Iceland

Holidays by Destination Europe Iceland Things to Do and Places to See 

Most visitors will at least pass through Reykjavik, and the capital and its surroundings are interesting enough to merit a visit in their own right. Together with its suburbs it is after all home to two out of every three Icelanders nowadays. (A change from the original figure of 95% country dwellers.)

The Reykjavik Tourist Card
This card can cover 24, 48 or 72 hours and includes free admission to swimming pools, various museums and bus travel. It costs around £10 for 24 hours, and £13 for 48 hours, both adults and children.

Elsewhere the truly fascinating element of Iceland is its landscape - varying however in different parts of the country. Most areas offer glimpses of the past, and most offer some chance of seeing wildlife, though in both cases there are some real highlights to look out for

The broad options are:

The South
Southwestern Iceland, easily reached from Reykyavik, offers dramatic scenery and attractions including the Pingvellier, site of the ancient parliament, the Gullfoss waterfall, the Geysir hot spring area, Mount Hekla and the ancient bishopric at Skalholt. There are also hot springs in Hveraragerdi which among other things are used to heat greenhouses. Access is good and you can reach pretty much everything here within a couple of hours of Reykjavik. However, this is the wettest and windiest part of the country, sometimes suffering from fog.
Just off the south coast are the Westman Islands. The island of Heimaey has a population of about 5,000and gets the largest fish catches in the country. The cliffs here are full of puffins, fulmar and guillemots and local men collect the eggs, attached to a lifeline held by an anchor man at the top.

The West
A variety of geological formations mean the area offers glaciers, including on the Snaefellsnes - a peninsula of volcanic and mountainous land which can be visited by snow scooter or snowmobile. Budir on the southern coast is the place to get completely away from it all. There are also good salmon rivers, the country's widest fjord (explorable by boat from Stykkisholmur), and a still active volcano featured in Jules Verne's novel, Journey to the Centre of the Earth. For relaxation there is Laugar with hot springs.
Some say Iceland's best whale-watching is off the coast here or if you prefer history this is saga country, where many of the stories took place and famous Icelanders lived. Reykholt reached from Borgarnes still has the original hot pool.
Attached by a narrow isthmus of land are the West Fjords, little visited but including some of the most scenically striking parts of the country. Part of the reason may be the weather - even in summer it's rarely more than 10ºc.

The North
Akureyri in northwest Iceland is the country's second city, at the head of the country's longest fjord, with a fertile hinterland suited to dairy farming which, along with sheep farming, diatomite mining and fishing, makes it a prosperous area. Ice floes and solitary icebergs from Greenland can often be seen close to land in early summer.
The area sees some of the country's warmest and most stable weather. In high summer temperatures her can be higher than in the south if the wind is southerly (a northerly means the opposite) and it rains less than in the capital. However, there is also more snow in winter.
To the east of the north coast is Lake Myvatn about an hour's drive from Akureyri, an area full of hot springs and volcanic formations, while the lake itself is a prime area for bird watching. Note however that in summer it suffers from swarms of tiny black flies.
Husavik, directly north of the lake on the coast, is a prime place for whale watching in summer.

The East
Mountainous, with deep fjords along the northern stretch and dominated by Vatnajokull glacier to the south, communities have traditionally relied on fishing and trading. The weather means what visitors arrive want to see the giant glacier and tend to leave again.

Geology and Geography

Iceland lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, dividing European and American continental plates. Unlike the San Andreas Fault in America, here the plates are moving apart. The divide can be seen across a single valley not far from Reykjavik and the ridge is the reason for Iceland's volcanoes and geothermal activity.

There are also around 150 imperceptible earthquakes every 24 hours and a major earthquake on average every five years. (In case you are worried, rescue team practise regularly to handle any potential crisis.)

The volcanoes come in all shapes and sizes, strato are tall and regular cones, sometimes in a line of cones like Hekla, rather than a single vent; shield volcanoes have a wide, flattened cone; and crater rows erupt along a lengthy fissure, for example.

Among the volcanoes are completely inactive ones where you can peer right down into the crater. Most famous and currently active are Hekla, once believed to be the entrance to hell an currently erupting about once every 10 years, Katla on the Myrdalsjokull glacier which blows about every 70 years, and Krafla in the north of the country.

There are also different kinds of lava. The predominant shade is dark to black, its stark grandeur likely to impinge even on some children. There is basalt which when cooled quickly for example by the sea forms hexagonal pillars, and there are a variety of specific types of stones like pumice, light enough to float, obsidian, black and glasslike, and bombs, spherical or lengthened twists formed when thrown into the air before fully hardened. Not surprisingly lava fields cover some 11% of the island, including the stretch between the international airport at Keflavik and Reykjavik.

