lights. There is a forecast: http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/

Aaaaah!! Thank you!!

noodle station.

we also went on a weird and expensive late-evening hike with a gregarious icelandic business hippie (goecco.com). that was fun.

the best excursion was probably packing a lunch, taking the early non-tourist bus to thingvellir, running around all day, hiking across the park and getting on another bus at some other far-flung visitor center. creative use of bus schedules was key in general. also avoiding anything that looks like a tour bus or group as much as possible b/c they are ruthlessly efficient wrt that tourist $.

also, the blue lagoon sucks. go here.

can't find any pictures that do it justice but that sundhollin place is basically the "so weit wie noch nie" video.

If you can get a car I recommend driving the south coast at least as far as jokulsarlon.

Also in thingvellir you can go snorkelling/diving in the crack between continents. The water is really clear and you can see quite far... a bit expensive but a neat excursion.

I liked the blue lagoon but I probably wouldn't go in the summer :/

when i was at the blue lagoon there were like 10000 danish people there filming what appeared to be the danish version of mtv's the grind.

Recommendations for a visit next weekend appreciated. We will have a car but can't really tell how realistic it will be to drive far (I'm guessing Icelanders keep roads clear but am used to UK snow carnage). We're staying in Glymur. How much of an issue are the short days? (Do you just make sure you are wherever you need to be when it is "daylight"?)

short days shouldn't be too much an issue for a short visit (it can get kind of depressing when you're working and you go days w/o seeing sunlight, week after week), and you'll get the benefit of the most amazing northern lights and i swear somehow the moon looks larger up there. roads i don't know - around reyk and the main roads they should be good but glymur is somewhat isolated (albeit gorgeous) iirc so you might be driving on a thick sheet of ice, which you can get used to if you learn to drive on ice (don't speed, apply brakes very slowly well in advance, basically minimal 'driving'). only worry of getting stuck in snow if you go off road or are driving on unpaved roads, have a number for someone back wherever you can get in touch w/ if yr car gets stuck somehow. wind will be more of an issue than the cold. many of the cars there will have straps on the doors to prevent them being blown off but if not (or even if so i guess) be careful opening yr car doors as an untimely gust could blow it off. if you order hakari do not order alot and have something to chase it w/, probably that weird vodka they have. there's a kfc in reykjavik.

I really loved my time in the Westfjord and in the North.

Thanks balls/Von Horn Street.

My only advice is that if you're going on a driving adventure, make sure you go early because Iceland's long dark nights are great! except when you're driving home

can you make a trip to vestmannaeyjar?

Þingvellir or Snæfellsnes? went in may and loved both, not sure what they would be like in the dark

jealous. We spent most of our time in Reyk and had a blast but you seem to want a rougher go of it! two hrs away from you on the ring road is Vik w/ black sand beaches. Town aint much but the scenery is beauitful.

The Fish Market pre fixe is really delicious if you want to splurge a little. We did Grey Cat for b-fast in reykjavic

fyi we drove from reyk to skaftafell and back in a day -- it was a bear of a trip but it CAN be done.

Thanks all.

Is driving (and parking) in Reykjavik itself fairly painless?

^ It was fairly painless.

This reads more like an advert than an article:

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/dec/26/walter-mitty-gives-iceland-leading-role

... but definitely going back in summer, at some point.

i'm going to iceland for a quick weekend trip. any suggestions on what to do? i've already booked time at a natural spa and a northern lights boat tour.

What do u like 2 do?

what time of year are you visiting?

i took a weeklong trip around the ring road a few years ago, but it was in august so i'm not sure how the activities would translate to current weather conditions.

if you have a day to spare, and a suitable vehicle, we had a really great time driving around the westfjords, particularly an accidental trip on dusty bumpy roads on the plateau on top of the hills/mountains. the sky at the bottom was blue and clear, then turned green and yellow as we ascented, and then at the top it was like being on a moon (or a pleasant planet in No Man's Sky) - purple, foggy, otherworldly. an astronaut helmet wouldn't have been unwelcome. then we drove back down to the coast, which is beautifully fjordsy as you would expect, followed by a quick trip to an unmarked hot spring. it was one of those days of a lifetime.

