dos and don’ts of Iceland

So you’re planning to get married in Iceland. Or propose. Or just to see this beautiful country on your honeymoon. Whatever the reason is, you probably don’t want to be one of THOSE tourists. The one who comes totally unprepared, who falls into the typical tourist traps. The one that does stupid things and regrets them later. Well, you’re safe with me, because I’m going to  give you some priceless tips on Iceland travel. Ready? Let’s go!

 WATER BOTTLE

While in Iceland make sure you always have your water bottle with you. Or few of them if you are a heavy drinker. 🙂 And I’m not even going to tell you how enviornmentally  friendly and important it is to reduce plastic on this planet. But do you know, that the bottled water you can buy in any place in Iceland is exactly the same water as in the tap?

I remember when I visited Iceland for the first time as a tourist almost 7 years ago and it was impossible to buy still water in the shops. Why? Because for Icelanders there’s no sense in paying for something you have in the tap for free. Makes totall sense to me! Still water appeared in supermarkets together with bigger ammount of people from other countries travelling around the island. It was just the market need, not real necessity!

NAKED PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

Ok, not everywhere – just in every public changing room. Swiming pools and hott tubes are great thing in Iceland and believe me – there is nothing better than soaking in the naturally hot water after the whole day of trekking! Or after the whole day spent in snow.  Or just after the regular day.

A lot of countries (mine too!) are puting big ammoount of body shaming on their people. Not in Iceland – here you will get used to be around anked strangers in the local poll changing rooms since you are a child. And I know, showering naked with strangers might sound scary, but believe me – noone cares and noone pays attention to the way you body looks. And you are hearing this from the person with body covered in huge tatoos.

BUY ALCOHOL IN THE AIRPORT

Icelanders buy their alcohol in the duty free shops on every occasion they get. It’s because booze issuper expensivein the country and you can be 100% sure you won’t get anything cheaper than the one on the airport. So take your time and choose something for you too. Especially, that you can buy alcohol only in liquor shops, and there is not many of them.

DRIVE CAREFULLY

I know I sound like your mom at the moment, but it is super important to be careful on the roads in Iceland. Especially during the winter months, where wind can be sostrong, that it blows the car of off the road! I personaly hate black ice – you can’t see it, but the bastart is there, waiting for you to drive on him  and loose control.

And another thing – on the roundabound always the person on the INNER line goes first. Believe me, this is so painful to remember and doesn’t make sense at all. But it is as it is and it’s better to remember that, especially driving around Reykjavik.

Oh, and mind the speed cameras – they have no mercy and the speed limit is 90 km/h

Check our previous blog post about websites useful when traveling in Iceland. This way you will never be surprised by the weather or road conditions. Or at least you minimize the risk.

BE AWARE OF TE WAVES

Iceland has one of the most beautiful non-tropical beaches in the world, but some of them are also one of the most dangerous ones. And it doesn’t mean that you can’t visit them, enjoy your time there and get amazing photos. it means you really need to be careful and mind the warning signs.

If you want to know more about beautiful, but deadly places in Iceland, THIS BLOG POST will be something that might interest you.

FLYING DRONE LEGALLY

Taking drone with you for your trip around Iceland is a great idea, no doubts about that! But, of course, there are few things you have to remember to do it legally and not to be ignorant. Nature is a huge part of what Iceland can offer you and probably it’s the reason why you decided to come here. It would be great to respect it and leave it untouched.

Normally, as a tourist, you don’t need any permit to fly the drone, but you would need one in National Parks.