I am planning an adventure abroad

[Chri5]

Hi all. I have decided to chase the dream and head to Iceland on a photography trip. I will probably not go until early next summer so I will have time to save up enough cash to travel the island and plan my trip.

I am just wondering do any of you do the same or similar? If so do you have any advice.

Share your experiences.

[bnnrcn]

Aww, you are so lucky to be able to do such a thing. No advices from me but I can say that I envy you and can't wait to see your shots. Please do follow your dreams, we live only once

[Shadowman]

Plan everything, then be spontaneous. You'll have fun. Check out a few travel shows for specific sites to explore.

[dje]

Chris I envy you too !

One of our members did the trip a year ago and posted some very good images here. He also includes a link to his website which has some very good background information.

Dave

[Manfred M]

Iceland is a stunning place (I've been there twice and plan to return a least one more time).

It's an expensive place to visit and not a place that you can "wing it". There is limited accommodation once you get outside of the extreme south-west (Reykjavik) and to some extent in the larger town in the north; Akureyri. Accommodation and places to eat can be few and far between (B&B, farm stays and some small "hotels"). The Edda hotel chain runs in schools that have been closed for the summer school holidays.




If you decide to stick to the Ring Road (Road 1), the driving is easy. If you want to explore off the Ring Road, a 4x4 is mandatory. Any "F" road is for 4x4 only (hint; no bridges across rivers and in places, deep sand). Iceland is the only place I've ever been where I felt that I was "off-roading" while driving on official roads. The interior highlands are gorgeous, but beware, even the Icelanders won't travel some of these unless they are in a convoy. The interior highland roads tend to be closed until very late June or early July.

Weather wise; cool, extremely windy and as I recall, it rained about half the time we were there on both of our trips.

It's a fantastic place with lava, waterfalls, mountains and some really bizarre scenery. Not a lot of trees and very little wildlife other than birds on the coast.

[Mike Buckley]

Heed the details of Manfred's post. Add Icelandic horses (they have at least one gait and some have two gaits that no other horses have), geysers, glaciers, caves, fjords, icebergs, and large chunks of ice on the beach to his list of subjects enjoyable to see and photograph. Though you plan to go in early summer, you might even get so lucky that you see the northern lights.

[tao2]

Hi all. I have decided to chase the dream and head to Iceland on a photography trip. I will probably not go until early next summer so I will have time to save up enough cash to travel the island and plan my trip.

I am just wondering do any of you do the same or similar? If so do you have any advice.

Share your experiences.

Hi Chris,

stay in hostels ( http://www.hostelbookers.com/ http://www.hostelworld.com/ ); better still, look up the hostels on these sites then contact direct, usually cheaper still, though hostelbookers don't charge fees. Spring, summer, autumn months there are lots of hostels available now, all over the island. If ye book, say 6-9 months in advance, it'll cost between 12-28 GBP per night. Been there 4 times (football trips, primarily, but enough time tae get around as well.)

As Manfred says it is expensive but cheap lunches/brunches are easily found and ye can cook in the hostel in the evening. There's plenty happy hours also which often include food. Don't go tae Bjork's bistro - total rip-off.

Kaffebarinn, Dubliner, Vikingakrain (Reykjavik town centre) all have good, cheap pub food and happy hour(s) booze at "cheaper prices". Difficult tae recommend restaurants, bistros etc. as they open and close all the time.

Akranes @ 20-25k fae Reykjavik, (small but growing) and Keflavik (airport) are much smaller than the capital area, though a hostel in Keflavik was only 9GBP last time we were there.

Blue Lagoon, now a tourist trap, is a must visit - though much more fun in winter. Swimshorts and -11°.

Ah'll leave the scenic areas tae others who have visited specifically for photography. Ye'll have a great time, Icelanders are very hospitable folk.


PS How could ah forget, the restaurant at the bus terminal in Reykjavik. May not be the same cuisine or owner now but the guy who used tae have it said "If it swims in the sea I can cook it for you" and he had everything in his cold room. Best seafood platter in the country(and that's saying something in Iceland !). Affordable too...

