Iceland (Lonely Planet, 7th Edition) - Fran Parnell [4]
For an irreverent look at the country from a traveller’s point of view, try Letters from Iceland by WH Auden and Louis MacNeice, an amusing and unconventional travelogue written by the two poets in 1936. In contrast, Alan Boucher’s The Iceland Traveller – A Hundred Years of Adventure is full of 18th- and 19th-century romance, history and drama. For a warts-and-all view of contemporary Icelandic travel, Tim Moore’s Frost on My Moustache lays bare the realities of overambitious cycle trips and eating hot dogs for every meal.
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INTERNET RESOURCES
You’ll find a wealth of information online. The following sites are particularly useful for planning your trip:
BSI (www.bsi.is) Information on bus travel around Iceland from the bus companies’ consortium.
Gisting (www.accommodation.is) Comprehensive list of accommodation options in Iceland laid out on relevant street maps.
Iceland Review (www.icelandreview.com) Excellent daily news digest from Iceland with current affairs, entertainment, culture and more.
Icelandic Tourist Board (www.visiticeland.com; www.icetourist.is; www.goiceland.org) The official sites of the Icelandic Tourist Board.
Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com) Information on travel in Iceland and plenty of traveller tips on the Thorn Tree forum.
Nordic Adventure Travel (www.nat.is) Practical information and planning tips, plus the low-down on lots of rural towns.
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TOP PICKS
FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Icelanders love to party, and you’ll find celebrations of music, culture, history or the changing of the seasons happening year-round. The following are our favourites; for more, Click here.
Þorrablót (Viking midwinter feast; Click here) – nationwide, February.
Independence Day – nationwide, June.
Sjómannadagurinn (Sailors’ Day) – coastal towns, June.
Midsummer – nationwide, June.
Listasumar Akureyri, (Akureyri Arts Festival) – Akureyri, June to August.
Bræðislan music festival Click here – Borgarfjörður Eystri, July.
Menningarnott (Culture Night) – Reykjavík, August.
PjódhátíÐ Vestmannaeyjar (National Festival) – Heimaey Island, August.
Herring festival Click here – Siglufjörður, August.
Iceland Airwaves music festival Click here – Reykjavík, October.
EXPLOSIVE SIGHTS
Serene, majestic scenery belies Iceland’s fiery heart. Vast explosions have shaped the land and forged the resilient spirits of its residents. Don’t miss the volcanoes, craters, geysers and fiery light displays.
Laki – marvel at a mountainous volcano and the still-volatile Lakagígar crater row.
Leirhnjúkur – Iceland’s best example of smouldering earth and smoking vents.
Northern lights Click here – lucky visitors may catch the eerie colour bursts and light storms.
Heimaey – in the House Graveyard a third of the town lies buried under lava after the entire island blew up in 1973.
Strokkur & the Great Geysir – Strokkur blasts steaming water into the air every six minutes, and the Great Geysir itself blows several times a day.
Hekla – active and due to erupt any time. Dare you climb its ashy slopes?
Menningarnott – fabulous fireworks light up the heavens at the end of Reykjavík’s lively cultural festival.
ECCENTRIC ICELAND
Ever since Björk’s astounding voice first made the world turn and stare, the words ‘Iceland’ and ‘eccentric’ have never been too far apart. Isolation, long days of darkness, an unpredictable landscape and brennivín (the local schnapps) have helped create a nation of quiet oddness.
Blue Lagoon – Iceland’s number one tourist attraction is an extremely weird idea: where else do you queue to go swimming inside a geothermal power station?
‘Hidden People’ – there’s widespread respect for the supernatural creatures