The hot lava underground heats water to create steam and boiling streams and the country has more hot springs than any other in the world with around 14 ‘high temperature fields' with steam holes and mud pools, as well as around 800 ‘low temperature fields' with hot springs, found all over the country - an estimated 800-odd.

The water under the geyser is heated about 30 to 40 metres below the surface by a river of molten lava, and reaches the surface of the earth at temperatures close to boiling point. The most famous is the Great Geysir in South Iceland (on the popular Golden Circle tours) from which the international word geyser is derived. The geyers do shift and earthquakes block them - though if they are real tourist attractions they are sometimes opened again with a drilling rig. The original Geysir is not currently active but Strokkur goes to around 35 metres every few minutes.

The engineering minded will enjoy seeing the geothermal power stations, and the pipes simply carrying the water to heat people's houses and run out of their taps (smelling faintly of sulphur) or even under the pavements of the shopping streets and into Reykjavik's central lake to keep it useable by the birds. More extraordinary though is to hear the pounding sound through the silencer on top of a borehole going 3km down into the earth, or consider the practicality of an earlier age of cooking in a small ‘hotpot' bubbling out of the ground such as those of Namafjall where they are hidden by dustbin lids.

The Reykjavik Energy Museum or.is faces the country's first power plant which has been operating since 1921 and looks at the role of electricity, geothermal heat and water in the development of the city. Limited opening times or contact the curator for a special opening.
The Nesjavellir Thermal Power Station near Pingvellir offers guided tours June to August.

Around 8% of the country is covered by glaciers, ranging from little ‘cirque' glaciers to extensive ice caps, the largest being Vatnajokull, at 8,400 sq km bigger than all the glaciers in mainland Europe put together and up to a kilometre thick in parts. It's due to be the biggest National Park in Europe. The second largest is Langjokull, easily reached on a day tour from Reykjavik by super jeep. 50 miles long and 18 miles across, this glacier is 2,700ftt deep, but retreating 100m a year and dropping 2.5m a year. The melt water creates waterfalls such as Gullfoss - over 60,000 years. One of the smallest, the cone shaped Snaefellsjokull (mentioned by Jules Verne in Journey to the Centre of the Earth) can be seen across Reykjavik Bay.

There are also a number of waterfalls. Gullfoss on the Golden Circle tour is one striking one, preserved from hydroelectric development by a campaigns of the owner's daughter.
Skogarfoss Falls are 62m high, hugely powerful.

The issue of erosion may interest older children. The island was at least half covered by vegetation and even trees when the Vikings arrived. Ninety years later the trees had gone and even now little more than 1% of the island is tree-covered, despite a programme of planting by school children 12-16 years every summer who get a tax free payment of ISK5,000 for their efforts. With only a short growing season for the plants which might stabilise the soil, and the intermittent damage by volcanic ash and pumice, it's such an important issue it even features in the official Icelandic literature for tourists.

History

History here is mainly to do with the Vikings. The main impression is of a pretty argumentative bunch - the importance of honour generally to blame here - and there is not a great deal in the way of material goods to see, but there are a growing number of places where you can see reconstructions, for example of Viking long boats.

There are a number of relevant museums in Reykjavik, and others scattered around the country, along with historic sites which often are just the site, with little or no remains of any kind.

The Culture House
National Centre for Cultural Heritage built to house the National Library and National Archives of Iceland including the Medieval manuscripts - Edda s and Sagas sagas, poems and narratives, as well as the process of preparing the vellum and ink, writing, illuminating etc.

Saga Museum
Recreating events in Icelandic history with models of figures found in the sagas and chronicles, with clothes, eapons and day to day objects made using traditional methods. However, for those of more sensitive disposition be warned that scenes include the execution of Iceland's last Catholic bishop and burning at the stake of the country's first heretic.

Fjorukrain - Viking Village
Slightly tacky but probably appealing to children, a Viking Hotel and West Nordic Culture House are in the same building in Hafnarfjordur, the hotel with 29 rooms and one more elegant and one more themed restaurant, while the culture house is in a renovated forge with exhibitions, handicrafts and stalls introducing the cultures of the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Iceland. A Viking ship is due shortly.
The centre is a base for an International Viking Festival in late June.

The Arbaer Folk Museum
An open air museum in Reykjavik of more than 30 traditional Icelandic homes including the turf houses used on farms until the mid 20th century. In summer there are craft and haymaking demonstrations for example with theme days on Sundays.

Eiriksstadir
On the west coast, a recreation of the farmhouse where Leif the Lucky grew up with his parents, Eric the Red and Pjodhildur. Staff in Viking gear take visitors back to settler times.

The Akranes Musum Centre
A folk museum not far north of Reykjavik, opened on the site of an ancient manor with a church and parsonage dating back to the earliest days of Christianity. The museum including farming, housekeeping equipment and more, including a rigged 19th century rowing boat and 19th 86-tonne ketch built on the Humber in England. And trawler wire cutters form the Cod Wars with the British. There is now a collection of old houses at the centre and a centre with a collection of Icelandic rocks, minerals and fossils.

