West Fjords in winter

We´re glad to introduce a spot, which is far away from Eyjafjordur, but just as interesting as our area if you´re tuned on exploring OFF the beaten track.

A friend of Go Local Iceland, Neil, has been renting an apartment in Flateyri and we want to share more about this hidden destination, letting Neil talk:

'There has been a lot of snowfall, making it a good option for various winter sports – as well as cross country and downhill skiing, there is also snow shoeing and various backcountry skiing adventures which can be organised locally. If you couple this with the prospect of seeing the northern lights, which is, in my experience, very good in this part of Iceland, you can see why I think tourism will take off in the region.
However, for the time being at least the area remains pretty much untouched, and particularly so in winter. Getting there is easier than you think, but difficult enough to put most people off.

The Icelandic airlines (www.icelandair.co.uk, and www.icelandexpress.co.uk) currently offer up to three flights a day to Iceland from London, and several weekly flights from Glasgow and Manchester. This will all change when easyJet (www.easyjet.com) start flying from Luton on 29th March, and WOW Air (www.wowair.is), a new Icelandic airline commence operations in June, flying from Stansted.

Getting to the apartment requires a days drive, or you take an internal flight, from Reykjavik to Isafjordur, on Air Iceland (www.airiceland.is). Best to get a 4x4 if possible. My advice is to take things slowly, and expect the unexpected. It's all part of the adventure.'

If you are interested, do not hesitate and give Neil a shout and we´ll keep you updated about common cooperation on GO LOCAL ICELAND.

Happy journeys and Off the track explorations.

Seal in Dalvík harbour

Oh yes, it was back then in November, when we discovered that a seal is enjoying himself at a Dalvík harbour.
Apparently, a seal comes from time to time even to this fishing village harbour hidden in Eyjafjordur.

It was for the first time, when I got to see a seal here and even-though with a month delay, I want to share a picture of him here.

Otherwise, we hope that you´ve been enjoying festive time without stress and wish you great travels full of true experience not only in 2012.

PS: We´re preparing for a welcome of a new member of our family and will be publishing with less frequency. However, we like hearing from you and also your comments so keep on posting and feel free to browse through our older articles - you might find some inspiration for your travels in Iceland.

all the best Lenka and Eggert and a little one still in the belly :)

Iceland covered in snow

December 9th, an Icelandic meteorologist Einar Sveinbjörnsson published a satelite picture of Iceland on his blog showing Iceland totally covered in snow.

If you´re one of those, hesitating 'should I go or should I stay?', this might help you decide. From our part of Iceland, we can proudly report that we have a lot of snow. Great conditions for skiing and AURORA shows up from time to time too. Temperatures have been below zero, but outdoor pools stay nicely hot, as long as there´s no wind - and there hasn´t been a snowstorm for quite a while.

Last but not least, cultural life is totally blooming, not only in Akureyri, but also in small villages, such as our little Dalvík.

Christmas markets, concerts, gatherings...you name it.

So, if you´re up for some proper relaxing and revitalization in the middle of nowhere with great food and unusual things to do - dipping yourself in outdoor hot pot, even-though it´s minus 10, then go and book your ticket and give us a shout.

We´ll gladly assist with the rest.

Iceland - THE destination

Here, in our beloved small fisihing village of Dalvík, proper winter has come. We´ve already had a proper snow storm and now are enjoying lots of snow and temperatures below zero.

There´s also considerably less daylight during the day, so we tend to sleep more and go to the pools more often :).

And, we just wanted to remind you that whatever the time of the year, you´re more than welcome to explore this island from inside out and we´re here to help you to get know many places that you´d otherwise not get introduced to.

If you´re asking yourself: What is the best time to travel to Iceland?', then we encourage you to think about what experience you´re undry for - what is it that you truly want to try out and live while exploring this island.

Our answer would be that whatever the time of the year, Iceland is such a unique destination that it always has a lot to offer - the most important thing is that you harmonize your expectations with what is likely to be found here during the particular part of the year.

Well, and we´ve also read that Iceland is the most desirable destination for world travelers in 2012, both according to Lonely Planet and National Geographic.

No matter, whether you follow such advice or not, we keep the fingers crossed and wish you that you´ll be able to come and enjoy (N)iceland whenever the right time comes for you.

We´re here to help and assist, so do not hesitate and contact us.

Time to check out AURORA

Iceland Express is having a hot offer: Iceland for 79EUR from Berlin or 69 quid from London. If you´re thinking of calming your European life down and charging yourself with energy, while enjoying hot geothermal pools and Aurora Borealis, then do click here and book.

And if you´re still hesitant, then we want to share something.
In October, Czech online travelling magazine launched a photo competition and a picture from Iceland (tenting) was one of the winning ones.

Check it out here, it´s the one in the middle and you´ll recognize it thanks to unique light on the sky.

Still hesitant and not knowing what this AURORA is all about or what is it that you could do here? Read more here.

Last but not least,
when flying to Iceland from Europe, you might want to consider checking these 3 companies:
www.icelandair.com - they have their own agents in many European countries, so you might even find the link relevant for your country.
www.icelandexpress.com
www.airberlin.com - just watch out as they fly mostly during the summer season.

Should you have more questions or need specific advice on booking your air travel to Iceland, do not hesitate to get in touch, we have a lot of experience with flying to Iceland from Europe and using all kinds of combination, so we´ll gladly share our knowledge.

Getting to Iceland by boat

This bit is written for all those, who really want to take their time when getting all the way to us in Iceland and as Indians say - let their soul arrive too, not only their bodies. This might be quite hard when one travels by plane, so we keep the fingers crossed for all of you, no matter what mean of transport you end up using.

Well, for slow travel to Iceland, there is a company called SMYRIL LINE that operates a boat arriving in Iceland (namely eastern side of the island Seyðisfjörður) between April 1st - October 26th - the schedule is valid for 2012.

Basically, the boat leaves from Denmark (usually Hirtshals) and then stops at Faroe Islands (the stop length varies depending on the season you travel in, so check the schedule for details. After that the next stop is Iceland and the whole journey takes at least two full days. If you leave on Tuesday morning from Denmark, you are in Iceland on Thursday morning - during the high season. The trip might take longer if you opt for departures that enable you to stay overnight in Faroe Islands.

You have quite some choices when it comes to cabins or berths, so do check out the prices well so that you can choose your prefered standard in relation to the price you´re willing to pay in the given period.
When I did a trial booking, I opted for '2 B. Cabin, window but no view (Male share)' and got the price of 224 EUR quoted - only one way.

The booking system is simple and straightforward and it is advisable to book well ahead (you might even end up saving, as there´re special offers on some early bookings). There´s a possibility to book food online beforehand and save up to 20%, which we cannot confirm as we have not taken the boat ourselves, yet.

All those, who will end up testing it, please send us the feedback and share your experience and comments here.

Well, these are the basics when it comes to travel by boat to Iceland. We know a few people, who have taken the boat, so if you need some references, just email us.

Last but not least, once you reach beautiful village of Seyðisfjörður you can travel northwards or southwards around the island. When you decide to go for north, do check out our local hiking tours as they might fit your taste and plans :).

We look forward to welcoming you here.

all the best from Lenka

...back after the summer

We ended up being more silent than usual this summer, as life has brought us new surprises and amongst them a baby on the way that is due in February 2012.

So, GO LOCAL Iceland is definitely growing bigger.

Nevertheless, we keep on exploring, especially Eyjafjordur and are always glad to post interesting stuff for you to GO LOCAL here.

I want to share a nice experience from the last weekend, while undergoing some fjord explorations and sort of 'after the summer' check :).

Me and my partner Eggert set off on Saturday morning from Dalvík to Siglufjordur and before you read on I encourage you to check the post here first, so that you can get the whole picture.

It is already October and mountain tops are covered in white. During this part of the year, small fishing villages can appear rather 'dead' to a foreigner who is not familiar with local reality, but quite some surpriseslie ahead once you know your way around locals.
We were up for proper brunch so our first stop, after having passed the tunnel, was a local bakery in the northmost village of Iceland - Siglufjodur. The great news is, that it is still open and running and nothing implies that they would be threatened to close down due to downturn of customers as a result of the tunnel and close vicinity of Akureyri.

The pastry choice was great and staff very friendly. It was thanks to them that we realized that Mugisson was to play that Saturday evening in a local museum - fabolous building taking one back in time.

So we strolled and checked out a very pleasant café-bar, where they hold all kinds of cultural events. That particular Saturday, the cinema screenings were to start and that´s great news as in old days, there used to be a few movies played each and every day in Siglufjodur.

Since the times were clashing, we had to make a choice and we decided for a live concert of Mugisson.
The guys were awesome. The sound in that unique building great and all in all we had very enjoyable time, experiencing Mugisson live again. If you get a chance, go for it, he is ery special and live even MORE :).

To conclude, we´re glad that ´Sigló', which is pretty much as far from Dalvík as Akureyri, is still nicely alive, keeping its charm it has had since we got to know it.

Join in, and check this place out - whatever the season and let us hear your impressions. Should you need any tips, just write to us.

your Go LOCAL team