The best way to get from Keflavík to Reykjavík???

Yes, you´ve made it. You´ve finally landed on this barren island and can´t wait to explore it. BUT. Wait a moment, your landing town was Keflavík and not Reykjavík. Hm, what to do next? How do you get from Keflavík airport to Reykjavík, that are around 50km away from each other????

Well, there´s no public transport between the two and a few years ago, there used to be one particular company running business on this route. (for more details read here). That´s not the case anymore, as there´re two bus companies you can choose from these days:
FLYBUS and AIRPORT EXPRESS with the following similarities and differences:

FLYBUS

• operated in connection with all arriving and departing flights at Keflavík airport
• buses depart 35-40 minutes after each flight arrival
• one-way to Reykjavík Bus terminal costs 1.950 isk
• possible drop off at chosen guesthouses and hotels, including domestic Reykjavík airport for an extra charge of 550 isk 
• your seat is always guaranteed and if you are arriving late at night or your flight is delayed, there will be a Flybus waiting for you
• free WIFI on all buses.

AIRPORT EXPRESS

• transfers must be booked in advance for guaranteed departure
• schedule to be found on their web and adjusted according to the seasons
• one-way to Reykjavík Bus terminal costs 2.090 isk
• complimentary pick-up/drop-off service from all major hotels in the capital area, inlcuding the domestic Reykjavík airport
• schedule is subject to changes.

Choose what fits you best and go ahead and book on their pages directly.

Now, those who would stay in Keflavík after their arrival and consider leaving to Reykjavík from there, you have the following options:

Taking a taxi to your place of stay from the airport (they´re parked outside the terminal building), stay over night  and then take a bus run by a company called SBK from their station located in Keflavík. 

One-way ticket to Reykjavík Bus terminal costs 1.600 isk and both winter and summer schedule is to be found here (look for departures from SBK). There are only 3 connections during weekends, though.

ARE you renting a car in Iceland?

Most of the bigger car rental companies in Iceland offer pick up in Keflavík for some extra fee. It can happen that the fee will be so small that if there’s more than two of you, it will be cheaper to pay the fee, than taking the bus to pick up the car in Reykjavík. So if you are renting a car anyway, you should keep that option in mind and compare the prices.

Last but not least, taxis can take you all the way to Reykjavík, but it´s the most expensive option. The average price for 1-4 people is around 15.000 ISK. But, you don’t have to worry about being ripped off by taxi drivers in Reykjavík. Taxis run by the meter between Reykjavík and Keflavík but sometimes they offer a fixed price which comes to about the same amount as the meter anyway.

This post was inspired also by this article.

Good luck with your journeys between Keflavík and Reykjavík and do post comments about your experience.

Crossing the Arctic Circle II.

Once you come up all the way to Akureyri, then you literally are just a few miles away from the Arctic Circle.

And who would say no to an inviting trip all the way to the northmost inhabited island of Iceland - Grimsey -lying on the Arctic Circle that is a home to a very special community of around 150 people and around 1000 seabirds?

The island (of about 5 square kilometers in area) stands alone far out on the horizon as a blue cliff, sourrounded by the wide Arctic Ocean, about 40 km off the north coast of Iceland.
The islanders live in a small village by the harbour - a prosperous and fertile community with many children. The courages fishermen of Grimsey harvest the rich fishing banks all around the island but often venture bravely in their small motorboats much further north on the Arctic Ocean.

Summer in Grimsey means sun 24 hours until late July, when twilight begins to decsend around midnight. Something very special for all those who are used to stars on the dark summer skies at nights. The birds nesting in 100-metres high cliffs are a paradise not only for birdwatchers and it´s not a surprise that Grimsey belongs to one of the best birdwatching sites in the country.
Are you motivated enough to check this island out, enjoy unique local life and even get a certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle? Here are the possibilities:
You can get to Grimsey either by ferry from Dalvík or by plane from Akureyi.
Taking the ferry
It´s an experience on its own to sail for 3 hours from Dalvík, eventually spotting whales on the way, exploring the island including its 800-year old church and going back the same day.

It´s important, though to bear in mind that boat departs from Dalvík only 3 times a week. It leaves from Dalvík at 09:00 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The ferry comes to Grímsey about 12.00 at noon and departs back to Dalvík again at 16.00, the same day. This goes for the summer schedule (May 16th - August 31st).
In winter time (September 1st - May 15th)the ferry returns as soon as it has loaded the cargo (normally after 1-hour stop) arriving in Dalvík around 16.00.

Bookings are to be made at the following e-mail: samskip@samskip.is

Taking the plane
Norlandair offers scheduled flights and charter flights all year around. Daily during the summer (aprox 10th of June till 20th of August) and three times a week (Sun, Tue, Fri) during the rest of the year. Flying time is 30 minutes.

During the stop in Grímsey one can cross the Arctic Circle, have a guided walking tour and during the bird season also watch rich birdlife.
During high summer the stop is approx. 2 hrs and 15 minutes and during other times of year it is shorter or approx. 20 minutes.  Longer stop is possible during winter upon request.

