You know how much I enjoyed my stay in Iceland, and you saw the photos. Whoever visits Iceland will be impressed by the landscape, the incredible nature, and the Northern Lights if he’s lucky.
But for me, there were other maybe small things, or not relevant to someone else, that really made me feel extra comfortable and love the place even more. I wrote a list, and came up with 15 extra reasons why Iceland is so great for me.
- It’s gay friendly.
If you know me, you know that I am a huge advocate for gay rights, and that I get very mad whenever I witness episodes of homophobia (yes I often have a hard time in Egypt). No, I’m not gay (rolls eyes) but does it even matter?
Iceland is an openly gay friendly place. Being gay in Iceland is not even something that people notice. It’s just what it’s supposed to be. And I was so happy to see this!
Iceland had the first openly lesbian prime minister, Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, and gay marriage was legalized in 2010. So yeah, this country is thatcool!
Laugavegur, the main street of Reykjavik, with the rainbow flags
- Icelandic wool.
I told you these were random reasons!
In Iceland, one of the typical things you can buy is the über warm woolen clothes with their typical colors and decorations. I was almost buying some, but I reminded myself I live in Egypt, where I will never need them. But I had to give myself a souvenir, so I bought the coolest gloves you will ever find! I hate wearing gloves but these ones are great for photography and basically anything, as fingers remain free to move. And warm.
All the knitwear I saw in Iceland made me feel like start knitting again.
My super cool, camera friendly Icelandic gloves
- The Icelandic accent, with hidden letters.
Man, I love the Icelandic accent. I can’t say I learned a lot of the language, but I listened enough to realize there are “hidden sounds” when you don’t expect them. Example: remember the volcano that erupted in 2010 and flights were stopped all over the world? Its name is Eyjafjallajökull. Now you don’t have to try and read it, but let’s just take the “fjalla” part. Well, as if the word was not long enough, the double “l” has to be pronounced as something like “tl”. So it will be “fjatla”.
Now apply this concept to the Icelandic people’s pronunciation, and you will have some very cute and funny effects. I remember the guy who hosted me once said he’s “a lu(kh)cky guy”. Aw!
Me and the Icelandic language (photo Ronni Hauksson)
- The weather.
No, seriously. There’s a saying in Iceland that goes like “If you don’t like the weather, just wait 5 minutes”. I remember the first day I woke up in Reykjavik, I looked outside of the window and it was snowing so much. I was disappointed! I went to the car hire to get my car and had to drive in the snow… that was not a good start. Then I went home, took a shower and by the time I got dressed a beautiful sun was shining in the blue sky. And I was ready to start my exploration!
The weather in Reykjavik: stormy and sunny at the same time!
- No need for cash.
I honestly have no idea what the Icelandic money looks like. I never had to take money from an ATM, and I kept paying everything with my credit card. For coffee, supermarkets, souvenirs or gas, I never needed anything else than my credit card, and for transportation etc I booked everything online. I love this! It makes traveling so much easier.
I never needed cash to put gas, and the northern lights show was for free :)
- The relationship between humans and nature.
In Iceland, the relationship between humans and nature goes beyond simple respect. Here, nature comes first. If you are so stupid to challenge nature, nobody will be sorry for you if you hurt yourself. As simple as that!
In Icelandic nature, you feel so small and humble. You wonder if humans are supposed to live in such wild conditions… or maybe this is exactly what we are supposed to do.
Iceland: big nature, small men
- The typical colorful houses.
I love colorful houses! I guess it’s because of my background. In Iceland and in Reykjavik especially, I was so fascinated by the modern, simple houses that come in so many different colors. To me, they all looked very new, but I found out that some of these houses are more than 50 years old. I wish houses were so colorful all around the world.
Reykjavik from above. I especially like the green house!
- A comfortable kind of cultural shock.
In Iceland, the language is obscure, the currency is different, some (many) areas are inaccessible during the winter, the people have a totally unique mood, they eat some really weird stuff (rotten shark anyone?), etc. But even with all these differences, it’s a very comfortable cultural shock. Everything works, the place is clean, transportation is on time, there are no safety issues. You will still feel like you’re visiting a very differentplace, but with all comforts!
You will always have a cozy and clean room waiting for you
- It’s safe.
It’s incredible how safe Iceland is. I remember one night I was on the way to Reykjavik with a group of photographers, and we stopped on the way to have dinner. They all left their very expensive camera equipment in the car, without even bothering to hide it in the trunk or below the seats. This is something I normally do whenever I have to leave something in the car here in Italy! I didn’t feel comfortable doing that, and took my heavy backpack with me to the restaurant. I was the only one.
