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#21
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On Tue, 15 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote:
Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of the island, etc.. We did the opposite, not by our choice. I am trying to reconstruct by memory ... Landed at Keflavik (Reykjavik international airport) and slept at an hotel near the smaller in-town Reykjavik airport. Spent half a day in town, and half a day in the surroundings (I think the main Geyser and Gullfoss waterfall ... anyhow "-foss" is a waterfall, but could have been Thingvellir), Next day Thingvellir (if it was not the previous day), which is the place where around 900 aD the first icelandic "parliament" met. It is a plain on a rather impressive fault which separates the american and european tectonic plates. Then continued east, reached the coast, stopped to see a waterfall, and the puffin nests, and slept near Vik. Next day along the ring road, stop in Kirkjubaejarklaistur (nice name meaning church-farm-cloister) to see the volcanic Kirkjugolfid (?), something like Giant's Causeway but smaller. Crossed a volcanic sand area, stopped in national park to see Svartifoss (the black waterfall, also with basaltic pillars), then the ice lagoon of Jokulsarlon, and reached Hofn Next day morning along the see to watch birds (our tour guide was an ornitology fan), then continued to Egilstadir, partially in the interior, Stops for lunch, to see an amateur rock collection, and a whaling museum. Next day along the ring road, which here runs inland. Stopped for a coffee in Modrudalur, the most isolated farm of Iceland (the road is now at some distance, but it is a must to stop there). I believe it was that day (or was it the day after) we left the ring road towards the northern coast, to see a waterfall and a natural "sport in the landscape" (a horseshoe shaped closed valley where small trees can grow). Reached lake Myvatn area. We had a hot shower with the water smelling of sulphur. Some other guests were having a bath outside in the hot pools with an air temperature around 10-15 C. Next day toured aroung lake Myvatn (it means "midges lake", we were lucky with the weather and there were no midges, only a few at Thingvellir, but we had mosquito nets to wear (and they are on sale there too). Dimmuborgir, thermal fields with faults filled of water (there is a road all around the lake but part may be closed during the nesting season). Eaten smoked trout of the lake with bread cooked on hot rocks. For the evening moved to Akureyri, with some detour towards the coast, I am not sure if it was this day or the next we visited Glaumbaer, which is a museum of an old settlement (turf covered huts). Last day was just back from Akureyri to Rejkyavik, for me the less scenic part. Unfortunately we did not go to the Snaefellnes peninsula (the location of Jules Verne's trip to the centre of the Earth), had a nice fish supper where they served for the brave also the famous rotten shark (did not try it). Very last day, we stopped at the "Blue lagoon" spa on the way to the airport (rather touristy, but the landscape is interesting) About the quality of the roads, good, narrow with passing places, usually paved except some hills where they prefer to leave it unpaved. The coach driver was washing the coach at almost each stop. We did not try any of the interior paths (those marked with an F-number). |
#22
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On Tue, 15 Dec 2015 13:35:52 -0800, poldy wrote:
I think the one thing I don't miss about carrying guidebooks is carrying guidebooks, vs. a few printed pages. If the guidebook covers more area than where I am visiting, I rip out and take along only the relevant pages. I like the history that guidebooks cover but a lot of the hotel and restaurant listings are out of date. I make sure I have the latest edition. Don. www.donwiss.com (e-mail link at home page bottom). |
#23
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 2015-12-16 05:55:23 +0000, Mark Brader said:
Dan Stephenson: The generally plan is to circuit the island, close-wise... "Tim": um, clock-wise? Dan Stephenson: Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of the island, etc.. I bring this up because there are other circumstances when I've travelled where one direction is better than another... I believe Tim's question was not why you mentioned a direction, but whether "clockwise" was the direction you meant to mention. (Apparently it was.) oh, ha, yeah typo -- Dan Stephenson http://stepheda.com Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan |
#24
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 2015-12-16 10:20:51 +0000, Giovanni Drogo said:
On Tue, 15 Dec 2015, Dan Stephenson wrote: Starting northwards from the capital, eastward on the northern side of the island, etc.. We did the opposite, not by our choice. I am trying to reconstruct by memory ... Thank you Giovanni, I am really looking forward to this! -- Dan Stephenson http://stepheda.com Travel pages for Europe, USA, New Zealand and Japan |
#25
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 12-14-2015 18:52, Don Wiss wrote:
The Lonely Planet one:http://www.amazon.com/dp/1743214758 Is only $15.70. A pretty minor expense considering what the entire trip will cost. And if you want to be cheap, you can preview most of the book on Amazon. I've never used a guidebook and I've never been bored. -- Wes Groleau |
#26
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 12-16-2015 03:48, Giovanni Drogo wrote:
No idea, but Iceland is sparsely populated AirBNB.com shows places all along the ring. BeWelcome.org shows them around Reykjavík, one in the north, and one southeast. Found a map of hotels, but it only showed five. http://www.visiticeland.com/plan-you.../accommodation lists lots of places but I didn't see a map. -- Wes Groleau |
#27
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
"W. Wesley Groleau" wrote in message ... On 12-16-2015 03:48, Giovanni Drogo wrote: No idea, but Iceland is sparsely populated AirBNB.com shows places all along the ring. But they are usually just rooms in peoples house And that's all the more likely in location where hotels are sparse Usually, you can't just turn up at an AirBnB place on spec tim |
#28
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 12-21-2015 03:29, Martin wrote:
On Sun, 20 Dec 2015 20:07:54 -0600, "W. Wesley Groleau" wrote: On 12-14-2015 18:52, Don Wiss wrote: The Lonely Planet one:http://www.amazon.com/dp/1743214758 Is only $15.70. A pretty minor expense considering what the entire trip will cost. And if you want to be cheap, you can preview most of the book on Amazon. I've never used a guidebook and I've never been bored. OTOH you don't know what you missed :-) Doesn't matter. To "not miss" anything else, I would have had to stay longer. And some of the things people told me wee must see were interesting but didn't live up to their hype. People, food, language, history, and architecture are very interesting to me, and I don't need a guidebook to find them. -- Wes Groleau |
#29
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 12-21-2015 06:49, tim..... wrote:
"W. Wesley Groleau" wrote in message ... On 12-16-2015 03:48, Giovanni Drogo wrote: No idea, but Iceland is sparsely populated AirBNB.com shows places all along the ring. But they are usually just rooms in peoples house And that's all the more likely in location where hotels are sparse Usually, you can't just turn up at an AirBnB place on spec tim True. But if you have cell data, you can often go with a day's notice. I was just thinking that since I couldn't find a hotel map, AirBNB would give an idea of places that had people, which might also have hotels. I prefer "rooms in peoples house" myself. But I carry a tent and sleeping bag just in case. I've had to use them four days out of four months traveling. -- Wes Groleau |
#30
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Iceland: scenic driving advice?
On 21 Dec 2015, "W. Wesley Groleau" wrote:
Doesn't matter. To "not miss" anything else, I would have had to stay longer. And some of the things people told me wee must see were interesting but didn't live up to their hype. That's why you use a guide book and not reply on amatuer travel's opinions. There is the saying "ignorance is bliss." Don. www.donwiss.com/pictures/#travel (e-mail link at page bottoms). |
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