I drove (a long way...) to vatnajokull NP and back in one day. Many waterfalls, crazy scenery! It might not be a great use of time w/ the short winter days. You can see Reykjavik in a day, day and a half. It's very small and walkable.

xpost the beauty of iceland permanently altered my writing and spelling for the worse, as you can see. jooine ussss, visit icelandd

It's really the best. Cafe Loki near Hallgrimskirja has great kjotsupa (and refreshers for refueling mid day). Had the prix fixe at fish market and the tasting menu @ Dill. Ppl in Iceland don't rly drink during the week and Booz is p limited. A good idea is to visit the SCOND duty free shop in the airport and stock up before you exit to the real world

make sure to try some langoustine soup!

Also u can eat whale and puffin there

For a quick weekend, I'd recommend doing a (perhaps tourist-y) Golden Circle tour ... We did it by car (in the snow) but it might be easier to just book a coach tour.

We found some nice cafes based on this John Grant article: https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/nov/29/john-grant-reykjavik-iceland

If you're interested in the Northern lights, just make sure you look up every now and then. Our hotel gave us the option of being woken if they were visible (and they were).

mysterious pan-southeast-asian soup at noodle station

lamb boat sandwich at hlolla batar

tasting menu at dill, though the chef is now in nyc at agern so idk if it's still as stupid good as it was

watch out b/c sometimes candy that you innocently think is chocolate or caramel turns out to be salted licorice

i'm going this weekend!

also that licorice tip is u&k as i loathe licorice

what about local drinks?

In what regard? Weekends in Reykjavik are nuts as all the Vikings rage for 48 hrs

i drank a lot of egils gull lager which is terrible, like a coors light level beer. people drink a ton on the weekends but i don't think they drink well, if that makes sense.

The cathedral's good, the view from the top's good, and the elevator to take you to the top is a blessed relief.

I really like Icelandic sagas (wd recommend reading one or two before you go) and the exhibition of saga manuscripts blew my mind.

I am not in Iceland, but will be in October, for a few days. I've had a few people recommend renting a car, to avoid tour groups and explore off the beaten spots (weather permitting). Of course, renting a car is expensive, and our hotel charges for parking, too. So what do those with Iceland experience suggest? Car? No car? Car for a day?

Car. Go to Saegreiffin and get lagoustine soup and monkfish skewers— insist on the monkfish if they try and get you to eat something else

Drive to Selfoss. Make friends at Kaffeebarrin and get somebody to take you to a public bath. Find a place that sells Icelandic gross food and eat it— ram testicles and hokart. The day of your flight home, plan to go to the Blue Lagoon, it’s right by the airport in Keflavik

I haven’t been to the penis museum but I’ve heard good things

Don’t: eat whale, it’s gross. Do: eat pony, it’s unbelievably delicious

I think we'll be staying right by the penis museum. Def hitting Blue Lagoon on the last day, likely skipping gross food.

Ooh and before your drive to Selfoss, make a picnic lunch. Go to a grocery store and titter at how expensive the produce is, consider buying a bunch of dill and a lemon, buy two or three tubs of the ridiculously tasty seafood salads they sell there (shrimp, salmon, etc) and two packets of crisp bread, slice the lemon, enjoy all of that while gazing at the waterfall or whatever you end up doing

Of everything I’ve suggested, the “must” is Saegreiffin. You will want to eat there every day

Rent a car, for sure. How many days will you be there and do you plan to stay in Reykjavik the whole time?

was there for a week a few years ago and while I wished we could’ve stayed longer, that was actually enough to see all kinds of cool places - even taking into account that it was late November when we went, so not a lot of daylight. all within a few hours of Reykjavik, but it would def be easier if you don’t mind staying a night or two elsewhere

Icelandic tourists serious about penises used to drive to Husavik to see the museum, just saying.
Get a car, unless you're only there for a week and can hit Thingvellir / Geysir / Gullfoss with buses.
Go inland if you can. I was there for a month by myself in 2010 but could only afford the smallest car so I was limited to the ring road. Though I did hitch-hike to Askja and did the Landmannalaugar-Thorsmork hike. Expensive yes, amazing yes.

You dont need a car IN reyk, but you can see most of reyk in a day and a half or so.

