Iceland, in current scenario, is more connected to fun and adventure rather than dark and chilly days and nothing to do. It is a far better place for tourists now than it was two decades back. This mid-Atlantic European island is the closest neighbor to North America with flight duration of only four and a half hours. One thing can be said for sure. There are more than expected adventures and activities waiting for everyone. The most electrifying thing about Iceland is the weather. In January the temperature will very easily go below 0 degrees but still the Icelander’s welcome for every visitor is very warm in every season.
Rugged and raw lava fields which are just few centuries old, gives a very warm welcome for visitors who arrive at Keflavík airport which is located in southern part of Iceland. These lava fields spread till the southwestern Reykjanes peninsula area. All in all it can be said that right from getting out of the airport, spectacular and amazing sights can be seen. Southern Iceland is full of surprises and new revelations on every step. Let us reveal some of those surprises.
Geothermal activities are very frequently visible in south Iceland in hot springs and especially the blue lagoons. Blue lagoon is probably the most illustrious bathing spot situated in the lava field. It is said that its water is full of minerals and that water is famous for health related qualities. South Iceland is the perfect destination for a day tour from Reykjavik and for those tourists who are short of time to explore the country in depth as it provides all opportunities for birdlife watching and whale watching along with some very well known sea shores.
South Iceland has variety of day tours to offer and that too from the capital Reykjavik. The tourist destination called “golden circle” is a must visit place for all the tourists coming to this part of Iceland. The main attraction is Thingvellir where it is believed that the earliest arrivers set an assembly way back in 930 A.D. this assembly is now called the oldest parliament of the world. This city of Thingvellir is also very famous for its natural beauty with a lake and numerous rifts that shows the signs of continental plates of America and Eurasia. Golden circle’s other two main attractions are the Gullfoss, “the golden falls” and the geothermal fields of Geysir. This is a two tier waterfall in the gulch of the river Hvita and the hot springs are famous as it vomits boiling water and steam after every five minutes. Another geyser called “the old faithful” has started erupting again after sleeping for many years. Landmannalaugar is also very famous tourist destination as it is a hotbed of geothermal activities. It is also very famous for its springs and for colors of its landscapes and mountains. Situated in interiors in south Iceland is the Lakagigar crater series inland form kirkjubaejerklauster. It is famous as it produced the biggest lava flow in the historical times anywhere around the world. This event happened during the Skaftar eruptions in 1783.
All these forces of nature are responsible not only for shaping southern Iceland but also the life of the people living here. In earlier times, people here believed that the peak part of mount Hekla is the gate of hell. In the southern most part, a west Mann Island is the home for continuous earthquakes. The history of southern Iceland is very rich and it is seen everywhere. Starting from range of Sage period farm houses at Stong it goes to the old bishop seat of Skalholt and also to the very popular regional museum at Skogar. All these are considered very unique in their respective fields.
Iceland is the perfect place for relieving yourself and taking a step on the European settlement and that too with a very electrifying, vigorous and a very ancient but a very personal living culture. You will feel as if you are in your home or your city as you are free to walk around, go shopping and exploring for new things.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
Monday, July 30, 2007
Enchanting Northern Iceland
Untouched and still very natural along with big and open landscapes, freezing glaciers, hot geysers, active volcanoes and so many others are the attractions of raw Iceland that attracts the tourists from other countries to visit there again and again just to enjoy the world’s greatest wilderness sites where history, culture, drama, natural scenery all combine together to make a visit an unforgettable traveling experience. As it is known to everyone that Iceland is full of surprises and natural beauty wherever you go, let us see what North Iceland has got for the visitors there.
CULTURE, NATURAL TREASURES AND ADVENTURES;
This part of Iceland is an unreserved, enchanting area, where one can find all the attractive aspects of this country i.e. culture, flourishing society, endless chances of entertainment, beautiful nature in all directions and outdoor recreation as well. One can see the flowing springs when the sun melts the snow on the mountain peaks in the summer season. This is the time when some love to swim or play golf while some enjoy fishing, hunting, horse riding or going on some adventurous trips to the sea and rivers. Everything is available here and everyone can choose what suits them or what they love doing. Some adventures like road trip to other towns, to other isolated islands, towards highlands to get the view of the mountains, to hot springs, waterfalls, volcano craters are the very famous adventure trips in northern part of Iceland. Out of all those, trip to highland is the most unforgettable of all. The season of autumn brings new colors for north Iceland while the winter is a special season there as winter sports are played with lots of interest and passion. The most special and worth mentioning is the northern lights which when seen in the dark provides inspirational and spiritual inspiration.
