Articles in Traveling on your own:

30.5.2013

Exploring The Reykjanes Peninsula

You may have noticed while looking at a map of Iceland that the Reykjanes Peninsula, where the Keflavik International Airport is situated, has a familiar shape.
9.11.2012

Westfjordian Beauty

When I find myself in a place of incomprehensible loveliness, the kind that makes my eyes sting, I’m reminded of a line from the film American Beauty: “Sometimes there's so much beauty, I feel like I can't take it.”
25.10.2012

I Get My Kicks On Route 57

Public buses have never had much of a tradition in the western literary canon. One of Steinbeck’s lesser-beloved novels ‘The Wayward Bus’ is a rare example: a story-less tapestry of internal monologues telling the secret passions and the sexual politics between the motley gang of passengers on a small country bus as it wends its way through wildest California.
10.9.2012

An Icy Embrace

Through the window a black tide stoically holds its line against the frenzied melee of the North Atlantic Ocean. The tide is frozen in time; the vanguard of ancient lava flows from the molten heart of Iceland. Basalt stacks stand like sentries near the shoreline.
29.6.2012

I Left My Heart In Ittoqqortoormiit

Located at the mouth of Scoresby Sund—the largest fjord system in the world—Ittoqqortoormiit is so remote that supply ships can only reach it two months of the year, in July and August, when temperatures rise to 5°C and the eastern Greenlandic sea ice melts.
1.6.2012

The Holy ___ Hike

You have one more day in Reykjavík. Later in the night you plan on going out and getting drinks. You’ve seen the Golden Circle, and you’re all foss’d out. However, you still want to get one more nature trek in.





21.5.2012

On The Road With Shorts&Docs

We take to the road with the Shorts&Docs film festival, journeying to the hamlet Höfn í Hornafirði in southeast Iceland for a screening in a lovely small cinema called Sindrabær.
4.5.2012

Exploring A Small Volcanic Island Off The Coast Of A Slightly Larger Volcanic Island

As the ferry Herjólfur enters the narrow opening into the harbour of Heimaey at night, the sight of Ystiklettur and Heimaklettur cliffs leave you awe-struck.
20.4.2012

Ísafjörður’s 100% Free Good-Time Family Festival

“It’s such a treat for us,” Sigurlaug Gísladóttir of Mr. Silla and múm said. “All the companies in Iceland have an annual party and we don’t have that as musicians, so this kind of feels like one.”

28.3.2012

The Lovers, The Dreamers And Me

Breaking newsflash: Iceland is a really gay-friendly country!



20.3.2012

Wreaking Havoc On Siglufjörður

“Slam on the brakes!” the bus full of snowboarders yell at the driver. After a few erratic swerves, he brings the bus to a grinding halt.





17.1.2012

Perfect Isolation

Just a hop, skip and a jump away from the Ring Road is the tiny fishing village of Seyðisfjörður
10.1.2012

Austurland's Little Big Town

Did you know that eastern Iceland kicks ass?
16.11.2011

A Day In The Life: Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir

I just released a new album, ‘Brostinn strengur’, which I have been working on most of this year.

18.10.2011

Singing Around Iceland – A Cyclist's Guide To The Friendliest Parts Of Iceland

Ever get those days where you find it difficult to get going, to start something you know you'll enjoy once you've just taken that first step?
23.9.2011

NO SHEEP LEFT BEHIND!

Come end of September, the days grow noticeably shorter, the grass turns yellow and it’s time to bring the sheep in for the winter. This is a two-part affair beginning with the act of rounding them up in the mountains—‘að smala’—and ending with the act of driving them into a fold where owners pick theirs out from the mix—‘réttir‘.
16.9.2011

Is Vopnafjörður Iceland´s Greenest Village?

There is no shortage of places in Iceland that are off the beaten track—some are just more off the track than others. Take Vopnafjörður, for example.
2.9.2011

At Skaftafell National Park, Gleam Knowledge, Experience Awe

Camping overnight in Skaftafell one gets the feeling a weeklong stay would barely do the region justice.
29.8.2011

Singing Around Iceland

Accomplished English chorister Daniel Hutton is cycling 1.000 miles around Iceland for charity, singing for families in exchange for room and board. After participating in an exchange program between the ‘Good in Parts’ and ‘Kvenkonur Kópavogs’ choirs in early 2011, Daniel vowed to return with a mission.
26.8.2011

A Foggy Heaven

Djúpivogur is reportedly one of Iceland’s most beautiful small towns. We spent sixteen hours there, and we have no idea if that assertion is true.
11.8.2011

If You Worship Nature, Svartifoss Will Be Your Altar

Park ranger Auður Hafstað jokingly told us that the biggest part of her job is telling tourists how to get to the Svartifoss waterfall (“Black Falls”).
10.8.2011

A Day In The Life Of Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir

I’m working on what will hopefully become Iceland’s next constitution—and the first one written from scratch by Icelanders, although we’re getting a lot of pointers from abroad after our interactive method of work garnered the attention of the global media.
10.8.2011

Black Ice, Black Falls, Hyper-Colourful Experience

Standing around in the Skaftafell Visitors Centre during midday is more akin to being in a crowded shopping mall than at a nature reserve.
10.8.2011

