Travel Guides: All Countries / Europe / Iceland
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| | | | The isle of natural wonders
My first reaction when my daughter suggested Iceland for a holiday was disbelief, as we had previously visited places like Malta and Madeira.
However, I found myself on the plane to Reykjavik and as it landed, passengers peered curiously through the windows for a glimpse of what awaited them.
It was different from anywhere I have seen, with brown lava rock everywhere and sparse greenery, mainly around the coast.
Our courier told us that a few trees in a clump were considered to be a wood. Some tourists said that they were missing their gardens already.
On the coach from the airport to the hotel it looked like an end-of-the-world scene until we came to Reykjavik. As much of Iceland is uninhabitable, almost half the population lives here. It has the distinction of being the most northerly capital in the world.
The air was cleaner and there was no over-crowding, no queueing, no litter and hardly any graffiti.
We had no trouble making ourselves understood, as most of the people we encountered spoke English. Surprisingly, there were Filipinos working in the hotel in Reykjavic, in spite of the very harsh winters.
There were plenty of familiar foods to choose from, including chips, and of course, fish. Icelandic delicacies of putrefied shark's meat and ram's testicles were, we considered, more of a threat than a promise.
There was a lot to see, including natural wonders like glaciers, churches, shops, and good nightlife. We also saw a building where pagan marriages were held. The local tourist centre was a mine of information on excursions.
We visited the Blue Lagoon, assuming that the description of it as "a totally unforgettable experience in supernatural surroundings" was typical guide book hype.
We were wrong — it was exactly that. We bathed in the outdoor lagoon in very cold weather in this soothing warm water in surroundings which were like something out of this world. Unforgettable.
Wearing two of everything, except boots, we went on a whaling boat, listening for the crew member's urgent shouts: "Whale at 12 O'clock," and "Whale at four O'clock."
Whaling in Iceland is being discouraged on the grounds that taking tourists whale-spotting is more profitable.
Although I was initially impressed by the exchange rate, receiving 123 krona to £1, I found that it disappeared quickly. A pint of beer costs £5 and a cup of coffee is £2.40.
But my test of a good holiday is whether I would go again. Given the chance, I most certainly would.
Travel guide: Iceland
Chill out in Iceland's hotspots and hotpots
From the Daily Mail
'And if you are lucky, the waiters pour soup on you and throw you in the lake.' My guide Gunnar, a retired paediatrician, was telling me about a lunchtime play that has been packing Reykjavik's Idno Theatre with eager soup drinkers.
'Perhaps it's our tempestuous climate, but we Icelanders do nothing by halves.' At first sight, Reykjavik looks short on period charm, with few old buildings and most of the city built of earthquake-proof concrete.
Heritage often involves corrugated iron, once a luxury import, which covers the wooden frames of many 19th-century houses. In today's newly wealthy Iceland, these represent the last word in nostalgia chic and are being lovingly restored and reproduced.
Gunnar's fierce pride in his city soon had me converted. The city may lack ancient monuments, he says, but its medieval blockbusters, the sagas, live on in hearts and minds, revered in the same breath as Shakespeare or Sophocles. The whole city turned out to welcome the Danish destroyer which escorted two of the precious manuscripts home from Copenhagen in 1971.
In the bookshop on Austurstraeti, I flipped open a new Penguin edition and found myself gripped by tales of elopement, hidden treasure, a bride married off to the wrong man, a witch ride, revenge.
The same respect for the harsh past, the non-stop battle against the elements, comes across in every one of Reykjavik's fine collections: from the Viking relics in the National Museum (closed for renovation until June 2001) to the myth-ridden sculptures of Einar Jonsson or the landscapes in the airy National Gallery.
On endless summer evenings, it seems to be the Reykjavik bars that have fallen heir to the Icelandic passion for talk, stories, heated discussion and any other throwing in the lake that's going. The pub scene exploded after beer drinking was legalised in 1989, and Reykjavik's nightlife is billed as being among the coolest in Europe.
