CLEVELAND, Ohio - Clevelanders have fallen in love with Iceland - that much is clear from the dozens of stories and recommendations forwarded by readers who recently journeyed to the land of fire and ice.
Two weeks ago, we asked local travelers to tell us their tales of Iceland, the newest destination from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. We heard from dozens of readers, who shared their experiences and passed along these tips:
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As a college graduation gift to our twin boys, we booked a last minute, five-day trip to Iceland at the end of May. Despite the unseasonably cold and mostly rainy weather, we could not have been more happy exploring this scenic and friendly country. The Wow flight, even with a number of upgrades, was still quite inexpensive, got us to Reykjavik airport on time (10:30 a.m.) to catch a bus to the Blue Lagoon for a noon booking, a perfect transition to unwind from jet lag, immerse in the warm geothermic waters, and then arrive at our hotel at check-in time.
In addition to the Golden Circle and South Coast glacier excursions, we did the "Game of Thrones" tour I promised one of my boys - who proclaims to be an expert on the series. It was actually one of the highlights of the trip due to the insights of our guide Theo, a medieval history scholar and a regular extra in battle scenes at various locations filmed in Iceland. (We booked through Viator.)
The only downside of the trip was the arrival at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport at 1 a.m. in the morning. This airport is woefully unprepared to deal with international travel. With only three border agents handling over 150 passengers, we then had to endure an unnecessary screening by TSA. It took an excruciating hour and a half to get our baggage and leave the airport.
--Terry Gilbert, University Heights
Related: International travelers continue to gripe about Cleveland Hopkins' arrival process
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I have so many tips that I think made my trip to Iceland special, but I'll try to focus on the less likely to be repeated ones. For the record, I visited in October 2015.
1. Be willing to visit during the off-season: Mid/late fall can be a wonderful time to visit Iceland because not only is the aurora borealis starting to become visible in October, but there are less tourists clogging up the Ring Road and tourist sites (there will still be plenty). Finally, the weather in the bottom half of Iceland is still perfectly temperate (especially for Clevelanders).
2. Make a trip north: Everyone talks about Reykjavik and the Blue Lagoon, but two of the most memorable locations I visited were in the north: Akureyri, a city in the north at the base of a very long fjord with great whale watching trips and a fun hostel bar that fills up in the evening with all sorts of traveler, and Lake Myvatn, a volcanic lake with great hiking, and a geothermal bath like Blue Lagoon, but less busy. Worth the trip if you are considering a longer trip.
3. Don't order whale: The Icelandic whaling industry is at an impasse, with the younger generation moving away from it and the old guard standing behind it as a legitimate industry. As a tourist, you should do your part to support sustainability and ecotourism by avoiding whale. There are plenty of other food options in the country, so it should be easy enough to avoid whale meat altogether.
--Christopher Tanski, Cleveland
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At Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon on Iceland's South Coast. (Photo courtesy Jeannie Fleming-Gifford)
Our family spent eight days in Iceland at the end of May. The best way that I attempt to summarize our trip to others is that I believe we saw many of the best of the United States' national parks geological features in an eight-day adventure: geysers, waterfalls, glaciers, ocean, mountains and more!
Expensive? True. We stayed in hostels, which proved to be economically efficient and a positive experience overall. We rented a car and drove the entire ring road but ran out of stamina to make it to the Westfjords. In addition to the amazing landscapes, we found economical family fun in playgrounds and swimming pools (in nearly every town). A couple of trips to the grocery stores reduced our spending, too, with a few hotdogs enjoyed by the family (and now I know why there are so many sheep roaming those glorious hillsides -- yikes!).
And flights? Icelandair was fantastic experience topped off with a female captain flying us back to the states.
--Jeannie Fleming-Gifford, Willoughby
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I teach once a year in Iceland, and can tell you a few things:
1. Reykjavik is a nice city to visit, maybe good for two nights.
2. You are going to be shocked at the costs of everything.
3. Restaurants are really amazing, food is great, service is professional and friendly.
4. You are going to be shocked at what every meal cost.
5. All of the seemingly Icelandic jackets and clothing are very expensive and made in China, although they don't require such labeling information.
