Archives
It is no wonder that travelers driving by the rock cliff called Cave of Rutur in the South of Iceland are taken aback for a second. For if there was ever a “postercave” for what one can imagine to really be the home of the Hidden Peoples, this is it. What makes all the difference ... Read More
Ahhhh. Those awesome and tantalizing black beaches of Iceland. Practically the whole South coast of the country is one long black beach. But although enticing to most foreigners, caution should be used. Trouble and danger is not something you automatically tie to those enticing sandy beaches. But you´d be amazed how many foreigners get into ... Read More
You know how after you have been driving in similar and unchanging landscape for a good while you tend to lose focus? That is the reason many visitors drive right by a small but very unusual spot called Laufskalavarda in the South of Iceland. Which is not just a shame for the sight itself but ... Read More
Folks with attention span longer than a few seconds should well remember the name Eyjafjallajokull. Yes, the very same mountain that stranded hundreds of thousands of tourists, lowered the GDP of some nations and made fools of some news anchors trying to pronounce its name. That episode belongs to history by now but the whole ... Read More
There is no shortage of canyons in the beautiful country of Iceland. The country practically carved through and through with mountains, valleys and canyons of amazing variety. While hard to recommend one above any other it is certainly worth your while to visit Fjadrargljufur canyon while driving in the South of the country. Only recently ... Read More
One of the more interesting things while traveling in the South of Iceland is the amazingly sharp contrast found on the way between the villages of Klaustur and Vik. On one hand vast empty black sands and on the other vast overgrown lava field. Opposites truly attract here. The contrast is especially vivid in high ... Read More
Sadly Iceland has seldom had the good fortune of having very smart people in government. Examples abound but the economic crash in 2008 must come close as a world record in governing disaster. The very same government that almost took a whole country over the cliff with untold hardships for locals in 2008 did other ... Read More
Apart from some obvious stuff like the Perlan sightseeing tower in Reykjavik and perhaps a couple of other buildings nationwide, one will generally not find much weird architecture in Iceland. There is little need actually as the stunning nature has plenty to offer in the ooohh and aaahh department. But some people would be forgiven ... Read More
Journalism everywhere is a dying profession. When the cheapest route to success depends on quantity and the number of clicks and likes the best business seems to be to hire absolute novices and just rerun old stories with some slight new twist. Problem is, this can be so utterly misleading for gullible readers it can ... Read More
Turns out hundreds of foreign visitors are herded right up to the Solheimajokull glacier in the South of Iceland. Most of those are blissfully unaware some volcanic activity has been recorded underneath the glacier. Which could, worst case scenario, produce a flash flood in seconds. This is certainly not the first time local tour operators ... Read More
Ordinarily the Icelandic village of Hella has little to recommend it. Located midway between Selfoss town and Hvolsvollur village in the South it is more like a drive-thru than an inviting place to stop. But once in awhile this changes for the better and indeed the next few days in Hella might be exciting for ... Read More
For some, this place is what Iceland is all about. Raw and rugged beauty for miles around and no matter how hard you imagine, there is simply no way this amazing spot could have been blown to smithereens and back for months on end over two hundred years ago. The place is Lakagigar in the ... Read More
Overweight? Then chances are you will have to make do with seeing the smallest church in Iceland from the outside. Sometimes the most fascinating man-made things are not 300 meter high church towers, eighteen-story shopping malls or pyramids that took many centuries to finish. Nope. Sometimes the little things grab our attention the most. That ... Read More
One of the more beautiful and easily accessible waterfalls of Iceland is Skogafoss at the tiny hamlet of Skogar in South Iceland. Everybody stops here for a Kodak moment and then keep on trucking. Big mistake. It is a mistake because the very impressive Skogafoss waterfall is but the icing on a large and very ... Read More
While the majority of visitors to Iceland have their eyes on the marvelous natural beauty of this place a number is most concerned with learning about geology. That makes sense. Iceland is the youngest big mass of land on earth and that fact is precisely why the nature here is so astounding. That is why ... Read More
Fog is not unusual in the small town of Hveragerdi, literally Hot Spring Field, about 45 minutes south of the capital Reykjavik. Indeed, not just fog but unusual smell also. Don´t miss it. Now, team Total Iceland being lovers of beautiful things we absolutely hate how this rather lovely place has decided to present itself ... Read More