The streets around Adalstraeti heave until about 3am. If I didn't actually hear Bjork DJ-ing in Cafe Thomsen, or hang around Kaffi Barinn for a glimpse of its co-owner, Blur singer Damon Albarn, let's say it was because my stamina and wallet had given out long before.
Travel guide: Iceland
Whales ahoy
When it comes to watching whales, luck has never been on my side. My travels have taken me to many places where there should have been whales but somehow they always managed to evade me.
In New England, Newfoundland, South Africa and California I was too late, or too early, or the weather was too bad.
So those words 'Thar she blows' remained unspoken on my lips - which is rather sad for a patron of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.
But now my luck has changed and I can hold my head high in front of fellow WDCS supporters - and friends - like Michaela Strachan, my co-presenter on BBC One's Countryfile, and Mark Carwardine, the Radio 4 wildlife expert and contributor to The Mail on Sunday travel pages.
They have seen all kinds of whales umpteen times, as they have often told me.
Undeterred by all my previous failures, I booked a short holiday to northern Iceland because it included two whale-watching trips, and this time I took with me a lucky charm - my six-year-old granddaughter, Jessica.
It worked. Scarcely an hour after leaving the port of Husavik, 30 miles south of the Arctic Circle, in a 50ft converted fishing boat we hit the jackpot.
Everyone on board had been asked to keep a lookout, and when one eagle-eyed spotter called that he had seen something, the engines were cut back and 50 pairs of eyes scanned the sea.
Then up came a huge spout of water and there was my very first whale.
To make the moment perfect it was not just any old cetacean but a mighty humpback, one on the whale A-list.
The magnificent creature, much the same size as our boat, came within a few feet of us, splashing its flippers and flashing its fluke, or tail.
Jessica and her mum, Victoria, were just as thrilled. 'Will we see the big whale again?' asked Jessica after it had dived to the deep, and six minutes later we did.
Travel guide: Iceland
Iceland – a real diamond geyser
Until a decade ago, the idea of going on holiday to Iceland would have been as outlandish to most Brits as taking a break on one of the rings of Saturn .
Through word of mouth about the country's startling beauty and thriving nightlife, it's rapidly become one of the most fashionable places to go for a long weekend, notably for young people.
A country of just 290,000 people, it's easy to envy the few who live there.
Even before landing at Keflavik airport Iceland's unique beauty reveals itself.
The volcanic landscape is startlingly lunar, and almost anywhere in Iceland has sumptuous views of its mountains.
For a capital city with such a bustling nightlife, Reykjavik itself is also unspoilt away from the main town centre. It also has a pleasant beach. The temperatures are broadly similar to the UK, about two degrees colder.
Reykjavik is most suitable for a weekend break for young people, with the compact town centre having bars and clubs at every third building.
These tend to be classy, yet welcoming and unpretentious. One of the first to champion Iceland was Blur's Damon Albarn, who owns the Cafe Barrin bar.
Typical of Reykjavik, the Barrin is ultra-relaxed. Be warned: drink is dear in Iceland, averaging £6-£7 a pint.
If you're planning a big night out, it's wise to get a siesta in first. The clubs don't start hitting their peak until around 1am, with most staying open until 6am. There are plenty of quieter pubs and bars dotted about if you'd rather take it easy.
Travel guide: Iceland
Meet the cool geysers
The explorer Eirik the Red, whose son Leifur probably discovered America before Columbus, was something of an early spin doctor.
Outlawed from Iceland for a murder too many, he set sail in AD980 and found an icy land to the North West.
Anxious to entice other settlers, he decided to give it a good name and called it Greenland, which has served ever since to confuse travellers like me about the relative hospitality of the two countries' climates.
My friends and relatives were equally confused when I came back after three days in Reykjavik with a healthy suntan - 'But I thought you'd been to Iceland?' they said.
So I had, mopping up the sunshine in a three-day break with whale-watching, bird-watching, horse-riding and camera-snapping around Iceland's spectacular mountains, glaciers, lakes and thermal springs.
