Iceland expensive? Its all relative
Trip Start
Sep 15, 2006
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17
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Trip End
Dec 2007
Reykjavik,
Iceland
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
On the weekend we went to Reykjavik, Iceland. It was a great weekend trip as there are just enough activities to do and things to see for an extended weekend.
We decided on Iceland as we both wanted to travel there and it is relatively inexpensive to fly from Norway to Iceland. And, when you are living in an expensive country to start with we figured that Iceland wouldn't seem that expensive. For instance, instead of paying ten dollars for a beer we thought that we would be paying eleven dollars. However, we were pleasantly surprised when we found that most food products and drinks were cheaper in Iceland than in Norway.
The taxes in Iceland aren't as high so some most of the products cost slightly less than in Norway
Blue Lagoon 01
. However, taxis are not cheap! We took a taxi from the airport to our hotel and I was in shock as I watched the meter go up to 8000 Icelandic kroner (about $160 Canadian dollars)! It was definitely the most expensive taxi ride I have ever taken.By the time we paid for the taxi ride, our bus tours and the bus back to the airport it probably would have been cheaper to rent a car for the weekend. Since we probably won't be going back to Iceland, I hope the information will be of use to someone else!
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We arrived in Reykjavik late on Friday night, after a major delay at the Oslo airport where all passengers had to evacuate the airport and go through security clearance again. After checking into our hotel we walked into the center of town and went to The Dubliner pub - it was Kevin's pick!
Saturday morning we walked into town around 9:00 to go to the tourist office to make some travel plans. The streets are really quiet in the mornings, except for a few tourists here and there. It is so dark in the mornings and lots of the Icelanders stay out at the bars until the wee hours of the morning resulting in very empty streets
Blue Lagoon 02
.We arranged to take a bus trip to the Blue Lagoon on Saturday. The hot springs are amazing - the water is a beautiful blue and it is so nice to sit in the warm water on a day when it is about 5oC and lightly raining.
We got back into Reykjavik in the early evening (dark already!) and then walked in to town for dinner and drinks. We found a really nice restaurant called the Geysir Restaurant. Despite the touristy name the food was incredible and the portions were generous. I had Icelandic lamb and Kevin had Icelandic lobster. Afterwards, we checked out some of the bars in the centre of town.
On Sunday we went on "The Golden Circle" bus tour. It is one of the most popular tours in Iceland, and it takes you to many interesting sights around Reykjavik. It was a little foggy that day so we could see the sights, but not much past them. It probably would have been even more amazing on a clear day.
The first stop on the tour was at an implosion crater caused by volcanic activity. Then, we went to a huge waterfall called Gullfoss. The rushing water makes a roaring sound and the waterfall was massive. Next stop was at the Geysir museum. The geysirs were definitely my favourite part of the tour. It was so neat to see the geysirs shoot boiling water into the air every 8-10 minutes. Our last stop was at Pingvellir National Park. The park is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is where the North American and the Eurasian tectonic plates are drifting apart and it is the only place in the world where the mid-atlantic rift valley can be seen above water/ground.
Comments
Iceland trip
Hi Kathy,
So great to see your photos of Iceland. Love the colourful roofs on the houses!
I can't tell - is that you are Kevin with the umbrella and the orange pants?
Love,
Mom