Hallormsstaðaskógur Is Iceland's Only Largest Forest

You’ve heard that joke, right? The one about getting lost in an Icelandic forest and standing up to find your way out? Well, it pains us to admit it but that joke rings pretty true.
9.8.2011

Burning Njáll Festival at The Icelandic Saga Centre

If you are all crazy about Njáls Saga, you would do well by visiting the Saga Centre this weekend, as they are hosting a Burning Njáll festival (Njálsbrennuhátíð) on site for two days.
9.8.2011

Glaciers, Catholics And German Architecture

A twenty-five minute drive out of Egilsstaðir along Lagarfljót lake will take you to Skriðuklaustur, which is a unique destination for those travelling the East.
8.8.2011

Take A Hike On Some Hot Lava

While travelling in the south of Iceland, Skógar, right by The Ring Road, is a must-visit destination. The majestic waterfall Skógafoss is a sight to behold and is positively awe-inspiring in its sheer size and volume (it is also really loud, which is nice).
8.8.2011

A Viking-Style Dallas (And The Vikings’ Boring Descendants)

The South of Iceland is very rightfully one of the country’s more popular tourism destinations.
5.8.2011

Young Money

The Eastfjords of Iceland are beautiful and fun to visit; with a rich history, a mild climate (it sometimes even gets ‘hot’ there during summer—‘feels like 35°C’) and heaps of natural beauty and majestic mountain ranges one could spend weeks there cavorting between fjords and running up steep mountain hills.

4.8.2011

Cash, Not Ash

While driving through the South of Iceland one’s mind will inevitably wander to that whole Eyjafjallajökull eruption event of last April, which greatly affected many of the farmers in the areas one will drive through, as well as halting European air traffic for a while (get over it already).
3.8.2011

Finally! Ethiopian Food In Flúðir!

Iceland sure has come a long way since its first Thai restaurant opened for business a couple of decades ago. One can now enjoy lavish meals from most corners of the world within Reykjavík, and this is great cause for celebration.
2.8.2011

OUR CAMPER IS EXPLODING WITH JOY

We had a ‘crazy’ idea for making our second ‘OUTSIDE REYKJAVÍK’ issue of the summer. Instead of driving around in a rental car, why not try and get a camper that comfortably sleeps a writer and photographer so the two can make their way around Iceland with ultimate freedom.
29.7.2011

Verslunarmannahelgi

Chances are you have not been properly introduced to the term Verslunarmannahelgi.
27.7.2011

A Day In The Life Of Egill ‘Gillz’ Einarsson

There are four writers in Iceland who aren’t lazy, and Big Man is one of them. I have a day job; I get people in shape so they can wear their g-strings for two months a year when the temperature rises to 15 degrees.
25.7.2011

Laying Over in Akureyri

With an hour and a half to kill in Akureyri, we were able to indulge in two of the town’s musts for tourists and Icelanders alike.
20.7.2011

JÖKULSÁRLÓN IS STUNNING AND BEAUTIFUL

If you are looking to experience an overwhelming landscape without ever having to leave the comfort of your car, Jökulsárlón is the place. This 200 metre deep, eighteen square kilometre glacial lagoon has been dubbed ‘nature’s ever-changing sculpture park.’
8.7.2011

Bolungarvík Is The Bird Nerd's Paradise

When most visitors to Iceland—or really, most people living the capital area—think of the Westfjords, Ísafjörður is usually the first place to spring to mind. Arguably the capital of the region, this is a town that, to me, feels more like a mountain town than a seaside town.
29.6.2011

A Day In The Life Of Guðmundur Jörundsson

Spending time in Reykjavík? Guðmundur Jörundsson tells us what he gets up to...
28.6.2011

Iceland's Past Lives On In Siglufjörður

Akureyri may be the capital of the north, but that doesn't mean it's the only thing to see in north-central Iceland. On the contrary, if you drive up the west coast of Eyjafjörður, you'll encounter quite a lot of natural beauty.
28.6.2011

Hörgshlíðarlaug Is A Pearl Of The Westfjords

As we began heading south and east from the Westfjords to the “mainland”, intrepid assistant photographer Katharina Volgger told us there was a natural hot spring for bathing on a farm nearby.
27.6.2011

Sauðárkrókur Might Be The "Real" Iceland

Something that commonly comes up in conversation with tourists is the desire to see “the real [place name here]”. This invariably means wanting to see a town, village or location that typifies the entire country, devoid of any tourist trappings or, hopefully, any tourists at all.
24.6.2011

You Will Believe In Bíldudalur: Visiting The Sea Monster Museum

Bíldudalur is like many small towns and villages in the Westfjords—nestled deep in a fjord against some intimidating mountains, comprised of what appears to be two or three streets and a handful of small houses.
24.6.2011

Getting To Akureyri, And Enjoying It

Billed as “the capital of the north” more times than I could count in a lifetime, Akureyri is, to many tourists, the place you stay when you're up north.
23.6.2011