Iceland is a land of surprises. The first is that it has a mere 280,000 inhabitants - most of whom speak perfect English - spread across the same area as the 60 million in Britain.
The second is the sheer space and majesty of much of the landscape.
The comparatively late arrival in the world of this volcanic country, where some 75 per cent of the inhabitants have their homes heated by naturally occurring hot water, has left it with some spectacular scenery.
Whether you are in Iceland for a fortnight, a week or a day you should not miss a trip around what they call the Golden Circle.
This takes in Gullfoss, Iceland's most thunderously exciting and picturesque waterfall, and the geothermal area of Geysir, whose spouting hot springs have given its name to blowholes all over the world.
Travel guide: Iceland
Pricey but the people are so interesting
We went to Reykjavik last Christmas and I'm still thinking about it more than any other holiday. The cliche "a land of contrasts" is almost made for Iceland.
Flying in, there was brilliant tropical sunshine and a deep blue ocean on one side of the plane. Looking out on the other side, we saw grey skies, black and white lava fields and stunted shrubs mingled with steam rising out of the ground from geothermal sources.
The people are equally astonishing: Iceland,I believe,has one of the highest levels of literacy of any country both in its own language and others.
Simultaneously, the Icelanders act like Janus, the two-headed God from classical times who looks back towards the old year and ahead to the new year.
Similarly, Icelandic people retain a lively interest in keeping the old sagas alive, together with traditional crafts,whilst at the same time embracing new technology and cosmopolitan influences from other countries.
The only down side, apart from the weather, is the high prices for most things, even those locally produced.
Travel guide: Iceland
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| | | | Talking shop in the pot
Like most things Icelandic, eating and drinking seemed eye-wateringly expensive. What the hell - it was only a weekend. I fared wonderfully on lobster soup and the freshest of cod at Laekjarbrekka, and stoically on breast of guillemot at Einar Ben. I should have listened harder to the waiter who enthused about this latter speciality - 'just like the cod-liver oil' his mother used to give him.
Iceland has another great talking shop. Wimps need not apply - most of its geothermically heated swimming pools are outdoors, and the colder the weather the better. I found my local pool full of boiled-looking executives reading the evening papers and watching CNN news. According to Gunnar, to be able to say: 'I heard it in the hotpot' confirms your status as a Reykjavik insider.
The hottest spot of all is the brand new Blue Lagoon on the Reykjanes Peninsula, a 40-minute bus ride away. Against a background of belching heat exchangers and cooling towers, intermittently visible through clouds of steam, we lost souls swam in the lashing rain through a kind of sulphurous blue soup. Despite its state-of-the-art mud baths, live bands and lava caves, I was forcibly reminded of the medieval version of hell.
One way of visiting the Blue Lagoon is to sign up with an eco-tourism company such as Landnama and arrive on horseback. No horses have been imported into Iceland for 900 years, said Hrodmar Bjarnson, who runs Eldhestar horse farm. The local breed has grown shaggy and affable, retaining a high-stepping fifth gait, called the tolt.
Although this sounds ominously like a mixture of trot and jolt, I found tolting along on my stout little horse, Varma, as soothing as a trundle on a well-upholstered sofa.
There is no such thing as a townie in Reykjavik. As a City of Culture for 2000, its programme of events showcased Nature as well as celebrating a millennium of Christianity and 1,000 years since local boy Leif Eriksson became the first European to set foot in America.
However short my visit, I just had to get out into a countryside which is still, geologically speaking, in the making. For most first-timers, this means the Golden Circle, a popular day tour that takes in some of the most dramatic scenery within easy reach of the capital. The lava fields around Hveragerdi, lightly covered with moss and puffs of volcanic steam, looked highly unstable, as if a whole family of dragons were sleeping under a rumpled duvet.
This was a day of many waters: thundering, golden, over the Gulfoss waterfall; boiling skywards from the Geysir waterspouts. The Atlantic Rift which crosses Iceland makes a dramatic appearance as the Way Of All Men, a chasm the size of a railway cutting, leading to the cradle of Icelandic democracy.
