After the limited opportunities for travel over the last few years it felt strange planning a get away to Iceland. A definite plus was that I was going away with my long suffering wife who was more used to dropping me to the airport to go galivanting around the world than actually getting on a plane with me! Iceland had long been on both our wish lists and it made perfect sense to get over there in October as the odds of seeing the elusive “Northern Lights” were better than most other times of year.
It felt a relief to get away and see somewhere new – I’d briefly stopped at Keflavik over twenty years ago but Iceland was still unexplored territory for me. The trip was reasonably brief and we were cramming a awful lot into a five days: I’d always wanted to see the, geologically speaking, youthful landscape of Iceland. I also hoped to see the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, and ideally manage to film or photograph them. The rest of the trip would consist of getting some down time, away from the rigours of our jobs, and experience the culture and hospitality of a people I knew very little about.
If your idea of a great time is being bussed from one stunningly beautiful Icelandic scene to another then you should definitely go with Rekjavik Excursions. They are extremely well organised and the staff, like Eric (Originally from Barcelona) and Verena (a miniature Icelandic warrior princess), are brilliant at engaging the groups they guide. If, like me, you prefer a more bespoke approach then do your research and hire a car. Hopefully my ramblings below might give a basic insight to what the South West, around the Rekyavik Capital Area, has to offer.
The Golden Circle
The Golden Circle is a chance to see a number of amazing sights not least of which is the breathtaking waterfall Gullfoss, or “golden waterfall” in Icelandic, which the route takes it name from. The waterfall itself has multiple viewing platforms (be careful the rocks do get slippery in bad weather) but my recommendation, particularly if you are trying to get that epic photo, is to view from the far right back up the gorge towards the waterfall itself.
You also get to visit Þingvellir National Park, where you can see the fault lines caused by the Mid Atlantic Ridge spreading zone and set foot on both the Eurasian plate and the North American plate within a few metres, and the active geothermal area at Haukadalur. The main attraction at Haukdalur is the geyser Strokkur which erupts every 5-7 minutes to varying heights and the inevitable oohs and aahs of the gathered crowds
Tomatoes
For some reason Fridheimar tomato farm is a tourist attraction in Iceland. Sure, its kind of cool that they can heat greenhouses using geothermal energy, that they produce most of the tomatoes sold in Iceland and that they import bees from The Netherlands to pollinate those tomatoes. But a tomato farm as a routine tourist bus stop, really? You should definitely go there: the Bloody Mary they serve there is comfortably the best I’ve ever had.
You should definitely go there: the Bloody Mary they serve there is comfortably the best I’ve ever had
Mark Dean
The Icelandic Sagas
It is definitely worth reading the collected Icelandic Sagas although they do get pretty dark and weird quite quickly. If you are in Reykjavik it is also worth going to the Saga Museum and following the audio guide through the exhibits.
As tragic as Shakespeare, as colourful as The Canterbury Tales, as enduring as Beowulf, as epic as The Iliad and eminently more readable than The Holy Bible
Ben Myers, The Guardian
Eating Out
If you go to Iceland for Odin’s sake do not try the fucking terrible all you can eat “American Style” buffets put on by so many of the hotels. In fact, avoid eating in the hotels altogether. Reykjavik has a number of incredible restaurants and you should definitely go to these rather than places designed to sell mass produced shit food to large groups of Chets and Dwights from Assbucket, Virginia. Top of my list would be to try the Rekjavik Kitchen or any of the places (Krost, Sakl etc) in the Hlemmur Food Hall where the food is both very contemporary but decidedly Icelandic.
Whale Watching
Firstly it is brilliant that Iceland has finally woken up to the fact that people will pay a shit load more money for the chance to see whales than to fucking eat them: So well done indeed. We went out on a whale watching tour with a company called Elding who run numerous boats out of Reykjavik and whose guides are experienced Marine Biologists who actually know what they are talking about. You can book in advance or just chance your arm and walk up and book at the quayside.
Before you get on a ship to go looking for large aquatic mammals here are some tips:
- Whale watching requires you to get on a boat so take the sea sickness tablets you are offered and don’t be a macho dick.
- Wear thermals and take a fleece, windproof, hat and gloves as a minimum: it gets bloody cold.
- Put the camera strap around your neck because if you drop the camera over the side you will lose your shit, nobody can help you but they will laugh at you.
- You will struggle to get any decent photos so stick your camera on the “moving objects” setting and hope for the best.
- Given most of your photos will be shite remember to put the camera down and watch the animals as well. Mankind is hell bent on killing most of them so get a good look so you can tell your grandkids what these now mythical beasts actually looked like.
- Learn to speak whale by watching Finding Nemo before you go.
- You probably wont see any whales but you will probably will see dolphins or porpoise. This is still cool. Whining is not attractive.
- If whales, dolphins or other marine mammals appear don’t push to the front and walk in front of everyone else. This makes you a dick
The Aurora Borealis
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) is a shoe in for almost everyone’s bucket list. They are also, seemingly, rarer than rocking horse shit. The most likely thing you will see when out at night looking for your elusive glimpse of this incredible natural phenomena is groups, numbering in the hundreds, of tourists standing around in car parks with no concept of personal space, an IQ so low they either cannot operate their camera/phone or they think that the flash will somehow help and manners so lacking that they assume that their need to use an electrical device whilst walking in front of everyone else with what appears to be a search light strapped to their empty cranium is perfectly ok. My advice? Wait until all the coach loads of fuckwits and arseholes are safely back in bed and head out around midnight in your own vehicle after checking the Icelandic equivalent of the Met Office here to find the best areas to try from. Good luck.
The Dream Photo
The Reality Photo
Helped immensely by the bellends bottom left.
When you go somewhere as breathtakingly beautiful as Iceland it is perfectly normal to want to capture that on film (maybe not to the extent of the Instagram “influencers” but hey each to their own) so what I will say is that, unless you are a pro photographer, it is incredibly difficult to get truly great photos when a) the weather is crap or b) their is no solar activity. When these things happen, which is unfortunately more than likely given the climate in Iceland, then step out from behind the camera and enjoy just being in an almost unspoilt tundra and arctic wilderness. Unless you work for National Geographic its why you are there in the first place and your friends and family can either go themselves or use their bloody imagination.
Apparently the Northern Lights were amazing the night after we left and were visible in The Netherlands a few days later. Bastards.
Deano's World 