[Krawuntzel]

Hello Chris
I have no own experiences to share. If you do not yet have it, I would propose to go to:
http://www.naturephotoguides.com/ebooks/
Sarah Marino and Ron Coscorrosa have two ebooks on Iceland that cover over 40 locations worth photographing. Their ebooks are a very good source of inspiration.
Erwin

[Chri5]

Thanks for all the feed back guys. A lot of food for thought.

Binnur you could do it to im sure if you really wanted to.

[Chri5]

Thanks john. I will. I am hoping to have my driving test completed by then so I can hire a car.

[Chri5]

Thanks Dave.

[Chri5]

Iceland is a stunning place (I've been there twice and plan to return a least one more time).

It's an expensive place to visit and not a place that you can "wing it". There is limited accommodation once you get outside of the extreme south-west (Reykjavik) and to some extent in the larger town in the north; Akureyri. Accommodation and places to eat can be few and far between (B&B, farm stays and some small "hotels"). The Edda hotel chain runs in schools that have been closed for the summer school holidays.




If you decide to stick to the Ring Road (Road 1), the driving is easy. If you want to explore off the Ring Road, a 4x4 is mandatory. Any "F" road is for 4x4 only (hint; no bridges across rivers and in places, deep sand). Iceland is the only place I've ever been where I felt that I was "off-roading" while driving on official roads. The interior highlands are gorgeous, but beware, even the Icelanders won't travel some of these unless they are in a convoy. The interior highland roads tend to be closed until very late June or early July.

Weather wise; cool, extremely windy and as I recall, it rained about half the time we were there on both of our trips.

It's a fantastic place with lava, waterfalls, mountains and some really bizarre scenery. Not a lot of trees and very little wildlife other than birds on the coast.

Manfred, Thank you very much. It is very much appreciated. As I said I havent got my driving license yet but hopefully I will by the time my trip arrives. I was hoping to bring a tent and camp out maybe up in the hills if I can but I am not sure if I am aloud to?

[Chri5]

Thank you mike and Irwin.

Hi Robert and thanks for the links. Very Helpfull indeed.

Hi Chris,

stay in hostels ( http://www.hostelbookers.com/ http://www.hostelworld.com/ ); better still, look up the hostels on these sites then contact direct, usually cheaper still, though hostelbookers don't charge fees. Spring, summer, autumn months there are lots of hostels available now, all over the island. If ye book, say 6-9 months in advance, it'll cost between 12-28 GBP per night. Been there 4 times (football trips, primarily, but enough time tae get around as well.)

As Manfred says it is expensive but cheap lunches/brunches are easily found and ye can cook in the hostel in the evening. There's plenty happy hours also which often include food. Don't go tae Bjork's bistro - total rip-off.

Kaffebarinn, Dubliner, Vikingakrain (Reykjavik town centre) all have good, cheap pub food and happy hour(s) booze at "cheaper prices". Difficult tae recommend restaurants, bistros etc. as they open and close all the time.

Akranes @ 20-25k fae Reykjavik, (small but growing) and Keflavik (airport) are much smaller than the capital area, though a hostel in Keflavik was only 9GBP last time we were there.

Blue Lagoon, now a tourist trap, is a must visit - though much more fun in winter. Swimshorts and -11°.

Ah'll leave the scenic areas tae others who have visited specifically for photography. Ye'll have a great time, Icelanders are very hospitable folk.


PS How could ah forget, the restaurant at the bus terminal in Reykjavik. May not be the same cuisine or owner now but the guy who used tae have it said "If it swims in the sea I can cook it for you" and he had everything in his cold room. Best seafood platter in the country(and that's saying something in Iceland !). Affordable too...

[Mike Buckley]

Camping is definitely allowed but I don't remember the restrictions, if any. I'm sure that information is relatively easy to obtain.

[Manfred M]

Manfred, Thank you very much. It is very much appreciated. As I said I havent got my driving license yet but hopefully I will by the time my trip arrives. I was hoping to bring a tent and camp out maybe up in the hills if I can but I am not sure if I am aloud to?

This is a SOOC snapshot of a couple of campers at Jokulsarlon, in South-Eastern Iceland, taken on our first trip in 2007. As I recall, land all over Iceland is privately owned and permission is required from the landowner to camp.