Selárdalur: The Cute Kind Of Scary

As if learning all about local sea monsters in Bíldudalur wasn't spooky enough, we were advised to drive west from there, along the south shore of Arnarfjörður, until we reached the very tip of the peninsula, where we would find a place called Selárdalur.
22.6.2011

At The Foot Of The Power Centre

The southern coast of Snæfellsnes is all-too-often ignored, in favour of the more popular Stykkishólmur or even Ólafsvík, both on the north shore. But Snæfellsnes' south coast is absolutely breathtaking, and it seems more and more people are discovering just that.
21.6.2011

Breiðavík: When You Really, Really Need To Get Away From It All

The next time you hear someone say that they “really want to get away from it all”, you can now recommend to them the ideal location: Hótel Breiðavík at Látrabjarg.
20.6.2011

Ölkelda: The Mineral Water Isn't For Sale—It's Free (For Now)

The first stop on our tour of northwest of Iceland was a place you'd normally drive right past without noticing it: Ölkelda.
8.6.2011

A Day In The Life Of Nanna Árnadóttir

Spending time in Reykjavík? Writer Nanna Árnadóttir tells us what she gets up to...
3.6.2011

Into The Ocean

My gloveless hands clutched the cold metal railing of the tractor-drawn hay cart as we drove into the sea towards Ingólfshöfði, an isolated cape located south of the Vatnajökull glacier. From a distance, a vast ocean seemed to separate us from our destination. In reality, it was a thin layer of water that the tractor's burly tires easily traversed.
27.5.2011

All About The Love

 A sense of community radiates from Ísafjörður's residents, their quaint homes, and the landscape that can become suddenly intimate if one looks closely enough. During the Aldrei fór ég suður music festival this feeling of community warmed me to the core.

24.5.2011

Road Tripping For n00bs

The classic road trip is as old as roads themselves. Planning a road trip shouldn’t be a daunting task, but for any highway newbies out there, here’s one idea for an easy trip that will leave you feeling on top of the world.






17.5.2011

Out Of The Ashes: AK-Extreme 2011

On the high pass to Akureyri, a crashed 18-wheel truck foreshadows the mayhem to come. Friday afternoon is full of promises and, after settling into the tiny apartment we’ve rented for the weekend, we’re off to inspect the downtown big jump.
13.5.2011

FIVE PLACES YOU SHOULD SEE / TRIPS YOU SHOULD TAKE

Grapevine recommends five wonderful places you don't want to miss unless you are completely insane: Esja, Hvalfjörður, Jökulsárlón... Check them out!


11.5.2011

Ten Mundane Things You Can't Really Do In Iceland

While there are a number of totally wild and out there things to do in Iceland (at least fifty, according to the book), there are also a number of seemingly mundane things you can’t do.



19.4.2011

The Golden Circle Is Thus Called For A Reason

With a couple friends coming for a very short visit to Iceland, I was faced with that classic travel dilemma: how to get the most out of a trip with limited time and limited money. There was one obvious choice. We rented a car and hit up the sights on the Golden Circle.




30.3.2011

This Man Crossed Iceland With No Outside Help And He'll Do It Again

Meet Louis-Philippe Loncke, art enthusiast-turned-engineer-turned explorer extraordinaire.
21.3.2011

Equinox Instigates Special Tours On Viðey Island

Yesterday, the sun and moon competed for a seat in the sky and reached a tie. This only happens once a year during the vernal equinox, when night and day are approximately equally long.
24.2.2011

Oddsskarð: The Park At The End Of The World

Momentum singer Hörður Ólafsson is gently chanting at me through my super-sized Sennheisers. His message is something regarding “holding back”, but the virgin powder unfolding endlessly in front of me in a mad mountainous panorama begs for deflowering and on such a bluebird day...
7.2.2011

Spears Shall Be Shaken...

If you’re looking to imbibe some ‘traditional Icelandic cuisine’ ("Þorramatur"), you’re in luck, because this is about the only time of year sane people, Icelandic or otherwise, tend to do it.
14.1.2011

An Appeal to Geekery

Leikjavík is, for lack of a better term, a board game parlour. They have plenty of their own games, including well-worn favourites, as well as newcomers that should and must be tried out.
17.12.2010

Looking At Aurora Borealis

Spotting Aurora can be as easy as tilting your head upwards, but if you’ve done that repeatedly without any results, we’ve got some tips.
3.12.2010

Your Holiday-Looking-At-Aurora-Borealis Tips

Hi everyone! Welcome to your holiday trip to Iceland! We know that you really only came here to avoid your family and watch TV in your hotel room, but surely you must have some trips planned too, right?
15.9.2010

Things to do in Þórshöfn

Looking out of the window, the shadow of our airplane is shrinking. Below us is Þorshöfn, a little gathering of houses surrounded by uninhabited pampas and the endless ocean.
3.9.2010

Western Magic

Moss covered lava fields, jutting cliffs, sheep-dotted  mountains, roadside cairns—the treeless  landscape from Reykjavík to the West Fjords kept  my travel companion and I wide-eyed throughout  the roughly seven hour trip to Heydalur.
23.7.2010

Swimming Is Awesome!

