The group consisted of seven tourists, unacquainted with going underground except for the occasional ride on the tube, and one Icelandic guide and driver, who, it would turn out later, was in fact a huge fan of underground trains. Our first target…

We decided to approach our destination along the south coast. We also decided to skip most of the traditional tourist attractions and be original and alternative (meaning endless hours of driving, with visits only to gas stations to get more coffee, candy…

For many visitors, and indeed Icelandic citizens, Reykjavík and the surrounding area is Iceland. And very nice it is too. I, however, moved to Neskaupstaður, (population 1500), – about as far away from the capital as it is possible to be and…

We have three different maps in the car, each with circles and notes from Icelanders suggesting different spots in Snæfellsnes that one should never miss: or at least, that used to be that way in the 1980s and 1990s. We have received…

The Reykjavík City Hostel hostel is neatly located in the Laugardalur valley (“Hot Spring Valley”), the sports and recreation area of the town of Reykjavík. Next door you’ll find the largest outdoor swimming pool in town, botanical gardens and the sports stadium,…

When my father left the North American continent for the first time in his life to visit his expatriate son, I knew that I had to take him on the Golden Circle, though. First of all, he was here on a short…

What is it that the traveller really needs? Spending a few nights in places such as in a good old cosy tent in Þorsmörk after 20 kilometre hike from Skógar, or on a couch at a friend’s place next to the City…

When I was invited to come check out the new Radisson SAS 1919, I had two immediate replies: 1) It’s a Radisson SAS, I think I know what’ll be there; 2) Why would a Radisson SAS be interested in what an alternative…

Whenever the urge hits you to pull over on the Ring Road, or Highway One, which circles Iceland, you should take it. Even if you haven’t slept, even if you’re dehydrated, even if you have to get back to Reykjavík, which is…

“I like coming to work. Every day the lagoon is completely different. I work in a different setting every day,” Hanna Dís, our young transplanted former Reykjavík bartender guide tells us as we ride through Jökulsárlón in a large amphibious vehicle. Jökulsárlón…

Southeast Iceland has two gems: the Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon and the Skaftafell National Park. Both of these sites are stunningly beautiful; the former for the fantastically shaped icebergs floating in sky blue water, and the latter for vast expanses of forest and…

There is only one Salvation Army Guesthouse in the world, and it’s located in downtown Reykjavík, just across from the oldest house in the city, former home to Jón Sigurðsson. If you’re worried that by merely entering the building you will be…

Whenever you talk whale watching in Iceland, you hear the stories about Húsavík. It is not atypical to come across the blue whale on the tours there, and their hit rate of spotting a whale 99% of the time is oft-quoted. As…

Agnar Agnarsson’s new upper-range hotel, Home, obviously draws influence from Ian Schraeger’s living art approach to temporary housing, but what is even more impressive, he has outcharmed and out-comforted the best of the American hotel scene. Everything about Home seems like a…

A total of 19 sharks were being taken off of three ships and loaded onto an open trailer, and they were enormous – about three metres long – which we later learned was their average size. The sharks had already been gutted,…

Nature was at its best on the way there, bright blue spots in the sky and the dullness of winter withdrawing for the neon green moss and grass. Nature looked clear and squeaky clean, the smoke puffs from the geothermal heat around…

Time lurches forward in fits and starts when you work in the kitchen at Fjörukráin, the Viking Restaurant. I know, I survived a year working there. One moment I’m standing in the prep room, slicing row after row of tomatoes in preparation…

I contacted Georg shortly after and as with most surfers you come across, he was very approachable and more than happy to help me. Georg, I found out is a native of Reykjavík, as nearly all surfers here are, explaining why most…

What would be so fun that it would be worth shoving your wedding tackle about in front of a mass of strangers? (That is assuming you don’t just enjoy the aforementioned act.) Well, it’s swimming in geothermal pools (all pools in Reykjavík…

The Grapevine asked Harris Schaer, University of Iceland physics graduate student and alternative energy researcher, to tour the Ring Road and give us his take on the experience. Below, Harris explains the necessity of good traveling companions, the glories of pig-mountain-glacier (Svinafellsjokull)…

The people of Húsavík attracted the seals with smoke. They hunted the seal in nets and had a box of old grass (moð) at each end of their camping location. Around noon they lit the old grass, producing smoke. The harp seal…

These are some of the ingredients of the Icelandic sheep round-ups that are going on all over the country these months. When the sheep give up and just lie there puffing their lungs out, and any true animal lover would want to…