For Choice, Choose Iceland!
Freedom, peace, excitement and beauty.
Visit Iceland and you'll enter a whole new realm of experience. You'll discover original nature as you've never seen it before, and the equally original people for whom timeless nature, ancient heritage and modern lifestyle coexist in harmony. The freedom to travel as you please, explore and have fun - this is the key to the Iceland experience.
Whether your reason for visiting Iceland is to meet people or get away from them, there's ample scope for doing both. Likewise you can find a peace and tranquillity that most moderncity-dwellers only dream about, or action more intense than you've everknown as you do battle with the elements and forces of nature themselves. Iceland has something for everyone, whatever the season, and you can choose from a grand spread of special interest options or combine your pleasures into a truly diverse tour. There are unique sights to be seen all over the country and every locality has a character and attractions all of its own, so you can tour at your leisure and experience Iceland from as many sides as you choose.
Frequent international air and ferry services make Iceland a convenient place to reach. Once you've arrived the travelling is easy along the main road network, and farther-out places can be reached on tours. Some people plan their trips ahead in detail, others just enjoy the freedom to play it by ear as the fancy takes them. Just go to Iceland and you'll find a place where you can be sure that there will be space for you.
Iceland: The island of contrasts, where heaven and earth meet, and where the sagas of the vikings were written under glaciers, erupting volcanoes and the magnificent midnight sun...and still, today, it´s all there preserved unspoiled by the Icelanders.
Iceland is the place for people who want to see and do new things. Discover a world that nature is still creating and the people and culture that live and thrive in a challenging, beautiful and purely natural environment.
There´s energy everywhere in Iceland. See how it shapes the mountains and fjords and vast uninhabited spaces, blazes from the midnightsun in summer and the northern lights in winter, surges in waterfalls and creeps in glaciers, erupts in volcanoes and bubbles in natural hotsprings. And energy bursts forth in the action and activities that make Iceland one of the most exciting places on the map today. Take on the challenge of doing battle with the mighty forces of nature. Or live life in the city and towns where you feel instantly at home and where the night is always young, whatever the time of day or year.
Geologically speaking, Iceland is the youngest country in the world, and still growing. A mere 20 million years ago, the island was born from the North Atlantic seabed in a huge volcanic eruption like the ones that are still going on today. Its lava features have been chiselled in places and smoothed elsewhere by Ice Age glaciers and pounding waves, to leave masterpieces of nature's artistry that astound the urban imagination.
It was to this strange world that the first settlers came only 1,100 years ago, making Iceland the last country in Europe to be inhabited by man: vikings in quest of freedom and new and richer lives. Their spirit lives on in the independent-minded people for whom modern Iceland is home today, people who live in harmony with the elements and a land that is always changing before their very eyes.
Find out for yourself.
At 3-4 hours by air from Europe and 5-6 hours from North America, the Icelandic world apart is closer than most people think. And whatever your interest, there's still plenty of Iceland waiting for you to discover it.
Travellers visit Iceland today for exactly the same reasons that motivated the Vikings who discovered the place in the ninth century -the love of freedom. Whether your delight is in vast, untouched and uninhabited expanses of landscape, or strolling around town making friends, you'll feel free in Iceland. And a whole host of travel options are available if instead of taking organized tours you want to decide the pace for yourself.
Carrental - on the spur of the moment or as part of a "Fly and Drive"package - has become a big favourite in recent years. Many drivers opt to take the Ring Road (1,340 km) right around the country, with as many detours as they wish. There's local accommodation to suit every taste and budget, ranging from quality hotels in larger towns, through summer hotels with beds or room for sleeping bags, to guesthouses, farm accommodation and campsites with standard facilities.
A wide range of vehicles can be rented, including 4WD, but drivers are advised not to venture alone where there are unbridged rivers on the tracks. A summer carferry operates between Seyðisfjörður in the east and ports in northern Europe, for travellers who prefer the feel of their own familiar wheels.
Those who fancy the challenge of touring under their own physical steam will find that cycling more than repays the calories spent. Cyclists should come prepared for all weather, even at the height of summer. A number of cycle rentals operate in Reykjavík and elsewhere, offering good mountain bikes, while both the car ferry and aircraft take cycles aboard too.
Go-it-alone travellers should always remember that it's sometimes a very short step between feeling free and getting lost. Hikers, glacier explorers and interior wanderers should always notify someone of their plans when heading out into the wilds on longer hauls. Also, off-road driving is strictly forbidden - sensitive sub-Arctic vegetation needs the freedom to grow and flourish too, and surface damage from tyres can take decades to heal.
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