Iceland - The land that time forgot (Iceland)

Name: jane hilton

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Product:	Iceland
Date:	22.07.02 (239 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: not commercial , amazing geology, slow pace of life

Disadvantages: expensive, changable weather

We were looking for the Ice House Hotel, thinking it would be in Iceland and stumbled across the idea of going to Iceland on holiday.
Most people thought we were mad, as Iceland is not high on most people?s list of holiday destinations but IT SHOULD BE.
Iceland is great to escape the fast capitalist life styles we tend to lead. The main reason we visited Iceland was for the photography. If you are interested in photography then this place is ideal.

The waterfalls are unbelievable, especially svartifoss, seljandsfoss, skogafoss and gulfoss, and put any in Britain to shame. The landscape in general is quite bleak, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong went to Iceland to train for the moon landing. The most amazing natural feature we visited was the iceberg lagoon, which the latest Bond cast had just finished filming at. The icebergs fall off the glacier into a lagoon where they stay until they have neared the end of their life and float like logs done a river into the Atlantic. The icebergs are amazing, dancing like ballerinas and the blue colour of them is out of this world.

Be warned though, after a few days you will become immune and ungrateful of the wonderful landscape as you get used to it, and another waterfall will no longer amaze you.

Reykjavik was lovely, although I was amazed at this city with a population of around 150,000 was a capital city having been used to the fast pace of London. The city?s architecture was fantastic, a must is the Viking Boat Sculpture at the harbour and the Hallgrimskirkja (which also has magnificant views of the city). Also worth a visit for modern sculptures is the Asmundur Sveinsson museum, however do not pay to go into the museum as the best exhibits are outside and are free.

However, the best activity we did in Iceland had to be the snow mobiling. The journey is not particularly nice, as you have to reach the glacier in a 4x4, which is very bumpy, so I would suggest giving breakfast a miss
. Once you get on the glacier though the peace and tranquillity are something you may never experience again. The snowmobiles themselves are very tricky to manoeuvre. You have to move with corner that you are turning, and this can be tricky to master. There are guides who follow you, one at the front, middle and rear, so when we fell off everything was OK apart from the embarrassment factor.

So to sum up Iceland:

1) Go before tourism really hits off, before the waterfalls get crowded, before the litter builds up.
2) Leave the kids at home, as Iceland is new to tourism children are not really catered for and may find it boring.
3) Food is expensive, even a McDonalds value meal is approx. £6.
4) Hire a car ? you can see so much more and are not restricted time wise
5) Take a wide range of clothing as one minute it can be raining the next minute you need your sun cream

But most of all remember your camera!

Summary: