Topic: Iceland Suggestions (Read 10494 times)

etrump · « **on:** April 21, 2009, 04:56:27 pm »

We are considering a first time trip to Iceland this summer.

Can anyone in the know suggest which month would be best and/or someone who does photo guiding there.

We are interested in scenics as well as the puffins.

Thanks,
Ed

Tim Gray · « **Reply #1 on:** April 21, 2009, 06:10:56 pm »

http://www.danielbergmann.com/iceland/

See also the workshops section of this site. Michael led several trips to Iceland.

wolfnowl · « **Reply #2 on:** April 22, 2009, 02:04:26 am »

http://www.johnpaulcaponigro.com/wordpress/?p=368

John Paul Caponigro, Einar Erlandsson and some others are doing a 'Focus on Nature' workshop in Iceland in August.

Mike.

Ben Rubinstein · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2009, 02:39:17 am »

Don't even think of not renting a 4X4. Mind out for the sheep! Keep your tank full of gas and if possible a spare.

Mark F · « **Reply #4 on:** April 22, 2009, 10:23:07 pm »

Lewis Kemper is running a workshop in June and Tom Mangelsen a workshop in July. So it looks like any of the summer months is good.

I'm going in the second half of June (not on a workshop) and will know more in a couple of months if that is a good time.

Christopher Sanderson · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2009, 10:36:50 am »

Buy Issue 8 of the Luminous Landscape Video Journal! It contains a lot of good practical advice about locations, equipment, accommodation etc.

Chris

Jerry Basierbe · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2009, 11:41:34 am »

Bill Schwab

http://www.northlightworkshops.com/tours/iceland/index.html

Jerry

David Mantripp · « **Reply #7 on:** April 24, 2009, 08:38:20 am »

Hi Ed,

For tours, you really can't do better than Daniel Bergmann. Superb photographer, outstanding local knowledge, great guy and very focussed on giving people what they've paid for (disclaimer - he's a personal friend, but even if he wasn't I'd recommend him).

Otherwise, well, Iceland is bigger than it looks and travel distances are long. For a first visit, my recomendation would be visit in early June, rent a car (you don't need a 4WD for what I'm recommending, although it's a nice to have), and focus on the south & south west.

First, the Reykjanes peninsula immediately around Keflavik airport is often overlooked and well worth a few days. It includes geothermal areas, lava fields, lakes, great cliffs / birds, possibly best whale watching 8can't speak from experience there). Then, on highway 1 heading east you can see two epic waterfalls (Seljandafoss & Skogarfoss), and take in Skaftafell National Park (more waterfalls, old farm houses, glaciers) and Jokulsarlon glacial lagoon. And take a trip out to Ingolfshofdli, where you should see more puffins than you'll ever need, not to mention that airborne menace, the brown skua.

Doubling back on Hwy1, head off and up to Gullfoss (reference epic waterfall...) and Geysir, then finally hop over to Thingvellir for peacefull vistas, a tranquil lake, the continental plate divide, and guess what, yep, another waterfall.

After that, plan your next trip :-)

David

Kevin Ebi · « **Reply #8 on:** May 06, 2009, 02:53:42 pm »

Depending on how much you want to see, I don't think you need a guide. Almost everyone in Iceland speaks English and with rare exception, it's not a difficult country to navigate. Buy a map book at the airport. Just keep in mind that everything is much, much farther away than it looks.

June is a good time to see puffins. In late May, they're starting to nest and mate. In June, you'll get to see a bit of everything.

There's good birding all around the country. I really like the cliffs in Latrabjarg, but it's a long, long drive over roads that are terrible at times. Unless you have a lot of time, you may want to try the Puffin Island tour out of Reykjavik. There's also good birding near Vik, but it's closed to the public during the month of June.

The Golden Circle, which contains the geyser Strokkur and the impressive waterfall Gullfoss is not to be missed. It's probably two hours out of Reykjavik. If you have time, try to see another waterfall, Goðafoss, in north-central Iceland. There are good whale watching tours out of Husavik, which take you nearly into the Arctic Circle.

There are also great geothermal features near Krafla, which is near Lake Myvatn. Just keep in mind that if you were to drive all the way around the country and stop at everything that's even remotely interesting, you would feel rushed doing it in even two weeks. As others have suggested, you may want to concentrate on the southern coast from the Golden Circle to Hofn.

etrump · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2009, 04:15:57 pm »

Wow, the more I hear and research the better Iceland sounds.

Thanks for all the pointers, they are definitely getting me pointed in the right direction.

I'll let you know how things go and what I end up doing.

Mark F · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2009, 05:22:04 pm »

Hi Kevin,

Could you give me an approximate driving time between Keflavik Airport and Latrabjarg? I'll be in Iceland for 12 days, scheduled to arrive early morning on June 16th. Thought that I could drive up to Latrabjarg and arrive by evening, maybe taking the ferry. Is that wishful thinking?

Mark

Quote from: Kevin Ebi

There's good birding all around the country. I really like the cliffs in Latrabjarg, but it's a long, long drive over roads that are terrible at times. Unless you have a lot of time, you may want to try the Puffin Island tour out of Reykjavik. There's also good birding near Vik, but it's closed to the public during the month of June.

Kevin Ebi · « **Reply #11 on:** May 12, 2009, 12:57:00 pm »

Hi Mark,

The Baldur ferry is notoriously unreliable, but it is your best bet for getting to Latrabjarg. I’m doing this from memory without the aid of my maps, so these are rough estimates. I think it took me four hours to drive from just south of the Golden Circle to the ferry terminal. Driving from Keflavik would add probably 30 minutes. If the ferry isn’t running (and it wasn’t when I was there), it takes eight or nine hours to drive from the ferry terminal to Latrabjarg.

If getting close to puffins is your top priority, by all means head to Latrabjarg. If this is your first trip to Iceland and you want to see other stuff, I would go on one of the puffin boat tours instead. Latrabjarg is waaaaaay out of the way. Even with the ferry you’re going to consume two full days just traveling to and from there. It's a nice area, don't get me wrong, but if your goal is to see the country, I think those two days are better spent elsewhere.

Mark F · « **Reply #12 on:** May 12, 2009, 10:59:22 pm »

Hi Kevin,

According to the published schedule on their site, the ferry is supposed to run twice daily. It's your experience that it isn't so?

The plan was to stop at Latrabjarg for the puffins, then spend the remainder of the trip in the southern part of the country. Just not enough time to see all of Iceland in 12 days. The book Lost in Iceland shows a large cluster of good landscape spots in the south. But scheduling it out, it seems that the side trip to Latrabjarg would take about 4 out of our 12 available days, so this has to be rethought.

Did you take the puffin boat tour ad if so, are they worthwhile?

Thanks.

Mark

Quote from: Kevin Ebi

Hi Mark,

The Baldur ferry is notoriously unreliable, but it is your best bet for getting to Latrabjarg. I'm doing this from memory without the aid of my maps, so these are rough estimates. I think it took me four hours to drive from just south of the Golden Circle to the ferry terminal. Driving from Keflavik would add probably 30 minutes. If the ferry isn't running (and it wasn't when I was there), it takes eight or nine hours to drive from the ferry terminal to Latrabjarg.

If getting close to puffins is your top priority, by all means head to Latrabjarg. If this is your first trip to Iceland and you want to see other stuff, I would go on one of the puffin boat tours instead. Latrabjarg is waaaaaay out of the way. Even with the ferry you're going to consume two full days just traveling to and from there. It's a nice area, don't get me wrong, but if your goal is to see the country, I think those two days are better spent elsewhere.

Kevin Ebi · « **Reply #13 on:** May 13, 2009, 11:22:59 am »

Hi Mark -

Maybe I just have bad luck, but the ferry was out for emergency repairs three separate times in one season. I know there is one annual maintenance period that lasts a week or two every year. I don't remember exactly when that is. I want to say May or early June, but it is listed somewhere on their web site. I don't want to give you the wrong impression. The ferry runs more often than not, but just be aware that you may need to be flexible.

I have not done a specific puffin boat tour, but I've seen no shortage of them from whale watching boats out of Akureyri. If you just want to get a few relatively close-up pictures of puffins, I'm almost positive that any tour boat that stops on one of the "puffin islands" will get you the shots you want. If you are serious about birding, then you should definitely go to Latrabjarg. The cliffs and the tens of thousands of birds on them are pretty amazing.

I don't know how fast you like to travel and how long you want to spend in any one place, but I think this is the trade-off: If you don't go to Latrabjarg, I think you have time to see Godafoss. If you're serious about birding, I would tell you to go to Latrabjarg. If you're more interested in landscapes, I would tell you to go to Godafoss.

Kevin

Quote from: Mark F

Hi Kevin,

According to the published schedule on their site, the ferry is supposed to run twice daily. It's your experience that it isn't so?

The plan was to stop at Latrabjarg for the puffins, then spend the remainder of the trip in the southern part of the country. Just not enough time to see all of Iceland in 12 days. The book Lost in Iceland shows a large cluster of good landscape spots in the south. But scheduling it out, it seems that the side trip to Latrabjarg would take about 4 out of our 12 available days, so this has to be rethought.

Did you take the puffin boat tour ad if so, are they worthwhile?

Thanks.

Mark

Mark F · « **Reply #14 on:** May 14, 2009, 07:42:09 pm »

[

Hi Kevin,

Not sure what we'll do, but we have a few weeks to decide. We may have to wait until we arrive to find out if the ferry is running or if storms are expected at Latrabjarg. But Godafuss seems to be too far away, at least for this trip.

Again, thanks for the info.

Mark

quote name='Kevin Ebi' date='May 13 2009, 11:22 AM' post='283311']
Hi Mark -

Maybe I just have bad luck, but the ferry was out for emergency repairs three separate times in one season. I know there is one annual maintenance period that lasts a week or two every year. I don't remember exactly when that is. I want to say May or early June, but it is listed somewhere on their web site. I don't want to give you the wrong impression. The ferry runs more often than not, but just be aware that you may need to be flexible.

I have not done a specific puffin boat tour, but I've seen no shortage of them from whale watching boats out of Akureyri. If you just want to get a few relatively close-up pictures of puffins, I'm almost positive that any tour boat that stops on one of the "puffin islands" will get you the shots you want. If you are serious about birding, then you should definitely go to Latrabjarg. The cliffs and the tens of thousands of birds on them are pretty amazing.

I don't know how fast you like to travel and how long you want to spend in any one place, but I think this is the trade-off: If you don't go to Latrabjarg, I think you have time to see Godafoss. If you're serious about birding, I would tell you to go to Latrabjarg. If you're more interested in landscapes, I would tell you to go to Godafoss.

Kevin

[/quote]

Jon Meddings · « **Reply #15 on:** May 14, 2009, 10:24:11 pm »

Quote from: Mark F

[

Hi Kevin,

Not sure what we'll do, but we have a few weeks to decide. We may have to wait until we arrive to find out if the ferry is running or if storms are expected at Latrabjarg. But Godafuss seems to be too far away, at least for this trip.

Again, thanks for the info.

Mark

Mark, that is a shame. We were there in September last year and the Godafoss was one of my favorite spots - easy to get to and just beautiful We shot it in the evening and then in the early am - here is a shot from the morning shoot.

http://www.pbase.com/meddings/image/103116855.jpg

in the evening we went to another site about 30 km from the Godafoss - spectacular place.

http://www.pbase.com/meddings/image/103116851.jpg

Mark F · « **Reply #16 on:** May 16, 2009, 10:10:24 pm »

Great pictures, Jon and clearly a hard place to miss. I just do not know how we are going to fit everything in. Actually, I do. There's going to be about 22 hours of daylight so who needs sleep?

Quote from: Jon Meddings

Mark, that is a shame. We were there in September last year and the Godafoss was one of my favorite spots - easy to get to and just beautiful We shot it in the evening and then in the early am - here is a shot from the morning shoot.

http://www.pbase.com/meddings/image/103116855.jpg

in the evening we went to another site about 30 km from the Godafoss - spectacular place.

http://www.pbase.com/meddings/image/103116851.jpg

Bernhard · « **Reply #17 on:** June 18, 2009, 06:59:31 pm »

Mark, if looking for puffins you might rather start in Dyrholaey, on the south side and can be seen in lost in Iceland apr. 2hours from reykjavík, also very beautyfull surrounding, puffins can also be found in Vestmannaeyjar island (sail from the southside village þorlakshofn) and in Ingolfshofdi near Skaftafell national park and jokulsarlon (!!! do not drive there, take the guided trip)

best of luck and hope you enjoy my country

Bernhard

Author Topic: Iceland Suggestions (Read 10494 times)