Culture

Modern Life

There are bus tours of Reykjavik which cover a far wider area than you are likely to manage on foot or even with public transport, and the driver/guide provides a reasonable amount of background information not easily found in guides. However, you could easily bypass that as the main centre is extremely compact, and the slightly farther flung sights still reachable.

The architecture, ranges from traditional brightly coloured corrugated iron, the odd wooden building (lack of trees makes wood a rather rare building material), includes some more stylish turn of the century options, some rather uninspired cast concrete and then more interesting modern buildings, starting with quirky and more recently hitting their stride in a style which marries well with the stark environment.

In those buildings you will find everything from old-fashioned shops to cutting edge art galleries.

Worth looking out for are the churches, this being a fairly observant society still, the best known being the towering Hallgrimskirkja. Like most northern churches they are almost always light-filled, but otherwise styles vary enormously.

There is a strong belief in Little or Hidden People - smaller versions of humans, visible only to those with second sight. There are stories of building works failing to take account of these invisible people's requirements running into all kinds of engineering troubles. The problem is resolved by making amends to them in some way. Large engineering companies have even held press conferences to explain their problems and how they are making amends. And if you come across an inexplicable kink in an otherwise straight road, that's probably why. Icelanders are slightly defensive about their beliefs here, but with children you may be able to find out a little more. A local seer has pronounced that Hafnarfjodur, adjacent to Reykjavik, has Iceland's largest community.

To a slightly lesser extent, elves are also considered part of the community.

Arts
Reykjavik Art Museum
listasanfreykjavikur.is
Has three branches, the recently converted warehouse by the port particularly striking.

The National Gallery
listasafn.is
Contains the country's largest collection of works by Icelandic artists of the 19th and 20th centuries plus international artists. The caf? has attractive lakeside views and the shop sells interesting Icelandic designs.

Wildlife

There aren't an enormous number of wild animals on Iceland, and no snakes, frogs, lizards or ants, just a few beetles and occasional spider.

Even better news, of 50 varieties of flies, only two bite. The fast change from winter to summer means mosquitoes don't survive.

You might just spot mink, which have escaped from captivity and take both birds and eggs and are therefore hunted for bounty. There are a few reindeer, largely in the eastern mountains, and there are a few of the only original mammal on the island, the Arctic fox.

The Reykjavik Park and Zoo
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The easy place to see Icelandic animals like seals, Arctic foxes, mink (which have broken out of captivity and are eating birds and eggs) and reindeer as well as domestic ones. There is also a merry-go-round with Viking hero decorations and a playground with paddling pond, rides and playground equipment, bicycle and mini car tracks, plus boats for hire. Activities and performances take place throughout the year.

Whale watching cruises
Regular trips only started in 1995 but has seen enormous growth with sightings of blue, fin, humpacks, minke and sei whales, plus dolphins. Trips are from the south, west and north coasts.
From Reykjavik trips may spoke minke and orca whales, and failing that almost certainly porpoises, and en route will pass Lundey, Puffin Island known for its enormous numbers of puffins.
Trips also run from Snaefellsnes with the best whale watching in Europe considered to be off the western point with blue whales regularly spotted, as well as humpback whales. The nearby Hvalfjiordur is called Whale Fjord after numerous sitings of them there.
There are also trips from Eyjafjordur and Husavik on the northeast coast, which is best in summer and boasts its own whale museum by the harbour.
The island of Heimaey is where the whale star of Free Willy was returned after his film career.

Seals
Grey and harbour seals are best seen off the north coast or Westman Islands, south of the south coast.

Bridwatching
Iceland is heaven for birdwatchers, home to around 75 regularly breeding bird species but also seeing some very rare migrants.
However, more than species, it's often the sheer numbers and sometimes tameness of the birds which appeals to visitors. There are particularly large numbers of sea birds including guillemot, puffin, razorbill, kittiwake and fulmar, some in spectacular colonies. The Puffin is the most photographed sea bird though around the coasts you can see the eider Duck whose down is traditionally harvested from the nests once vacated, for use in items like eiderdowns.
There are also waders and wild fowl, with the country known as one of the major breeding areas for European waterfowl.
Ptarmigian is the only game bird.
Some species are resident throughout the year but spring and summer are the best time to bird watch as then the migrant species are also there, either arriving for summer breeding or passing through to the High Arctic.
Places to go to see birds include the Westman Islands around 10km off Iceland's south coast. Known particularly for puffins it is also home to 30 other breeding species - fewer in winter than summer. (There is a decent aquarium as well in Heimaey town.)
Lake Myvatn is another key spot, but visitors in summer need to use gauze or similar to protect against the black flies.

