48 hours in Reykjavik, Iceland

January 2, 2016By 18

It’s the beginning of a new year. Happy New Year to all of you. Best health and lots of sunshine in your heart and …. lots of traveling. You write down goals for 2016, maybe travel plans? When you do so, think about flying from the US to Europe (or the other way around) – and think about flying with Icelandair.

(This is not an official advertisement for Icelandair and the country – money might flow in once this blog is published. But then on the other hand Swiss Airline might cancel my sponsorship, so it will be a wash)

Anyway – we always flew Swiss Airline to visit Switzerland. Until August 2015.  Tickets to Switzerland were the highest ever so I thought about Icelandair. And yes it was cheaper. Not only that, Icelandair still has those ‘stopovers’ which were so famous in the “older” days of traveling.

Flight to Zürich via Reykjavik including 2 nights in a great hotel was the same price as flying Swiss direct to Zürich. On top of that,  you can check 2 bags. Going on a hiking trip to Switzerland with camera, lenses, and tripod, that’s good.

We took a late evening flight to Reykjavik and arrived at 6am in the morning. The airport is about 45 minutes away from the town. Of course, no hotel has your room ready at this time of the day. Knowing this, we booked a rental car and explored the beauty of the country for 8 hours prior to arriving at our hotel – Icelandair Reykjavik Marina Hotel.

Remember how hot August of ’15 was? In Iceland, the wind was heavy and the temperature around 36F.  Iceland has an area of 40’000 sqmi (103’000km2 or 2 ½ the size of Switzerland) but only a population of 330’000. In 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nation’s Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy. Affected by the ongoing worldwide financial crisis, the nation’s entire banking system failed in October 2008, leading to a severe depression, substantial political unrest. The economy has since made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism.

If you love nature, don’t mind wind and not so warm weather, this is a country to visit. Below are some pictures for you. We will be back for sure and next time for more than 48 hours.

For all Iceland travelers, I highly suggest this incredible map “International Photographer – Iceland”. Together with the eRoadbook it is a great companion.

When will I see you on the plane and in one of the great restaurants on Reykjavik?

Click IMAGE to View Slideshow

Click IMAGE to View Slideshow

 

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