HORSERIDING;
It is believed the northern Icelanders are the best horse riders. Most horse rental agencies provide amazing riding trips through the country. These trips go through the untouched and charming nature of Iceland along the coast to the scenic mountains. In many parts of northern Iceland, exhibitions are held to promote horse riding in the country.
NATURAL POOL, HOT SPRINGS AND SWIMMING;
After tiring hiking there is a health and freshness related natural activity. Relaxing in warm water and feeling the tiredness get out of the body is the best relaxing attraction of northern Iceland. Naturally heated swimming pools are found in every town of northern Iceland. Small pools have their own magic as they are of different temperatures. Nature has provided natural bathrooms where a tourist can enjoy bathing in midst of the enchanting nature.
WILDLIFE;
Natural fauna and not to mention flora provides every watcher the sight that excites him. Hindisvik is one of the biggest seal breeding grounds in the world. Here seals are tamed and preserved and it is made available for the tourists to see them either from land or kayak. The area of Skagi corporate the large variety of birds while Husavik has a whale museum to show to tourists. Dalvik offers the best whale spotting destination.
Every tourist and visitors going there should give some time to stop and feel the natural beauty of northern part of Iceland. It’s a guarantee that you will regret leaving Iceland as anyone who visits Iceland simply love to live there for rest of his/her life.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
CULTURE, NATURAL TREASURES AND ADVENTURES;
This part of Iceland is an unreserved, enchanting area, where one can find all the attractive aspects of this country i.e. culture, flourishing society, endless chances of entertainment, beautiful nature in all directions and outdoor recreation as well. One can see the flowing springs when the sun melts the snow on the mountain peaks in the summer season. This is the time when some love to swim or play golf while some enjoy fishing, hunting, horse riding or going on some adventurous trips to the sea and rivers. Everything is available here and everyone can choose what suits them or what they love doing. Some adventures like road trip to other towns, to other isolated islands, towards highlands to get the view of the mountains, to hot springs, waterfalls, volcano craters are the very famous adventure trips in northern part of Iceland. Out of all those, trip to highland is the most unforgettable of all. The season of autumn brings new colors for north Iceland while the winter is a special season there as winter sports are played with lots of interest and passion. The most special and worth mentioning is the northern lights which when seen in the dark provides inspirational and spiritual inspiration.
HORSERIDING;
It is believed the northern Icelanders are the best horse riders. Most horse rental agencies provide amazing riding trips through the country. These trips go through the untouched and charming nature of Iceland along the coast to the scenic mountains. In many parts of northern Iceland, exhibitions are held to promote horse riding in the country.
NATURAL POOL, HOT SPRINGS AND SWIMMING;
After tiring hiking there is a health and freshness related natural activity. Relaxing in warm water and feeling the tiredness get out of the body is the best relaxing attraction of northern Iceland. Naturally heated swimming pools are found in every town of northern Iceland. Small pools have their own magic as they are of different temperatures. Nature has provided natural bathrooms where a tourist can enjoy bathing in midst of the enchanting nature.
WILDLIFE;
Natural fauna and not to mention flora provides every watcher the sight that excites him. Hindisvik is one of the biggest seal breeding grounds in the world. Here seals are tamed and preserved and it is made available for the tourists to see them either from land or kayak. The area of Skagi corporate the large variety of birds while Husavik has a whale museum to show to tourists. Dalvik offers the best whale spotting destination.
Every tourist and visitors going there should give some time to stop and feel the natural beauty of northern part of Iceland. It’s a guarantee that you will regret leaving Iceland as anyone who visits Iceland simply love to live there for rest of his/her life.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
Iceland – A country that promises never to disappoint
The country ‘Iceland’ has a very interesting story behind getting this amazing and unusual name. Actually this name ‘Iceland’ was allotted by one of this country’s very first visitors the Viking Floki Vilgeroarson. He felt that this name is just perfect as it was showing one of this country’s top qualities. This man came here with the hope of beginning a new life although this land was all uninhabited. But the long and chilled winter of the year 870 A.D killed all his domestic animal herds. He went further towards the high mountains of northwest part of the country hoping to get some suitable place for his farm but what he found was only fjords, full of drift ice. He got very disappointed and named this place Iceland or ‘the island of ice’. Then he went back to his country Norway.
