I wanted to go to Iceland and see the Northern Lights, so I was going to go on the 3 hour tour flight from Liverpool. The wife had better ideas!
My mate and I booked a flight, b&b and insurance for two of us – a total cost of £627 for five days (Thursday to Monday). We had to fly out of London Heathrow as Manchester flights only started in April. From Scotland it was double the price and to arrive in the day, around 5.00ish, about £100 dearer.
We drove down to London and left the car at my nephew’s house and he drove us to the airport. Our plane was due to depart at 2030 and we expected to arrive in Reykjavik at 2330. My mate and I were lucky as no one else sat next to us. Leg room on the plane was non-existent. A free meal was provided. The plane took off late.
It was difficult to look out of the window because it was so low down, or was I too tall. Anyway by the time we arrived in Iceland my neck was aching. Iceland is on the same time as us which was good – it was now 0030ish. We picked up our bags really quickly and went out into the darkness. We were met by -2° temperatures with a wind chill factor of about minus 7. We had to queue to put the bags on the bus and then pay. The price was ISK1100 (about £11). Reykjavik is some 50 km away and the driver must have been on a go slow because it took us ages to get to the capital. We only saw about 2 or 3 cars on the road. No houses for miles around (more life in a cemetery!)
We arrived at the bus terminal where we got off and straight onto mini-buses which take you to the hotels. Finally, we got to our room at 2am - and crashed right out.
Breakfast was from 7-10, the usual continental type.
We got ourselves together. The bloody freezing wind had forgotten to leave on the last flight out and it was like being hit with a wet towel in the face as we stepped out into the bright day. However, there was no snow around and it warmed up over next few days.
The Hallgrimskirkja church at 74 metres high is one of the top tourist sites in Reykjavik and was right outside our b&b. You can go in the lift to the top for ISK320 (£3.20) - fantastic views. The church was on the highest part of town so we headed down the hill towards the sea. It was bitter! Three brass monkeys followed us.
At the seashore the views were incredible - the light was a bluish-grey colour. The roof tops looked, as my kids would say, like Balamory (a kids TV show), multi-coloured.
The capital seemed rather quiet but with lots of tourists. Everywhere you go there are lots of sculptures, and lots of graffiti although it is generally quite clean. We wandered around for a few hours taking in the sights and photographing. The light was bright but it was not intense, so at times I still needed a large aperture and slow shutter speed. My lenses are not that fast. I took my D70, 28-300mm and 17-70mm with a 512/1G comp-flash card.
There are various tours that you can go on but they are very expensive ranging from £30-140 and this generally does not include food.
Food is also expensive - £6 for a pint, and nearly £8 for fish and chips – and a moderate meal costs around £30 per person. The locals work long hours (one said he worked over 300 hours a month!) and they are taxed/vat and other things at about 80%. Everyone seems to speak English although they cannot be that clever because most of them support Man United or Liverpool!
The countryside is beautiful and the history, sites and natural wonders are outstanding. I would go back again but in summer and with a couple of grand to spend. I would also definitely recommend hiring a car because that is the best way to get around and see what you want. The locals said that late autumn is the best time to see the Northern Lights – and I was lucky enough to get a brief glimpse of them. We went on a few tours – golden circle (geysers, waterfalls), Northern Lights and to the Blue Lagoon.
A trip to Iceland is an absolute must do! As there are no buses outside of the capital – fly, hire a car or take a tour.
Please send any comments to Dominic
