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No promises but 4 out of 5 is not a bad wager 🙂 PIC Lenny K

W elcoming foreign folks to our home over Christmas and the New Years festivities has gotten so popular that this year it sold out in March. For the fifth straight year 🙂

So, why the heck are folks willing to fork out pretty nicely for a place at a basic country table in the middle of nowhere in Iceland during the most sacred time of the Catholics and Protestants?

The reason is definitely not that it is easy. You´ll have to either drive in horrible conditions for ten hours from Reykjavik city or fly for an hour and then hope the roads are clear for half an hour more. Unless you arrive by ferry, in which case, our place is but 50 minutes away in good conditions.

The reason is definitely not that it is cheap. Preparing local food and local country welcoming to all is not done in a few hours. Indeed, to make it perfect, we´ll start preparing in October.

So, enough about why not. You´ve been warned. Let us get into WHY YOU SHOULD.

Let´s start with a few why you should actually make the effort (and it is an effort.) Let us make it in alphabetical order since we most of us know the alphabet (and if you don´t then don´t bother coming.)

A) Our home is a 90-year old country farm as far from Reykjavik city as you can get. 90 year old stuff might not excite too much if from old cities or places but here in Iceland this qualifies as one of the oldest residence in existence in the country.

B) We actually live here and this is our actual home. Which means you are getting 100 percent local experience when you arrive. Sure, we´ll try our best to make you comfortable but be aware this is an old country place with creaking floorboards and not five star Hilton. Some things won´t be available.

C) Upon arriving, after getting warm and cozy, we´ll head out to enjoy a tiny campfire in the cold (and it is usually very cold) where we toast in gluhwein, champagne, red- or white wine or simply a glass of water from the very clean lake just above us. Yup, we do have milk, soda, a smoothie or a Red Bull in the fridge as well. For special wishes we´ll try our best but no promises.

D) The menu over the three days in question is one hundred percent local stuff and one hundred percent cooked as advised from long gone folks. Two meals per day along with basic breakfast. We will not tell you the menu exactly but over the three days you will get most of the most popular foods this country has lived on for centuries. This is as local as it gets.

E) You will get a nice sleep. Our cozy, warm and bright basement has two fully furnished rooms for five people and space for two more if need be. A very decent common toilet and shower facilities and a washing machine and a dryer available all day long as well as some fancy TV´s if someone gets sick of local shit.

F) While the whole idea is to offer country-style accommodation and food over this most holy time in the country, we can easily arrange tours and trips around the area. Some of which are by now world-famous but we won´t tell you which. We can also offer outdoor yoga-classes on demand as well as getting to know the very lovely Icelandic horse, along with witnessing other local animals. In any case you do have options.

G) So, what else? What are these eastern hillbillies offering for the price? Well, we are not making any promises but since we started offering this Christmas package five years ago, we´ve had most amazing Northern lights above the skies here four times over the Christmas period. Keep in mind there is no light pollution here. Indeed, there is no pollution here at all 🙂 We are far away from most things…

H) We´d be dishonest if we do not give an example of the prices. Let it be said, this shit is expensive all things considered. But let it also be said we do not charge much more than we need. We want you to enjoy this experience but this is hard as we also want you to get the very best in food and company. We do not charge for the company but food here is mightily expensive. Thus, renting one of the two rooms available here over Christmas for three nights (including food and enjoyable company) will take you back 1400$ / 1200€ for two people.

Expensive? Yup indeed.

Expensive compared to most other options in this country over this time of the year? Nope indeed.

* Due to local privacy laws we´re not allowed to show you pics of our former guests enjoying themselves here. But hey, if you have an inkling about what we are about here at Total Iceland, you know damn well this is worth it 🙂

Get in touch at totaliceland [@] totaliceland.com for more information and/or bookings.

PS: please consider using nine-time World Champion Hotel Booking Site below. It is our only source of income.