Turncarver
A Photo Journal

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July 2010: Iceland



We decided to go to Iceland for 5 days at the end of July because Air Iceland had non-stop flights between Seattle and Reykjavik (7 hours).

Some general information about Iceland:

  • The weather in July was comparable to Seattle in March, except for long daylight hours. Temperatures were generally in the 40's (fahrenheit) when it was raining, and in the 50's and 60's when sunny. There were a lot of cloudy days.
  • It takes a while to get around. A paved highway runs around the outside of the island. Its a slow road; it would take several days to drive around the island. Most of the roads in the center of island are seasonal and unpaved. A 4-wheel drive with a good suspension is recommended for all except the well-travelled roads.
  • The area around Reykjavik is interesting, but we wanted to see more of the island. With only a short time on the island, we decided to fly to other locations (see comments below) because we did not have time to drive.
  • English (American) is spoken most places.
  • There is good seafood in Reykjavik.

The highlights of our trip follow. The gallery contains photos of each area.

Reykjavik
  • Reykjavik: A small city (a few hundred-thousand people). The downtown is concentrated around Laugavegur street. By staying in an apartment in this area we were able to walk to many interesting places including good restaurants and the waterfront. Reykjavik has a decent network of bicycle paths, and there are several places to rent bikes. It would be a nice place to spend a day on bicycle (we did not have time to bike around the city). There are several nice mountain hikes within an easy drive from the city.
Gullfoss
  • The Golden Circle: This is major tourist trip from Reykjavik, and is worth a day. We rented a car and drove the loop in "reverse." We drove down through Selfoss then up to Geysir (geysers) and Gullfoss waterfall. After leaving Gullfoss we drove overland through Laugarvatn to Thingvellir.
  • Westfjords: We flew to Isafjordur for a day (it was too far to drive in the time available). We had a beautiful sunny day - the locals claim that the Westfjords area is the sunniest place in Iceland. We kayaked on the fjord and had one of the best seafood meals on the trip at a small restaurant in Iceland Heritage center.
  • Reykjanes: This volcanic area is near Reykjavik and the airport. We took an ATV tour (recommended - a lot of fun) then visited the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon is popular tourist spot - we didn't find it interesting enough to go in, but we're not into spas.
Jokulsarlon
  • Jokulsarlon: Jokulsarlon is a small bay at the foot of an outlet glacier for Vatnajokull (the largest ice cap in Europe). There are many icebergs in the bay, which makes for some interesting photos. We flow to Hofn (again, at 6 hours each way, too far to drive in the time available). In addition to visiting Jokulsarlon, we took an ATV tour to the terminus of Hoffellsjokull (another outlet for Vatnajokull).
  • Puffin watching: On our last day we took a 2-hour boat tour to view puffins on the islands near Reykjavik. The boat trip was pleasant, but don't expect to see puffins up close - they're small, shy and fast.


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