Sign in with Facebook
Eskihlid 3, Reykjavik, 105, Iceland
Check Rates and Availability
of people enjoy staying here
12 Opinions
Another check-point at the Nato base.
Our largest church, Hallgrímskirkja.
The Republic Park.
The geese, also not that welcome, sorry guys.
I have decided to fly to Kulusuk, Greenland through the Reykjavik Domestic Airport in the first week of June (a few days from now!). I am staying at the Hilton Nordic and was wondering how far it is from my hotel, and what is the best way for me to get to the domestic airport?
I have also decided to see the Golden Circle through an Evening tour which starts at 730 PM (is that okay? I think the sun sets at 1130 PM, is that right? So, I will still get nice pictures of Gulfoss falls and the Geyser?). Or should I just take the regular day tour of Gulfoss?
I'm also thinking of booking a flight to Akureyri which is a a 12 hour tour starting at 7 AM - any comments on this tour and place?
Thanks a lot and all responses will be highly appreciated.....Greetings from Arizona, Norman :)
I'm insanely jealous. Sorry I can't be any more help than that. Enjoy!!!
LOL, Jared...but I'm booking eveything tonight and I need some advice! Wish I could tag you along...hehehe....
You should look at the duration of the tours to see if you think you will have enough time to do what you want. While sunset is late, don't forget that Icelandic weather is terribly unpredictable (think anything from drizzle to pouring rain), so while the sun may technically go down that late, it may be quite dark. I think it takes about 1-1/2 hours each way to Gullfoss / Geysir (both are pretty close together), so that should give you an idea as to how little time your will be able to visit each site.
I think Golden Circle tours usually run 1/2 days and probably cover Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss for sure, and possibly do a short stop at Kerio too. Personally, I could have spent hours watching Strokkur (video and still cameras in hand), so hopefully the cattle car approach of most tours will give you enough time to do what you want.
Thanks Grumpy...I am excited already for my trip next week...I did book the Golden Circle for an evening tour and hopefully it will still be okay -- if not, I can always book for a day tour in one of my free days...thanks :)
Nearly everything that is made of rock here is made of volcanic rock because that is what there is to use. At first I thought this was really super cool and started picking up rocks and putting them in my pockets all over the place, but after a while I just had a lot of rocks. It's still pretty cool though, I think.
Icelanders speak Icelandic, a language so similar to what the Vikings spoke that the Vikings and the modern Icelander could easily have a conversation. The Vikings who came here in ca 874 were from Norway, so Icelandic is old Norwegian. The Norwegian spoken in Norway today is quite different from the language which has been preserved here, and we can only understand Norwegian today as we have to study Danish in school (and Danish and Norwegian are very similar). But the Scandinavian nations cannot understand Icelandic.
The Norwegian Vikings kidnapped some Irish women on their way to Iceland, so there is also some Celtic influence, I would say.
The remoteness of the island for decades and decades made it easy for us to preserve the language. Of course there have been some Danish influences on Icelandic seeing that we were a Danish colony, but the language is very well preserved. We even have a special committee on the preservation of the language. Their role is to make up a new word for loanwords. F.ex. computer=tölva, lap-top=fartölva, police=lögregla, design=hönnun. This makes it harder for foreigners to learn our language, but I think these words are a lovely addition to Icelandic.
The first foreign language we learn here is Danish, when I was younger we had it at school when I was 10 and then started learning English when we were 12. So almost the whole nation speaks English, we are not so keen on speaking Danish though, seeing that the pronunciation is somewhat difficult. Then some of us have German and French at college.
We use some letters in Icelandic which are not commonly seen: f.ex. the letter "æ" which is a and e put together. And "ð" which I have only seen in the Serbian language, but pronounced quite differently. We also have "þ" which is pronounced "th". We also use "ö" like the Swedes and the Germans.
Here are a few phrases in Icelandic:
Góðan daginn = good morning or good day. This is what sales-people in the stores will say to you.
Góða kvöldið = good evening
Góða nótt = good night
Hafðu það gott = have a nice day
Bless = good bye
Skál = cheers
Takk (fyrir) = thank you
Gjörðu svo vel = please eat, please enter, please take this.
Takk fyrir matinn = thanks for dinner. These two sentences are quite necessary in Iceland, always say "gjörðu svo vel" when inviting people to eat at your place, and "takk fyrir matinn" when standing up from the table.
Velkomin = welcome
Fyrirgefðu = I'm sorry
Afsakið = excuse me
Ég tala ekki íslensku = I don't speak Icelandic.
And yes, we say "ha" a lot if we don't hear what you say :)
The highway code here in Iceland is that the head-lights need to be on 24/7. Even during the bright summer time the lights must be on. This is a good thing, cars are more visible like this and we are so used to this that I have noticed that if a driver has forgot to switch on the lights I don't notice the car.
During the Festival of the Sea The Icelandic search and resque organizations display jeeps and other resque equipment. On Fishermen's day the coast guard’s helicopter demonstrates rescue operations from the sea with the search and resque organization. Their resque achievements both at sea and on land are beyond words and we are VERY grateful for their work.
If you ever find yourself in need of help, be it lost at land or sea, or need the police (Lögreglan) or the fire-brigade (Slökkviliðið) call 112 which is our emergency number (Neyðarlínan).
The Icelandic search and reque organizations are men and women from all walks of life who rush to help when ever they get a call that somebody is in danger or has gone missing. This is voluntary work made by unselfish people, so let us not take advantage of them. Always let other people know of your plans when travelling and always check the weather report before travelling in Iceland. The resque operations are very expensive and the resque force risks their own life and limbs to help other people. Every year a number of tourists go missing here in Iceland, and throughout the whole year Icelanders need help on several occasions from these great people.
In January 2011 three experienced German hikers came to Iceland to hike up to Eyjafjallajökull glacier and volcano (remember that one, travellers, the volcano which gave us so much trouble while we were travelling in 2010?). Why do people come to Iceland in high wintertime and go unaccompanied on a glacier? Of course one of them went missing in fog and then there was a blizzard (very common here in wintertime). 150 resque people had to risk their live and limbs to look for this man and they found him alive. These kind of resque operations are very expensive and who pays for them? Not the travellers, that is for sure. In my opinion the rule should be that those who by foolhardiness get themselves into trouble should pay for their resque.
The resque organizations partly fund their operations by selling firework in December for the New Year's eve celebrations.
This wooden building became very famous after former presidents, Gorbachev (USSR) and Reagan (USA) had a summit in 1.986. It was built in 1.909. Between 1.938 and 1.951 was diplomats and nowadays is used by the City Hall for receptions and events.
How to get there:
From the city centre, walk east along the seaside, and some meters after the Sun Voyager, you will reach the house.after
Sponsored Links
Similar to Alba Guesthouse
Near Alba Guesthouse
Cheapest in Reykjavík
Great Hotels for Less
Q: Travel Between Keflavik and Reykjavik "Someone kindly advise me as I was told by the airline that my arrival time for my coming vacation with my family of 5 is change..."
A: "Don't bother staying in Keflevik. There really isn't much there, other than the airport. In early June it will be quite light at the time you will be arriving (if it is..."
Sponsored Links
Latest Reykjavík hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
Check Rates and Availability (from our partners)