If your children are too young for any of this, a simpler outing would be to feed the ducks and swans on Reykjavik's central lake - borrowing some bread from the breakfast buffet.

Swimming and Hot Pots

Absolute number one tip, take the children swimming, whatever the weather, even in snowstorms. The water is warm/hot, everything - water, changing rooms etc - is clean and family-friendly.

For Icelanders this is described as the equivalent of the pub for the English or bar for the French, a good place to get chatting to some locals. Businessmen even take a dip en route to work.

Almost every town and village has its own pool. Heated by the nearest hot spring to around 27ºc. There are also almost always attached outdoor spa baths or hot pots.

There are seven thermal pools in Reykjavik. All have several hot pots, each kept at a different temperature from 37 to 42ºc and the swimming pools at 29ºc. Entrance price is around ISK230 (approximately £2) and for children ISK100. The main pool is Laugar laugar.com laugarspa.is which includes a five-star spa, 86m long water slide and a separate shallow children's bathing pool.

The Arbaejarlaug is the most suitable with small children with in and outdoor pools and is somewhere locals do babyswimming. Veesturbaejarlaug is spit into a swimming section and a ‘playing' section.

The Pearl built in 1991 near the Nautholsvik Beach is on six thermal water tanks holding four million litres of water, includes a man-made spouting hot water spring. Nautholsvik, 15 minutes' walk from the city centre, is a geothermal beach with warm water.

The internationally famous pool is the Blue Lagoon bluelagoonwhich benefits from the outflow of a geothermal power station. The black lava is interspersed by pools of opaque pale blue, full of natural minerals. It's about as salty as the Mediterranean and doesn't do hair any favours, but is reputed to be excellent for the skin. And at around 40ºc it's a lovely place to sit on a cold day though could be too hot for little ones. Off the road between the international airport and Reykjavik, you can organise to visit as a stopover en route to the city, or as a morning or afternoon trip out. It can be worth considering a stop en route to your flight home as it's on the way to the airport.

Away from built up centres there are natural hot springs. These are often scenically extraordinary and a chance to relive a true Viking experience as they too enjoyed a good long soak after a day of Viking business, but there is the issue of getting out and dressed again without freezing your socks off.

Note that before getting into pools you must shower with soap because the generally rely on the natural minerals for hygiene.

Skating
There's an outdoor skating rink in Reykjavik.

Hiking
This is generally something done unaccompanied but you need to be well prepared and to know what you are doing. The weather can change in minutes and the terrain can be extremely dangerous.

Riding
Icelandic horses are a pure breed, descended from the horses brought by the Vikings. They are small but particularly gentle and child-friendly as well as extremely sturdy and offer a fifth gait called tolt, which is reported to make them easier than usual to ride for the inexperienced.
Ishestar ishetar.is in Hafnarfjordur is the most central place to set up outings. There are rides for beginners, novices, intermediate and experienced riders including day tours in the Reykjavik area, which include a Family Adventure of 5- 6 hours with half an hour's riding, including a visit to the Farmyard Animal Zoo and Family Park, a visit to Heidmork nature Park and caves, a horse show with Icelandic horses, and half hour's riding. Children under 9 are led by rein in a paddock unless reasonably experienced. Under 8s are free, and 9-11 years 25% discount. There are also longer trekking holidays for anything from two to nine days, the shorter rides suitable for novice riders.

Eidfaxi International eidfaxi.is is a magazine on Icelandic horse.

Fishing
Fishing in the sea is hard work and a business rather than a tourist industry. River and lake fishing is another matter, with lots of fly fishers chasing salmon and trout in the summer seasons and the fish are likely to be considerably larger than those in British rivers. The water is so clean there is even a salmon fishing river right in the middle of Reykjavik. Prices vary but allow around 1,300ISK per day for trout fishing ISK15,000 to ISK300,000 salmon fishing.

Winter Sports
Popular even with other Scandinavians, whose legislation does not permit random snowmobiling for example, there are options of all terrain/quad bike riding, and snowmobiling, generally on or near glaciers. This is however only available January to April and only those with a valid driving licence can participate so it's not recommended for children.

Greenland Dog Sledding
Dog Steam Tours dogsledding.is From January to April a one-hour dogsled tour depending a little on snow conditions and weight of sledge, in the highlands about 45km from Reykjavik. Boots, gloves and thermal suits are provided but warm and waterproof gear to wear underneath is recommended. From may to August the tour is on a glacier about 130km from Reykjavik. In May anf from September to December and January if there is no snow the glaciers are too dangerous but the dogs still need to be exercised so they are trained on the gravel roads around the volcano Hekla with the dogs dragging trolleys and taking about 1 ? to 2 hours.

Other
- Going bowling eg at keiluhollin.is
- Visiting the fishing harbour
- A trip to the cinema - films are shown in the original language.