The small sushi restaurant in Reykjavik that serves whale and horse sushi. Hidden off Sudurbugt, directly off Geirsgata, the main road by the harbor, this little sushi place serves up the best tuna sashimi I’ve ever had. However it’s not the tuna sashimi that will catch your eye: whale sushi and horse sushi may repulse you or perhaps entice you, but it’s safe to say there are few places in the world where you can sample either of these “delicacies”. Personally, I did try the whale sushi (when in Rome, right...) in a fit of youthful indulgence and I’m not quite sure I’d do it again; it was good, but there’s a reason the world eats tuna, and I’m convinced it’s not because of save-the-whale campaigns. As for the horse sushi? There’s a reason we eat beef instead. Speaking of horses, you can ride Icelandic ponies across the tundra, but I would rather…
Around the World dinner plates
View of the Harbor from the top of Hallgrimskirkja
The Blue Lagoon. One of the most famous things to do in Iceland is to indulge in the rejuvenating steamy waters of their natural hot springs, the most famous of which is The Blue Lagoon. Most of the airport transfer buses offer stopovers at the Lagoon, so this is easily something you can do on your way to the airport. Trust me, it’s a wonderful way to end your trip, relaxing in the hot, steamy water as you stare up at the hazy sky and the craggy mountainscape that surrounds the springs. Nothing will set your head straight for the vacation of a lifetime and the long flight ahead.
There you have it! Iceland is an easy flight from anywhere on the East Coast of the US, and if you happen to be visiting Europe with any time to kill, it’s worth checking out Icelandair’s layover specials: they allow you to spend up to seven nights in Iceland on your way across the Atlantic at no additional cost!
Bathers in the Blue Lagoon
Go snowmobiling. This was one of the most badass things I’ve ever done—in the middle of a snow-storm in the Icelandic tundra, flying at 30-40 mph on a snowmobile in a single-file line with the wind and snow whipping in my face, barely able to see two people ahead of me, exploring the wilderness…if I lost sight of the person in front of me it would have been an “extended ordeal” (to say the least) finding my way back to camp. That being said, it was one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever done, and it gives me chills just thinking about it now. Had I become stranded in the middle of the Icelandic tundra, I would have been quite happy that I decided to…
Horse sushi on the left, whale sushi on the right
Around the World. This is also the name of an experiential dinner served at Fiskfelagid (Fish Company), where the multiple-course, whole-table meal is NOT for the faint of heart. While the particular menu changes from week to week, the most exotic dish I sampled was puffin. Perhaps a bit cold-hearted, it was an Icelandic specialty I chalked it up to cultural indulgence. Other notable meats included reindeer, a tough, gamey cut similar to regulardeer. It’s worth going big for the Around the World dinner, just remember to…
Ice-climbing. Obviously not something you can do in the summer, but after distributing crampons and ice axes, our tour guide led us out onto the Blue Glacier for a good ole’ hike to an ice wall, where we proceeded to climb a fifty foot ledge, digging our crampons and axes into the ice and painstakingly making our way to the top, one by one. Icelandic glaciers move hundreds of feet every day so there are new ice walls to summit all the time. Just be sure to know where you are at all times—you don’t want to be like the Swedish hiker that lost his bearings and was found weeks later, “dead in a crevice” as our guide so nonchalantly put it. Iceland is full of these kind of high-adrenaline pursuits that attract people from…
Dress Warmly. It seems like a simple thing to remember—it is, after all Iceland, and I was there in the wintertime, but when gathering our things for the first day’s adventure, my friend Neil looked at us and said, “Hey guys, did you bring gloves?” That’s right, he forgot gloves…FOR HIS TRIP TO ICELAND. In January. The correct response to forgetting your gloves in Iceland in January is “Holy SHIT! I FORGOT MY GLOVES, AND I NEED TO GET A PAIR, NOW!” Don’t be Neil. Dress warmly if you visit in winter because the outdoor activities are intense, like that time I went…
Icelanders. Icelanders are some of the most engaging and interesting people I’ve ever met. Take the time to strike up a conversation with some of the locals, most easily accomplished over a beer or a coffee, and you’ll be surprised to find educated, intellectually curious people—not the image of a Viking popular culture leads might lead us to believe. A decent portion of your trip should be spent drinking with the locals, who can also take you on a tour of…