It’s great to travel and feel safe. I think I had this same feeling only in Japan. You can walk around with your bag open and your wallet will still be there at the end of the day. What a great feeling!
Our car on the way to Reykjavik
- Efficient, eco-friendly heating.
In Iceland, heating comes from geothermal energy, and is therefore eco-friendly and renewable. Which is really cool! But practically speaking what I enjoyed was the incredibly nicely heated houses and the constant, unlimited hot water. It felt so good. Oh and tap water is so good! No need for bottled water.
The entrance of the Hellisheidavirkjun Geothermal Power Plant
- The frankness of people.
I was very surprised at how people are frank and direct when talking about some subjects. In the Mediterranean culture (I am Italian and spend most of my time in the Middle East) there are some subjects you don’t openly talk about, at least if you don’t know the other person well enough: death, illness, problems in general, sex and sexual orientation, etc.
In Iceland I found people had no problems telling me they were not feeling okay (while I will always say I’m fine if someone I don’t really know asks, unless something really bad happened).
Another thing that almost puzzled me was how the guide on my excursions was warning us “be careful if you want to walk behind the waterfall, last week a person died attempting”, but I am pretty sure somewhere else she would have said “be careful (…), it’s dangerous”, or “don’t do it because it’s dangerous”. Got what I mean? It felt a bit uncomfortable, but it’s good to know a person is being 100% honest.
The Gullfoss waterfalls. Want to walk down that path in the winter? At your own risk!
- Iceland has no army.
Standing ovation to this! Iceland is the only NATO country without an army. They only have a Coast Guard.
The Icelandic Coast Guard, the closest thing to an army you will find in Iceland
- The “hidden people”.
Huldufólk are elves in the Icelandic folklore. Most people in Iceland believe in elves, and respect them to the point that houses won’t be built if the area is believed to be inhabited by elves, one should never throw rocks in order not to hit them, and so on. Some people claim they can talk to the so called “hidden people” and give advice according to their conversations. I don’t know what I feel about this, but when in doubt, I would do what the elf says! I find this extremely fascinating.
If I were an elf, I would totally live here
- Icelandic pride.
I didn’t meet anyone in Iceland that was not proud of his country and its beauties.
Micheal, my host for the first two nights, studied abroad and sometimes still travels for work, but he told me he will always go back to Iceland because there’s no place like it.
I found it beautiful that people who live there are still fascinated and humbled by the Icelandic nature. For instance, you may think people are used to the Northern Lights, but many of them still go out at night to look at them.
Geothermal energy is another main reason for pride – some people even get married at the Hellisheidavirkjun Power Plant!
Even Balto the dog looks proud of his country.
- It’s internet friendly.
Ok, let’s talk about Reykjavik here because I am not sure about the other cities. But I absolutely loved the fact that everywhere I was I could easily find a wifi network, and most of the times without a password too (and free of charge, of course). For a digital nomad and/or a blogger this definitely makes all the difference!
I also bought an Icelandic simcard (the carrier is called Síminn) and activated a data plan. I didn’t expect it, but I had a very good 3g coverage everywhere I went.
The Kerið Volcano. I remember I sent a Tweet from here!
So these are some of the reasons why I really, really liked Iceland, besides the “obvious” Northern Lights and natural beauties. Would you add something?
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132 Comments
I can never read enough/see enough pictures of Iceland. I totally understand how proud people are :D
It is still on my top places to visit before I die list! And I’d love to go listen for advice from elves! It’s awesome to know the weird facts about other cultures too :)
Yes you have to see Iceland! I want everyone to go :)
….and weather it’s “real” or not doesn’t matter to me! It’s all a part of the Icelandic secret mystery :)
Thank you for this blog, I´m Icelandic living in Indonesia and reading this made me think of home and feel a little homesick, in a good way :)
Tell me what do you think of the long/short days?
Hi Daniel! I was there on February and days were not very short… I actually enjoyed the sun low on the horizon, giving the “sunset effect” all day long!
I am not sure I would like it when the days are very short, but I guess I will have to try :)
The thing with the elves is bull**. I don’t know one person in Iceland who believes in elves.
Weird! I heard stories about elves from most of the people I met there. I hope some other people from Iceland will leave a comment and add their opinions too.