Eat the whale, i didnt have horse bc i didnt know that was an option. All the above advice is correct tho

Short trip, we're only there for three nights, four days, give or take. No plans yet, as such. And mid October weather may have its own plans, but I hear it's typically a safe window.

We filled half our suitcase with food, got some additional things at a grocery store, and made pasta etc in our cabin and air bnbs rather than deal with the expensive food. Rented a car (with driver's side massage functionality!) and went around to any and all waterfalls on the map, it was great.

I hear a lot of pro car sentiments, but even for just three days?

Would normally suggest renting a car, but if you're only there 3-4 days and using Reykjavik as a home base, you'll almost certainly be good w/o a car. 2-3 day trips + 1-2 days enjoying Reykjavik would be easy to pull off.

Are you interested in seeing lava flow up close? If you're staying in Reykjavik, then Fagradalsfjall Volcano is a short bus ride away. The trick is to time the visit to coincide with lava flow (or at least that was the case when I was there), which means following the tracking websites closely within a 24hr period and booking your tour within that window to coincide with the flow. However, I haven't checked the situation now ... might be flowing daily, might be dormant again. If it's active, though, that tops all the other wonderful things to suggest.

You can do a lot / all of these things on your own by car – can and should, you can drive around the island in any direction from Reykjavik and find great things – but having a group/guide for the volcanoes was a must for us. We saw multiple paramedic teams either dragging people out or trying to locate people while we were hiking there; we spent the rest of the trip wondering if we should try to sneak in a solo trip back to the volcano since I recorded our route but decided that it felt kind of suicidal. I was happy we went to Sólheimajökull with a guide/group, otherwise I don't think I would've known how personally Icelanders take their receding glaciers.

Aside from implicating yourself in the needless slaughter of one of the world's most beautiful creatures, eating whale meat poses a risk to health and should be avoided:

https://www.hsi.org/news-resources/human_health_concerns_of_whale_meat/

The good news is that the Icelandic government have suspended the annual whale hunt, and the likelihood is that it will never resume:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/21/iceland-suspends-annual-whale-hunt-in-move-that-likely-spells-end-to-controversial-practice

I went in February for a week. I can't drive and my wife didn't want to, so I booked a few small-group tours to see stuff - snaefellness, golden circle & a 2-day tour out along the south coast (this was the best, went with Hidden Iceland). On a longer or return trip yes I'd want autonomy and time to explore actual wild out-of-the-way Iceland but the tours were functional - a minibus with 10-15 people, charming & knowledgeable guides, wild alien landscapes everywhere. So if you are thinking you can't be arsed with a car, it can work.

Everything upthread sounds right to me. Penis museum fine. Lagoons great.

& this might sound obvious, but imo worth reading a bit before you go - I've always found it fascinating - the sagas, the eddas, the strangeness of the whole medieval settling, the 19th century fascination with the country, the Auden/MacNeice journey. The country feels unusually directly connected to its history & having a layer or two of imaginary Iceland on top of wonders-of-nature is a trip.

all the more reason to taste the whale *taps forehead*

also if ur up for some real dumb shit with a surprising amount of information the saga museum is a real hoot

https://www.sagamuseum.is/

I slightly offended one guide while trying to explain how weird it was that I seemed to have stepped inside Death Stranding. She didn't really know about computer games and thought people should spend more time in nature, not on computers. Fair.

We were only there for a few days (for a wedding) but we were super glad to have a car. And I've avoided driving on every other international trip, but driving in Iceland was mostly fine (except when we ended up on this weird road that turned into rubble and boulders, and I turned back even though my wife was encouraging me to press onwards).

Our bus did almost go over on one stretch of backroad. The driver asked everyone on the right hand side to get off as we, the left-hand side, leaned further left. He managed to get moving again & we passed a rolled-over tour bus and a stuck-off-road car shortly thereafter. But my understanding is that the big ring road is super-fine & straightforward (again, not a driver)

Redoubling my “nay” on whale eating, urging you toward those beautiful delicious ponies instead

yeah ok, you probably don't need a car if it's only for 2-3 days. Driving in Iceland is easy and fun though, and I normally hate driving.

