20 things to know BEFORE you visit Iceland
#1 There are no ice cubes in Iceland- they like their
fountain drinks cool, but not with ice cubes
#2 There are suicidal sheep just waiting to run out
into the road. You will have to hit your brakes hard to avoid them. Sheep are usually found in groups of three, a
ewe and her two lambs. So if you only
see two sheep, look for the third. We
were told if you run one over, in an un-fenced area, you will have to pay for the
sheep, the road goes through the farmer’s land- you are a guest- slow down.
#3 There are tons of one lane bridges on the main
highway 1 (and every other road). Approach them slowly- especially the ones
that are long- we never figured out who goes first- we always erred on the side
of caution and let the other guy go first, but I will tell you it is not an
alternating system, when one car goes, a few will always follow behind. As an
example of a crazy experience, we drove through a tunnel that was single lane
tunnel- opposing traffic had to pull into side slots carved into the tunnel
when they approached you. One tunnel actually had a fork in the road
where you could turn left and continue down another tunnel road, inside the
mountain. An intersection in a tunnel,
was a new thing for me.
#4 We took 2 weeks to go around the country and do the NW
fjords. (We did not go up to Husivik.) I
recommend planning to driving only 150 miles- 3-3.5 hrs, each day- because there are
so many places to stop each day, hikes to do, beautiful vistas to photograph,
and smaller roads to explore. ALSO, these roads are difficult to drive- you
must pay attention ALL of the time. You do NOT want to spend all day driving and
be too exhausted to enjoy your trip. We rented a Yaris- great gas mileage ($90
a day-yes expensive). We did not get a 4X4
($150+ a day-less fuel efficient) We drove on highway 1, and 2 digit
roads (ie hwy 62) and 3 digit roads (ie hwy 362) with no problem in our Yaris. On
some roads, we had to go very slowly.
Roads are ALL very narrow- even the main highway, with no shoulders- and
huge drop-offs. “F” roads are off limits
to regular cars- these roads are mostly in the highlands- and usually have
water crossings, which can sometimes be crazy! There is a new business in Iceland, it is
getting 4x4’s out of trouble.
#5 Get an up-to-date road map. (we used The National
Geographic, non-tearing, Tyvek, road map).
It will indicate unimproved roads, “F” roads etc. Even highway 1 has
sections that are gravel. It also showed points of interest. I wrote, in permanent marker, directly on the
map all the places we wanted to see, so we wouldn’t drive right by them. We used our map frequently. We got a GPS with the car,but it never got
used.
#6 You can use a debit card to buy gas at the pump, but
NOT a credit card (unless you have a pin for your credit card- call your
credit card company to get a pin about a month before you travel if you want to
use a credit card) You can also buy a pre-paid gas card using your credit card-
I recommend “N1” brand pre-paid- because there are so many locations. I got a
pre-paid card with a value of about $60USD in case my debit card did not
function. I suggest you get gas EVERY
time you tank is half empty- sometimes gas stations are few and far apart- you
do not want to run out!
#7 Food is very expensive, by American
standards. We found that BONUS food
stores (pink pig mascot) were the cheapest, though Kronin was pretty good too.
Most grocery stores don’t open until 10am and close around 6pm We brought some
food with us- tuna, tortillas, peanut butter and jelly, power bars, trail mix,
oatmeal. It is a good idea to bring some
food, in case the grocery is closed or there is no grocery because the town is
too small. We saved even more by staying in hostels (nice ones) and on family
farms where we had shared kitchen facilities- access to a refrigerator- and a
stove or microwave- and plates, cups, pots and pans to cook a meal. Restaurant breakfast
would cost $12, lunch $22 and dinner $30 and up. We only ate 6 meals out
in 2 weeks. (I loved the shared kitchen experience- we met people from all over
the world- and shared the dinner tables
with them- so I didn’t think cooking was such a chore- Plus, some of the
towns had no place to eat- you might go hungry if you don’t buy some food )
#8 Alcohol is expensive- there are country run liquor
stores called Vin Budin- there are 17 Vin Budins in Iceland (very limited hours-see below). I paid $54 for a box-about 3 bottles) of
Lindeman’s Wine- ( I would have paid $17 for this at home. I made sure this lasted for a week- this was
difficult). Beer on tap, in the hostels,
was about $8-10 USD a glass. At the Vin Budin was about $16 USD a six pack. We brought in 2 bottles of duty free vodka-
but were told we could have snuck in more, by getting it at the Iceland Duty
Free when we landed. Who knows??
