Dear Friends  -  Hello and welcome to our Iceland vacation website.

This website contains a photo gallery of our 10 day “Family Drive” tour of Iceland in August 2007.  The trip was booked on-line through Iceland Visitor in Reykjavík. The five of us traveled around Iceland mostly on the “Ring Road” (Route 1) and we were continually spellbound by the beauty of the country having new adventures on every one of the 10 days.  

First, here are some thoughts:

THE TEMPERATURE – The August temperatures ranged from 6 to 15 degrees C (43 to 60 degrees F).  It was very pleasant for our outdoor activities unless the wind picked up or it drizzled.  We had to have our jackets handy.

DAYLIGHT – The sky was lit all day and night.  After sunset there was still enough twilight to sightsee all night.  It was tempting to stay up very late outside.

THE LANDSCAPE – You can see the great variety of landscapes in the photos that include lava fields, mountains, glaciers, craters, hot springs with geysers, steam vents, rivers, waterfalls and other “other worldly” scenes.  There are very few trees and the mountains are covered mostly with green grass or moss that look tempting to climb.  It is possible to see quite far due to the lack of trees giving a true perspective of great distances.  Waterfalls were too numerous to count.

PRICES – Very expensive!!  A bottle of water was about $3.  Burger, fries and coke was about $16 in a nice Reykjavík restaurant.  A fill-up in the small car was almost $100 (about 10 gallon tank).  We chose the budget option for accommodations and prepared most of our meals.  We were impressed that even in the most remote, small towns the grocery stores were well stocked with just about anything you would need but still expensive!

DRIVING – Driving in Reykjavík is just like driving in any big city with confusing one-way streets but once out of town the driving was quite pleasant.  Outside of Rekjavík all roads are just two lane with most bridges being one lane.  We did not find much traffic to contend with.  The drivers were courteous giving the car behind opportunity to pass on the long stretches.  Much of the traffic seemed to be other vacationers.  The self-serve gas pumps would take in the credit card and then ask for my PIN which I never had used before.  I’m glad I remembered it.  Out of the towns we always had to watch out for sheep.  The sheep, we were told, outnumber the human population and roam freely. If you hit one you are responsible to pay the farmer restitution for the sheep – not the farmer to any car damage!  Most roads were paved but some (or sections of some) were only gravel.

CITIES AND TOWNS -   The downtown Reykjavík area is charming with a large variety of  restaurants and numerous bookstores.  All of the towns seemed well kept and clean. Although we didn’t have much opportunity to use our  laptop on the internet because of our “budget accommodations” it appeared that the internet was everywhere and could have found access if we had wanted to.

ACCOMMODATIONS – We were glad we chose the "budget" option!  Nearly all of our accommodations had well equipped, clean kitchens for the use of the occupants.  We learned to take advantage of this for some meals.  All of the accommodations were clean and well kept and were frequently located in scenic areas.  Each location was a pleasant surprise!

PHOTO GALLERY