The Golden Circle is great. Amazing waterfalls worth making a trip to: Seljalandsfoss, Skogafoss. Also Vik, with the black sand beaches and goth af basalt columns.

Blue Lagoon fine, but I prob wouldn't go there a second time.

I second bringing in some of your own food to cut down on costs (iirc you can bring in up to 3kg? and hardly any restrictions). but do try at least one decent restaurant serving langoustine soup. Did not get a chance to try Saegreifinn, but we did have an incredible meal at Fjöruborðið, along the coast on our way down south.

FWIW I’d minimize the time in Reykjavik and spend the time along the south coast. Reykjavik is interesting but the unique landscapes and adventure options are what make Iceland special.

Oh and take good rain gear, waterproof shoes, etc.

We booked a car, because three days of a car cost less than one tour ticket. I figure one day will be the Golden Circle, one day will be the south-ish coast, one day (first day?) Blue Lagoon and then later Reykjavik. Maybe we can fit more in, but honestly, it's a quick trip, and some things can wait for a second or longer visit. Thanks for all the tips!

I think I read recently that Iceland was wrapping up the whaling, no?

That is correct

I'm in Iceland ... in less than a week! Leave Sunday night. Thanks for all the tips, I think the (brief) trip will be fun. Yeah, there's likely gonna be wind and rain, but I live in Chicago, we'll be OK, lol.

jelly af. have fun, Josh!

I slightly offended one guide while trying to explain how weird it was that I seemed to have stepped inside Death Stranding. She didn't really know about computer games and thought people should spend more time in nature, not on computers. Fair.

Lol. Hatfilms recently made a trip and vlog to Iceland, and commented on how some of it looked just like DS too. They visited the Beluga Whale's, which look incredible up close.

Jealous!!!!!!!! Many pics please. Kiss a puffin.

Chastely though. On the cheek.

I'll post more when I get home, but it's been great. And pretty sure we and Kacey Musgraves have been around the same place at the same time at least once, if her Instagram is any indication.

And I'm back! What a neat place. We were able to see many of the major sights in just the three or so days we were there, but it's always a good sign when you return home with a list of all the stuff you missed and want to see when you return. I think the secret is to just skip a lot of the stuff promoted to tourists as can't-miss, whether it's The Big Lebowski Bar (we didn't go, because who gives a shit) or the Phallological Museum (which we did see, but which I thought a waste of time), or even the Blue Lagoon, which is really well run but ultimately just a tourist trap, given there are natural hot spring baths all over the place, from the neighborhood corner spa to the Secret Lagoon, which we preferred. Of course, it didn't help that the day we hit the Blue Lagoon, on the way to the airport, the weather was terrible. I don't know how to link it, but the Kacey Musgraves Instagram story (she must have been, once again, an hour or so behind us) pretty much captures the discomfort of sitting in a warm bath while 40 mph wind whips rain and sleet at your head.

The food was great everywhere, from the famed hot dogs to the lobster soup and fish skewers to a couple of finer dining spots we hit, one a casual place with Michelin cred that was in a food hall across from our hotel, where I met a quirky American who was on his 20th visit to Iceland. The weather was mostly OK, generally in the '40s or low '50s, drizzly but not too rainy, only really windy on occasion. Hit many highlights of Reykjavík (which is pretty small), drove the Golden Circle, did all the sights along the south coast between Reykjavík and Vik. Driving was easy except for one stretch when the rain and fog reduced visibility to, like, nothing.

Here's a picture we took of a people at a glacier getting some wedding pictures taken:

https://i.imgur.com/fID5roW.jpg

It was not particularly warm.

Here's the Kacey post, which is exactly what it was like:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cyl3ggXJQEg/

Live feed from the volcano eruption.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvcP4kVVOnk

wow

3.5 km long fissure

https://www.ruv.is/english/2023-12-18-eruption-on-reykjanes-peninsula-399922

Video from helicopter above fissure just broadcast in live news programme #Iceland #volcano pic.twitter.com/3SrH2mN3JK

— Duncan (@shaksper) December 18, 2023

it's near the svartsengi power station (blue lake) & also slowing down

https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night

Could have been a lot worse, looks like it may be fading out

https://www.ruv.is/english/2023-12-18-eruption-on-reykjanes-peninsula-399922