It is also possible to combine the tour with flight one way and ferry the other. Thus getting a longer stay, especially during summer, where one gets about 6.5 hrs stop in Grímsey. Then take the morning flight to Grímsey at 9.30 and the ferry back to Dalvík at 16.00. 

Detailed flight schedule is to be found here and bookings are to be made via AIR ICELAND.

PS: Although Grímsey lies on the Arctic Circle, the island enjoys mild climate.
We look forward to hearing all your impressions from your local Grímsey experience, in this special and warm community of 100 islanders and thousands of puffins.

Going local through local culture

I´ve just come back from a breathtaking performance that was shown in our local cultural house in Dalvík and thought of all of you hungry for exploring small Icelandic places inside out and decided to post some useful advice.

Dalvík is, among other things, famous for the fact that the tallest man of the world (at his time of living) was born and raised in a nearby valley. If he was still alive he´d be celebrating his 100th birthday anniversary this year. No wonder that a group of locals including the local museum, that is partially dedicated to the life of this unique man, decided to prepare a rich programme to bring back memories and discuss different parts of life, of so called Jóhann Svarfdælingur, as well as opening up the topic of 'being different'.

The programme was built up as a sort of 'forum' with presentations in Icelandic, not so inviting for a foreign tourist who does not speak Icelandic. But! its last line-up was an absolute must for somebody interested in getting to know local culture (no matter what language you speak) through a story of the tallest man of the world.

Imagine a circus like atmosphere with its typical music and costumes - this was a grand opening of the performance, when roughly 30 locals, who all belong to a local choir, were rushing to the stage.
Then we were lead through the life of this unique man from the day he was born, through his ups and downs in growing up and trying to find his place in a society all the way until he died. All done very authentically with different voices reading bits and pieces of his own diary, while scenes would be performed or pictures or video scenes projected on the screen. This all very well spiced up by powerful singing of the local choir colorfully dressed up with songs fittingly chosen to underline the atmosphere of the parts performed.

I must say that I was impressed and truly astonished by the way the director combined all the little details to create this powerful experience for a viewer. I felt as I was living the life of that man throughout the whole performance.

Last but not least, I kept on thinking about the power of these local communities like Dalvík with its surroundings is. A bunch of locals who love singing, besides having their jobs and most likely lots of other activities they do or volunteer for, are still able to put their strengths together and show up for practice so that they can share this beautiful piece with their fellow locals. The age range of the performers was all the way from roughly 6 years old up to 85 or so, is my humble guess and the professions of performance are just as diverse as employees of local fish factory, teachers, pensioners, municipality reps, artists, you name it.

And now, dear reader, the precious advice. The fact is that most of these local cultural events are very poorly advertised in English (if at all). Us locals, we know about them because we get leaflets directly to our post box. And since all these little communities have loads of cultural stuff going on in the summer time, I highly recommend the following:
Once you know the dates of your visit to a certain place in Iceland, do check official town web-pages and write to some municipality representative asking for a list of events for the period you´re there. If you were not getting the answer on time, then feel free to drop me a line and I´ll gladly assist with phoning around and getting you the details you might need.

All the best in your off the beaten track exploring through power of local cultures.

Neverending winter?

It´s Thursday, April 11th today and looking through the window it feels like a proper winter day, here in Dalvík.

On Tuesday, this very week we travelled between Dalvík and Akureyri and it looked as if winter was slowly leaving us and we´d be getting at least some sort of spring time for a while. Well, it looked like it when we were on the way from Dalvík to Akureyri -around lunchtime. But after the arrangements in AKU (abbreviation for Akureyri), a few hours later, heading back to Dalvík (which is around 40 mins drive from AKU) the sky started 'falling down' a grey colour covered the fjord and it was a matter of a few hours and there we got it - yet another snow storm visiting us.

When I went to walk our dog in the evening, I had to put my overall and skiing goggles on and the roads which were only covered with sand during lunchtime were carrying around 10-centimeter layer of snow.

Oh yeah, that´s our reality here in the north and since this winter was one of those heavy ones (as they say here - like the one from old times), it will be interesting to see what kind of summer we get this year :) Well, as it looks now, quite some snow might be in the mountains, making hiking a bit more challenging than usual.

Why am I writing all this? Just to remind us all that weather changes in Iceland are very usual and an unprepared tourist or a local for that matter can unpleasantly be caught by surprise.

So, we do encourage you to check the weather forecast right before you set off to your planned destination.

And last, but not least - having had considerably shaky grounds around Grímsey (North of Dalvík) at the beginning of April and us in Dalvík being able to feel those few strong ones, we´ve discovered a great webpage to follow up on precise numbers and so are sharing it with you here. The page updates itself every minute and adds up a record of earthquake, should there have been any and marks it with a red circle on the map.

Enjoy and should you have any questions or comments, do write to us.

19 airlines flying to Iceland, did you know?

Yes, that´s true no matter how unbelievable it sounds. Although, not all of them fly to our island all year round, ...but many do.