Little remains of the Althing, the Grandmother of Parliaments, but there is a powerful sense of the past at Iceland's major shrine. The Rift is widening at the rate of several centimetres a year. 'Come back in a few million years,' said our guide, 'and there will be two Icelands.' This really is a country that does nothing by halves.
White-beaked dolphins
In fact, the humpback stayed around for about half an hour treating us to several more flips of its distinctive tail.
Each humpback has different white tail markings rather like human fingerprints, so scientists checking their numbers have ascertained the species is now making a comeback after being almost wiped out by a century of whaling.
Our boat, the Haukur, had taken us out into wide Skjafandi Bay, sheltered from the Arctic Ocean and fringed on the western side by the rugged, snow dappled Kinn Mountains.
Suddenly, in the waters beneath their steep cliffs I spotted a bonus - a pod of minke whales. After all those fruitless years, I was seeing whales galore.
Minkes are regular visitors and our guide said they are seen on nearly every trip, often coming close to the boats.
But we were watching maybe a dozen mothers protecting their young so they kept at a discreet distance.
Then, for good measure, up popped a bunch of white-beaked dolphins, dancing in the waves around the oak-built Haukur.
It turned out to be an exhilarating adventure for all ages - grandfathers included.
There is something rather special about setting off directly north on holiday when just about everyone else is flying east, south or west - and having to pack warm, weather-proof clothing in the middle of August.
As it turned out, there was lots of sunshine and even though the temperature didn't get above 16C (61F), we never felt cold.
Most relaxing
While alcohol is expensive in Iceland, the stunning Blue Lagoon is an hour's drive from Reykjavik and only costs £8.
The lagoon is a naturally-heated spa. Within seconds of diving in, it's hard to think of anywhere more relaxing. Come to that, it's hard to think of anything at all while in its waters.
Facepacks from the Lagoon's mud sells for £20 in stores, which gives some idea of the place's calming atmosphere.
Iceland has its own breed of horse, little bigger than a pony. These are so pure that, if they leave the country _ even to compete in showjumping events _ they can't return to the country.
They also make for ideal horse-riding for tourists, as they're docile enough for anybody at all to ride.
A 45-minute trek through the hillside is the ideal way to bask in Iceland's spectacular scenery.
If every third building in Reykjavik town centre is a good club, one of the others will be a restaurant.
Naturally, the seafood in Iceland is excellent, but the country specialises in organic lamb.
As with drink, food in Iceland isn't particularly cheap nor is clothes-shopping. However, there are plenty of good stores for preparing to dress up for a night's clubbing.
Flights from Heathrow to Keflavik, a 90-minute drive from Reykjavik, take three hours.
The currency is the krona - usually, it's roughly 125 krona to the pound.
Icelandair flies 12 times a week from Heathrow, from £99 (08707 874020). A two-night package stay at the Radisson SAS hotel is from £180 (radissonsas.com) Tourist info: 020 8391 4888.
Colourful volcanic crater
The great Geysir itself is hardly reliable - but you can always get a shot of its little brother, the dependable Strokkur blowhole, which goes off about every 10 minutes.
The day-long Golden Circle trip of some 200 kilometres also takes in the colourful volcanic crater Kerio, which has become a lake, and the Pingvellir National Park where the ancient Icelandic Parliament used to meet and where justice was dispensed.
Male miscreants were beheaded, women who sinned were bundled into sacks and thrown into a drowning pool - which can still be seen.
In the Pingvellir park you can actually step across one of the faults in the earth's surface, a fault which is widening a centimetre or two every year.
And everywhere you go there is a majestic background of snow-capped mountains and glaciers.
Another big surprise is that the most essential item to pack for a trip to Iceland is a swimsuit.
If you want to meet the locals in most countries you go to a cafe or a pub.
In Iceland, with all that free hot water on tap, the best meeting places are the thermal pools where families sit, soak and chat for hours, all the year round.