But now, Iceland promises that it will not disappoint any of their visitors. Although this country of Iceland is almost as raw and natural as it was at that time i.e. with a coastal edge. One can found dotted sheep farms, few fishing villages and small hamlets which are not bigger than a handful of homes built around wooden church. It was said till twentieth century that Icelandic city or even a town is a very rare sight. The population of the country at that time was restricted to 60,000 only. Now also, the total population of Iceland is about 272,000 and is Europe’s most meagerly populated country. More than half of all population lives in the southwestern corner of the country in the very famous and cosmopolitan city of Reykjavik. Fortunately Reykjavik is also the capital of Iceland. The city of Akureyri on the north coast of the country is the second most populated city other than Reykjavik area.
Coasts of Iceland are all thinly populated but the interior part of the country stays all uninhabited and still it is untouched by humans and their habits. One can still see beautiful and huge ice fields, big lava grounds and deserts of ashes, upland plateau swept by wing and cool and frigid Vatnajokull, biggest glacier of Europe. In the capital city of Reykjavik also, one can sight crusty and snow capped mountains and fjords in the background. Also visible are the signs of the forces of the nature that probably made this country to emerge from the land crust.
Its location in the mid-Atlantic crest has made it volcanically, the most active land part of the earth which exists there along with naturally appearing hot springs, hot and bubbly mud pools, noisy steam vents and a chord of unpredictable and violent volcanoes. These volcanoes have been the major tourist attraction of Iceland for ages now. Icelanders have learnt how to adjust and live with the volcanoes. There is a story that in June 1998, when an earthquake occurred in Reykjavik due to volcanic eruption, the ballet dancers were performing their show and they completed the show which continued the whole night without even missing a step.
All these little but extremely interesting facts make Iceland one of the most exotic and thrilling tourist destinations in the world. As told earlier, it promises not to disappoint any of the tourists that go there. There are many attractive destinations and places worth seeing in Iceland which includes all the above mentioned attractions.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
But now, Iceland promises that it will not disappoint any of their visitors. Although this country of Iceland is almost as raw and natural as it was at that time i.e. with a coastal edge. One can found dotted sheep farms, few fishing villages and small hamlets which are not bigger than a handful of homes built around wooden church. It was said till twentieth century that Icelandic city or even a town is a very rare sight. The population of the country at that time was restricted to 60,000 only. Now also, the total population of Iceland is about 272,000 and is Europe’s most meagerly populated country. More than half of all population lives in the southwestern corner of the country in the very famous and cosmopolitan city of Reykjavik. Fortunately Reykjavik is also the capital of Iceland. The city of Akureyri on the north coast of the country is the second most populated city other than Reykjavik area.
Coasts of Iceland are all thinly populated but the interior part of the country stays all uninhabited and still it is untouched by humans and their habits. One can still see beautiful and huge ice fields, big lava grounds and deserts of ashes, upland plateau swept by wing and cool and frigid Vatnajokull, biggest glacier of Europe. In the capital city of Reykjavik also, one can sight crusty and snow capped mountains and fjords in the background. Also visible are the signs of the forces of the nature that probably made this country to emerge from the land crust.
Its location in the mid-Atlantic crest has made it volcanically, the most active land part of the earth which exists there along with naturally appearing hot springs, hot and bubbly mud pools, noisy steam vents and a chord of unpredictable and violent volcanoes. These volcanoes have been the major tourist attraction of Iceland for ages now. Icelanders have learnt how to adjust and live with the volcanoes. There is a story that in June 1998, when an earthquake occurred in Reykjavik due to volcanic eruption, the ballet dancers were performing their show and they completed the show which continued the whole night without even missing a step.
All these little but extremely interesting facts make Iceland one of the most exotic and thrilling tourist destinations in the world. As told earlier, it promises not to disappoint any of the tourists that go there. There are many attractive destinations and places worth seeing in Iceland which includes all the above mentioned attractions.
Author Bio:
Dagur Jonsson is the editor of Iceland Guest, a website specializing in tourist information for travelers to Iceland. For more information visit www.icelandguest.com
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