Northgate Resident’s Travel Experiences
Iceland – A Unique Vacation Destination By Kristin Shopp, Resident since 2014
I
f you have watched Game of Thrones, then you probably have seen some of the beautiful rugged scenery that is Iceland. Due to the HBO series and a very successful marketing campaign by the Icelandic government in the wake of the 2010 eruption of the volcano Eyjafjallajökull, Icelandic tourism is on the rise. It had been on our list for some time as we had read about all this northern island had to offer: The Northern Lights, amazing volcanoes, mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, and wildlife. My family visited Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, in October as we wanted to view the Northern Lights, which are visible between September and April. We stayed for five nights as we had read that this would increase our chances of seeing them-they are quite elusive! We rented an apartment through Airbnb on the main downtown street Laugavegur, which we found convenient but a bit noisy. As Reykjavik is a walkable city we did not rent a car, and chose to book excursions to see the sites. Bus tours are the preferred way to visit the many geological sites around the island and range from cars to large coaches. We booked with a smaller van line called Iceland Guided Tours and had only six other people in the van with us. While we do not usually prefer guided tours we found it a really relaxing experience to let someone else navigate and plan the itinerary! We learned so much interesting trivia from the driver who was an Iceland native, and even the kids (aged 6 and 9 at the time) enjoyed her funny stories! We did three tours with this company. The first, the Golden Circle Tour, took us to amazing waterfalls, geysers, and a national park that is a rift valley between the tectonic plates. The second tour was the South Coast Tour which included seeing tall basalt sea stacks on a black sand beach, a glacier, and a waterfall you can walk behind. We got a lot of great photos on the basalt sea stacks for our Christmas card that year! However, the most interesting tour for us was the Northern Lights tour. We were picked up in the evening and driven out to a viewing spot far away from the city lights. We were extremely lucky in that the lights were visible from the moment we arrived! The other-worldly display of vibrant green and purple dancing in the sky was nothing like what we had seen before! After a couple days of tours we slowed down to do a bit of shopping and other activities. Iceland is very expensive so we mostly window-shopped, with the exception of the Tiger store, an
Basalt Sea Stacks of Iceland
Skógafoss Waterfall
inexpensive Danish chain that has all kinds of random items that the kids liked, and a Christmas store, Litla Jólabúðin, because I buy Christmas ornaments at every place we visit! We booked a trail ride with Viking Horses, and enjoyed learning about the history of the Icelandic horse, as well as a peaceful ride on these
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DECEMBER 2018
