Here's a map of Iceland, with the dots only showing where we stayed overnight. It doesn't show the myriad of sights we drove to every day that were usually well off this straight and narrow path!
The following are my observations or impressions about Iceland after Steven and I spent two fantastic weeks driving around virtually the entire country, except for the West Fjords, the area on the top left above.
1. No high-rise buildings in Reykjavik - because of the earthquake risk?
2. Buildings in downtown Reykjavik were strikingly angular, with one looking like a child's drawing of a Christmas tree!
3. Lots of gooey caramel treats in grocery stores.
4. Gas prices $9.50 a US gallon - yikes!
5. Roads were in excellent condition, and the drivers were courteous. But the roads away from the few cities were generally extremely narrow with no pullouts and no room for carelessness or taking your eye off the road.
6. NO stop signs outside of Reykjavik and Akureyri - only yield signs everywhere we'd expect to see stop signs.
7. Only U.S. fast food outlets were Subway & KFC, and they were only in Reykjavik, as I recall.
8. Amusing English translations on signs in national parks: steep slop, be careful of pickpockers, etc.
9. $10 to park at Kirkjufell Overlook and many other parking lots adjacent to public lands. The reason was that in each case, the parking lot was privately owned. Granted, you had 1,000 minutes, but who needs that long!
10. There were no fees for national parks, so perhaps the parking fees were a wash!
11. We found that handicapped parking sites in parking lots were often tough to find because they were located in a different area from the regular parking lot. As a result, we frequently didn't know that they existed. In our experience, it would be extremely tough for people with significant physical disabilities to travel in Iceland because of the limited infrastructure.
12. There was virtually no trash anywhere, with rigorous recycling programs in effect. We even noticed signs indicating people would be fined if banana peels, etc, were dumped in the bathroom trash. Hard to enforce, however!
13. In Iceland, "open sweater" means a cardigan, and "closed sweater" means a sweater, i.e., one you pull over your head. I found this out when inquiring about the gorgeous hand-knit Icelandic sweaters!
14. Sliding glass doors were the norm everywhere! It was so strange having to "open" a door once we arrived in Greenland. You should have seen me wait for a door to open the first day or so, and nothing happened!
15. There was an extra charge for ketchup and mayonnaise packets, which we've only experienced in one or two other countries.
16. Unusual campgrounds by North American standards - no sites with clear lines or boundaries, just camp wherever in the grassy field that constitutes a campground. The lack of dedicated spaces would make it far too close for comfort if we were still campers. I also didn't notice many picnic tables in the campgrounds.
17. Horse treks were extremely popular all over the island, even in the 'back of beyond. We saw this sign on July 20 en route to Húsavík in northern Iceland.
18. Saw only a handful of cattle, but lots of horses. Most are used for horse meat or sold to other countries.
19. No ice available when dispensing pop or sodas.
20. Many restaurants had communal water stations, as water was not delivered to the table.
21. The overwhelming majority of restaurants we ate at or looked in had very minimal menus with virtually all identical options once we traveled outside of Reykjavik, namely, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken patty burgers, esoteric pizzas with dates and cream cheese, fish dishes, fish and chips - no Italian restaurants, no Chinese, etc.
22. Lukewarm boiled hot dogs and warm soups were all that we experienced from food trucks or in park cafes. Not once were either hot.
23. Plentiful and excellent signboards describing geographic and geological features.
24. Endless and stunning hiking opportunities throughout the country.
25. No trains anywhere in Iceland. That was the first time I remember that in a country.
26. Young people from many countries worked in Iceland in hospitality positions.
27. When we flew out of Reykjavik en route to Greenland, there were no passport control or exit procedures. Odd.
Next post: Narsarsuaq's Signal Hill Hike, in south Greenland
Posted on August 18th, 2025, from Denver, but we're heading to San Francisco tomorrow to see our son, Alexander, his wife, Cory, and their three adorable children: Max, Asa, and Rafe, who are 5, 3, and 1, respectively! I hope you are lucky enough to be closer to some of your loved ones.
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