#9 No one knows how to pronounce any Icelandic words,
except native Icelanders. Everyone
invents pronunciations. If you want to
ask directions to a town in Iceland, bring your map with you so you can point
to, rather than say the name of the town or sight.
#10 You will need a blindfold, in order to sleep- it
never quite gets dark there (summer) and hotel blinds don’t work well. We liked the contoured ones- very effective and comfortable.
#11 The temperature does swing wildly. (it was between 36F
and 60F) Really, clothing layers are
necessary. In one hour… I went from
a t-shirt- added a light jacket, put on a polar fleece and a hat, and then
topped all that with my rain poncho. Also if I went again, I would bring a twin
sized sheet. EVERYWHERE we stayed
overnight, only had comforters to sleep
under- I was hot the whole time- or I slept with no covers. I have no idea why sheets are not provided.
#12 Our favorite overnight stays were in family farms and
hostels. Don’t be afraid of the word
hostel. Do your online research, so you know what you are getting into, some
people do not like the bathroom down the hall, or taking your shoes off at the
front door. We did not like the chain hotels (Foss, Air Iceland) they were
geared toward the tour bus crowd, were expensive and had no charm whatsoever.
#13 You will see many signs along the highway pointing to
farms. We thought it was the family
name of the current resident. But it turns out they are the original name of
the farm, no matter who lives there. The tenant may change but the farm name
will not. When staying overnight on a
farm, it is easy to find, because there will be a sign on the main road. (so
pay attention- gps and google maps may take you past the farm to the nearest
town
#14 Consider getting a guide for the day. (http://www.icelandguide.is) (we used Börkur Hrólfsson) With the money we saved renting a regular
car, we hired a guide for a full day.
Yes it was expensive- about $800 for 12 hours. But he took us into the Highlands
and safely did the high water crossings- because he had a vehicle lifted higher
than the rental 4x4’s. He knew where all the tucked away waterfalls and historical
sites were located. But most of all he knew the history and culture of Iceland.
We got the true native perspective including all the Troll and Little People
stories- it was awesome.
#15 There are a whole lot of mini-van type campers, called
caravans. The campsites we saw, were all
very crowded and the bathroom facilities were just okay. You cannot make a campfire- so cooking is all
done on a camp stove. So make sure you think this through before considering
van camping. I love (tent) camping, but it
didn’t look pleasant to me…plus driving a larger vehicle on these harrowing
roads would have scared me to pieces.
#16 If you are only in Iceland for a week consider going
down the south road and up to Myvatn and then retracing your path, picking out
cool things to do in both directions- trust me there is tons to do... OR drive
up to the NW fjords, take the ferry and drive back but don’t take the ferry,
again tons to see. Both of these trips you will like better than “The Golden
Circle” which has become crowded, really crowded, like mall shopping at
Christmas crowded. Yes, there are some cool things in the Golden Circle, but
not worth contending with all those people.(my opinion)
#17 Watch out for bikers, hikers, walkers and people
walking and pulling camping carts on the non-existent shoulders of the highways
and roads. You will marvel at the guts of bikers that cling to the edge of a
barely improved road with a thousand foot drop-off. They are trusting that you
will be an alert driver- don’t let them down.
#18 Beware of drivers who stop their cars in their
lane to take a picture. Because there
are no shoulders, drivers just STOP to photograph rainbows and waterfalls and
sheep and Icelandic horses and hay bales
that look like giant marshmallows. (okay, we were guilty of this too- but we
didn’t have anyone behind us!)
#19 You will meet people from all over the world. Please
don’t be the loud American. Don’t rant about prices- look where you are and
the spectacular things you are seeing. Plus you knew it would be expensive…
Represent the USA well and change
opinions of US, one new friend at a time.
#20 Read the rest of
my blog (1960travelgirl.blogspot.com)
(look in the archives under my picture for Iceland in 3 parts) to see
where I went, what I did, learn from my mistakes and plan your own successful
trip through Iceland!
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