Iceland

Woollyzone said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive as
perceived? What are camping options like (on campsites, rather than wild),
or other inexpensive forms of accommodation (I believe it is possible to
stay at farms in some places). Also, places not-to-be-missed, public
transport options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget), best walking
areas etc. Any guidance would be gratefully received! (and any photo links
too). Thanks.

Pics here = http://prog99.com/Iceland%202004/

We stayed in youth hostels for most of the time and hired a car to get
around.

Used public transport to get to the interior (laki etc)

Yes its expensive but the supermarkets are ok and you can stock up on
beer on your way out of the airport.

I have a better write up somewhere else which I'll post if I can find it.

--
Mike
Some pictures & bad html here http://www.prog99.com

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been.

I haven't been to Iceland since I was a student. And now that they've
got Kerry Catona advertising their shops, I would seriously hesitate to
go in one again.

:-)

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Woollyzone said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive
as perceived? What are camping options like (on campsites, rather than
wild), or other inexpensive forms of accommodation (I believe it is
possible to stay at farms in some places). Also, places not-to-be-missed,
public transport options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget), best
walking areas etc. Any guidance would be gratefully received! (and any
photo links too). Thanks.

Pics here = http://prog99.com/Iceland%202004/

We stayed in youth hostels for most of the time and hired a car to get
around.

Used public transport to get to the interior (laki etc)

Yes its expensive but the supermarkets are ok and you can stock up on beer
on your way out of the airport.

I have a better write up somewhere else which I'll post if I can find it.

I'd be most interested in reading that, thanks Mike. Great pictures by the
way, it looks my kind of place alright. I'm kind of resigned to it being
something of a 'dry' trip, but that doesn't matter too much, I can drink as
much as I like back home, so its always good to do different on holiday!

"David Skinner" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been.

I haven't been to Iceland since I was a student. And now that they've
got Kerry Catona advertising their shops, I would seriously hesitate to
go in one again.

:-)

I thought about covering that particular angle in my original post, but
thought I'd let it run, just to see how long it took someone to take the
bait... and after 28 minutes, you're the winner David! ;-)

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says...

Quoted message said:

I thought about covering that particular angle in my original post, but
thought I'd let it run, just to see how long it took someone to take the
bait... and after 28 minutes, you're the winner David! ;-)

Sorry. Couldn't resist.

Woollyzone said:

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Woollyzone said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive
as perceived? What are camping options like (on campsites, rather than
wild), or other inexpensive forms of accommodation (I believe it is
possible to stay at farms in some places). Also, places not-to-be-missed,
public transport options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget), best
walking areas etc. Any guidance would be gratefully received! (and any
photo links too). Thanks.

Pics here = http://prog99.com/Iceland%202004/

We stayed in youth hostels for most of the time and hired a car to get
around.

Used public transport to get to the interior (laki etc)

Yes its expensive but the supermarkets are ok and you can stock up on beer
on your way out of the airport.

I have a better write up somewhere else which I'll post if I can find it.

I'd be most interested in reading that, thanks Mike. Great pictures by the
way, it looks my kind of place alright. I'm kind of resigned to it being
something of a 'dry' trip, but that doesn't matter too much, I can drink as
much as I like back home, so its always good to do different on holiday!

I found it.

See the post from Fiona here -
http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?t=162409

--
Mike
Some pictures & bad html here http://www.prog99.com

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive as
perceived?

Yes, 'fraid so. I've not been there myself; however my mother has and
reports that things are ludicrously dear.
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

"Woollyzone" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive
as perceived? What are camping options like (on campsites, rather than
wild), or other inexpensive forms of accommodation (I believe it is
possible to stay at farms in some places). Also, places not-to-be-missed,
public transport options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget), best
walking areas etc. Any guidance would be gratefully received! (and any
photo links too). Thanks.

I've been to Iceland five times--but all for horse trekking, not walking.
I've often thought as I tolted along how damned glad I was to be on
horseback instead of on foot. It's a big place, unforgiving, plenty of bad
weather, and the maps are printed on toilet paper.

That said, of course, it's a wonderful destination. Buses run regularly
around the perimeter highway, though you need to put sneer quotes around
'highway' in some places.

There's nowhere that I've seen that isn't worth seeing, but the places and
moments I remember best aren't big tourist honeypots--waterfalls, glaciers,
lakes, gorges, fumaroles, and so on--but just serendipitous distant views
across a plateau or glances down a fjord or at up at a nameless cliff
spouting snow melt a few hundred feet down or experiencing a somewhat eerie
silence in a tectonic rift.

The guesthouses and summer hotels I've stayed in all served beer and wine,
and the Egils Pils or Gull are good. You will find in some places that the
rinse water for the glassware imparts a somewhat sulphurous aftertaste to
the beer, part of the charm of Iceland in my opinion.

In article <[email hidden]>, Woollyzone
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive as
perceived? What are camping options like (on campsites, rather than wild),
or other inexpensive forms of accommodation (I believe it is possible to
stay at farms in some places). Also, places not-to-be-missed, public
transport options (bearing in mind I'm on a tight budget), best walking
areas etc. Any guidance would be gratefully received! (and any photo links
too). Thanks.

I was there last May.

Yes, it is expensive, though you can reduce costs by choosing your
accommodation carefully - a lot of schools operate as hostels in the
summer - and shopping equally carefully.