Ingibjörg, what are you talking about? there are so many people in Iceland that believes in the hidden people! i would say maybe half of iceland does. And if they invite you in to theyr stone/rock (that they live in) you should not go inside!! becous you cant get back out. I don’t execly believe that they are real but I still respect them incase, wouldn’t take the chance ;)
I’m sure it similar to how many people believe in gosths..
According to studies at the University of Iceland, not many Icelandic people say that they believe in elves. But, at the same time, not many people deny they exist either. And there aren’t many Icelandic people that dare disturb rocks that are rumored to be the homes of elves.
It’s not that nobody believes in the elves, nor is it that everybody does. I think it’s more about respecting the nature. Every Icelander knows that Icelandic nature is extremely unpredictable so they dare not disturb it. Whether it’s because of the elves are responsible for the unpredictable happenings or not will always remain mystery ;)
haha I don´t know one person that believes in elves and I´m always surprised to hear this from people that have visited Iceland. But I´m from Reykjavík, maybe it´s different in the countryside. I lived in a very small ,,town” when I was younger and from there I remember one ,,elf-stone” that we should not climb on ;)
But other things I agree on ;)
:-) At least she’s right about the Icelanders speaking the truth!
My dear Ingibjörg.
By the sound of things you seem to be a bit young person, or at least that is what I truly hope for.
But to say that this is bull** with the following statement of you dont know anyone that believes, is one form of a not very solid logic.
Here I can tell you facts, the department of road and vehicles have a person (it is not a full time job), but it shows that when we have a possible elf encounter he comes inspects it, if it looks like there are elfs up and about this same person finds a elf mediator to negotiated the terms of setting the road.
Álfhólsvegur (Elfhillroad) is a clear example of where the elfs won, no matter how hard they tried they could not lay the road through the hill. New machines were brought and broke, then when they where brought back to the dealer nothing was wrong.
Blowing it up failed for reasons i dont remember any longer.
So a mediator was brought and the elfs allowed the road to laid around the hill, not over it as early plans.
So Ingibjörg to say what you just said makes no sense, when you have a department with in your government that has protocols for elfs.
Me, Im not sure weather I believe in them, I tend to think I´m an elf agnostic, like well according to my own personal experience of my fellow islanders I would assume at least 50% of the population feel the same way I do. But you are correct about one thing, hardcore believers are few and I have not met many or have I? Well to be honest Im not quite sure since I dont know what their believes are, towards elfs since it is not a very common topic of conversation in my circle.
Sorry Ingibjörg, you and I must mingle in very different crowds, as I’m an Icelander who knows that the Hidden folk are very real. Moat of my friends and family as well have a long lineage of connectedness to the spirit world, where the to some hidden elements live and breathe and have since before the settlers. It is a known fact, that there are “two types of Icelanders”, one who is called pragmatic/realistic the other more ephemeral and mystical, who sees no danger in keeping an open heart and mind.
It’s not bullshit, you just don’t talk enough to people
Always nice to hear things like that about Iceland! And beautiful pictures! :)
Regarding the Huldufólk, in my opinion, it’s not about believing that they’re actually real. To me it’s more like a fun tradition to believe in, to preserve all these amazing, fun, old stories that we have :)
…and weather it’s “real” or not doesn’t matter to me! It’s all just a part of the Icelandic secret mystery! :)
I have been to Iceland and can confirm that Icelanders are very serious about them. There is, in fact, a phallus museum, http://www.phallus.is/ , that contains an elf penis. Icelanders also have a high regard for fertility as shown in one of their shopping malls, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alda-sigmundsdottir/icelands-penis-mall-put-u_b_471848.html
Hi, Giulia. I liked your article a lot and was happy to read that you had such a great time in our country.
As regards elves and folklore enjoying it and believing in it are indeed two separate things. To quote from an article on my own tourist blog: “Thus folklorist Árni Björnsson claims that of people born from 1880-1910, to which he spoke, only around 10% actually believed in the stories, comparable with other nations. The difference was, however, that those who DID believe where much more outspoken about it than is common with other nations. Primarily, these stories were entertaining, and continue to be so.”
For the whole article, discussing New Year’s Eve in Iceland and surrounding lore, see my blog: https://www.guidetoiceland.is/a75/talk-to-locals/article/einarsteinn/well-take-a-cup-of-kindness-yet-for-auld-lang-syne
I can relate to this, Living in Edinburgh at the moment I am missing my warm house in Iceland, the nice hot water in the showers and the tap water! I love living in Edinburgh though.