It’s surprising that Iceland‘s amazing pools are still a secret to the outside world.
19.7.2010

Tourists on the Street

We stopped to interview some lucky tourists on the street to see why they chose to visit Iceland.
23.6.2010

Tourists on the Street

We stopped to interview some lucky tourists on the street to see why they chose to visit Iceland.
21.6.2010

The Formula For Water

Iceland is “all about the water” my mum said when she came to visit. She was referring to the dual influence of the Gulf Stream, making Iceland unusually warm for its latitude, and the country’s ubiquitous hot springs.
18.6.2010

The Iceland Aquaphiles

If you’ve seen the Icelandic Tourist Board’s new ‘Inspired by Iceland’ video campaign, you may be under the impression that Iceland is always sunny and Icelanders are super-hip-dancing-machines.
10.6.2010

Tourists On The Street

We stopped to interview some lucky tourists on the street to see why they chose to visit Iceland. The following people graciously complied to dish out the details of their trip.
25.5.2010

East Winds Blow Good

There is a very small window of time between the winter and summer seasons when hitting the road in a sketchy vehicle is ideal in this country. Winter driving is a nightmare with the ever-changing and unpredictable weather conditions.
14.5.2010

Spending The Night With A Farmer

It was early evening by the time we descended into Djúpidalur valley after spending a successful day weaving in and out of Iceland’s most spectacular Westfjords.
14.5.2010

Who's Laughing Now, Europe?

You are probably aware of the spectacular (if small) volcanic eruption on Fimmvörðuháls, the ridge next to Eyjafjallajökull glacier
10.5.2010

Eyjafjallajökull Raves On

As those European airport slumber parties wind down and guests return to the humdrum of sleeping in real beds, taking showers and hopefully changing their socks, the Eyjafjallajökull ash fest is far from over for the farmers living near the base of the hard-to-pronounce-sub-glacial-volcano.
16.4.2010

Cheerful, Drunken Voices

Inexplicably, at midnight, the bar gets crowded.
There’s no clear reason why. The house lights have come on and Reykjavik! have stopped playing. By all traditional indications, this should be the end of the night.
19.3.2010

Celebrating the Obscure

Joshua Foer has made a name for himself as a freelance science journalist for various publications such as Slate.com, New York Times and the Washington Post. He is also the author of the forthcoming Moonwalking with Einstein which documents his journey from covering the USA memory...
9.3.2010

Your Last Chance To Go Skiing

The Icelandic ski season is surprisingly short, and we sure as hell haven’t managed to produce the same number of top skiers as our neighbouring countries. There is still a proud skiing tradition in Iceland.
22.12.2009

Browsing Backyards on the Verge of Winter

Walking around Akureyri on a beautiful November afternoon got me thinking. Coming from Reykjavík, I’m pretty used to see trash lying around. Compared to Tokyo our capital is like a dumpster filled with candy-wrappers, empty beer-cans and cigarette butts.
25.11.2009

Tres Foss

This country sure has a lot of water: trapped in glaciers, flowing from glaciers, trickling down mountainsides, raging through canyons.
1.10.2009

Giant Horses, Hidden Folk And UFOs

Sleipnir was one hell of a horse. Born of the eternally mischievous god Loki (while in the form of a seductive white mare, naturally) and Svaðilfari, the magical stallion of a stonemason-impersonating giant;
25.9.2009

There Ain’t No Party Like a Réttir Party

All summer long, the sheep roam hills and fjords without a care in the world. Lambs nestle into their mothers’ backs until they are too big to carry and rams stubbornly block the passage of tourists on roads.
18.9.2009

Dead Ahead

A bird slamming into the windshield. That's my greeting to Ísafjörður.
16.9.2009

The Eternal Twilight of a Sparkling Mind

It’s five in the morning and I’m just rolling back to Siggi and Rúnar’s sailboat-slash-home away from home, which sits on the dock on the easternmost side of the Faeroe Islands village of Gøta.
14.9.2009

It’s Worth The Drive To Hveravellir

It’s a long and arduous drive through the rocky and oft barren interior of the country. Unpaved, unkempt, deeply rutted, rock strewn roads force driving speeds near the single digits
8.9.2009

Deep Down Dirty: Mýrarbolti Matures

The spectacle of it—just outside the picturesque town of Ísafjörður in the West Fjords, there are hundreds of locals dressed up in Halloween style outfits covered in mud, shivering, drinking from large cans of beer in the rain.
4.9.2009

Come to Daddi's!

“Out of the 500.000 tourists that give Icelanders the honour of their presence every year, 80 percent visit this mind-blowing natural treasure hidden in the North called Mývatn, so mind what you see.”
4.9.2009

Things I Learned At The Gay History Walk

When I first heard about the gay history walk, I wasn’t sure what to make of it. In all honesty I didn’t really think there were that many places relevant to gay history in a burgh as small as Reykjavík.
3.9.2009

Blönduós, Mother Of All Confusion

I do not know what it is about Blönduós that brings on confusion. If I did, I could bottle it and sell it as bottled misunderstanding. I would become very rich indeed.
5.8.2009

Seyðisfjörður Reveals Its Private Parts

After the Króna reached a new low – vamping up a settlement-style quarantine that imprisoned penniless and puzzled Icelanders in the process – it has proven to be an unavoidable activity during the summer to attend some of the heaps of hyped-up festivals going on in rural villages in Iceland.
5.8.2009

Landmannalaugar: Closer Than You Think

Landmannalaugar is a staple visit for many tourists to Iceland. In fact, some folks involved with Icelandic tourism frequently yield complaints that it is by far too popular, that it feels more like a supermarket or Disney resort than respected and treasured nature reserve during the peak months of summer.
4.8.2009

Thumbs Up!