Most famous of all, perhaps, is the Blue Lagoon, in the Reykjanes district, where you sit in blue water with mini geysers spouting, wiggling the soft silica sand through your toes and daubing your face with health-giving mineral salts.
After that, pause for excellent fresh fried haddock in the fishing village of Grindavik and maybe take a 20-minute stop on the bird cliffs of Hafnaberg where kittiwakes nest on the cliff-face and, in the meadows nearby, Arctic Terns dive-bomb unwary humans who get too close to their nests.
For me, the wildlife was a strong part of Iceland's appeal.
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| | | | Weirdly shaped lava floes
Our holiday base was a 90-minute drive from Akureyri and 60 minutes from Husavik, the three-star Hotel Reynihlid on the shores of Lake Myvatn (pronounced Me-vat) which is Icelandic for midge. There were millions, but fortunately not the biting type.
It is Iceland's fourth-largest lake, set on the edge of a lunar desert of weirdly shaped lava floes, hot mud pools and volcanoes.
Asbjorn Bjorgvinsson, known as Abbi, who runs the new Whale Centre in Husavik, is trying to change the national attitude to whaling.
'There has been a huge increase in the number of visitors coming here to see whales, and as a nation we can make more money from whale watching than from whale killing. That should be our future,' he said.
His new museum, which tells both the history of whaling and the natural history of whales, stands on the quayside where the boats set out. It was time for our second trip.
Jessica and the other children shouted with joy when they spotted the humpback again, still there blowing in the bay.
I was a little cooler - after all, I was now an accomplished whale watcher. But I hope to return to Iceland and head further out to sea in search of the biggest creature on the planet, the blue whale. I wonder if my luck will hold?
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Discover The World offers a Whales, Fire & Ice trip for three nights. This includes return flights from Heathrow, domestic flights between Reykjavik and Akureyri, transfers, half-board accommodation, a tour of Lake Myvatn and a visit to the Blue Lagoon.
Visit http://www.wildlife-encounters.co.uk or call 01737 218 802.
White-beaked dolphins
You can take a boat from the Videy ferry point to circle Puffin Island for an hour, watching the little birds burrow in the sand for their nesting spots, strut and preen along the clifftop like an army of off-duty maitre'ds or zip off above the waves ready to dive for a sand eel supper.
There are loads of whale-watching trips and we were lucky, seeing humpbacks, minke whales, white-beaked dolphins and harbour porpoises.
Most merely humped their slippery backs out of the water and dived a hundred metres or so away. But it was still a sight to see.
Back on land, watch out for the cost of food, drink and almost everything else in Iceland: nearly £4 for a half litre of beer, £10 for a paperback and £12 for a hamburger and chips in a land where almost everything is imported.
For three-course dinners in style you can easily pay £40-£50 a head, but another surprise was the sheer quality of the food on offer.
At Tveir Fiskar, near the whale-watching pier, pan-fried sea bass with parsnips and a prize-winning Valrhona chocolate souffle at Apothek, near the main town square, exquisite fillet of lamb with fennel and sauce bouillabaisse.
Then there's the smoked gannet and puffin breast - both, I fear, acquired tastes.
Despite the prices, Icelanders know how to enjoy a good night out, and with daylight lasting until the early hours many don't even begin it until then, tumbling out of the clubs at 6 am.
The perfect cure for the morning after is to go horseriding out in the country, as I did on my last day. The Eldhestar stable picked me up from my hotel in town and within 40 minutes I was in the saddle, for the first time in 40 years, aboard a Viking horse called Torey.
As my apprehension eased and Torey taught me a trick or two, the string of horses forged rivers and trotted along volcanic cinder tracks.
With growing confidence we rode beside water-filled drainage ditches while golden plovers and oyster catchers grazed the meadows alongside.
I somewhat doubt whether the experience was the same for my infinitely patient mount, but I hadn't felt so healthy in years.
TRAVEL DETAILS:
Arctic Experience offers a range of holidays to Iceland. Visit http://www.arcticexperience.co.uk tel: 01737 214214.
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