I would be careful leaving your stuff behind in the cars, some people tend to break into cars if they see something valuable. (I guess its in every city)
I am one of those who believe in the elves (call me naive but I think its a nice idea). There are places both in Kópavogur (Álfhólsvegur) and on the roadside at Vesturlandsvegur that stories say that elves live. In Álfhólsvegur they had to build houses and roads around the hill because of the elves, machinery always kept breaking down when they tried to work and some men even got injured.. not seriously though.. but this hill still stands empty today. By the roadside of Vesturlandsvegur there is a big stone (I think its called Grásteinn) where the elves are suppose to be living, workers had to move it couple of times and experienced some troubles as well.
but I’m glad that you like Iceland, reading your blog made me just a tiny tiny bit homesick :)
sorry for the massive long comment!
Great blog. I am Icelander living abroad and one of the things I miss the most are all the great hot swimmingpools. Infact Iceland is a one big spa country. So I would add that to your fine list. Regarding “the hidden people” there sure are people who still belive in them in Iceland but it is mainly the older generation. I think we also play with this a bit for foreigners, people sometimes say this exist to make the life a bit more fun, especially for the tourists. I would say that none of mine friends or relatives really belives in elfs ;)
im from iceland and i like you list. and you think pepol in Reykjavík are proud of their country go out in the land and ask them you will get a good spech why iceland rules!! and i recomend you go to Akureyri,Eigilsstaðir and ísafjörður next time if you dint go ther they are gerat places
;) ;) :)
thanks you for the good comments.
but i must correct something you say,
almost no icelander believes in elvs. that is just something foreigners seem to like to think, why on earth should we believe in little people living in rocks?!?!?
the food you say icelanders eat, shark and things like that is not a common icelandic food, icelanders did eat this in the past, most icelanders eat mostly junk food from american hamburger/piza places
ivar, iceland
I am not trying to be mean her but there are still plenty of people that believe in elves and yeah I think by spending time here she did realize we don’t normally eat that :D
-Gréta
I’m 27years old and I believe in Elfs and trolls and all that Iceland seems to be hiding.. And I love it :D
:) Liked everything you wrote :) three thumbs up (the third was not mine ;) ) Sending you some good vibes from Iceland !
Thank you for pointing these things out about our country ;)
Lovely article, Giulia. I live in the north of Iceland and have done for nearly 7 years now. The thing that rang truest is the “comfortable” culture shock and the frankness of people.
About elves, there are not so many people who say openly that they believe in elves and huldufólk but there seems a great interest in the past and in stories, drama, art and music. There are some lovely and varied concert venues all around the country, as well as museums of all kinds – culture generally is important.
Not everywhere has the benefits directly of geothermal heating and hot water and electric power can be very expensive for some. Net connections can also be pretty slow for some outlying places but, as you say, the 3G coverage is brilliant, better than my other “home” in Scotland!
The rotted shark (hákarl – there’s that tl sound again, only ever heard that in Welsh before I came here) overall only comes out “once” a year. I say “once” because it depends how many þórrablot parties/celebrations you end up at during January and February. There are many other strange foods to endure/taste at this time, as well as the “delights” of “skata” on 23rd December. I reckon if I have tried something twice and it is just as horrible if not worse the second time, then I was not designed to eat it. There again, I will happily eat haggis, black pudding and British sausages, so who am I to talk/judge?
One of the strangest things I found is done in the winter … in many of the smallest places in Iceland, the car is left outside with the engine running, heater blasting and lights on whilst the driver pops into the shop/supermarket. Ready for a quick getaway? No, entirely practical, the windscreen is probably not going to freeze up that way :)
Two of the world’s best websites are Icelandic – http://www.vegagerdin.is, which tells you about current road conditions, complete with maps and webcams. http://www.vedur.is has reasonably accurate and easily understood weather forecasts. Useful for anyone who has to drive/travel anywhere at any time.
Icelandic airline pilots – probably the most hardy and highly-skilled commercial flyers in the world, in my opinion. I have great respect for these guys and their abilities, long may it continue. Also for the guys who see to clearing runways and baggage handling in the most foul of weather.
And now I really must go and teach … learning Icelandic has been and still is an uphill challenge but setting it to music can be brilliant fun!
Hope you manage to get back here some day.
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Thank you for your list! I am Icelandic living the USA. I love Iceland and I go there at least 2-3 times a year. I as many other’s believe in the elves. My mother was born in a cave and she played with elves as a child. You could not go any closer than that. I am always homesick!
