Flashback: Tourism In Iceland Thirty Years Ago

I recently stumbled upon a Q/A in the New York Times that made me a bit nostalgic for my annual trips to Iceland in the nineties, long before this great post-crash tourism boom that we are experiencing today.

The question, “I plan to visit Iceland next spring and would like to know what there is do and see in a week,” was asked in 1985, back when Iceland received less than 100,000 foreign visitors per year. As you can imagine, the answer paints a very different picture of a country that will receive 1,000,000 visitors this year.

Here are some of the highlights:

Rental cars were available, but the roads were really shitty and tourist officials apparently discouraged visitors from driving extensively. (This is just great!)

Visitors typically explored the country by plane or bus tours, which were mostly limited to the summer months with a few tours being offered in April and May.

The Parliament building was considered an attraction in Reykjavík along with the National and Folk Museum.

Reykjavík Excursions offered a tour for 11 bucks.

It cost 116 bucks to go on a day-trip to Akureyri, which was described as “rather long.”

There was a place called Mamaskard (Not really though…).

The “Great Geyser” (spelled Geysir) was in action (yeah, they were still cajoling it with soap in those days…).

The “Golden Circle” was worth recommending.

And our horses were confused for ponies (well, some things haven’t changed…).