We (my wife and I) stayed at a modest hotel with its own restaurant, in
a small fishing port outside Reykjavik. A double room B&B was
c.£65/night for the two of us - probably 50% more than in Scotland for
the same quality. The restaurant served excellent local food and we paid
around £30-40 for a three course meal of perfectly cooked local food for
which I would have expected to pay £20-25 here.

Alcohol is the real killer, though. Locally brewed, and rather weak,
lager was the equivalent of c.£4/pint while a bottle of rather ordinary
Chilean red was £30. Not surprisingly, bearing in mind I live on Islay,
I took my own whisky, which, for some reason, seemed to please my
Icelandic friends quite a lot :-)

Car hire was OK, again about 50% more than here for an ordinary saloon,
but, in theory at least, you are not supposed to take them off
designated roads where 4x4s (much more expensive to hire) are
obligatory.

Those prices may not be typical, but were what we experienced.

Against that, it is a magical country, full of friendly people,
awe-inspiring scenery and indifferent weather!

--
Malcolm

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 11:45:03 -0000, "Woollyzone" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive as
perceived?

Yes, I've been twice - both in the winter, on organised trips, so
can't offer any accommodation recommendations, nor really any 'must
sees' as I'm sure they're different in summer from the winter.

But though it is expensive, it is not *that* expensive, so long as you
avoid eating out, avoid alcohol, and avoid deciding what you want to
buy before you've seen the prices! Some things are relatively cheap -
fish, obviously, but I also remember being surprised at how cheap
bananas were, apparently because they're widely grown in greenhouses,
heated using free electricity courtesy of the thermal power plants.

S.

--
Oppose ID cards and the database state
http://www.no2id.com/

Simon Caldwell said:

On Sun, 15 Jan 2006 11:45:03 -0000, "Woollyzone" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland? Thinking of going later in the year and
seeking guidance from those who've been. Is it as prohibitively expensive as
perceived?

Yes, I've been twice - both in the winter, on organised trips, so
can't offer any accommodation recommendations, nor really any 'must
sees' as I'm sure they're different in summer from the winter.

But though it is expensive, it is not *that* expensive, so long as you
avoid eating out, avoid alcohol, and avoid deciding what you want to
buy before you've seen the prices! Some things are relatively cheap -
fish, obviously, but I also remember being surprised at how cheap
bananas were, apparently because they're widely grown in greenhouses,
heated using free electricity courtesy of the thermal power plants.

Ah, one more who has fallen for that line.
There are a couple of banana trees in a greenhouse in Hveragerði and
they are grown there just to show that it can be done but all the
bananas that are consumed in Iceland are imported.
I thought people from the UK would not be quite so gullible.

Quoted message said:

http://www.no2id.com/

"Mike" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Thanks all who contributed, some good info there. Its no exaggeration to say
that it would cost more to hire a car there than my current car cost! Still,
at least petrol seems to be about the same as here, which was a surprise.
Going to have to start saving hard though.

Quoted message said:

Ah, one more who has fallen for that line.
There are a couple of banana trees in a greenhouse in Hveragerði and
they are grown there just to show that it can be done but all the
bananas that are consumed in Iceland are imported.
I thought people from the UK would not be quite so gullible.

Well it was an Icelander who told me - the warden of the hostel we
were staying in - so obviously it's not just the Brits who like to
wind up foreign tourists!

I suppose the next thing you'll be telling me is that you don't eat
puffins!

S.
--
Oppose ID cards and the database state
http://www.no2id.com/

Simon Caldwell said:

Well it was an Icelander who told me - the warden of the hostel we
were staying in - so obviously it's not just the Brits who like to
wind up foreign tourists!

I suppose the next thing you'll be telling me is that you don't eat
puffins!

That bits definitely true! Saw them for sale at the market (along with
buried, decomposing shark).

My culinary adventure there went as far as Guillemot & Reindeer.

--
Mike
Some pictures & bad html here http://www.prog99.com

Mike said:

Simon Caldwell said:

Well it was an Icelander who told me - the warden of the hostel we
were staying in - so obviously it's not just the Brits who like to
wind up foreign tourists!

I suppose the next thing you'll be telling me is that you don't eat
puffins!

Tasted it once and I am not doing that again.

Quoted message said:

That bits definitely true! Saw them for sale at the market (along with
buried, decomposing shark).

And the shark is something that some people taste once a year but most
people never try.
Most of the shark consumption is by the tourists.

Quoted message said:

My culinary adventure there went as far as Guillemot & Reindeer.

--
Mike
Some pictures & bad html here http://www.prog99.com

Woollyzone said:

Has anyone here been to Iceland?

I spent two weeks trekking through the interior a few years ago.
Wonderful. There is not a great deal of difference between
campsite and wildcamping. The toilet 'block' is often the only thing
that marks a campsite. I would advise taking advantage of the
excellent network of mountain and wilderness huts if only because
the weather is *so* unpredictable. You'll be glad of the refuge if it
turns nasty.

Chris

Quoted message said:

And the shark is something that some people taste once a year but most
people never try.
Most of the shark consumption is by the tourists.

I got that impression at the market that it was on sale for show more
than anything else.

The dried cod was nice though.

--
Mike
Some pictures & bad html here http://www.prog99.com

Mike said:

Quoted message said:

And the shark is something that some people taste once a year but most
people never try.
Most of the shark consumption is by the tourists.

I got that impression at the market that it was on sale for show more
than anything else.

The dried cod was nice though.

Yes, and it is very healthy and as it is totally dried is has all the
nutrients and protein of the fish in a very compact package. The
perfect snack.