Nice list, it includes many of the reasons why I
prefer living in Iceland.
Here´s a illustrated map of Reykjavík in case you miss it:
http://www.reykjavikcentermap.com
and regarding the elves…………
not a firm believer, nor anyone that I know,
but I choose regard it as a set of beautiful stories
that have clearly strengthened the people´s connection
with nature. It makes nature much more interesting
if you can imagine that it´s “living” in one way or another.
I spent two years living in Iceland and I loved every minute of it. It’s on my bucket list to go back someday. The part I loved the best is how educated the whole country is :) The 99% literacy rate is outstanding.
Wow, so many comments about the elves. Must add one :-)
There are two kinds of people in Iceland. The heathens and the others. The others are also heathen but they just don’t like to admit it because it’s not considered very fancy. Being a christian is more acceptable.
But being a heathen is not about religion, which is why you can be both a heathen and a christian at the same time. Being a heathen is about respecting nature in all it’s glory and splendor, whether or not you believe in it (impossible not to believe in it, although explaining it can sometimes be very difficult).
So no matter what people actually tell you, and as is evident by the way you seem to have experienced Iceland, this is in fact a heathen to the core community residing here. Every man is free to be and do what makes him happy, not just by law but from the moral standpoint of the majority of the people.
Heathens don’t have Bibles or religious scripts to explain the world to them or tell them how they must live their lives. Nature explains itself to us and we must learn to live with nature but we get to use both our own common sense and imaginations to draw our own conclusions from it.
So for some people, elves it is. For others; could be elves. For even more; why not elves? Personally, I have believed in elves since I was a little girl and the universe has not yet managed to convince me that I’m wrong in that. So not only are there are elves in my Iceland but I actually believe I have an entire little community in my garden :-)
p.s. thx for a great post, loved your experience of Iceland :-))
…. what she said ;- )
And you MUST add our swimming pools to your list.
When you were talking about our funny language you compared “fjalla” to “fjatla” and actually fjatla is an icelandic ord with a very different meaning, it means to touch something excessively or play with yourself. i laughed.
double L has more of a dl sound
LOL that’s funny! Ops. :)
Don’t you mean ,,fitla” Hólmfríður?
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Good list! :) and great pictures!
The “ll” sound my even sound more like “ddl”… Also the “ll” sound can be different, for instance the name “Gulli” (short for f.e. Guðlaugur) is said differently than “Bolli” (a name and also the Icelandic for a cup)… Bolli has the “ddl” sound to it but Gulli has the “ll” sound as in yellow…. but when to use wich?
Can´t tell you, I don´t think there´s a rule about it.
Some tips on traveling around Iceland:
There are a few things to keep in mind when traveling in Iceland, especially the highlands and even more especially going on glaciers, it can be very very dangerous. So having a Gps that gives coordinates and leaving a travel plan with someone (if you can) can save your life, and not venture somewhere without talking to the locals. Alot of them know what to be aware of. 3 little examples:
I remember one man (1 or 2 years ago) who went (if I remember correctly) walking on Eyjafjallajökull and fell into a crevasse. He survived the fall, and had a signal on his cell phone so he called for help. He told them he had fallen in a crevasse in Eyjafjallajökull and needed help. Search and rescue went there to search for him, and they are highly trained in these circumstances (and all of them are volunteers) but didn´t find him. He was found though a few days later. He had read the map wrong and went walking on a wrong glacier wich is full of cracks. He never stood a chance to poor guy.
A couple from Canada went to the Highlands to see the rough nature of Iceland, (this was this fall/early winter). They were driving in nice weather and enjoying the country. A snow storm hit suddenly and fortunately they saw an emergency shelter wich they stopped their car by. They were found one week later alive and well, but nobody knew that they were there. A guy was driving from shelter to shelter just to check if there might be someone there, and well, they were really lucky.
I went hunting ptarmigan in the highlands with my brother. Out first ptarmigan hunting trip.
We went early morning, 5 am and came down from the mountain at around 5 pm. Hard walk that :) Tried to start the car but nothing. The starter motor had ceased working. The cell phones had no connection so we couldn´t let anyone know we had problems.
The temp. was -15°C (I think that´s 5°F) and the wind was very strong, so the wind chill was crazy. We stayed in the car from 5 pm till 2:30 am, until rescue came. Fortunately by dumb luck, my brother had left a travel plan for his wife so it didn´t take so much time to find us. But man we were cold when they got there. We never go hunting after that without leaving a travel plan and a time when we should contact.
