When I tell people I went to Iceland for my vacation this past spring, the first thing they ask isn't "how was it?" or "did you enjoy it?" or even "was it cold?"
What they ask is this: "why Iceland?" like they can't fathom why I'd choose to spend two weeks there.
What I can't fathom is why the world isn't flocking to Iceland for vacation.
So, to answer everyone who's asking all at once, here's why my husband and I decided to travel to Iceland for our vacation -- and why we'd go back in a heartbeat:
1) The sound of Icebergs cracking and rolling in Jokulsarlon: Barely off the side of the road, you can stand on the edge of a glacial lagoon and watch and hear icebergs as they crack apart, flip over and bob in the water like giant ice cubes in a glass.
2) Diving in Silfra: We went scuba diving in the Silfra rift in Thingvellir national park. It's regularly listed as one of the world's most interesting dive spots, and where else in the world can you be 20m under water, flip onto your back and look up into the clouds? Where else can you touch the edge of two continents at once? Only in Iceland!
3) Lake Myvatn: We've never been anywhere else in the world where a tour around one small lake offers such dramatically changing scenery so quickly. From bubbling sulfuric mud to craggy lava columns and craters, snow-covered ground to grassy fields... it's a whole world of variety in one small area.
4) Hot pot hopping: We went in a number of different hot pots on our tour of Iceland. Each one was different and special, and we truly had better sleeps after soaking in these tubs!
5) Its unique museums: Besides Iceland's top-quality history and culture museums, many towns have one-of-a-kind museums run by one-of-a-kind people. We particularly loved the Icelandic Museum of Sorcery and Witchcraft and the Icelandic Phallological Museum.
We also tell people about the wildlife we saw (puffins! lambs!), the food we tried (puffins and lambs again!) and all the wonderful people we met along the way while we drove around Iceland. We hiked on a glacier, graduated from Elf School, saw geysirs erupt, had the best hot dogs in the world, stood on the most western tip of Europe and sunk our toes into black sand beaches.
If that doesn't explain to people why we went to Iceland, I don't know what will.
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The Perfect Honeymoon
by Baldwin Cheng - Jun 03, 2010
My wife and I had each traveled a lot before we were married and we wanted
our honeymoon to be somewhere neither one of us had been before. That knocked
out all the usual, expected places. But it turned out that each of us had
Iceland on our "visit before we die" list, so we decided why not go there for
our honeymoon? Everyone we told about it thought we had lost our
minds.
We'd read about the Blue Lagoon and the naturally-heated spas, so
we were covered for relaxation time. And it also offered some outdoor adventure,
great culture and music, and 20 hours of sunlight per day in August.
Despite our high expectations, Iceland blew them all away. Neither one
of us had been anyplace like this before. The sheer diversity of landscapes,
environments and experiences was almost overwhelming. Black sand beaches? Check.
Stunning cliffs and spectacular waterfalls? Check. Rock climb up basalt
formations to see puffins in the wild? Check. Walk on a glacier? Check.
Otherworldly iceberg-filled lagoon that you can cruise through on a boat--are
you freaking kidding me??? Check. This is a country where the geysers are the
most boring natural feature -- and they have The Geysir, the one that all other
geysers in the world are named after. See the pictures in all the other stories
on this site and realize that they only give you a hint of what it's like to
really be there in person.
Despite all those amazing sights and
experiences, our most inspirational memory of Iceland was... the hot tubs. As
soon as we arrived, my friend and guide Kristjan gave us some great travel
advice: go straight from the airport to the Blue Lagoon. There's nothing better
after an international flight than soaking in the biggest, vastest, blue-est
pool of hot mineral water you can imagine for about an hour. We popped out
refreshed and rarin' to go.
For the remainder of our trip, we ended
nearly every night unwinding from our daily dose of mind-blowing natural scenery
in a fantastic hot tub, the best of them out in the open under a bright pink sky
with the sun still hanging just above the horizon.
I can't think of a
less weird way to spend a honeymoon.
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Serendipity
by Nathan Harpelle - Sep 22, 2010
After being told, “You should take a vacation.” only after 6 months on my
new job, and realizing they were serious, I scoped around the whole of the
earth. I was on the computer every evening, using Google Earth, and
checking airline and hotel prices, and was just not finding myself
satisfied. Finally after spinning the Google Earth globe I noticed this
hunk of rock in the middle of the North Atlantic. Iceland, I thought. What’s to
do there?
I had my itinerary set. I would be doing something every single
day that I was there. And then, it happened. The one thing that would completely
ruin my whole non-refundable trip, a brand new volcano (of which I could not
hope to pronounce) decides to erupt. There were some very tense hours but
the airport opened and my trip was a go. April 2nd to April 7th 2010 I went
whale watching, travelled the Golden Circle, stood on the two different
continents at the same time (or roughly speaking), bathed in the Blue Lagoon,
travelled the southern coast, of course I went horse backing riding, saw almost
all of Reykjavik and all of the wonderful sights, and yes, oh yes, I made sure I
went and saw in person the volcano.
I travelled alone to a country far
from home, but I never felt like I left. Iceland is absolutely amazing. I met
people from New Zealand, France, Demark, U.S.A., and ironically, from Toronto
Canada in my own hotel which is 45 minutes from where I currently
live!
Iceland offers so much and asks for so little. It is a modern
wonder with history and culture to feast the senses. It was serendipity
that I should travel when I did and experience what I did. People here are of
two types:
Iceland? What’s to do there? Isn’t it “ice”?
Or
Iceland! Iceland! Why didn’t I think of that! I’m going!
The
formal don’t get it and probably never will. The latter of us…we’ll be back and
we’ll keep coming back.