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Alafossvegur 27, Reykjavik, 270, Iceland
The check-point at the evacuated NATO base.
Bókatíðindi.
Inscription in Icelandic on one of the pillars.
The uninvited sea-gulls.
Wife and I have 2+ weeks in Iceland beginning 7/2.
We want to spend maybe 2 nights in Reykjavik for starters and then rent a vehicle (has to be automatic as neither of us knows how to drive manual)and drive through the entire country.
Questions:
1. Does public bus run from the domestic airport to downtown Reykjavik and if so how often?
2. Recommendations for car rental agencies that have automatics for as cheap as possible? We can rent at airport or in Reykjavik after 2 days there.
3. We prefer not being tied down to reservations in advance in case we like a place and want to stay longer (unless B&Bs/hotels are really scarce to find or we would be paying alot more by showing up without reservations). Anyone who can share some insight into availability/cost of accomodations with vs without reservations?
Thanks so much for your time and help.......Dave
theWant to rent automatic transmission car from Reykjavik domestic airport (we are coming in from Greenland)
1. The Flybus operates in connection with all arriving flights and your seat is always guaranteed. The Flybus departs from Keflavik Airport 35-40 minutes after each flight arrival.
2.http://www.avis.is/ not sure of the prize
hope this helps some if you need some more info send me a line at bj0zzi@hotmail.com i can look into some more things if needed
First, the prvious answer is good, but take into account that there is another airport in doentown Reykjavík for domestic flights.
Regarding rent a car companies, have a look at my pages, Reykjavík and Iceland where you may find some answers.
(1) I *think* that all Greenland flights arrive and depart at the domestic airport in Reykjavik, you might wanna check if you're landing and departing from KEF or RKV. From RKV there should be public means to take you to the city but because we landed at KEF we took Flybus.
(2) We rented a car from Hertz via a travel agency in Sweden and paid in our currency, not sure if you guys have something like that or if they would let you guys make a reservation on their Danish website because Greenland is a part of Denmark but you can e-mail them and ask: www.vulkanresor.se, at the left bar you'll find phone numbers and a place where to send an e-mail (Skicka e-post).
We got a car with automatic transmission, so that's possible. Say when booking just in case.
VT member Dassi might help you out with this as well.
Everyone flying into Iceland starts and ends here:
Keflavik Airport.
The airport has a military past. It was constructed by the Americans during World War II for military purposes and inaugurated on 24 March 1943. The airport is still being used militarily under the NATO pact (Iceland is a member of NATO) but its presence has been kept minimal and out of sight.
Modern, chic, bright and comfortable. I like the high walls and the glass ceilings. Clearing customs is effortless.
Okay, here's my take on drinking in Reykjavik. It's way overrated! I'm not saying the nightlife isn't good, but if you're just considering the price to quality ratio, this has to be one of the worst places on earth. I tried most of the beers and a few of the other drinks and nothing was exceptional. Egils and Viking beer is everywhere and I also tried Thule. Most of what I tried was of the bland, lager variety, while there were a couple fairly refreshing, though also unremarkable Pilsners.
I tried Reyka Vodka, which isn't bad and even had a sample of Brennivin, or the Black Death, a schnapps drink made of potato and usually caraway seeds or cumin.
Now, let's talk about the price. Wow. A typical pint of beer here costs around 6-800 Kr (9-12 USD), which is pretty nuts for a boring lager. The reason that people party so late here is that they usually start their night at home with friends. It's just a lot cheaper to go down to the store and buy some beer or wine or whatever and drink it at home. There is a Vin Buo store right on Austurstraeti in the town center where you can buy what you like and save a ton of money.
So, I'm not saying that the nightlife isn't great here, it's just not because of the quality of the booze.
Gay-pride is so big here in Reykjavík and in 2010 90.000 people attended the Pride Parade. We Icelanders regard this as our second national holiday and everybody goes down town and celebrates with the gay people. It is just so much fun and Reykjavík comes alive on this day. The kids love it as well and regard this as a fun festival and everybody is just happy and having fun and celebrating with the gay people.
Gay people have only been celebrating Gay-pride here since 1999 and it started with only a handful og people so they have come very far with Gay-pride being the second biggest festival here now. Gay-pride is held on the second weekend of August each year.
In Iceland people can be openly gay - as it should be everywhere in the world. Homosexuality is a part of life, so it should be embraced. In Iceland gay marriages are accepted and gays are not treated anything differently.
There is a gay disco down-town called Barbara and a gay café called Trúnó. It is on our main street, Laugavegur 22, which used to house one of two gay discos when I was partying down-town 10 years ago. I went there often to dance as they had fabulous music.
I include the website to Gay pride, there you can find very useful information if you are gay and intend to visit Reykjavík :)
The Icelandic Marine Research Intstitute displayed various fish in fish-tubs at the harbour during The Festival of the Sea. The exhibition is called "Bizarre sea creatures", and some of the fish are somewhat bizarre, others are fish caught here and sold for export.
The fishing industry is one of Iceland's biggest industries with cod, haddock, redfish, herring and coalfish being amongst the fish we sell abroad plus many more.
I can tell you that a great part of the nation has worked in the fishing industry. When I was a teenager I worked long hours in a freezing plant preparing fish for export.
Nauthólsvík - geothermal beach is open from May 15 - August 31 from 10-20. It is really popular and on sunny days it gets filled with people. Approximately 120.000 people visit the beach every year. Reykjavík city owns this beach and bathing and showering is free, but you pay ISK 200 for using the changing rooms. There is a service center where you can buy refreshments and an on-site barbeque which can be used free of charge. In front of the service center there is a pool with 30-35 degrees C geothermal water.
This site was redeveloped in year 2000, it had been a popular beach when my parents were kids, and there was a creek there carrying hot run-off water from the city central-heating system (from the hot-water-tanks at Perlan) and we used to bathe in that until it was closed in 1985. What they did was that they raised seawalls and brought in yellow sand (the sand at the beaches in Reykjavík is black). Now it is a beautiful beach with a lagoon where the cold sea (it is really cold) and the hot geothermal water flow together, see my pictures. The water in there is 18-20 degrees C. But it is only heated during opening hours so take care not to get in at other times as you might get hypothermia.
The geothermal beach is situated by the ocean at the bottom of Öskjuhlíð, the hill where Perlan is situated, and you can reach it on foot by walking from Perlan and down the hill through the forest. Or take bus nr. 19 from Hlemmur, the main bus-stop down-town. The drive to the beach will take you along our domestic airport.
The Univesity of Reykjavík was built by Nauthólsvík in 2009-2010 which makes this area even more lively. By the university there is a lovely restaurant called Nauthóll.
One can visit this area even when it is not open, I go there often in the winter time just to walk around.
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