Just beware that Iceland has frequent rainfall (extremely heavy at times) and very high winds.

[Chri5]

This is a SOOC snapshot of a couple of campers at Jokulsarlon, in South-Eastern Iceland, taken on our first trip in 2007. As I recall, land all over Iceland is privately owned and permission is required from the landowner to camp.



Just beware that Iceland has frequent rainfall (extremely heavy at times) and very high winds.

Thanks again Manfred. I would frequently camp here in Ireland and the weather here is very VERY similar to Iceland's. Maybe just not as cold but I am no stranger to a soggy tent so I think I should be fine. I will do some research on camping permission.

[Manfred M]

Thanks again Manfred. I would frequently camp here in Ireland and the weather here is very VERY similar to Iceland's. Maybe just not as cold but I am no stranger to a soggy tent so I think I should be fine. I will do some research on camping permission.

In that case you should feel quite at home in Iceland.

What we found interesting in Iceland was the number of redheads running around; not a genetic characteristic normally associated with the Norse. Apparently, there is an Irish link; as Ireland was the last main landmass the Vikings would visit on their way to Iceland, they would raid the villages and take along the captured women as brides; thereby introducing the red hair genes into the Icelandic population.

[Chri5]

In that case you should feel quite at home in Iceland.

What we found interesting in Iceland was the number of redheads running around; not a genetic characteristic normally associated with the Norse. Apparently, there is an Irish link; as Ireland was the last main landmass the Vikings would visit on their way to Iceland, they would raid the villages and take along the captured women as brides; thereby introducing the red hair genes into the Icelandic population.

I was told that the red heads originated in Scotland though my wife is a red head and she is as Irish as they come.

I conducted some research on camping in Iceland and on both pages they say you can camp where ever you like as long as you dont harm wild life and or leave a mess. Though they do say if there is a campsite close they would prefer that you use them but its not mandatory. Have a look at this link

http://icelandinpictures.com/post/60...amp-in-iceland

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...ng-hitchhiking

[DanK]

I agree with Manfred's posts.

A red warning flag went up when you posted that you don't have your driving license yet. I need to add a bit to what Manfred wrote about driving there. First, I have been driving for many years, and I spend a lot of time in mountains, etc., but I have rarely encountered roads as frightening as some in Iceland. The main roads are fine, and drivers behave themselves. However, things deteriorate quickly. Many roads are very rough dirt roads, and many have no guard rails. For example, here is one in the NW fjords area, south of Isafjordur:



It's even worse than it looks, because the volcanic rock is friable, and pieces just fall away. Not far from where I took this picture, a piece of the road had simply fallen off into the ocean. And this was a road that had been repaired not long before. So if you are a new driver, some of the secondary roads will be quite dangerous.

I asked an Icelander with whom I went kayaking the fjords whether people often drive off the roads. He said that it is seasonal. If I recall, he said that it was OK in the winter because people are more careful, but I may have it backwards.

Second, once you get away from the southwest, there can be very few people, so if something goes wrong, you can be stuck for some time. My son and I were on the road in this photo for hours and saw only two other vehicles. The drivers of both stopped when they saw us and gave us the traditional (if maybe revealing) Icelandic greeting: "Are you OK?"

However, leaving driving aside, it is an amazing place, and the hard thing is figuring out which parts to see in whatever time you have.

Re Manfred's comment about the redheads--there has been a lot of genetic study of Icelanders because of their isolation (until recently) and their superb data. The museum in Rejkjavik had an exhibit about this when I was there. Genetic studies confirmed that the Vikings took captured Celtic women with them.

One last thought: be prepared for bad weather. It can happen any time.

[Manfred M]

I have rarely encountered roads as frightening as some in Iceland.

Or the roads that cross rivers without bridges. I think we hit 26 of these types of crossing on one leg of our trip; over one or two days while in the interior. Watching the water coming over the hood of the car was frightening indeed, especially while looking at the sticker on the car that says "insurance not valid when crossing rivers".

My mistake was letting my wife navigate. She seems to like picking goat paths, rather than roads.