6. Hotels are reasonably priced, rather simple, but pleasant.
7. A taxi to the city is $170, so find another way!
--Alan Glazen, Cleveland
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The black sand beaches near Vik, on Iceland's South Coast. (Photo courtesy Donna Marchetti)
My son and I flew Icelandair out of Boston in April and spent four nights based in Reykjavik. Here are some things travelers might find useful.
Food is expensive but you can offset that somewhat by your choice of accommodations. I used booking.com to find a two-bedroom apartment in a quiet neighborhood with a spacious, fully equipped kitchen for about $700 total. We had breakfast and some lunches in our apartment, so we did not feel guilty about splurging for dinner each night. (Well worth it. We loved the food!)
We used the Appy Hour app to find good happy hour deals near us.
If you want to have wine in your room, buy it in the airport duty-free shop when you land. It is cheaper and easier than trying to find one of the government-run wine stores. Grocery stores and convenience store do not sell alcohol.
Save receipts for large purchases - you can get the tax refunded to your credit card at the airport when you leave. Items must be in original packaging.
Be prepared for all kinds of weather. It may be sunny and warm in Reykjavik but cold and rainy on excursions outside the city. A good waterproof jacket with hood and rain pants can make the difference between enjoyment and misery.
I highly recommend a visit to the National Gallery of Iceland after spending some time in the interior of the country. The influence of the unique landscape on Icelandic art is dramatic.
One of our favorite city experiences was the Kolaportio Flea Market near the waterfront. Locals shop here for everything from specialty food to crafts, jewelry, vintage clothing, old records, antiques and locally made products like soap.
--Donna Marchetti, Cleveland Heights
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The Harpa Concert Hall in Reykjavik. (Photo courtesy of Ron Werman)
My wife and I went to Iceland for two weeks in September 2017. We went through Nordic Visitor, where you get a rental car, GPS, maps and travel information and emergency service and they make all of the accommodations. You can see what you want and just have to get to the next accommodation that evening. We went all the way around Iceland in a clockwise direction.
In Reykjavik, we really enjoyed seeing Harpa Concert Hall. The architecture is stunning. We took a tour but you can wander in the public areas free of charge. The tour got us also into the concert hall and recital hall.
We saw many waterfalls. My favorite was Dynjandi in the Westfjords region. It is a hike to get to it but there are a number of smaller waterfalls that you pass as you ascend, each accessible to view.
The Witchcraft Museum in Holmavik was not worth seeing.
One neat area was Reynisfjara near Vik on the South Coast. This was a cave in a cliff composed of hexagonal basalt columns right by the water. It was impressive.
Every place we stayed at served a nice breakfast so we took advantage of that. For lunch, gas stations often would have restaurants attached, which were reasonable. Often, in the morning, we would stop at a grocery store and get sandwiches for lunch later.
With gas stations, some of the more remote ones were not manned. While they took credit cards, you needed your credit card's PIN. Since I didn't know mine, I always had to find a manned station. Some remote areas did not have many gas stations so we filled up when we could.
--Ron Werman, Cleveland Heights
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My wife and I traveled the entire ring road (Highway 1) of 830-plus miles, and added another 700 miles or so taking side trips. We stayed in guesthouses and apartments in small towns, one night in each except for two nights in a small hotel in a Reykjavik suburb, Hafnarfjordhur, only 4 miles from the heart of the capital. At the end of the trip, we stayed 2 nights in the small seaport town of Akranes, which was our base to explore the western peninsula of Snaefellsnes.
We traveled the Ring Road counter-clockwise. After the first two nights near Reykjavik, we stayed overnight in Hvolsvollur, Hofn, Seydisfjordur, Akureyri (Iceland's second largest city, with a population of only 18,000), and finally the two nights in Akranes.
We booked our lodgings in advance online; our chief criterion was having a private bath. Every place was clean and neat, some provided breakfast, and we spent between $120 and $160 per night.
We especially loved visiting the town of Stykkisholmur - on the northern coast of the Snaefellsnes peninsula. It received a European award for cultural preservation, and it's easy to see why. Beautifully preserved buildings painted various colors, a gorgeous seaport, with stairs leading to the top of a cliff and lighthouse where the views in every direction are spectacular. There's a ferry and whale-watching tours and a few excellent restaurants specializing in seafood. We had a fine Saturday evening meal at Narfeyrarstofa on the main drive through town. Calling ahead for a reservation is advisable.