And here is the list in the alphabetical order, so that you can find the one that suits you best, simply click on the relevant link:
Airberlin website

Air Greenland

Air Iceland website

Astraeus Airlines website

Atlantic Airways website

Austrian Airlines website

Delta Air Lines

Deutsche Lufthansa website

EasyJet website

Edelweiss Air website

Germanwings website

Niki Luftfahrt website

Norwegian Air website

Primera Air website

Scandinavian Airlines website

Transavia France website

Vueling Airlines website

WOW air website

And enjoy following our BLOG, as soon we´d like to launch a discount scheme for your GO LOCAL ICELAND bookings.

Happy experiential travelling.

Going around Iceland

Everything has its pros and cons and travelling a round trip around Iceland is no exception.
What shall I see...?, where shall I travel...?, should I take a round trip around Iceland...? are just a few examples of usual questions of those coming to Iceland for the first time.

I´d love to share some thoughts here on the topic and encourage all of you with experience to comment.

But before I start, I´d like to point out that many of those who took a round trip during their first visit, when coming for the second time, opt for choosing a particular part of Iceland and spend the same amount of time exploring that rather than touring around.

When I lived in Iceland as a volunteer for a year, I could not imagine leaving that island without taking a round trip. It was 2006 then and me and my 2 friends, who came for a visit in May 2006, ended up renting a car and simply going for it - round trip around the island.

I think it was between 7-9 days that we had at disposal and went from RVK towards the east first, then north and then down south again along the western shores. One thing is for sure, one spends a loooooooooot of time in the car, when squeezing a round trip into a week, as distances are really big. And it might be great for some, but for me this does not work and that´s why I would not recommend this to people who really like getting connected to places and exploring them and giving themselves time to EXPERIENCE, not only watch through a car window.
This is not to say that I did not enjoy the trip at all. Indeed, it was fun, and I have some nice memories sticking out, such as us discovering spots that somehow caught our attention, regardless whether they were in the guidebook or not. Walking on soft moss on endless lava fields, listening to a story of a young family settling at an old farm in the highlands, watching seals hiding on icebergs floating in a lagoon where the glacier meets the sea, taking a walk on my favourite beach close to dalvík...and...yeah,many others, just that now, I know that I would take a round trip around Iceland if I had a month and not a week.

So, should you take a round trip or not? Ask yourself, what kind of traveller are you? Do you prefer speeding and rushing through places and seeing as much as possible in the time you have, even at the expense of seeing most of it through a car window and not experiencing much on 'your own skin'? Or do you prefer using the same time rather to explore much less, but in depth and taking real experience where all the senses are involved?

Whatever the answer is, I motivate you to find your sacred place in Iceland. One is enough and there´s plenty to choose from.

As an inspiration, here are some already chosen by others, where only wind makes you company.

Langanes peninsula, northeast Iceland, great place to see the midnight sun.

Grímsey, Iceland’s northernmost inhabited island, is the best place to feel the wind and enjoy the view of the “continent” we call Iceland.

Adalvík bay in the remote Hornstrandir region in the West Fjords is a great place for hiking.
The natural hot pot, in Gjögur, in the Strandir region on the eastern West Fjords peninsula, is located directly on the beach where you can touch the Arctic Ocean.

Mt. Sveinstindur, by lake Langisjór in the central highlands, has the best mountain view in Iceland.



And last but not least, a great video to tune you for your Icelandic visit.

Walk on the Ice...where and how?

So it happened that Dalvík got unusually loads of snow during the winter of 2012 and 2013. We´ve had a few proper snow storms and ended up with snowdrifts,  big piles and literally hills of snow all over Dalvík. And as time has been passing by, and temperature has been changing, some parts have naturally started melting away and then freezing again and melting and freezing and...

Well, it´s middle of February right now and most of the pavements, that we locals walk on, have been covered with a thick layer of ice. There were days when Dalvík was simply one big ice-rink.
Well, local municipality has been taking care of sanding it, but the weather is so erratic that on some days even with sand on pavements you simply slide and can hardly walk unless you have some 'city' crampons on.

Why am I writing all this? Simply because I realized one thing when I went to train our boxer dog as usual to our local mountains above the church. I had my crampons on and still, it was quite a struggle to make steps in  an easy and relaxed way. It actually felt as if I was walking on one big glacier. And I tried glacier walking only once, here in Iceland - then it was without crampons on.

So, training our boxer dog, watching him run full speed and me struggling to keep the balance, I´d thought to myself: Dalvík has suitable conditions for tourists who feel like trying glacier walking, yet are not ready to pay tourism companies for guided tours on one of those famous Icelandic glaciers.
It´s important to follow the weather conditions, though so that you can decide when is it most likely to be really slippery to get the most out of the experience.
Well, and on a closing note, I´d love to share a website of one great Icelandic landscape photographers Daniel Bergmann. I was browsing through his book he published 2 years ago and was truly thrilled, once and again.
And remember, if you catch yourself asking, when is the best time to visit Iceland, answer with a following question:
WHAT IS IT THAT I WANT TO GET OUT OF MY ICELANDIC STAY???