Listen: I have never hitchhiked before and I don’t really know what I’m doing. In most parts of the world (especially where I am from, Canada), hitchhiking is a downright stupid idea that frequently finishes with a body floating face down in a shallow riverbed.
21.7.2009

...and on his farm he had some lettuce. E-I-E-I-O

Working the land. Hoeing the weeds from deceptively long rows of lettuce and parsley.
6.3.2009

The Eirikur Helgason Interview

Eiríkur “Eiki” Helgason first drew the attention of the snowboarding community in 2003 with the release of the snowboard movie “Óreiða” (“Chaos”), where he and his fellow rippers in Team Divine (Viktor Helgi Hjartarson, Gulli Guðmundsson and Eiki´s little brother Halldór) first set the standard for Icelandic snowboarding.
6.2.2009

Bus 51 to Hveragerði

Since the 2nd of January, the city bus company Strætó has provided the towns of Hveragerði and Selfoss with a regular bus service to Reykjavík.
10.12.2008

Slaughterhouse: A Culture Center

It is midday when a Grapevine photographer and journalist get on board a plane heading to Egilsstaðir on the east coast of Iceland.
29.9.2008

Rounding up the Sheep

Icelandic customs die hard
29.9.2008

Akranes Sports Museum

Where sports heros go to be forgotten
16.9.2008

The Northland

One Reporter's Adventure at the Top of the World
4.9.2008

The Northland Part 2

Two reporters´adventures at the top of the world
29.7.2008

Go to Greenland. Now!

There was an arctic fox hanging out on the porch of Hotel Kulusuk. He was just kind of lazing about; playfully jumping around as mountains larger than anything I’ve ever seen trembled in the fading light of a suspended midnight sun.
29.7.2008

Lose Your Moral Boundaries and Get Shitfaced!

It might seem a bit crazy, even ludicrous, that one weekend a year, the preceding weekend to The Labour Day public holiday (one Monday), Icelanders simply go berserk.
15.7.2008

Exploring fishing villages in the far northwest

It’s so sparsely populated around these parts, with only the occasional farm dotting the countryside, that we share the road only with the sheep and birds that inhabit these shores during the summer
2.7.2008

Europe’s Largest National Park Established

On June 7, after years of preparations, Vatnajökull National Park was formally founded. The park is Europe’s largest national park and includes some of Iceland’s most stunning natural treasures.
9.5.2008

Chasing Monsters in East-Iceland

MULDER: A prehistoric animal living in a lake is not without precedence. Last August they pulled a Bull shark from Lake Onaga in Massachusetts. FARRADAY: An anomaly. Which proves nothing. It only serves as fodder for pseudo-scientists with nothing better to do than chase fairy tales. MULDER: It’s been reported for centuries in dozens of countries. From the monster in Loch Ness, Nessie, to the Ogopogo in Lake Okanagan. SCULLY: And Lake Champlain, Lagarfljót, Iceland... From The X-Files, episode 3x22 - Quagmire (1996)
4.4.2008

Across the Country in 40 Days

Last summer, Fabrizio Frascaroli spent 40 days walking across Iceland from East to West. This is the final segment of his story.
7.3.2008

Across the Country in 40 Days

Last summer, Fabrizio Frascaroli spent 40 days walking across Iceland from East to West. This is his story.
8.2.2008

Across the Country in 40 Days

Last summer, Fabrizio Frascaroli spent 40 days walking across Iceland from East to West. This is his story.
8.2.2008

A Different Kind of Country Music - Part Two

Jonah Flicker came to Reykjavík for the 2007 Iceland Airwaves festival. After a long weekend of too much booze and music and too little sleep, he set out to see the rest of the country.
11.1.2008

A Different Kind of Country Music

Jonah Flicker came to Reykjavík for the 2007 Iceland Airwaves festival. After a long weekend of too much booze and music and too little sleep, he set out to see the rest of the country
11.1.2008

Across the Country in 40 Days

7.12.2007

Across the Country in 40 Days

7.12.2007

What a Day for Window Weather

8.11.2007

Across the Country in 40 Days – Adventures of the Lonesome Traveller, Leg 3

6.10.2007

Across the Country in 40 Days

21.9.2007

Mount Esja: The New Couple’s Therapy

21.9.2007

Across the Country in 40 Days:Adventures of The Lonesome Traveller, Leg 1

7.9.2007

Kjölur by Bike – Part Two

24.8.2007

Kjölur by Bike – Part One

10.8.2007

Escaping 101

13.7.2007

Arnarstapi

13.7.2007

The Lonesome Traveller – Lónsöræfi

13.7.2007

Round and Round Around Route 1

29.6.2007

The Lonesome Traveller: Delusional at Last

This summer, The Grapevine will send the famous mountaineer (well, he may not be famous yet, but he surely will be at the end of this journey) Fabrizio Frascaroli, a long time contributor to the magazine, on a dangerous and desolate journey through the Icelandic Highlands. His goal is simple – to walk from one end of the country to the other. The walk is expected to take around 40 days. The Grapevine asked Frascaroli to write a little about his trip and found out that he may already have gone delusional from the lonesome times ahead, as he sat down to interview himself.
4.5.2007

