Author: icelanddiscover
Are you planning a visit to the enchanting city of Reykjavík, Iceland? Don’t miss out on one of the city’s best-kept secrets – the Old Harbour House. Located in the heart of the historic Old Harbour, this charming café offers an array of delights that will tantalize your taste buds and enrich your travel experience.
Planning to witness the Northern Lights in Iceland? Our comprehensive guide provides you with all the information you need to make the most of your experience, including the best time and locations to see the Aurora Borealis, tips for capturing stunning photos, and more.
Driving the Iceland Ring Road is the new driving route 66 in the USA. For one it actually exists. As you circumnavigate our stunning islands your breath will be taken away by the incredible mountains, waterfalls, and sweeping landscapes you come across. It’s self-drive heaven, so organize your playlist, make a list of pit stops, and get going. How fast can you drive the Iceland Ring Road? If you really wanted to you could drive the Iceland ring road in about 15 – 17 hours, but it would be unsafe, and no fun. We recommend at least a week, but if you…
Why is Iceland called Iceland and Greenland called Greenland when Iceland is green and Greenland has huge amounts of ice? Some people think it’s because the people discovered Iceland wanted to keep it for themselves, and encouraged people to go on further to the more tropically named Greenland. Whilst this isn’t correct there is a grain of truth in it, and the actual answer is unexpected. Firstly it should be said that whilst Icelanders called Iceland Iceland, written Ísland, and pronounced Ee-island, Greenlanders do not call their country Greenland. In the Greenlandic Inuit language, it is called Kalaallit Nunaat, which…
Diamond Beach is unworldly. A black sand beach with clear, blue-tinted icebergs sparkling in the sunshine. It would be worth a visit by itself, but its creator, the mighty Glacier Lagoon – Jökulsárlón in Icelandic is on the other side of the road from it. You can drive there yourself or come on our South Coast tour and we will be delighted to show you all the wonders along the way. Let’s start with that the Glacier Lagoon. A lagoon is a body of water connected to the ocean, so it is different from a lake. Here, along the pristine south coast…
It comes as a surprise to many but the beer was illegal in Iceland until 1989! Since then Icelanders celebrate beer day, the day it was made legal by drinking a lot of it. If you are in Iceland on March 1st be sure to make the most of the Beer day parties and special offers!
Choosing what to pack for Iceland’s weather can be a struggle, it changes every few minutes. Wake up to glorious sunshine, have a hailstorm on your walk to the bus stop, but by the time your bus arrives it’s a dry, if very windy morning. And that’s just in Reykjavik!
Konudagur is celebrated on the first day or the nearest Sunday, of the month of Góa, a month in the traditional Icelandic calendar. Góa is the second to last of the winter months, the days are starting to be visibly longer, summer is coming!
Bolludagur was the first day, a day of cream filled buns, then Sprengidagur when you eat so much you feel like you might explode. Today is Öskudagur, Ash Wednesday, and one of joy, bags of Ash and sweeties. What happens on öskudagur? Ash Wednesday is celebrated throughout the Christian world but Icelanders have given their own twist to it. For a long time people would try to pin a little bag of ash (or grain if you don’t have any ash lying around – thanks to the geothermic heating) to unknowing peoples backs as a little prank, but understandably, as this didn’t involve…
The day after Bun day – Bolludagur is Sprengidagur – Explosion or Blast day. On it Icelanders pretend that they haven’t spent the entire day before pigging out on cream buns, and instead gorge themselves on saltkjöt og baunir
