| Author |
Message |
    
Kevin LaPierre
Citizen
Username: Lapnlu
Post Number: 32
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 11:26 am: |     |
Anyone ever been? My wife is looking to plan a long weekend trip there with a friend at the end of August. Anyone have good hotel & restaurant reccomendations? What about things to do?
(As a sidenote, is it true that the population of Iceland is only 100K?) |
Earlster
Supporter
Username: Earlster
Post Number: 1201
Registered: 8-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 12:50 pm: | |
I went there for business once for a week, took my wife and we added a long weekend.
It's a great place, not all that far away (5 hour flight I think). It is just so different from anything I have ever seen.
We stayed in Rejkjavik, forgot the name of the hotel and I wouldn't recommend it to much either.
There is a small downtown with shopping, restaurants and bars. However we also found some more local places in residential areas.
These are the ones that I remember as being worth while:
The perl, a rotating restuarant on top of pearl shaped building. Excellent food! http://www.perlan.is/index-english.php
The lobster house. Quaint with great seafood.
http://www.humarhusid.is/
For the long weekend we drove north to a place called Stykkisholmur, where we stayed one night, The next day we did some hiking up a mountain and took a 3 hour boat tour. They even did some clam fishing at the end of the tour. I don't like clam at all, these were great, fresh from the clean ocean ground.
On the drive back we went to see Žingvellir national park, the great Geysir area and Gullfoss waterfall. All very cool things to see.
They also have many guided bus trips from Reykjavik that might be a nice alternative to self driving. Driving in iceland means gravel roads as soon as you are about 20 miles outside of Reykjavik, which means it is bumpy and not very fast. We also had a flat tire on the way, so make sure you know how to change it if you need to.
And the one thing that everybody going to iceland needs to do: Visit hot springs!! On the road from the airport to Reykjavik there are springs called the Blue Lagoon. An absolute must.
And remember, in August it's daylight nearly round the clock. She should stack up on sleep before.
|
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 758
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 2:07 pm: | |
We went there back in the 70s. We took our two little boys and stayed at the Hotel Loftleidir in Rekyavik. It was part of a package, flying to Europe on Icelandic Airlines, which was the cheapest way to go then. We rented a Landrover, and drove off into the countryside on bumpy roads full of craters. We saw Geysir and Gullfoss, and
Thingvellir (I don't know how to get that Norse letter), and some place with hundreds of thermally heated greenhouses where they grow vegetables. When we went, Iceland didn't have TV. Their wnter entertainment consisted of chess and knitting these huge hairy sweaters from the wool of their local sheep. We each got a sweater, and the kids got to see a lot of sheep and ponies. It's an interesting place, an extremely egalitarian society. We met someone--a mailman, I think--who told us that the Prime Minister didn't make any more money than he did. |
aquaman
Supporter
Username: Aquaman
Post Number: 340
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 2:21 pm: | |
"Žingvellir national park"
Do you mean Fingvellir national park? |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 761
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 3:38 pm: | |
How do you do that? |
AlleyGater
Citizen
Username: Alleygater
Post Number: 660
Registered: 10-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 4:00 pm: | |
I only recently found out how myself.
I knew about the page, but am only now starting to tap into it's power. It's all right here. |
Lizziecat
Citizen
Username: Lizziecat
Post Number: 762
Registered: 5-2003
| | Posted on Friday, July 22, 2005 - 8:33 pm: | |
Wow. Thanks, I think. I'll have to spend a lot of time looking at it when my granddaughters aren't here. |
|
Closed: New threads not accepted on this page