that was our planned honeymoon for last year
Anyone been to Iceland?
- Thread starter PrivatePilot
- Start date
btw get ready for a surprise. We booked our car online, when we picked it up at the airport they put a $2,500 euro hold on it, i don't recall seeing that in the small print.
They also offer gravel and sand protection, i would say get it. We hit a storm on our first night checking out some sights out of nowhere, could easily have banged us up.
What crime lol. I think they had 4 murders in the year we were there, total!
According to them it’s quite good.....
5 Reasons why Iceland is super safe to visit
Find out why you can relax on your trip.
0-1.5 murders/year.....safer than Mississauga as a country!
I have never heard anything bad about that country....except how expensive it is. I’d love to go one day.
2016-2017? Apparently that was an a weird year for them.
Not the Amazon yet but I’ve been to lots in Central America
I spent quite a while on the east coast of Scotland and I imagine it’s similar in climate. You learn a new appreciation for the colour grey though.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
I have been several times, quite interesting. I was working for the most part when I was there. I was fortunate to have time to travel and lots of locals willing to adventure with me.
I found a lot of similarities to travelling Newfoundland. Most of the population lives within 30km of each other in the Reykjavik area. The rest are dotted in rugged costal villages, virtually nobody in the interior. Rugged and scenic beauty is everywhere.
Roads are good and safe however the interior F roads lead to a lot of interesting places require a 4x4 camper or motorcycle. You can’t drive 4x2 rentals on F roads. Budget $400/week for rental insurance, it’s worth it - 20 years ago a tire cost me $1000 to replace
In the summer it never gets completely dark, is bright 20 hours a day. It’s cool and always windy, temp stay in the 50s F but be prepared for drops into the 30s in the low teens. A blistering hot day is 70 and rarely happens. Cold rain is frequent but rain events are short.
Wind and water repellent hooded jacket is a must. Underfoot can be rugged, slippery and muddy. Good boots are a must.
Everything is really expensive. Gasoline is $2.50-$3l, a 1lb propane cylinder is $30. A basic 4x4 camper will cost $3-4k/week with insurance. Breakfast for 2, $30. Dinner $100. Expect groceries to be double what you store used to. A 1l bottle of booze is $75, 500ml 6 pack $40, a 750ml bottle of table wine $25.
I found a lot of similarities to travelling Newfoundland. Most of the population lives within 30km of each other in the Reykjavik area. The rest are dotted in rugged costal villages, virtually nobody in the interior. Rugged and scenic beauty is everywhere.
Roads are good and safe however the interior F roads lead to a lot of interesting places require a 4x4 camper or motorcycle. You can’t drive 4x2 rentals on F roads. Budget $400/week for rental insurance, it’s worth it - 20 years ago a tire cost me $1000 to replace
In the summer it never gets completely dark, is bright 20 hours a day. It’s cool and always windy, temp stay in the 50s F but be prepared for drops into the 30s in the low teens. A blistering hot day is 70 and rarely happens. Cold rain is frequent but rain events are short.
Wind and water repellent hooded jacket is a must. Underfoot can be rugged, slippery and muddy. Good boots are a must.
Everything is really expensive. Gasoline is $2.50-$3l, a 1lb propane cylinder is $30. A basic 4x4 camper will cost $3-4k/week with insurance. Breakfast for 2, $30. Dinner $100. Expect groceries to be double what you store used to. A 1l bottle of booze is $75, 500ml 6 pack $40, a 750ml bottle of table wine $25.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Not quite as bleak as Scotland in the summer. I remember mostly sunny skies with short rainstorms.
dinner for 2 $100?! Maybe at the hotdog stand
bigpoppa
Well-known member
dinner for 2 $100?! Maybe at the hotdog stand
thats how real blue collar macho men do it
I stayed in the Amazon jungle for 10 days in 2009. Landed in Manaus and immediately headed for the jungle. It was amazing and we did so much in such a short period of time. Start a different thread and I’ll post up what I know.
bigpoppa
Well-known member
hopefully you have some pics as well ?
We were into the Amazon rainforest twice, once in through the bottom end of Venezuela and then on a side trip in Peru after a week in the high desert. (Lima is in the desert) ,
@private pilot , we rented a euro benz (class C?) van conversion motorhome, many of the 'regional' roads just don't favor a larger unit, parking is a real dickins in a lot of places and a box of wet wipes ( cheapest shower ever) is your friend. I'm not sure driving a bigger unit would be as much fun.
I still find in funny that Iceland is not ice, and Greenland is not green. We Kayaked around Greenland (around the bottom tip not the whole Island), there is a reason so many explorers died there....
i concur, i think the areas/roads that we saw if they were touristy would not be ideal for a bigger camping unit. The guesthouse experience was great, the locals told us some great stories, played guitar for us all night or simply left us to ourselves.
There's a fable that when the Vikings came to Iceland to conquer and make settlements the locals told them there was nothing to see on the small island, that it was just covered it snow and ice 'Iceland'. If they wanted a nice place to settle down they should keep going west to the much larger island with lots of usable land 'Greenland'. lol
I think blonde and blue eyes is fairly common in all the Scandinavian countries.