The highway along the northern coastline leading to Stykkisholmur reminded me of the Pacific Coast Highway in California -- beautiful vistas, cliffs overlooking the water, including one reminiscent of Big Sur.
We also loved the small community of Seydisfjordur on the eastern coast, about 25 miles east of Egilsstadir. The drive takes you over a mountain, with snow on both sides of the highway. A small herd of reindeer ran alongside us for part of the way. Seydisfjordur has a strong artists' community, with galleries and some outdoor displays next to homes. Very quaint buildings painted in pastel colors. The small powder-blue church is a standout. We arrived on Wednesday, the same day a ferry brings passengers in from Europe, making for a livelier evening in bars and restaurants.
We also explored a lava cave, Vidgelmir, advertised as Iceland's largest and mightiest. Turn off Highway 1 just north of the town of Borganes and go east on Highway 518 until it turns into a gravel road and follow the signs through a lava field to the cave. It's a family-owned, well-run operation. We had an excellent guide through the cave. They take groups of about 20 or 25 at a time for a 90-minute exploration, part of which includes "the squeeze," so named for obvious reasons.
A word about the Blue Lagoon: People shouldn't think that it's a tourist trap that might be avoided if you find yourself running out of time at the end of your trip. We found it to be perhaps our favorite experience. You arrive at Keflavik airport in the morning on both airlines. Our flight arrived around 6:30 a.m. After some breakfast and getting our rental car, we went straight to the Blue Lagoon because it's a short drive from the airport. It was raining at the time, with a cold wind blowing, and the thought of getting into a bathing suit and going outside didn't seem appealing but we had made reservations. After spending three luxurious hours paddling around the wonderfully warm lagoon until we turned into prunes, we decided that the cold wind and rain just enhanced the experience. I'd strongly recommend going there first, right after your arrival. It will relax you after your sleepless night on the plane. You might even want to back again at the end of your journey!
An advisory: Before flying home, we bought several bottles of Icelandic liquor in the duty-free store at the airport. The salesperson put the bottles in a couple of plastic bags and said we could just carry them onto the plane. We did so and put them in the overhead bin. While going through customs in Cleveland, it was announced that anyone carrying bottled water or bottles of liquor would have to throw them away. We should have packed the bottles in our suitcases! My wife carried the liquor bags back to the end of the line and found someone who agreed to put them inside their suitcase. We picked them up on the other side of the customs inspection.
--Mike Lewis, Avon
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I've been to Iceland four times, in 2008, 2010, 2016 and 2017. Some suggestions:
In Iceland, when they say "Jeep" they usually mean any AWD or 4X4. AWD is not true four-wheel drive.
Best restaurant meal ever, Fiskmarkadurinn (Fish Market) in Reykjavik. Expensive, but go! Off the beaten track but also recommended, especially for shellfish, is Vitinn.
Look out the plane's windows -- my wife stayed awake most of the way on our winter trip due to the best-ever northern lights display.
Don't expect much from the northern lights. The Keflavik hotel's desk clerk said a display we saw there was one of the best he had ever seen (mid-September, 2016). It was more like shape-shifting clouds without much color. A lot of the colorful pictures you see of the northern lights are time-lapse photography that brings out the color.
Skip the Blue Lagoon, it has gotten crowded. Seek out an alternative. If you go north, the Myvatn Nature Baths are the best.
Driving is easy in Iceland but don't rely solely on maps, the street names look like nonsense words. Use both but especially the map on your GPS.
English is widely spoken in Iceland. A little less so in the less often visited areas.
Biggest regret: not going to one of the public pools and interacting with the locals in the hot pots, especially on our most recent visit.
Skip eating the whale and puffin but try horse, lamb, Icelandic meat soup and the fish!
Go to church. We went to the Catholic church in Akureyri. The priest was Icelandic but the majority of parishioners were Filipino and Eastern European. They invited us to coffee and light snacks. I wish we had brought something to share.
New Year's Eve is big in Iceland. Setting off fireworks is legal one week a year and sold by the search and rescue squads as a fundraiser. The fireworks are remarkable! We viewed the ones in Akureyri from the house across the fjord from the city. It was the highlight of all our trips. Note: In the future, they are restricting the size of the fireworks, so future displays may be a little less dramatic.