The Northern Lights. No trip to Iceland would be complete without a nighttime tour hunting for the elusive Aurora Borealis. It’s obviously preferable to go not-in-the-dead-of-summer since, well; you need darkness to see the lights. You might be able to spot the Northern Lights on your own if you rent a car, but you’ll be better off going with a tour group—they have sophisticated tracking equipment to locate the remote areas where you have the best odds of spotting them. If you’re fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights, they will take your breath away. Though what really might shock you in Iceland is …
Iceland is a land of exotic curiosity to most of us living below the Arctic Circle. With twenty-odd hours of nighttime in the winter and a blazing midnight sun in the summer, it’s a fascinating country filled with some of the world’s most seasoned people. From adventure sports to peculiarly upscale dining, Iceland makes for an enticing destination. Most people will be surprised to find out that that the population of Iceland is about 320,000 people, or about half the size of my hometown of Staten Island, New York. Yet Reykjavik is filled with a vibrant culture, mostly due to…
Budget money for food. Particularly meat. Iceland is a place where you’ll want to sample the various kinds of fish and game since you can’t find specialties such as fermented shark most other places in the world. When looking for food, you’ll find most everything you want on…
Rent a car, and drive yourself. This is risky business in the winter—with the icy roads, dearth of light and frigid temperatures it is not for the faint of heart, but during the summer is a great way to see the countryside with a map and a healthy sense of adventure. Just make sure you…
Book in advance. Iceland is a popular tourist destination—you can take this from someone that doesn’t fancy making advance plans and prefers to show up and fly by the seat of my pants. Iceland is the one place you do NOT want to do that. Activities are expensive and require advanced booking—you don’t want to get stuck in Reykjavik with nothing to do! But if you are, you can of course go to…
B-5, and mingle with the locals. Icelanders frequent this pub, and you can always have a few drinks with them, if all else fails (notice a theme here?) They are an engaging lot. Perhaps you might even run into…
Reykjavik is small. It’s like, unbelievably small. As I’ve said, Iceland itself is approximately half the size of my hometown and Reykjavik is about 120,000 people. It’s tiny. You can walk everywhere worth walking in a single morning, and only need a day or two, max, to knock off all of the things worth doing in the city (not counting dining and coffee housing with the locals)—so don’t budget too much time for Reykjavik itself. Focus more on outdoor activities, such as…
Skogafoss Waterfall. The is the iconic waterfall that you’ll see in virtually everyone’s photos from an Iceland trip. It’s easy to tell whether it was summer or winter at the time of their visit, depending on whether or not you can see any green in the photo. Not sure how to get to Skogafoss? You can take a tour or…
Laugavegur, the main street. From restaurants and late night food vendors, to coffee houses and bars, Laugavegur is where everything in Reykjavik happens. Make sure you pick a night to go out, but be prepared to go out hard…Icelanders are heavy drinkers, and it’s part of the cultural experience to share a drink or ten with them. The clubs and bars are mellow most of the week, but on Friday and Saturday they go absolutely mental. Also on Laugavegur (though not quite part of the drinking scene) is…
Hallgrimskirkja, the church on Eiriksgata. The church itself is not particularly noteworthy, but you can go up to the top for a small fee. It’s the second-tallest building in Iceland (nothing is much taller than three stories), so it affords you a breathtaking view of the city, the harbor, and the glaciers that lay beyond. Aim for sunrise or sunset for a really special treat; I was fortunate enough to watch the sun rise at 11:03 on a crisp January morning. It’s amazing to be able to see everywhere you can possibly go, since…
Jon Gnarr, the former mayor of Reykjavik. Originally a comedian, he mounted a campaign for mayor in 2009 as a satirical attempt to mock the governing establishment and ended up winning. Among other antics, his tenure as mayor was marked by dressing in drag during a gay pride parade and refusing to enter into a governing coalition with anyone who had not watched The Wire. I’d highly recommend watching the documentary about his campaign—it will give you some insight into contemporary Icelandic society and will endear you to the locals when you can flaunt your knowledge of local politics. While no longer mayor, odds are that Gnarr can now be found relaxing in…
Can you guess which one is from Iceland?
Getting stuck on the way to snowmobiling
Attacking the Lhostse Face...or so it seemed.
View of Reykjavik from the top of Hallgrimskirkja
Skogafoss Waterfall, in all its glory
This man had such a good time on Laugavegur, he decided to spend the night there
