Putting together a plan to visit the world’s northernmost capital, on an island of waterfalls, glaciers and lava fields, was rather challenging. It is hard to do justice to what the region has to offer in terms of vastness, landscapes and experiences. But I decided to do this with determination, and I zeroed in on a 72-hour itinerary of Iceland’s highlights. I get off the plane with no expectations — all I know is that Iceland is a country of charming towns and spectacular natural landscapes including The Northern Lights. I discovered that it took me very little time to fall in love with Iceland, a region just below the Arctic Circle. Few places in the world conjure up the mystical isolation of the North Pole, where the summer sees no darkness and the winter no light! I even discovered that Iceland is, in fact, about 90 per cent ice-free, so it is indeed a curiously named country.
Out of the five Scandinavian capital cities — Helsinki, Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen and Reykjavik, the last is the most intimate of them all. The capital of Iceland has quietly grown to become an essential Scandinavian detour for business travellers, just a couple of hours away by flight from any of the major European capitals. With its emergence as a bucket-list destination for a majority of business travellers during a visit to Scandinavia, what one decides to see and do is completely determined by the time of the year one visits Iceland. The area around Reykjavik and the banks of the supremely photogenic Myvatn, a lake that is surrounded by several tiny villages makes up the centre of north Europe’s most relaxed and easy-going capital city. Welcome then to some incredibly rugged landscapes and breathtaking scenery with a mix of glacier carved canyons and valleys, some extraordinary green grassland and spectacular waterfalls including the thundering Dettifoss, Europe’s most powerful. Little wonder then that Jules Verne chose an Icelandic volcano as his gateway for his ‘Journey to the Centre of the Earth’ Not many may know this but the term ‘geyser’ was coined here named after Geysir, the largest of Iceland’s many hot springs, our guide proudly told us. There are also lava fields, bubbling mud pools and steam vents. And yes, there is ice as well.
Now the interesting part about Iceland is that its ever-fluctuating weather keeps changing as much as its turbulent volcanic landscape. If you are lucky you may even get to actually experience four seasons in a single day!
Summer is, of course, the best time to visit, with its famous midnight sun. That said, temperatures can get alarmingly warm, but this is good for outdoor activities like hiking. The best time to visit Iceland for The Northern Lights is February and March.
Day 1
I found myself checking into the Reykjavik Lights, a concept design hotel, featuring 105 bright, Nordic-styled rooms. The hotel is ideally located at Suðurlandsbraut 16, on the edge of this vibrant city. Managed by the famed Keahotels an inspiration for this Nordic-style hotel continues to remain the ever-changing source of light in Iceland and how it symbolises Icelanders’ everyday life. Icelanders themselves are a warm and welcoming lot which was fairly evident in the exemplary service standards adopted by the Reykjavík Lights. The furniture, art and sculptures at the Reykjavík Lights are the work of skilled designers. Every room at the Reykjavík Lights is uniquely decorated in Scandinavian style (design sensibilities of Scandinavians being well documented) and is linked to a specific day in the ancient Icelandic calendar. Even the basement space, for that matter, is cozy and has an intimate décor.
The only restaurant located downstairs is impressive taking Nordic cuisine seriously with Arctic salmon soup and some Scandinavian-style cheesecake for breakfast. Clearly the food here is authentically Icelandic and bursting with flavours.
In terms of connectivity, Iceland has no trains, buses are almost non-existent, and therefore the best way to explore this massive island is by hiring a rental car. Not only does this it give you the absolute freedom to choose your own route but also the flexibility of doing things at your own pace. Not to mention that Icelandic roads actually transport you to some out-of-the-world landscapes!
Day 2
On my second day, after a hearty breakfast, I was out for some adventure on the two-lane Ring Road, the only motorway circling Iceland. Through the day, we stopped along the way and explored the many waterfalls, sulphur springs, lava caves and picturesque volcanic craters. A favourite stop along the Golden Circle Classic Tour is the highly active Geysir Hot Spring Area where bubbling mud pools spit and geysers explode high into the air along with sulphurous steam and gas that hiss through crevices in the earth’s surface, creating a bizarre geothermal spectacle. This geyser, located in southwestern Iceland, was the first geyser described in a printed source and, in fact, the first one known to modern Europeans as well.
Day 3
I decided to spend the day at Iceland’s fabled Blue Lagoon, just 35 minutes out of town. It is one of the many public thermal pools that one should try and visit. Offering an extensive menu of treatments, these are said to be Iceland’s secret of beauty and health, with silica-rich water, whose milky turquoise colour originates from the blue-green algae and soaring temperature. When I visited Iceland I did not know much about Scandinavia, but I always wanted an excuse to learn, dig in and just discover. I found that Reykjavík features a number of restaurants that alternate between the rustic and the daring. Which simply means that one can easily survive as a vegetarian on the road in Iceland as well. Reykjavik in itself offers a wide selection of vegan and vegetarian food options. Some of these include, amongst others, veggie burgers, marmite, tofu, vegan pestos, instant veggie mixes, peanut butter, dried fruits and nuts. Therefore, vegetarians don’t need to worry about food as it is possible to sail from one delicious meal to the next. In fact the Grillmarkaðurinn and Krost are two restaurants that are superb for vegetarian options. Moreover local grocery stores are always packed with the freshest bread (with a crunchy outside and a soft inside), pretzels, cheese, and fruit. Great to hold well over the course of several days in case you are on the road, and also provide some quick snacks.
How to reach: Lufthansa, British Airways, and KLM are the most convenient one-stop options to reach Reykjavík from Mumbai or Delhi via their respective hubs in Frankfurt, London and Amsterdam. A number of regional carriers such as Icelandair, SAS, Wow Air and Finnair offer connections from other Scandinavian cities to Reykjavík.
Currency: The currency used in Iceland is the Icelandic krone (pronounced “krona”), ISK. The euro can also be used in select hotels and restaurants though most establishments will almost always insist on using the local currency only. Cash can be easily withdrawn in Reykjavik, other towns and airports through ATMs. Moreover, Mastercard and Visa credit and debit cards are widely used. Exchange rate : ISK1 = `0.5
Accommodation: A standard room on a twin sharing basis at the Reykjavík Lights will cost you around 28,000 ISK which is equivalent to Rs15,000 per night. Meanwhile the other hotel options that one could look at include the Hilton Reykjavik Nordica and Icelandair Hotel Reykjavik Natura, both business styled hotels and undoubtedly pricier than the more intimate and home-styled Reykjavík Lights.
Visa: Entry into Iceland requires Indians to have a Schengen visa (single/multiple entry) that can be procured via VFS.
Ameya Bundellu
