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Aurora, Storms, and Snowpants: An Icelandic Saga by Something Fishy, whYME, and ChAiM'l
@Yehuda
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Airlines that fly to Iceland direct from NY:
1. Iceland Air
2. Delta
3. Wow Air
4. United (May 23 - Oct 4)

Hotels in the Reykjavik Area:
1. 101 Hotel (supposedly one of the best spas in Iceland)
2. Ion (set on a lava field and one of Iceland's newest luxury hotels)
3. Hotel Ranga
4. Blue Lagoon Clinic Hotel (provides exclusive access to a private lagoon for hotel guests only)
5. Radisson BLU 1919 (Can use Club carlson points and in the middle of town) Will warm and store food for a nominal fee.

Camper/RV Rentals:
There are several places where you can rent a camper truck or motorhome, including here:  http://www.campericeland.is/

Campgrounds:
The campgrounds in Iceland are large and never feel crowded.  Many offer excellent facilities and amenities.  You can drive in at any time of the day or night and pay the nominal fee whenever the office opens.

Kosher Food:
Kosher food is pretty much non existent in Iceland.  Even many American brands do not have a hechsher.  Some foods that have been found with a hechsher are Cheerios Cereal, Nature Valley Granola Bars, and Powerade.  That being said, several DDF members have been able to bring in kosher food/meat without being checked or stopped.  Just walk through the "nothing to declare" line.

Random tip of the day: if you are in the Reykjavik area and need to heat up a meal but don't have easy access to an oven, the Ikea food court has an oven for guest use. Right side, near the sandwich and pastry checkout.

Tons of great seating as well. (HT: SomethingFishy)

Language
Most of the populace speaks English and children are taught English starting in the sixth grade.  It is rare but you might find some older folks that do not speak English.

Communications:
The Iceland Air Saga shop sells starter Síminn branded sim cards for a nominal amount.  If you order in advance, they will even deliver the sim cards to you on your Icelandair flight (one of the cheapest options to get a starter sim card).  You can also find stores in the airport that sell sim cards.  Vodafone is the other major carrier in Iceland and also sells sim cards.  You can purchase the Saga Shop sim starter here:

http://www.sagashop.net/men/detail/?id=57860-0009

GPS - Navigation
Garmin Nordic Maps includes Iceland and can be purchased here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BS4Q3I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

Voltage
Iceland uses 220v.  Most cell phones, cameras and laptops come with a multi switching power supply (verify by looking at power supply) so you will only need to buy a cheap adapter such as this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0058EG0KC?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s01

Currency/Credit Cards
Credit cards are almost universally accepted in Iceland.  As a result, you may find no need to exchange currency for the Icelandic Kroner (ISK).  If you use a credit card that does not charge foreign transaction fees, you should be set.  If you do decide to exchange currency, there are ATM machines in the airport right outside customs.

Activities:
1.  The Golden Circle Tour is very popular and takes you to Geysir (lame compared to Yellowstone), Gulfoss Waterfalls, and Thingvellir (where the continental drift between the North American and Eurasian Plates can be clearly seen in the cracks or faults which traverse the region.  You can dive in a lake and touch both plates). 

2.  Inside the volcano tour to Thrihnukagigur Volcano.  In this tour, you either hike ( a few kilometers) or take a helicopter charter from the Reykjavik airport to the volcano.  Once there, you are lowered by a construction type lift into the magma chamber.  The least expensive way to get a semi private tour of the magma chamber is with the helicopter, which takes you there in between the regularly scheduled tours.

3.  There are various Super Jeep Tours (vans and SUV's with tractor tires), including a tour to Langjokull Glacier, where you drive onto the glacier.  Private tours can be arranged.

4. Jokulsarlon - a large glacial lake in southeast Iceland, on the edge of Vatnajokull National Park.  Here, you can take a duck boat tour or a zodiac boat tour of the lake where you will see icebergs, seals, and various birds.  Across the road from Jokulsarlon is a black sand beach where you can see icebergs on the beach.

5. The Blue Lagoon - the public lagoon gets very crowded and if you go it is recommended to get there when they open.  If you can manage a stay at the Blue Lagoon Clinic Hotel (currently 15 rooms but they are expanding to 30 rooms) you will get exclusive access to the private lagoon for hotel guests only.  Since there are only 15 rooms at present, the private lagoon rarely has more than a handful of people in it at any time. Most people do not make a full day out of the Blue Lagoon and instead go on your arrival into Iceland or upon departure before the airport. All the Bus lines have stops to and from the airport. 3-4 hours is ample time.