This is just to keep in mind :)
Good advice.
Just two things to add about safe travel in Iceland, The Icelandic Search-and-Rescue Association has an excellent homepage about safe travel in Iceland.
http://www.safetravel.is/En/
There you can get advice, and most importantly download an app to your phone that can send out your location to emergency responders with the push of one button.
On the page and through the app you can register a travel-plan so that if you are going into the mountains and get lost, at least they have your plan to calculate possible areas to search.
Highly advisable that travelers should check this site out before venturing into the highlands.
I don´t know what all the fuss is about, many of us don´t believe in humans!
ps. We even have 3G in the rocks!! :)
Góður! :D
I am so happy for your good experience here in Iceland and it made me proud to read how you and other foreigners love our country – AND “get” it. Get how we are and why. You have to come here in May and June and stay up all night and enjoy the weirdness of the sun being high in the sky at midnight. Love those days.
About the elvs. I don´t think we believe but when in the nature we are aware not to disturb rocks or move them around – because of the elvs and “just in case” – maybe that is believing :). I never pick wild flowers or stones. I believe the flower belong to nature and it is not my place to pick them and put them in a vase in a house. Stones are the same. They are not mine to take. I believe nature has soul and live and nowhere is that feeling stronger for me than here in Iceland,
I´m so glad you had a good time in Iceland. Loved your post. About the hidden I believe!
Thank you!
Hi Giulia!
Did you try the horse meat?
I´m an Icelander living in Brazil but I lived in California before moving here. I was surprised to see that you picked that time of the year to go, why not go during the summer where the country really comes to life? It´s beautiful of course all year round (yepp, another proud Icelander) but man the summer there is just amazing! I guess I have a bit of nostalgia myself not having spent summer there for 7 years!! I can´t wait to go camping again and staying out all night since you can´t even go to sleep due to the brightness! I loved your list about my beautful country and I can´t wait to bring my husband there! Everyone here in Brazil keeps asking me about my country and it seems that I keep seeing it in every magazine, blog and news here!! Today my student (I teach English here) asked me if we ate whale meat, puffins and reindeer in Iceland so I wanted to ask you if you tried the horse meat there? It´s delicious actually! Well, good luck on your travels and you´re welcome to Recife, Brazil anytime you´d like! Beijos!!
Giulia! Thank you for such an entertaining piece about my awesome country… I am a very proud Icelander and of course (rolls eyes) believe in elves!! Haven´t seen one, but that does´nt mean they don´t exist, right?
When/if you decide to visit us again, make sure you travel to the east coast – tiny villages, beautiful scenery, tourist friendly and totally different from the south of Iceland.. North is awesome to, and i still have to travel to the west fjords, but it is extremely beautiful there.. Come in the summer or fall.. The length of the day is really good, you can drive for 24 hrs straight with enough light the whole time to take photos!
Hope to see another list like that from you in not such a long time :)
Out in the East Coast of Iceland we have a website http://www.meetthelocals.is and the motto is…
Come as a stranger – leave as a friend… ;)
In nature like this one the only thing you take are pictures and the only thing you leave behind are footprints. Thank you for your lovely blog and pictures of my beautiful country.
Wow, it sounds brilliant! How strange that I knew so little about Iceland before. Nevertheless, you’ve convinced me and I think I’ll take advantage of reasonable flights from the UK in the near future.
My favourite reason? That Icelanders believe in elves!!
Great post. Im kind of obsessed with Iceland though I haven’t been there yet. So many good artist come out of such a small country. You gave me some great info!
-Brittany Ruth
What a fantastic post! My husband and I went for the first time last year and immediately fell in love. We’re going back for our anniversary this year, and we’ve decided that one of these days, we’re going to try and rent one of the summer houses for a couple months (in the summer, duh) and just explore as much as we can.
To those of you Icelanders posting in here too: Your country is amazing. You are amazing. I’m pretty sure you guys are the best people in the world. If we ever find a way to retire in some little cabin in the middle of nowhere in Iceland, we will consider our lives complete.
BTW, Italy is also one of our favorites, Guilia…as crazy as it is, it just gets into your blood and you can’t stop visiting it either.
The hidden people/elves… VERY FEW people in Iceland believe in them.. maybe 1%.. MAX
:)
Yeah, I have one thing to add. Iceland is a fairly small country (ring road being just over 1000 miles) while at the same time having very diverse scenery. This means if you want to see something different you only have to drive for an hour (or sometimes just walk a bit) for a new visual experience.