Full Circle - Low Budget

Much like the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, this is not really a guide, rather a whacky story. Hitchhiking in Iceland is not for the impatient, but can nevertheless be a rewarding experience for both the traveller and the unsuspecting locals. With the travel season coming, here’s a how to and how not to, from a traveller that wore out her thumbs on the deserted Icelandic “off season” roads.
4.5.2007

A Day Trip to the South Coast: Mt. Hekla

4.5.2007

A Day Trip to the South Coast: Dyrhólaey and Vík í Mýrdal

4.5.2007

A Day Trip to the South Coast: Skógar

4.5.2007

A Day Trip to the South Coast: Seljalandsfoss

4.5.2007

A Modern Treasure Hunt

The arctic wind and a nearby waterfall seem to be having a strength competition. They are both doing quite well. The GPS receiver in my hand tells me that there are still 150 metres to go. I feel like I am actually looking for a treasure. This is treasure hunting in the satellite time – this is geocaching. I notice a pile of rocks before me. That must be it!
13.4.2007

A Day Trip to Borgarfjörður: Barnafoss and Hraunfossar

13.4.2007

A Day Trip to Borgarfjörður: Borg á Mýrum

13.4.2007

A Day Trip to Borgarfjörður: Reykholt

13.4.2007

A Day Trip to Borgarfjörður: Borgarnes

8.3.2007

A Day Trip to Snæfellsnes Peninsula

9.2.2007

“As Long as There’s Surf, We Won’t Be Leaving!”

On a chilly January afternoon, a Grapevine journalist and a photographer followed a group of local surfers to Þorlákshöfn, where they jumped into the freezing ocean to ride the large waves breaking right off the rocky coast.
9.2.2007

Lake Kleifarvatn

9.2.2007

Krýsuvík

9.2.2007

Icelandic Folklore at Stokkseyri

9.2.2007

Laugaskarð Swimming Pool

12.1.2007

Exploring the Historic Sights of Grettissaga

3.11.2006

The Place Deserves Its Fame

3.11.2006

Experiencing Aurora Borealis Underwater

Four hours of driving unkept gravel roads, over mountains, across fjords, will take you from Reykjavík to Iceland’s other Reykjanes peninsula, the one that’s happily free of international airports, chav culture and naval bases. This peninsula’s claim to fame is an Olympic-sized outdoor swimming pool (hot tub, really) filled with geothermal water and other pleasantness that, when at its best, really doesn’t compare to anything else Iceland has to offer.
6.10.2006

The Lonesome Traveller: Kárahnjúkar

8.9.2006

A Punk Rock Way to Travel

8.9.2006

The Lonesome Traveller: Kjölur

26.8.2006

The Lonesome Traveller: Kerlingarfjöll

26.8.2006

Things You Should Do in Iceland Before You Die... or Turn 31

11.8.2006

Dyrhólaey: Jagged Death Plunge or Birdwatcher’s Paradise

11.8.2006

The Lonesome Traveller: Hornstrandir

28.7.2006

The Grapevine’s Lonesome Traveller

14.7.2006

A Great Place for Lobster, Ghosts, Giraffes and Friends of Foo

7.10.2005

Tales From A Tomb:

After mentioning that I had locked myself out on a balcony and successfully climbed down, my editor immediately booked me a caving trip the next day. Whether it was meant to improve my climbing skills or to put me at a safe distance from any heights, I don’t know. As it turned out, both would prove to be naive concerns compared to the real danger that lingers in the depths of Icelandic caves: utter darkness.
19.8.2005

A Letter from the Real Iceland: the East Fjörds

19.8.2005

Driving to the East Fjords... and the Ring Road, Once Again

Our trip to Seyðisfjörður to visit the art festival for young people in eastern Iceland, LungA, was planned and organized in a spontaneous style to suit the destination’s creative spirit. In other words we didn’t plan or prepare, but rather just jumped in our little Suzuki Jimny 4x4, most likely the ugliest car in the design history of the automobile industry. This adventurous attitude did cause some incidents later on the trip, such as high blood pressure after eating too many liquorice strings, general frustration over the fact that an iPod battery only lasts 3 hours without a recharge or the few moments of fear and discomfort while waiting for the next gas station somewhere in the middle of nowhere before Höfn.
5.8.2005

Death Hikes, Berserker Lava Fields, Hag Mountains and Desolated Islands:

Given the heat of the sun and the rate of glacial melt in today’s Arctic, we have about 2 hours to get to Snæfellsnesjökul before it completely evaporates, I tell the driver as we head out to Iceland’s most cherished peninsula in a last second decision to flee the city of Reykjavík and travel on a budget of 8000 ISK for two. We spend 4000 ISK immediately, filling our car with gas, and buying bread, cheese, cappuccino yoghurt, juice and chocolate for our entire trip at Hagkaup in Kringlan on the way out of town.
22.7.2005

Reykjavík City Hostel: Green, Budget, Easy to Use

8.7.2005

Comfort: The Reason You See Scandinavians at Hotel Frón

8.7.2005

Outside Reykjavik: All Tourist Sites Bow to the Power of THE GOLDEN CIRCLE

As George Foreman said about the way the fans turned against him during his great fight against Mohammad Ali: Nobody roots for Goliath. The same is true for a ring of attractions labelled The Golden Circle, which includes one of the world’s most impressive waterfalls, a massive hot spring, and a continental rift/ home to the first parliament in the world. In fact, it is a local joke to ask tourists if they’ve seen and been impressed by the Golden Circle yet.
24.6.2005

Multi-tasking at Hótel Skaftafell

24.6.2005

The Floating Sculpture Garden

24.6.2005

Every Square Metre Merits a Photo: Four Days on the Ring Road

24.6.2005

The Salvation Army Guesthouse

24.6.2005

Radisson with Local History

10.6.2005

Home:

I’m invited out to visit a local hotel that has friends from New York dropping their jaws. It turns out, some Icelander has just returned to the rock and created a high end hotel with so much open curiosity and effortless style that even the most weary of travellers, and even the harshest of hotel critics, is impressed.
10.6.2005

Come for the Whales; Stay... As Long As You Can

27.5.2005

WHERE THERE’S A WILL THERE’S A WAVE

I am a surfer and regular traveller to Iceland and had never realized that possibilities to surf existed here. With 4988 km of coastline in between the North Atlantic and Greenland Sea there is indeed a huge potential but with so much shoreline to explore I would need guidance to the best breaks available. My first port of call in my journey of discovery was to a well-known surfing website, www.wannasurf.com, where lo and behold I discovered four spots in Iceland. A little more research and I came across a surfer who was based in Keflavík as a US Naval Officer; although there no longer, he pointed me in the direction of a local surfer named Georg Hilmarsson “Iceland’s surf guru”. A strange feeling to hear those three words in conjunction together.
27.5.2005

Fire, Grease and Beer Breath

27.5.2005

CRADLE OF INSPIRATION

There was festivity and a touch of excitement in the air, in the bus on the way to Reykholt to witness the opening of the first cultural theme hotel in Iceland. Fosshótel Reykholt was reopening after extensive renovations as a cultural theme hotel, based on Icelandic literature, Norse mythology and classical music. This tourist class hotel includes a restaurant, bar, library, TV & Internet lounge, 24-hour front desk service, conference rooms for up to 150 persons and parking. The hotel features 24 spacious rooms with bathtub, 29 rooms with shower and 15 rooms without private facilities.
27.5.2005

Next Winter’s Food, Today

We were just sitting in the office, enjoying the view of the harbour on a beautiful sunny day, when Bart noticed a crane lifting what appeared to be an enormous shark off the deck of a ship. Always first to chase the stories that touch us all, we scrambled down to the harbour for a closer look.
27.5.2005

How to truly immerse yourself in the local works of art

6.5.2005

THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE IN REYKJAVÍK WITH YOUR CLOTHES OFF

First thing’s first, if you’re reading this, then you know English and are therefore suspect: if you decide to go to any pool in Iceland, you’ll have to take off all your clothes and scrub your crotch in front of a bunch of other people before entering the pool. If you aren’t public enough about scrubbing yourself, people will think you’re a modest Englishman, American or Frenchie, and they’ll yell at you. So be prepared to do some parading.
6.5.2005

TOURING THE RING ROAD

11.3.2005

“We Are Not theEnemies of the Seal”

Helgi Héðinsson was born in Húsavík in 1928 and still lives there. His ancestors were farmers, and he’s has been fishing and hunting just about everything the sea gives, fish, birds, whale and seal, from 14 years of age. He says that the most common method of hunting the seals was by shooting. In the olden times nets were used. Seal was both eaten and used as bait but in recent years it has mostly been used as shark bait.
8.10.2004

Traditional Icelandic Sheep Chaos

Drunken farmers reeling on heavily sweating horses. Sheep that run til they pass out. Young boys holding fast to their horns and being dragged for metres.
3.9.2004

Dispatches From the Cold Seas - Maps and Dreams of a Changing Arctic

On a hunting trip somewhere in Kaldoaivi Wilderness area, the late great Saami hunter Aslak Uula Aikio recognized an otter that had decided to give itself to him on this occasion. Having skiied for hours, Aikio just knew the place and time where he was to be. The right otter would be there, waiting for him. The use of dreams, spiritual and cultural sensitivity towards nature building on generations of experience of living in a place is quite common among the diverse Arctic societies.
3.9.2004