6. Waterfalls abound including Skogafoss and Seljalandsfoss.

7. Dog sledding in Skallafell.

8. Icelandic Horses - Horse back riding is extremely popular in Iceland. Most residents actually own a horse. Iceland is the only place in the world where you will find the Icelandic horse. It has 5 Gaits oppose to the 3 that most other horses have. They are gentle animals and very comfortable to ride.
« Last edited by yelped on June 21, 2021, 11:36:59 AM »

Author Topic: Iceland Master Thread  (Read 220551 times)

Online Dawie

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #400 on: July 06, 2016, 10:28:09 AM »
http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-what-the-99-flight-from-la-to-iceland-is-like-2016-7?r=UK&IR=T
"Iceland, I promise you, is much nicer than Cleveland, especially this time of year." don't let the Mods see that

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #401 on: July 20, 2016, 03:39:21 PM »
Some questions. Perhaps you can help answer them by just copying my whole post and maybe putting a space or a dash infront of your answers...

If I want to visit the Westman Islands on my own, what's the recommended way to do so:
1) Any tips on getting the ferry cheaper or is their official site the only place to book?
2) Do you need your car on the island to do the aquarium, hike to the volcano, and south cliff puffin watching or can you walk it all?
3) Any tips for finding the sites (directions, things to enter into a GPS)?
4) How long do I need on the island? (I know aquarium takes 30 minutes.)
« Last Edit: July 20, 2016, 03:54:01 PM by @Yehuda »

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #402 on: July 20, 2016, 03:41:26 PM »
Some questions. Perhaps you can help answer them by just copying my whole post and maybe putting a space or a dash infront of your answers...

If I want to visit the Westman Islands on my own, what's the recommended way to do so:
1) Any tips on getting the ferry cheaper or is their official site the only place to book?
2) Do you need your car on the island to do the aquarium, hike to the volcano, and south cliff puffin watching or can you walk it all?
3) Any tips for finding these places (directions, things to enter into a GPS)?
4) How long do I need on the island? (I know aquarium takes 30 minutes.)

2 - yes you need your car.
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Offline @Yehuda

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #403 on: July 20, 2016, 03:42:14 PM »

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #404 on: July 20, 2016, 03:53:40 PM »
Some questions. Perhaps you can help answer them by just copying my whole post and maybe putting a space or a dash infront of your answers...

If I want to visit the Westman Islands on my own, what's the recommended way to do so:
1) Any tips on getting the ferry cheaper or is their official site the only place to book?
2) Do you need your car on the island to do the aquarium, hike to the volcano, and south cliff puffin watching or can you walk it all?
3) Any tips for finding these places (directions, things to enter into a GPS)?
4) How long do I need on the island? (I know aquarium takes 30 minutes.)

1) You could book on the Westman Islands site or on the official ferry site. Prices are the same on both places, but I've seen scattered reports of issues with not booking direct (lost bookings and the like). I booked direct.

2) Technically you could walk all over, but you're looking at very long and difficult hikes. Bring you car, it's fairly cheap and totally worth it.

3) Put the coordinates into the GPS, that'll be your best bet. Parking lot for the puffin watching area is 63.400753, -20.287034. We had lots of luck seeing them fly from 63.402717, -20.293544 and at their burrows from 63.403432, -20.291123 (note that you need to swap the lat and long if you have a Garmin). Keep in mind that the cliffs are incredibly dangerous and that the edge crumbles. Use common sense and you'll be fine.

4) We were there for 5 hours, around 30 minutes in town (we needed drinks and things like that), around 3 hours shooting puffins (and stoned killer sheep), half an hour doing tech support for a bus-full of Israeli seniors, a while relaxing, and maybe 30 minutes driving.

Being that you most likely will not be spending so much time with the puffins, you should have some time left over for a quick hike or two.

Also keep in mind that you need to be at the dock half an hour before the boat departs (officially). We arrived a few minutes late and it was fine, but I don't know how far you could push it.
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #405 on: July 20, 2016, 03:55:57 PM »
lol You answered the question anyway, so I deleted it from my ETA. haha

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #406 on: July 20, 2016, 03:56:40 PM »
lol You answered the question anyway, so I deleted it from my ETA. haha

Yup, deleted my ETA as well and added a bit more detail :P
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #407 on: July 20, 2016, 04:40:40 PM »
1) You could book on the Westman Islands site or on the official ferry site. Prices are the same on both places, but I've seen scattered reports of issues with not booking direct (lost bookings and the like). I booked direct.

2) Technically you could walk all over, but you're looking at very long and difficult hikes. Bring you car, it's fairly cheap and totally worth it.

3) Put the coordinates into the GPS, that'll be your best bet. Parking lot for the puffin watching area is 63.400753, -20.287034. We had lots of luck seeing them fly from 63.402717, -20.293544 and at their burrows from 63.403432, -20.291123 (note that you need to swap the lat and long if you have a Garmin). Keep in mind that the cliffs are incredibly dangerous and that the edge crumbles. Use common sense and you'll be fine.

4) We were there for 5 hours, around 30 minutes in town (we needed drinks and things like that), around 3 hours shooting puffins (and stoned killer sheep), half an hour doing tech support for a bus-full of Israeli seniors, a while relaxing, and maybe 30 minutes driving.

Being that you most likely will not be spending so much time with the puffins, you should have some time left over for a quick hike or two.