I would add: Sigur rós
What a beautiful place ! Sometimes I consider this country a different planet altogether. One of my dream destinations. Thanks for sharing your experience here.
I feel I must answer “Doctoreo” about the elves:
This fact is wrong :) Everyone believe in elves in Iceland. However only few of us admit ;)
I love the “no money” one, I remember even taking taxi’s and paying by card, the swipe machine was attached to the steering wheel!
What else do I miss/love about Iceland? Drinking the cleanest clearest tap water (as long as you turned the cold tap).
Pyllsur med ollu is another thing. I know it is just a hot dog, but it is a hot dog Iceland style.
And the way the streets and the flights of steps around Hafnarfjordur melted the snow and ice that lay on them, making it much safer to walk on, up and down.
Thats just for starters, I also miss all my friends in Iceland too.
Thank you for a fantastic post about my beautiful country, I really enjoyed it.
I do not believe in the elfs and hidden people, for some reason we count them as two diferent but very similar entities. We say “álfar og huldufólk”, but I never understood why or knew what the difference was. But, and this is akin to believing I know, I would never dare to move a “elf”-stone or build where there were supposed to be elfs….
I now live in Norway, another beautiful country, and I find that I need my yearly dose of Iceland. I get restless if I don’t go there regularly. I love living here and only want to be a visitor in Iceland but still I need to breathe it in every so often. One thing I so enjoy when back in Iceland is the warm water, the pools, the long showers, and the spa feeling you get when you go to the public swimmingpools and soak in the hot tubs while your hair freezes on your head :)
The colorful houses and the painted roofs in all the colors of the rainbow, another fave.
Last Christmas we went to a cabin (sommerhouse) in the countryside, just 1hr drive from Reykjavik, spent the holliday there with the hot tub on full blast and the stars and aurora borealis dancing over the night sky for our benefit it seemed. What could be more perfect than that?
If you go back to Iceland, spring and autumn are beautiful seasons and you will see us and the land in even more joyous mood and colors.
Oh and lastly, what I really really love about Iceland is the near total lack of venomous insects. You get the odd semi venomous spider and of course wasps and bees. Nothing else. Hardly any insects at all, very few pesky rodents and over all mostly harmful animals. You also hardly find poisonous berries or vegetation, except for a few varieties of mushrooms.
[…] from @giuliac… 15 random reasons why I love Iceland from @giuliaccia! What are yours? travelreportage.com/home/2013/05/1… Back Older blog […]
I would add the swimming pools. Absolutely my favourite thing about Iceland. Wherever you go, almost in every village you’ll find a nice pool.
What a lovely article, thank you for your kind words and beautiful pictures.
One note regarding reason number 1. The rainbow flags are there for a reason, that reason being that the offices of Pink Iceland are in that building, they are a LGBTfriendly travel agent you can learn more on the webpage http://www.pinkiceland.is or their fb page. Their services have won awards and the gratitude of they LGBT clients many whom have had them plan their weddings in Iceland.
Just thought I would get that out there in case anyone was wondering :)
(Although we would totally fly the rainbow flag every day just because, and maybe we should ;)
I like your article but it’s a little bit over the top to say “most” people believe in huldufólk. It’s more like interesting folk lore which we respect but don’t actually believe in, except maybe for the older generations.
I mean no disrespect, I just thought I’d throw it out there to avoid inconsistencies.
99% literacy and the rest that cant read believe in elves .. ?? There is your problem
Thanks for this post, I loved your random top 15.
I always wondered why people ask “how are you?” in other countries, everybody answers the same way: “I’m fine thank you”
If you don’t want to know, don’t ask. Easy as that ;)
The elves and other magical creatures are even featured in a recent Simpsons episodes which takes place in Iceland :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_0HJLafkKK8
This is a great list. I fell in love with Iceland last year when I traveled around the country. We got to meet Jón Gnarr, stayed in the band Of Monsters and Men’s old apartment, and went on a Huldufólk tour…Actually it inspired us so much that we published a book about it called “Tales of Iceland or Running with the Huldufólk in the Permanent Daylight” :)
I’ll add to the Huldufólk discussion, from a passage from the book that paints a nice picture:
An American journalist came to Iceland a few years ago. She asked many people if they believed in the elves. Some said yes, some said no — to the ones that said no, she asked: “Would you be willing to break up one of these rocks that are supposedly the elves’ homes?” All of them said no. Just in case.