If you stay in Reykjavik's city center on a Saturday night you may not get much sleep. If the weather is decent there will be lot of noise until about 4 or 5 am. A lot of loud conversation and breaking glass but it all seemed friendly and convivial. Then the street cleaners come.
Iceland is not Disneyland or Cedar Point. There are places you can get hurt if you are not careful. It is not some "safe" version of the real world. They also don't have ADA there and you usually have to lug around your own suitcases. Iceland is best for the fit and healthy.
Icelandair and Wow out of Cleveland: At first I thought no big deal, still not direct to Europe. But if you live in Cleveland, nothing is direct to Europe. You have to fly or get to Detroit, Washington or New York City, then get your direct flight. Twice we stayed in a hotel after our U.S. return since there was no CLE flight. With Icelandair and Wow, you leave directly from CLE and have a relatively short layover in Keflavik. It is actually more efficient, probably less expensive overall and one airline means less or no risk of a missed connection.
--Jim and Sherryl Saccardi, Amherst
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Photo courtesy of Jon Frosti/Solstice Tours
We traveled the first week in March to Iceland, obviously before the Cleveland flights. Our trip was planned months in advance and we wanted the winter months to hopefully experience the aurora borealis.
We used a tour company for most of our trip: Jon Frosti of Solstice Tours. Our adventures were custom-made for us exclusively. Jon, who is very knowledgeable, has a four-wheel drive van, which includes wifi. Most days we were busy from morning to evening and late into the night for the northern lights. We ate at some wonderful out-of-the-way places (loved the arctic char) and saw sites some tourists might miss on their own. Temperatures were in the low 30s but we were prepared with snow boots, hiking shoes, warm clothing, etc.
Upon our arrival, before the Blue Lagoon, our guide took us to the Viking World Museum in Reykjanesbaer where we had breakfast and learned a bit about the early Vikings. During our stay, we saw around 10 waterfalls. We went to Fridheimar in Reykholt, which is a tomato greenhouse and restaurant with the lunch menu including tomatoes for almost everything. We went to the Kerid crater lake and enjoyed the Lava Centre. We thought the museum was very well done.
Our glacier walk was at the Syinafellsjokull glacier, a tongue of the Vatnajokull glacier. Our guide had said he had people complaining the walk he previously took people on was much too crowded so this walk was with a small group. Film location for "Interstellar," "Batman Begins" and "Game of Thrones."
We saw Hofskirkja, the last turf roofed church built in 1882. The black sand beach with the basalt columns was where the film "Noah" with Russell Crowe was located along with "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story." We also went to the Reykjanes Nature Reserve, which is a geological wonder with high-temperature geothermal pools, springs, vents, etc., and stopped to see Eldey Island on the way to the airport.
--Linda Sacash, Russell Township
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We (two 60ish parents, two college kids) returned June 1 from two weeks in Europe via Icelandair. We flew to London for a week and then spent a week based in Reykjavik. Icelandair was a dream - excellent fare of $477 pp (booked in September), easy booking, smooth check-in, new planes, soft blankets, legroom. The lack of food didn't bother us because what we bought in the airports was better than most airline food.
Our only complaint was on the Cleveland end. To deplane after a long flight, clear immigration and customs, claim your checked baggage and then have to surrender the same checked baggage you just claimed and clear TSA with your carry-ons in order to exit the airport was a huge disappointment and easily added 45 minutes to an already long day. At that point, most of the good feelings about Icelandair had been forgotten.
Experienced travelers expect this if they are on a connecting flight but not if their travel plans end in CLE. What added to the anger and confusion was that no one would answer questions or explain why. TSA employees kindly explained that we were exiting into the secure part of the airport. Several people ripped the baggage claim off their checked bags and acted like they were carry-ons. I felt badly for the TSA employees because they took the brunt of everyone's frustration.
There was only one screener set up to process the entire plane (200+) and when we arrived in baggage claim, our flight wasn't listed on any of the monitors so no one knew which carousel to go to.
These flights are great for CLE but I worry that the poorly designed exit strategy will eventually have a negative impact.
--Deborah Hull, Pepper Pike