IF YOU LOVE SOMEONE SET THEM FREE

Large shoals of Atlantic salmon have filled the rivers that are to be found around the country’s coastline. The reason they are here is to complete a life cycle that for many starts and finishes in the river. They come from the sea for one reason, and one reason alone: to breed. When they return to fresh water, the salmon stop eating and their body undergoes a change that sees it transform from a feeding machine to a breeding machine, its sole purpose to swim upstream, find a mate and a gravel bed where they can lay and fertilise their eggs. Once they reach the river their only real impediment is man. And herein lies a growing dilemma.
20.8.2004

POLAR OPPOSITES

The nature-culture collision in Iceland is unique. In its apparent incongruity it steams and hisses with all the crackling frisson of hot iron plunged into water, in a way entirely consistent with the general confluence of opposites that defines this country from head to toe. From the still nascent ground beneath your feet, to the lurching seasonal contradictions of extreme light and shade, and the extremities of paradox that together constitute the Icelanders´ inimitable lifestyle, this is a country suffused with polarity and contradicition.
20.8.2004

A MINISTER PLEASE

The Head of Tourism gave some good news the other day. Visitors to the country had increased by 13% from last year. Nearly 300,000 tourists will have chosen Iceland as their holiday of choice. At first glance the words “so what?” might spring to mind, but when the fact that the figure is roughly equal to the actual population of the country itself, then indeed it is an impressive achievement. And what´s encouraging, is that trend is look set to continue with the total doubling over the next ten years.
6.8.2004

LIFE BEYOND GULLFOSS

From Hvoll, it takes about an hour and a half to drive to Jökulsárlón, the glacial lagoon and a good point to turn around and begin the drive back to Reykjavík, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Venturing out further into the sands from Hvoll you’ll find long, single-lane bridges spanning a number of glacial rivers. The landscape here is rather lunar, and the bridges are something straight out of a 1930s sci-fi flick; if you drive down them fast enough, you’re liable to take off.
23.7.2004

LIFE BEYOND GULLFOSS

For most travellers, the southern coast of Iceland ends after their whirlwind tour of Gullfoss, Geysir, and Þingvellir. However, pushing past Selfoss on route offers one a wealth of unusual landscapes and natural peculiarities. The area can be well explored in two days (one day out and one day back to Reykjavík) with plenty of time at any site that catches your eye. This is dominated by the Vatnajökull glacier (Europe’s largest) and almost all the curious land formations are in some way a result of this icy beast. While this area is far less frequented than the area of the coast closer to Reykjavík, accommodations and other necessities become few and far between. Make reservations and, most importantly, gas up when and where you can. A good place to start is at the pink gas station as you come into Selfoss. It’s probably the cheapest on the southern coast right now.
9.7.2004

SEARCHING FOR SHANNON ELIZABETH

You need more Americans here. It is a sunny but windy and cold day, and Höddi the photographer and I are walking down the center of a fairway in Hafnarfjörður. We’ve been searching for Shannon Elizabeth - best known for appearing nude in American pie - for an hour. All we’ve found is a bunch of fat and lethargic American men in their mid-thirties.
9.7.2004

ON THE RIVERBANK WITH BUBBI

It’s the car you notice first. So many millions of kronur’s worth of tinted windowed, metallic grey, whispering-wheeled Range Rover. Then out jumps the driver, dressed from top to toe in an equally impressive several hundred thousand kronur’s worth of Simm’s, metallic grey waders and wrap-around shades. We are on the banks of one of the country’s most exclusive salmon rivers with Bubbi Morthens.
25.6.2004

The West Meets Ice

The first time I mounted an Icelandic horse, I noticed something was missing. The saddle lacked the horn familiar to my experience riding horses as a child on my grandfather’s farm in northern Minnesota. The horn is originally designed for roping calves in true cowboy fashion, but I would use it to stay on the horse.
25.6.2004

GET YER KICKS ON ROUTE ONE

The innate need for Icelanders to conquer the world around them has decreased dramatically over the past 1000 years, but the tendency does still surface from time to time. While looting and pillaging are at an all time low, this wanderlust is now sated by taking to the open road and venturing out into Iceland’s stunning wilderness - along with every electric doodad meant to bring all the comforts of the indoors to the outdoors: multi-roomed, vaulted-ceilinged tents; six-burner gas grills and mobile entertainment centers. Camping has become keeping up with the Jónssons, a veritable world fair of gadgetry specifically designed to eradicate any and all traces of being out in nature. However, there is a subtle charm to camping on a shoestring budget that is not lost on all campers here. A lot of tourists and young people have the right idea. Some even brave the elements and spread out their sleeping bags on Iceland’s posturepedic-like moss.
11.6.2004

STICK PINS IN THEIR FEET AND SLAP THEM ON THE CHEEK

I cut across the adhesive tape, only to discover that there were staples underneath which held the box firmly shut. I eventually got it open and proudly displayed the skeleton that was hiding inside.
28.5.2004

We were here first

28.5.2004

THE MOUNTAINS AND THE MOLEHILLS OF THE WEST FJORDS

After a snowbound winter in Iceland’s capital, in all its reinforced concrete splendor, my two friends and I are anxious to make our pilgrimage to the country’s most remote and desolate wonderland, the West Fjords.
25.7.2003

CHURCHES

Multikulti
From our sponsors