I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to live in Iceland for a year. Everything you mentioned and more are the reasons I love Iceland so much. The people are friendly and kind.
Thanks for the nice blog, I like so many who have commented am an Icelander living abroad, and got a little homesick reading this.
I like to think there are elves out there in our country, call me crazy I don’t care. I remember very well from my childhood (I’m only 31.. so not so long ago) several stones that where homes to elves, and a hill where it was forbidden to mow the grass on because it was an elf hill. Once one of the kids (well teenagers, when all the youth in my town worked for the town as their summer jobs) didn’t listen, and mowed the grass on the hill… a few days after it happened the group went for a trip and that person had an accident, I can’t remember exactly what it was, but it was sort of a “freak accident”, nothing too serious, but still a bit serious and we all knew why it happened, it was because he mowed the grass of the elf hill. We all just knew…
Obviously reading the comments, not everyone believes in them. But please show some respect and acknowledge that many of us do, and many of us have childhood memories with elf stories.
amen Martrét! :) There is no way i would disturb an “elf stone” or a hill… NEVER!!! These stories and tales are there for a reason….
Their sense of humour is wonderful. And so is Jón Gnarr :D
These are not random at all, they are excellent reasons to love Iceland! My mother is from Iceland and I still have lots of relatives there so I’ve been to visit many times. It never ceases to amaze me. On the gay-friendly note: I remember when I was 17, I watched two straight guys make out with each other at a party. They did it just for fun, just to show off how much they are not bothered by the idea of homosexuality. It was actually kind of a turn-on for me, as I had never seen two straight boys kiss! That would never happen where I’m from – even here in Northern California, where we are supposed to be super liberal. One thing I might add to this list is that all the animals are very happy (the hairy horses are my favorite) and it is evident in the food, particularly the dairy… I swear Icelandic dairy is a billion times better than American dairy because the livestock are allowed to roam the hills and graze on the freshest, cleanest grass in the whole world and live fat and happy lives.
During my recent visit I was amazed that I did not need to change currency – as stated above. My EC and credit card paid for everything from hire car and hotel to many coffees in Storfun. The café life there is amazing. You will slip into conversation easily with the locals or other tourists and be amazed at the friendliness and the intelligent conversation.
For example I asked what all those cairns (piles of stacked rocks) in the lava fields, I saw on the drive from the airport to Reykjavik, were. I not only found out that they were way markers but was treated to a discourse on how they were used in days passsed but instructions on how to treat them.
I´ll add to the “huldufólk” weight. You sods that don´t believe in them really are strange. The “huldufólk”, elves or whatever you might want to call them relly do exist. And anyone can see them if one wants to. These weird creatures, unattached to realism, crawl out from under their rocks to tell us tales of wondrous nature with an interval of four years. And ordinary Icelanders listen to them awe-strucken.
I accidentally stumbled across your blog and am fascinated with Iceland! I have wanted to go there for the longest time but it’s pretty far away from Texas and pretty expensive to get there. What time of year would you suggest someone visit? Would you suggest being based in Rejkyvik (sp?) and taking day trips to see the sights? Would a one-week visit be too long? Thanks so much for any info you would care to add!
I would recommend at least two weeks, more if you wan’t to take the round tour. For travelling in the countryside, summer and early autumn (no later than end of September) is preferable, for Reykjavik and surroundings, well as the biggest towns in each quadrant (E-, W-, and N-Iceland) you can enjoy any time during the year. Just be ready for any weather, including getting snowed in (not often in Reykjavik).
I live abroad and visit my country often as a “tourist” and always find something facinating each time. Things change fast in Iceland.
I hope you found this somewhat helpful, but you can check many of the internet sites for Iceland as well, http://www.visiticeland.com and http://www.Inspiredbyiceland.com and even http://wikitravel.org/en/Iceland
If you can reach cities that icelandair flies to cheaply, you can get to Iceland relatively cheap.
:)
Sigridur
Hi… as an Icelander i would recommend a trip to Iceland in the summer or fall (my favorite seasons, and for a foreigner, possibly driving himself, it is less stressful, then having to worry about icy roads during winter, early spring….
A week is to short if you ask me.. And dont spend the whole time in Reykjavik,, If possible fly out to the north, Akureyri, or Egilsstadir and check out the areas surrounding those towns.. Absolutely gorgeous around there…
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