Also keep in mind that you need to be at the dock half an hour before the boat departs (officially). We arrived a few minutes late and it was fine, but I don't know how far you could push it.
I saw both those sites for booking - will go direct. Will bring my car. Thanks for the coordinates - amazing how you find all that stuff out. I imagine we won't spend close to 3 hours by the puffins, so we'll try to find one of the hikes up to the volcano. I'll research online where to find the beginning of the hike. Good to know 30 minutes of driving means the island isn't too large. I'll play it safe and aim for 30 minutes before departure.

2:25PM is the earliest departure we can catch to the island (since I want to do it on my first day), and I'm going to try to push it with a return on the 6:30PM.

Yup, deleted my ETA as well and added a bit more detail :P
Caught that. ;D

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #408 on: July 20, 2016, 04:42:36 PM »
I saw both those sites for booking - will go direct. Will bring my car. Thanks for the coordinates - amazing how you find all that stuff out. I imagine we won't spend close to 3 hours by the puffins, so we'll try to find one of the hikes up to the volcano. I'll research online where to find the beginning of the hike. Good to know 30 minutes of driving means the island isn't too large. I'll play it safe and aim for 30 minutes before departure.

2:25PM is the earliest departure we can catch to the island (since I want to do it on my first day), and I'm going to try to push it with a return on the 6:30PM.
Caught that. ;D

I'd suggest the 9ish return instead. That gives you enough time on the island, and you could still catch sunset on the mainland with plenty of time left over.
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #409 on: July 20, 2016, 04:50:51 PM »
I'd suggest the 9ish return instead. That gives you enough time on the island, and you could still catch sunset on the mainland with plenty of time left over.
Yeah the other return is 9. Isn't sunset around 9:30? I was planning to do Seljalandsfoss on the way from the camper rental to the ferry, but maybe I'll do something else before the ferry and then do the falls for sunset when we get back. Any idea for something else to do between REK and the ferry? Selj was my first stop going east that I researched.

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #410 on: July 20, 2016, 05:09:44 PM »
Yeah the other return is 9. Isn't sunset around 9:30? I was planning to do Seljalandsfoss on the way from the camper rental to the ferry, but maybe I'll do something else before the ferry and then do the falls for sunset when we get back. Any idea for something else to do between REK and the ferry? Selj was my first stop going east that I researched.

Depends on your dates... Sunset for us was 11:30ish.

If you're flying Delta, they've been delayed pretty consistently all summer. We had to hightail it from the Camper pickup to the ferry without stopping even for basic groceries. Rather keep your schedule open IMO. If you have extra time, there's a lovely horse pasture on the way (63.628277, -20.035519) where you could spend some time watching the Icelandic ponies. If you have even more time, Skogafoss and the volcano visitors center are around an hour out of the way, as are most Golden Circle sights.
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #411 on: July 20, 2016, 05:19:54 PM »
Depends on your dates... Sunset for us was 11:30ish.

If you're flying Delta, they've been delayed pretty consistently all summer. We had to hightail it from the Camper pickup to the ferry without stopping even for basic groceries. Rather keep your schedule open IMO. If you have extra time, there's a lovely horse pasture on the way (63.628277, -20.035519) where you could spend some time watching the Icelandic ponies. If you have even more time, Skogafoss and the volcano visitors center are around an hour out of the way, as are most Golden Circle sights.
I won't have that much time for Skogafoss, etc. but the horse pasture seems like a neat idea! Last full week of August shows 11:30 via Google, but 9:30 once I went to an actual sunset website. Where do you recommend to check? Thanks for the delays info. It's incredible how you have coordinates for all these things.

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #412 on: July 20, 2016, 05:26:05 PM »
I won't have that much time for Skogafoss, etc. but the horse pasture seems like a neat idea! Last full week of August shows 11:30 via Google, but 9:30 once I went to an actual sunset website. Where do you recommend to check? Thanks for the delays info. It's incredible how you have coordinates for all these things.

http://app.photoephemeris.com/?ll=63.552635,-20.014097&center=63.6327,-20.0015&dt=20160829204439%2B0000&z=9&spn=0.65,3.70
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #413 on: July 20, 2016, 05:27:39 PM »

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #414 on: July 20, 2016, 05:28:51 PM »
Wow, that site is intense. 11:10PM it is and therefore I'll go for the 9PM ferry. Thanks!

LOL, that's my first stop for any trip or photography planning ;D.

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #415 on: July 21, 2016, 12:16:50 AM »
I hate to troll but: Following

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #416 on: July 21, 2016, 12:19:24 AM »
I hate to troll but: Following
You know there is a "notify me of new posts" button, without the need to post in the thread.
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #417 on: July 21, 2016, 12:26:10 AM »
You know there is a "notify me of new posts" button, without the need to post in the thread.

Following
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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #418 on: July 21, 2016, 12:49:07 AM »
I only paid 15% by switching to dansdeals

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Re: Iceland Master Thread
« Reply #419 on: July 21, 2016, 01:35:59 AM »
Following

פיִשיִ איִז אַ פאָני פ*ָ**ֶר 😂